The Net Zero & Health Research Network (NZHR Network) has been established to support research collaboration and collective impact, ensuring the UK’s transition to net zero also promotes physical and mental health and wellbeing, and reduces health inequalities.
As part of the UKRI strategic theme Building a Green Future, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) are supporting seven transdisciplinary hubs forming the Net Zero Health Research (NZHR) Network.
The NZHR Network, led by University of Southampton, will facilitate and foster inter-Hub collaborations across partners; mutually support researcher development and research impact; attract new non-academic stakeholders; and convene stakeholders to shape and implement new science-backed knowledge and solutions driving the UK’s transition to a healthy, low-carbon economy.
The seven hubs are focused on five challenge areas – transport and the built environment (1 hub), the indoor environment (2), sustainable diets (1), extreme weather (1) and decarbonising health and social care pathways (2). Each hub involves multiple HEIs, central and local government agencies, industry and third sector organisations. The NZHR Network is a coordinating resource that will maximise the collective impact of the hubs through resource efficiency, fostering co-creation, and generating practical and policy outcomes.
The NZHR Network will:
- Transfer experimental techniques, data, models and scientific insights and knowledge between hubs and challenge areas.
- Develop standardised metrics to optimise and measure the impact of interventions across the challenge areas.
- Develop new collaborations with shared objectives and interests.
- Connect with current initiatives in the net zero and climate change space to build on current research and data.
- Enhance translation of project outputs, and bring in new non-academic stakeholders, particularly enablers for the net zero and health agenda.
Professor Louise Heathwaite CBE FRS, UKRI Building a Green Future Lead and Executive Chair of the Natural Environment Research Council, said:
“Creating the Net Zero & Health Research Network will maximise the value of our £42m investment in the seven challenge-led hubs, ensuring they can work as a connected, high-performing community. The network will provide a focal point for collaborative research across a range of disciplines, engaging stakeholders beyond academia and using data-led approaches to translate emerging evidence into practical, solutions-focused activities and impactful interventions. This outcome focused approach will ensure people benefit from the net zero transition by improving health, boosting productivity, and enhancing quality of life across communities.”
Dr Sophia Lentzos, NIHR head of climate, health and sustainability, said:
The establishment of The Net Zero & Health Research Network marks an exciting milestone in the co-benefit hub funding opportunity. Maximising the impact of these transdisciplinary hubs across sectors demands that they communicate and coordinate effectively. By sharing data, aligning metrics, and working together, it will allow us to drive the systemic changes needed to embed health at the heart of the transition to a net zero world.’
Professor Stephen Holgate KBE FRCP FMedSci, Director of the NZHR Network and Clinical Professor of Immunopharmacology, University of Southampton, said:
“The seven hubs were created to explore opportunities that benefit people’s health while reducing environmental impact. A year into their establishment, this is the optimal time to explore the added value of working together. The Net Zero & Health Research Network aims to capitalise on this ecosystem of unrivalled talent, skills, knowledge and expertise, enhancing research activities and amplifying impact as one coherent voice.”
William Powrie CBE, Professor of Engineering at the University of Southampton, and HLTH Project Lead, said:
“Each of the seven research hubs is doing important research to realise the benefits of net zero interventions for human health and wellbeing. It will be very exciting to explore the synergies between our different challenge areas and disciplines to open up new avenues of research. The Net Zero & Health Research Network is an important resource not only to facilitate these interactions, but also to amplify consistent messaging about the benefits of the transition to net zero for people’s health as well as the environment”.
The 7 research hubs
| Net Zero Research Hub | Challenge area | Director |
| Healthy Low-carbon Transport Hub (HLTHub) | Transport and built environment | Professor William Powrie (University of Southampton) |
| Child and adolescent Health Impacts of Learning Indoor environments under net zero: (CHILI Hub) | Indoor environments in a net zero world | Professor Pia Hardelid (UCL) |
| Indoor HABItability during the Transition to net zero housing hub (INHABIT) | Indoor environments in a net zero world | Professor Zongbo Shi (University of Birmingham) |
| Transdisciplinary Health Research to Identify Viable Interventions for Net Zero Goals: food futures (THRIVING food futures) | Sustainable healthy diets | Professor Peter Scarborough (University of Oxford) |
| National hub on net zero, health and extreme heat (HEARTH) | Extreme weather | Professor Rajat Gupta (Oxford Brookes University) |
| UKRI Sustainable Health Systems Hub | Decarbonisng health and social care pathways | Professor Ed Wilson (University of Exeter) |
| Green Healthcare Hub | Decarbonisng health and social care pathways | Professor Mahmood Bhutta (Brighton and Sussex Medical School) |
Media enquiries: For enquiries to the NZHR Network please contact Tim Yates, Marketing, Communications and Events Manager, email: tim.j.yates@ucl.ac.uk