About us
Dr Amy Binner and Dr Nathen Owen presenting NEVO
Professor Daniel Williamson at Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Showcase
LEEPin2019 Conference, June 2019
Professor Ian Bateman presenting at EAERE Conference 2023
Surf lesson in Croyde, LEEP Away Day 2023
PhD student, Cassandra Bird presenting on artificial intelligence and data science
Professor Ian Bateman at the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Showcase
Who we are
Founded in 2016, LEEP is a thriving interdisciplanary research group, with core economic skills combined with expertise in natural, physical and social science, located within the University of Exeter Business School.
What we do
Deliver policy-focused academic research, outputs and tools that drive real world change, helping to solve local and global environmental challenges.
Crucially, LEEP integrates expertise from natural and physical science research within environmental economic analyses. This integrated approach means it is ideally positioned to advise on complex challenges such as sustainable food production, urban well-being, pollution and climate change.
LEEP produces cutting-edge research across a variety of fields. Its work has been published in the likes of Nature Food, Nature Climate Change and the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. LEEP academics also speak regularly at high profile conferences.
It has also produced over 40 tools, models or products to empower land managers and policymakers to better understand the environmental consequences of their decisions.
Our impact
LEEP works closely with research users in government and business. It has made a notable impact on a number of projects, including:
- Supported profound shifts in UK environmental and agricultural policy
- LEEP tools have valued £100Ms of environmental benefit flows
- Accelerated the adoption and application of the Natural Capital Approach
- Embedded environmental value requirements into HMT spending guidelines determining £Billions of public investment annually
- Designed ‘Payments for Ecosystem Services’ delivering over £500M of savings
- More information on the SWEEP Impact Programme here
If you are interested in changing things, then it is absolutely vital to engage with all those people that actually make decisions in the world. Policy makers have a large influence in that community, but I would also add business people and the general public...You've got to think of the real world challenge that decision-makers face.
Professor Ian Bateman, Professor Brett Day and Professor Ben Groom
Directors of LEEP