Professor Mari Martiskainen PhD, MSc, BA

PhD in Science and Technology Policy Studies. Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU),

University of Sussex, UK, 2014

MSc in Environmental Technology. Energy Policy option. Centre for Environmental Policy

(CEP), Imperial College London, 2003

BA in Social Sciences. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, 2000

Mari joined the University of Birmingham in January 2026 and is a 125th Anniversary Chair and Professor of Energy and Society at the Department of Management at the Birmingham Business School.

Mari is the Director of the Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC). She was selected as the UKRI Energy Demand Research Champion together with Prof Sara Walker in 2022, and secured £15m funding for EDRC in 2023. EDRC addresses the unique opportunity to realise benefits from energy demand reductions in industry, businesses, transport and homes. The Centre’s research explores the delivery of integrated technological and social change to rapidly reduce emissions, secure prosperity, reduce inequality and improve quality of life.

Mari’s research focuses on creating more equal and sustainable societies, especially relating to energy and transport systems. This means aiming for equal benefits from low carbon technologies and practices for everyone, whilst ensuring a fair distribution of costs. Mari’s research projects have included topics such as building retrofit and energy efficiency policy, intersections of fuel poverty and transport poverty, energy justice implications of low carbon pathways, role of users in low carbon transitions, and innovation and leadership in community energy. She has published widely in journals such as Nature Energy, Global Environmental Change, Research Policy, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, Energy Research and Social Science, Environment and Planning A, Energy Policy, and Technology Analysis and Strategic Management.

Mari regularly advices and works with different stakeholders and partners, including government departments, not-for-profit organisations, business and consultants. In 2024, she was selected as a member of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) at the Department of Transport, which is an independent expert committee providing advice to the government on the transport needs of disabled people.

Before joining the University of Birmingham, Mari worked at the University of Sussex for 19 years, based at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), the University of Sussex Business School. She was a member and Co-director of the Sussex Energy Group and led the Equity and Justice theme for a UKRI-funded Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS). Prior to joining academia, Mari worked in the energy industry, including a trade association for the UK wind industry.

Mari holds a PhD in Science and Technology Policy Studies from the University of Sussex, an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London, and a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Helsinki.

Her research focuses on how we can make socio-technical energy, housing and transport systems more sustainable and fair, while addressing the climate emergency.

She is particularly interested in people’s role in low-carbon transitions and have examined this through answering research questions such as what do people feel about climate change and what motivates them to take action; are there any people particularly vulnerable in the transition to electric vehicles and renewables; how can community action help alleviate fuel poverty; and what can aid people to develop more sustainable homes.

Her research is often interdisciplinary and uses mixed methods, including both qualitative and quantitative analysis. She has worked with conceptual approaches such as energy justice; energy vulnerability; sustainability transitions; grassroots innovation; community leadership; and user innovation. You can read more about my ongoing and past research projects below.

Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC) (2023-)
The Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC) addresses the unique opportunity to realise benefits from energy demand reductions in industry, businesses, transport and homes. We explore the delivery of integrated technological and social change to rapidly reduce emissions, secure prosperity, reduce inequality and improve quality of life. EDRC's interdisciplinary and collaborative research programme is arranged in five main research themes of Futures, Flexibility, Place, Governance and Equity. These themes cut across different scientific disciplines from engineering to social sciences, exploring the combined technological, economic and societal solutions that can deliver energy demand reductions in buildings, transport and industry. EDRC is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council (grant number EP/Y010078/1).

Fuel and transport poverty in the UK’s energy transition (FAIR) (2020-2023).
As we move towards a net zero society, we need to ensure that everyone has access to affordable energy and transport to meet their every-day needs. This means being able to put the heating on, cook hot meals, wash clothes and use domestic appliances. It also means being able to travel affordably and sustainably to participate in society. Fuel poverty and transport poverty have until now typically been treated as distinct problems with their own causes and consequences. However, they can be interlinked which is why it is vital to research them together.

FAIR brought together 6 universities and 4 external partners and examines fuel poverty and transport poverty across the UK in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It included interviewing households and experts, mapping and surveying fuel and transport poverty prone regions and holding focus groups and policy roundtables. The project provided policy recommendations towards a net zero society where emissions are reduced alongside inequality and poverty. FAIR was part of the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS), funded by UKRI (grant number EP/R035288/1).

Solar-Biomass Reversible energy system for covering a large share of energy needs in buildings (Sol-Bio Rev) (2019-2023).
The SolBio-Rev project examines building-integrated renewable energy systems that can be used for heating, cooling and variable electricity demand. The core objective is to combine promising renewable energy technologies based on solar, ambient and bioenergy, as well as heat pumps. Funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme (grant agreement No 814945).

User perceptions of smart homes (2019-2021).
What are smart homes like? Can they be trusted to provide a safe way to lower home-related emissions? This project investigates the motivations behind people’s choices and their expectations around the benefits and drawbacks of smart homes technologies. This project was part of the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS), funded by UKRI (grant number EP/R035288/1).

Energy deprivation in everyday living: Estimating, profiling, and escaping energy poverty in Canada (2018-2020).
Led by Dr Runa Das, of Royal Roads University, Canada, this project examines energy poverty in Canada to measure the lived reality of this emerging form of social inequality, which has received very little attention from Canadian social scientists to date. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (grant number 430‐2018‐00447).

Innovation Pathways, Strategies and Policies for the Low-Carbon Transition in Europe (INNOPATHS) (2018-2019).
The INNOPATHS project consisted of 15 partners in 8 countries and our part of the work at Sussex focused on examining the energy justice implications on low-carbon pathways. Our work included low carbon case studies in Europe, but we also examine their implications at in the whole system of a low carbon transition, from minerals to waste. Funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 programme (grant number 730403).

Low Energy Housing Innovations and the role of Intermediaries (LEHII) (2015-2018).
This project examined the role of intermediaries in developing low carbon housing. Focusing on the development of whole house retrofits and zero carbon new built houses, the research also highlighted the importance of systemic innovation in the transition to sustainable buildings. Part of the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand (CIED), funded by the RCUK Energy Programme.

The Fuel Bill Drop Shop: an investigation in community action on fuel poverty (2015-2016).
Conducted together with South East London Community Energy (SELCE), this project was the first in the UK to examine community-led energy cafés. Energy cafés provide a drop-in energy advice service and are well placed to work with local and health authorities to address fuel poverty. Funded by the Chesshire Lehmann Fund.

Policy synergies and trade offs for low energy innovation (2014-2015).
This research analysed energy policy mixes in transitions, focusing on building energy efficiency policies in Finland and the UK during 2000-2014. Part of the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand (CIED), funded by the RCUK Energy Programme.

Community Innovation for Sustainable Energy (CISE) (2010-2013).
This project was jointly led by the Universities of Sussex and East Anglia, researching the diffusion of community-led innovative energy projects in the UK. I completed a linked PhD study as part of the project, analysing the development of community energy projects in Finland and the UK. Grassroots innovations such as community energy reflect on the changing role of consumers in the wider energy system, where consumers become prosumers, leading innovative projects. Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the European Center Laboratories for Energy Efficiency Research (ECLEER).

Energy Research Demand Project (EDRP) (2008-2010).
This research was part of the UK government's large scale trials of smart meters and in house display units. The aim of the research was to understand how consumers react to improved information about their energy consumption. Funded by the UK Government and EdF Energy.

Governance of "Nuclear Revival" (2007-2009).
This project analysed the evolution of the debates, institutions and decisions concerning new nuclear power and nuclear waste management in Finland, France and the UK. As part of this project, I visited the Helsinki Institute of Science and Technology Studies (HIST), the focal point of STS studies in Finland. Funded by the Sussex Energy Group.

Affecting Consumer Behaviour on Energy Demand (2006-2007).
This research provided a review of the literature on household energy consuming behaviours and how those behaviours could best be influenced with the goal of reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The research also examined whether and how measures to encourage behavioural change can be included within future phases of the UK's energy efficiency policies. Funded by EdF Energy.

Mari is member of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) at the Department of Transport, which is an independent expert committee providing advice to the government on the transport needs of disabled people.