ARCC news for April 2018
The Adaptation and Resilience in the Context of Change (ARCC) network finishes today, 30 April 2018.
For nine years, and through several phases of the project, we have looked to provide a national focus for knowledge exchange and engagement activities informing adaptation to change in the built environment and infrastructure sectors. The aim was to enhance the provision of evidence and knowledge from research to better inform decision-making at the local, regional and national levels.
Over the years, we have had the pleasure of working with a large number of researchers and stakeholders at a wide range of events, from small focused workshops to large industry-wide showcases. We have worked with early career researchers to help develop their KE and engagement skills, and with policymakers and practitioners to better understand, communicate and meet their knowledge and evidence needs. With respect to research, we have welcomed input from numerous research projects contributing to themes as diverse as urban microclimates, impacts on heritage buildings, ageing & mobility in the built environment, green infrastructure, future materials & processes, infrastructure interdependencies, and dialogues on the impacts of the urban environment on people's senses.
Information and outputs from the network will continue to be available on the ARCC website. We encourage you to use them, and to build on the synthesised evidence and knowledge we have produced within your own areas of interest.
Finally, we believe strongly that there is a continuing need for effective knowledge exchange and engagement activities to promote the generation and awareness, uptake and use of relevant and usable research outputs, and to the strengthen co-operation across disciplines, sectors and stakeholder communities.
Learning is all part of the process. We are proud of what we have achieved together as a network, and of having had the opportunity to work with you. We hope you can build on what we have achieved together and develop further the approaches used by the network to enhance your own knowledge exchange activities in the future.
Roger B Street (PI) and the ARCC network team
ARCC network activities
Flooding & business online research resource now available
Flooding presents a range of threats to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which represent nearly half of the country’s business turnover. A new ARCC network online resource is designed to support businesses, and those working with business, identify relevant research on which they can draw to support their decision-making when preparing for, coping with and recovering from flood events. The resource draws on projects from across the research council-funded portfolio.
From the natural to the neural network – research showcase at ecobuild 2018
Our successful immersive research feature at ecobuild 2018 showcased projects focused on robotics, as applied to the built environment, and those inspired by nature: green infrastructures and living architecture.
The evaluation report of this event (pdf, 3.5 MB) is a valuable resource for projects looking at taking their own research to an industry trade show, as well as highlighting the value in teaming up with complementary projects in other institutions to really enhance the value of these showcasing opportunities.
ARCC climate action narrative
We’ve developed and trialled a new game using a murder / mystery approach to support climate change communication in the built environment. With some great lessons learnt from the trials – held in Adelaide, Australia and Oxford, UK – we have a summary available for those interested in this novel approach. Tanya Wilkins is also keen to share these experiences for anyone who is interested in using the material.
Reflections from the ARCC network
Building on our experiences over the past nine years and on previous work capturing lessons learned from coordinating a knowledge exchange network, we offer some final reflections on running the successful ARCC network. These include thoughts on the benefits of on-going knowledge exchange as an integral part of the research process, and how a dedicated network can enhance the overall impact of research with benefits to policy makers and practitioners.