Matthew Cashmore

I am an environmental social scientist who conducts research at the interfaces between environmental geography, spatial planning and political science. My research concerns how governance can support sustainable and just socio-ecological transformations and the politics of governing radical change. I am passionate about the micropolitics of policy and its implementation, and draw on a variety of theoretical influences in exploring governance for transformations.

I currently lead an international project called COLOCAL, on locally-led climate change adaptation, with partners in Bangladesh, Mozambique, Nepal and Uganda. The goals of this project include empowering local actors to use their knowledges and perspectives in generating adaptation pathways. The project is funded by NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Aid and Development) under NORHED-II, which promotes North-South-South cooperation in higher education and research. 

I also work on a project that seeks to cocreate climate resilient futures in the Oslo fjord region (CO-CRD), which is funded by the Research Council of Norway and runs between 2026-2029.

Research

I pursue my interest in governance of and for transformations through research and innovation centered around three overlapping themes:

• Policy, practices, outcomes: Research under this theme critically assesses the operation and efficacy of governance complexes in steering just sustainability transformations. It considers how complexes of policies, organisations and actors are deployed in pursuit of green futures, and with what effects among differentiated actors and the more-than-human world. 
• Power, knowledge, (in)justice: This theme extends my interest in the role of knowledges in governance, and how power/knowledge shapes policy, policy implementation and its differentiated outcomes.  It centres the analysis of power explicitly around questions of inclusion, fairness and justice in the governance of sustainability transformations.
• Empowering and enabling: This theme covers both my interest in theorising radical change in socio-ecological systems, plus an action-oriented interest in seeking fairer, green futures. I am intrigued by how transformative governance can be designed to deepen democracy and empower actors, particularly local, indigenous, vulnerable or marginalised actors. 

Co-operation and Outreach

I cooperate with a number of international organisations (e.g. the European Commission and the United Nations Economic Council for Europe (UNECE)), particularly on environmental training and capacity development. I have participated in such activities in numerous European countries (including, Montenegro, Albania, and Ukraine), western Asia (e.g. Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan) and Southeast Asia (Vietnam). 

I have also undertaken commissions from the UNECE examining the implementation of the Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context and the Kyiv Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment.

PhD Supervision

As part of my role at NMBU, I am (or have been) involved in supervising the following candidates:

• Susan Wasswa Nanfuka, Oct 2022-ongoing. Knowledge co-creation for adaptation to drought among agropastoral farming communities of Uganda’s cattle corridor. Supervised with  David Mfitumukiza (Makerere University, main supervisor).
• Fatuma Mutesi, Oct 2022-ongoing. Collaborative learning for local adaptation to agricultural drought in Uganda. Makerere University, Uganda. Supervised with  David Mfitumukiza (Makerere University, main supervisor).
• Karen Wanseka de Jesus, Sept 2022-ongoing. Green buildings development: a decolonial analysis. Supervised with Roberta Cucca (NMBU, main supervisor) & Esben Leifsen (NMBU).
• Edwige Marty, Sept 2020-2024, Societal transformations and changing access regimes in Kenyan livestock systems: a political ecology approach to social differentiation dynamics in adaptation. Supervised with Siri Eriksen (NMBU), Todd Crane (ILRI, Kenya), Rene Bullock (ILRI, Kenya).
• Elizabeth MacAfree, 2018-2021, Assembling drinking water quality and inequality: the case of Kaolack, Senegal. Supervised with Synne Movik (NMBU, main supervisor), Tim Richardson (NMBU).

Administration & Leadership

I was head of the PhD Programme in Society, Development and Planning at the Faculty of Landscape and Society between February 2021 and January 2024. I also lead some of the PhD courses, and regularly contributed to many others, during and prior to my tenure as Head of Programme.

I am an associate editor for Frontiers in Environmental Science, for the environmental policy and governance section of this journal, and a member of the international advisory group for Environmental Impact Assessment Review. I also chair the International Association for Impact Assessment's Journal Management Committee, which oversees the operation of the organisations journal Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal.

Currently, I am lead editor for a special issue of the journal Environmental Science & Policy on methodological advances for locally led adaptation. We envisage the special issue will be completed and published around April 2026.