Centre for Adapting to Changing Environments

About the Centre

The Centre for Adapting to Changing Environments (ACE) is a leading centre in multidisciplinary research bringing together the diverse expertise needed to address how populations can adapt to our rapidly changing world.

Change is a natural driver of an evolving world but in recent decades the rate of change induced by human activity has become unsustainable. How populations, ecosystems and society adapt will be crucial to sustaining the natural environment that is our planet's life support system. ​​​​Different discilines bring together different definitions, frameworks and tools to the process of adaptation but it is a core idea that can transend and unite across disciplinary boundaries. Our research integrates across four interlinked areas: Earth, Life, Ecosystems and Society.

 

Earth

View from the Pentland hills looking south
How, when and where are earth processes changing?

Life

ACE Research and activity themes -  Life
How does change influence basic life processes?

Ecosystem

Pollinator on flowers
How does change affect ecosystem functioning that support us?

Society

wind turbines on farmland
How, as a society, do we build in resilience and opportunity to this change?