ARCC news for April 2017

Hello All,

The ARCC network has launched its latest work in the area of ageing and mobility in the built environment, with workshops recently held in York and London to bring together research and practitioners to explore how to best the resulting research from across this suite of projects for use in decision-making. Bringing together the diverse needs of a range of stakeholders needs more than just an understanding of contemporary communication conventions, it is never an easy task looking across these varied needs with an eye on where can the research results can inform. I hope that you will see the critical nature of this effort as we are all ageing and therefore could benefit from drawing on the knowledge generated from this cross-research council investment. I encourage interested parties to read on below, and to get in contact with ARCC’s Communications Manager Tanya Wilkins if you’d like more information on this.

Our Green infrastructure as a building service design challenge is now open for entries! You can read more below and get your entry in before 8 May ready for presentation at Green Sky Thinking Week 2017 in London on 19 May 2017.

Roger B Street
Principal Investigator

From the ARCC network

Better homes, better air, better health

In partnership with the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, and BRE, the ARCC network brought together research, industry, policy and third sector communities to think about and inform future action on solutions for reducing exposure to air pollution when indoors. Read the event report and see the speaker presentations.

Demystifying EPSRC and ESRC ECR grant schemes – Early career researchers workshop

20 June, Bristol

In conjunction with the Council Heads of the Built Environment (CHOBE) and the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM), the University of the West of England are hosting a workshop to work through the proposal writing process, with representatives from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) providing insight.

So what? Now what? – bioaccessibility assessments to improve contaminant detection

Soil contamination can be a major barrier to re-use of brownfield sites, particularly former industrial sites. The ARCC network has worked with researchers at the University of Reading to produce the next in our series of simple guides to ensuring research is used in evidence-based decision-making.

Ageing and mobility in the built environment

Presentations from this event are now online – and we are continuing to work with research and stakeholders to develop a comprehensive suite of material including drawing from across the latest research on ageing and mobility in the built environment.

Green infrastructure as a building service

19 May, London

We’re delighted to once again be working in partnership with the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) to coordinate the 2017 design challenge on the use of green infrastructure as a building service. This challenge is open to individuals or teams, students, practitioners, and researchers, and incorporates the interaction of indoor plants with heating, cooling, acoustic management, air quality, staff productivity and wellbeing. You can listen to our launch webinar for the technical requirements and expert contributions.

Adaptation and Resilience of Coastal Energy Supply (ARCoES) final outputs

In a changing climate, there will be impacts to the energy supply due to the number of assets that are located on the coast. This EPSRC-funded research project has released a series of videos that outline the decision-support tools available to enhance the resilience of coastal energy supply.

Blogs: European Climate Change Adaptation conference 2017

In advance of the next conference being held in Glasgow from 5–9 June 2017, we have two blogs highlighting ARCC-relevant sessions:

Sustainable Estates Forum

28–29 June, Oxfordshire

Sustainability impacts every aspect of estate management, from the planning, design and construction of new facilities to the operation maintenance and renovating of existing stock. If you work in this area, come along and hear from the ARCC network who will be presenting relevant EPSRC-related research.

Opportunities & events

Scottish Borders Climate Resilient Communities Project

This project used action research to improve understanding and approaches to building climate resilience in Scotland. Funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, through their climate change and communities programme, it was primarily led by the Centre for Environmental Change and Human Resilience at the University of Dundee and the Scottish Borders Council, in collaboration with the Tweed Forum, Southern Uplands Partnership; International Futures Forum; Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS). Read about the findings.

Sustainability Glasgow – Climate Resilience Innovation Challenge

Due 1 May 2017

Start-up businesses, SMEs, innovation arms of larger businesses, researchers, individual entrepreneurs, students and community groups are all invited to pitch ideas and solutions to tackle Glasgow’s challenge. The two winning ideas (one for each challenge) will receive awards of up to £20k to further develop their innovative solutions

Cities and Climate Conference 2017

19–21 September, Potsdam Germany

This conference will explore the latest advances in research and practice addressing climate change in cities, including issues of risk management, economics of adaptation, infrastructure, planning, governance, and their possible trade-offs and synergies with mitigation and sustainability objectives. Abstracts due 31 May 2017.

Research assistant needed for urban tree project

Closing 28 May

Interesting new role: Post-doc researcher required to join a team in urban green space research at the University of Reading.