University of Oxford Biochemistry building

ARCC news for November 2016

Hello,

As we head into the festive period of events and celebrations, I’d like to remind you not to miss the culmination of our Feeling Good in Public Spaces series on 8 December, a multisensory conference looking at approaches to improve experiences in urban public spaces; you can register using the link below.

The ARCC network is managed by the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) which is hosted within the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) at the University of Oxford. I would like to congratulate Patrick Pringle on his recent appointment as Director, UKCIP. I will be continuing as PI for the ARCC network, and as Senior Research Fellow at the ECI.

We’ve been working with the EPSRC research community to develop a research roadmap for the built environment sector. ARCC encourages conversations between and among academia and both built and natural environment professionals around place-making where people and their communities are at the heart of all decision-making. We see a real opportunity for on-going and future research and knowledge exchange to help improve the design, planning, construction and operation of buildings and infrastructure for both new build and existing stock, so watch this space!

Roger B Street

Principal Investigator

From the ARCC network

Multi-sensory design – creating healthier public spaces

8 December, London

Join us for the final event in our Feeling good in public spaces dialogue series. We’ll explore how multi-sensory design approaches can improve city dwellers’ experiences in urban public spaces – their form, morphology, aesthetics and materials. By providing a sensory journey from start to finish, we aim to challenge and perhaps inform changes to conventional approaches to placemaking.

International Centre for Infrastructure Futures (ICIF) – Infrastructure Grand Challenges event, change of date and venue

21 February 2017, London

Join the ICIF research team, special guests and other leaders in the field from industry, government, regulation and academia for an exhibition of ICIF research, debate of infrastructure grand challenges and key-note presentations from practitioners.

EPSRC fellowships

Closing date 5 January 2017

The Living with Environmental Change theme is currently open to receive fellowship proposals from both postdoctoral and early career researchers. Applications are sought to address the challenge question:

How can our cities, their hinterlands, linking infrastructure, rural surround and the regions they are in, be transformed to be resilient, sustainable, more economically viable and generally better places to live?

There are also other relevant fellowship areas such as Engineering for Sustainability and Resilience in the Engineering theme, so please visit the full listing on the EPSRC website.

Co-Producing neighbourhood resilience

November 24, Sheffield

Resilience strategies can enable local communities to thrive in response to rapid climate change, as well as deal with uncertainty and disruption.  With top-down plans from local authorities still being produced without the input of communities, built environment professionals have a tremendous opportunity to develop new capacities to mediate between these groups to address underlying social injustice and inequitable urban environments.

Join other built environment professionals, policymakers, community groups, developers and academics to debate and network at the University of Sheffield’s School of Architecture.

ARCC network blog: ‘Taking it to the streets’ – mainstreaming research at big industry trade shows

Our event coordinator’s perspective on the benefits and lessons from our recent experience showcasing research at UK Construction Week, 18-20 October.

A couple of extras…

Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for the calculation of fuel use in dwellings

Due 31 January 2017

The housebuilding industry and research community have grown increasingly concerned over the potential gap between design and as-built energy performance. The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has opened a consultation on proposed changes to the SAP in assessing the energy performance of homes.

Responses to this consultation will be used to help decide on the amendments to be introduced to SAP 2016, a vital piece of work in ensuring the role that building’s play in delivering the national carbon reduction plan.

Central London should be diesel free

With illegal levels of air pollutions causing about 9,500 early deaths a year in London, a renewed push to rid the capital of unnecessary volumes of diesel and fossil-fuel vehicles seeks to realise the economic and climate benefits by pushing for the political courage.

Changing climate demands new approach to flood risk, says MPs

Flooding is becoming an ‘all-too-frequent occurrence’ for the five million people in England at risk of flooding, according to Neil Parish MP, chair of cross-party parliamentary group Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) following their inquiry into the winter 2015–16 floods in England.

The recommendations in Efra’s recently released report outline the need for a new governance model for how floods and flood risk is managed by the government, and all held to account by a new National Floods Commissioner for England. Two reviews of the report are provided below for your information:

Events

Forum for the Built Environment – event programme

With events held around the UK, this built environment networking organisation has over 2000 members nationwide from a variety of backgrounds.

Built Environment KTN – Innovation to improve assets performance

29 November, Warwick

This free event brings together innovative organisations from a range of sectors to hear their experiences in delivering novel solutions to increase one or more aspect of asset performance.

6th APRES Annual Conference – A professional approach for materials, products and people

29 November, London

APRES (Action Programme for Responsible and Ethical Sourcing) is a group of industry and academic partners committed to embedding the responsible and ethical sourcing of materials into the construction industry. This year’s annual conference will include speakers from CIOB, Crossrail, Loughborough University and BRE.

Book launch: Talking Climate by Climate Outreach,

2 December, Oxford

Please join ARCC staff at this event for a discussion around the new book from our friends at Climate Outreach, Talking climate: from research to practice in public engagement. Commissioned by Palgrave MacMillan and written by Adam Corner and Jamie Clarke, the book aims to provide a fresh approach to climate change communication: five core principles for public engagement that can propel it out of the margins and into the mainstream.

ReCoVER and BRIM workshop – the influence of weather and climate variably on water resources management

23–24 January, Exeter

This workshop will explore how weather/climate variability will shape water resource management in the long term, and identify themes for research that could help development management strategies to better copy with the variability in means and extremes.

World Symposium on Climate Change Communication

22–24 February 2017, Manchester

The Symposium will be a truly interdisciplinary event, mobilising scholars, social movements, practitioners and members of governmental agencies, undertaking research and/or executing projects on climate change communication across the world.

Trees, people and the built environment, International Urban Tree Research Conference

5–6 April 2017, Birmingham

The event will provide a platform for UK and international researchers and practitioners to showcase their vital work in these areas, and help both built and natural environment professionals turn this research into action.

  • Day 1: Roads to place – why trees are an integral part of highway transport design
  • Day 2: The health crisis – the role of trees in improving human health (mental, physical, social and cultural)

Don’t miss ARCC ‘friend’ Professor Miles Tight, Professor of Transport, Energy and Environment, University of Birmingham as a keynote speaker.