Personal statement

Matthew is Director of the Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities (SISC) and Professor of Sustainable Energy Business and Policy at the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation within Strathclyde Business School. His research explores pathways for fair and sustainable futures, where communities are represented, empowered and enriched.

He is a co-investigator on two major UKRI-funded research projects (JUST-Systems and People-Led Net Zero) that explore the role of people and place, in realising a just, low-carbon future. Other recent research projects have examined: a) the governance and distribution of renewable energy Community Benefit Funds, b) financing community energy and c) the importance of social relations in driving neighbourhood-level energy retrofit.

He is Lead Technical Author for BSI’s standard on Community Engagement and Benefits From Natural Capital for their Nature Investment Standards. He is also chair of the community environmental charity South Seeds, host of the award-winning Local Zero podcast and sits on Uswitch’s Green Tariff Accreditation review panel.

Current research projects:

• JUST-Systems 
• People-Led Net Zero
• Exploring community energy trends, barriers and drivers in Scotland (funded by Scottish Power Energy Networks)

Past research projects:

• A review of Community Benefit Fund design, operation and governance (funded by Foundation Scotland)
• Principle investigator of the Scottish Universities Insight Institute funded project - Carbon Offsetting and Communities: co-developing alternative place-based voluntary offsets in Scotland
• Principle investigator on an EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account project, titled Community energy at a crossroads: Co-developing a path forward for South Seeds and the UK community energy sector.
• Co-Investigator on a UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) funded project titled ‘Whole Person - Whole Place’ energy solutions for net-zero neighbourhoods, which explores how social relations impact energy retrofitting decisions.
• Co-Investigator for the UKRI £8m Energy Revolution Research Consortium to support a smart, locally led energy system. Co-I for work packages on: (1) business and finance; and (2) policy and regulation (commenced Dec 2018). Principle investigator on an Energy-REV flex-fund project titled Smart local energy systems for a ‘just transition’
• Co-Investigator on UK Energy Research Centre funded Community Energy Finance project (2017-2019). Lead on community energy case studies work package.
• Co-Investigator on Political hyping of new energy technologies project to explore how parliamentary processes fuel or deflate expectations surrounging low-carbon technology innovations.

PhD supervision:

• Jan Jasinski - Smart but fair? The impact of smart, low-carbon energy technologies on justice.
• Rebecca Gowens - Exploring best practice for Community Benefit Funds in Scotland and beyond.
• Jonny Lindsey - Market formation approaches for new energy technologies and their justice implications. The case of Dounreay and the fast-breeder nuclear reactor.
• Kristine Heimdal - An ecosystem approach to establishing Glasgow as a centre of net-zero innovation.

Selected journal publications:

• Gonzalez, H., Hannon, M., Tapinos, E. (2026) The Role of Transition Intermediaries as Capability Builders for Adopting Radical Innovation in Incumbent Firms: The Case of the UK Energy Supply Sector, Business Strategy and the Environment 0:1–26
• Gowens, R., Hannon, M., Roberts, J.J., Cairns, I., Major, L. (2025) A Review of Foundation Scotland’s Approach to Community Benefit Funds. Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
• Hannon, M., Gowens, R., Searle, R., Roberts, J. J., Cairns, I., Major, L. (2025) Guiding Principles and Actions for Enhancing Community Benefits from Community Benefit Funds, Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities, University of Strathclyde.
• Hannon, M., Gowens, R., Roberts, J. J., Major, L. & Cairns, I., (2024) Community Participation for Community Benefits From Natural Capital Projects: A Review for the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland Programme, University of Strathclyde.
• Hannon, M., Cairns, I., Braunholtz-Speight, T., McLachlan, C., Mander, S., Hardy, J., Sharmina, M. (2023) Carrots, sticks and sermons: Policies to Unlock UK Community Energy Finance. Energy Research and Social Science, 100.
• Cairns, I., Hannon, M., Braunholtz-Speight, T., McLachlan, C., Mander, S., Hardy, J., Sharmina, M., & Manderson, E. (2023) Financing grassroots innovation diffusion pathways: the case of UK community energy, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 46.
• Knox, S., Hannon, M. J., Stewart, F., Ford, R., (2022) The (in)justices of smart local energy systems: A systematic review, integrated framework, and future research agenda, Energy Research and Social Science, 83
• Braunholtz-Speight, T., McLachlan, C., Mander, S., Hannon, M. J., Hardy, J., Cairns, I., Sharmina, M., & Manderson, E. (2021). The long term future for community energy in Great Britain: a co-created vision of a thriving sector and steps towards realising it. Energy Research and Social Science, 78
• Braunholtz-Speight, T., Mander, S., Hannon, M., Hardy, J., McLachlan, C., Manderson, E. & Sharmina, M. (2020) Business Models and Financial Characteristics of Community Energy in the UK, Nature Energy 5 pp: 169–177
• MacKenzie, N., Knox, S., Hannon, M. (2020) Fast Reactor Technology and the Entrepreneurial State, Business History
• Skea. J., Hannon, M. J., van Diemen, R., Rhodes, A., Gazis, E., Hu, R. (2019) Energy Innovation for the 21st Century: Accelerating the Energy Revolution. Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham
• Hannon, M. J., Topham, E., MacMillan, D., Dixon, J. Collu, M. (2019) Offshore wind, ready to float? Global and UK trends in the floating offshore wind market, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
• Hannon, M. J., van Diemen, R., Skea. J. (2017) Lost at sea or a new wave of energy innovation? Examining the effectiveness of UK wave energy innovation policy since 2000, University of Strathclyde
• Hu, R., Skea, J., Hannon, M. (2017) Measuring the energy innovation process: An indicator framework and a case study of wind energy in China, Technological Forecasting and Social Change 127 pp: 227-244
• Bolton, R. P. G., Hannon, M. (2016) Governing sustainability transitions through business model innovation: The case of UK local authority application of the energy service company model, Research Policy 78 (9) pp. 1731–1742