uclei annual report 2012

Annual Report 2012

UCL Environment Institute

UCL ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE

That environmental issues are a prime focus of research and outreach activities at UCL is clear from the wealth of activities and publications recorded in this year’s Annual Report. The Environment Institute sees its mission as facilitating and promoting inter-disciplinary research at UCL and the value of such inter-disciplinarity is fully demonstrated in these events. Almost every one has brought together people from across schools and departments and even faculties. This attests to the growing recognition that environmental problems cannot be solving without pooling our expertise, knowledge and insights.

The Sustainability Concepts and Materials Conference – co-organised with UCL Urban Lab – was particularly notable for forging connections between different disciplines. The first day was devoted to academic colleagues learning more about each others’ work; the second day drew together research students working on material aspects of sustainability through study of a great variety of topics. This was one of the Cultures of Sustainability theme events.

But each of the Environment Institute’s other themes – Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Governance, Migration & Settlement, Sustainable Cities and Water Security – have been active in

promoting collaboration and co-learning across UCL and showcasing UCL research to a wider community. There was the Migration Film Festival, the Heuristics of Mapping Urban Environmental Change Project, the London Water Hackathon and the Designing Environmental Protection Conference. The following pages provide details of many more.

The Environment Institute is also glad to act as UCL home to a very active group of Visiting Fellows and Professors and Artists in Residence. In each case, this has enabled research occurring at UCL to make links to environmental policy and action occurring in a variety of organisational contexts beyond academe.

The list of events, activities and publications associated with environmental research at UCL and the Environment Institute more specifically grows year on year. This is also reflected in the growing numbers subscribing to the Environment Institute newsletter and twitter-feeds and visiting our website and Facebook page. Details of how to enjoy the Institute’s social media are on the last page; if you are not signed up, may I urge you to do so. That way you will not miss any of the events that the Institute is already planning for 2012-3.

Professor Yvonne RydinDirector UCL Environment Institute

Contents

Foreword

Director’s Report

UCL Environment Institute Activities & Events

- Theme Activities:• Biodiversity• Climate Change• Cultures of Sustainability• Environmental Governance• Migration & Settlement• Sustainable Cities• Water Security

- General Events:• Public Lectures• Workshops• Conferences

Artists-in-Residence• David Finnigan• Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey• Artist Residencies for 2012-13

Affiliated Organisation: • Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP)

Visiting Professors - Talks & Activities

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Foreword

Two of this year’s many UCL Environment Institute activities are particularly strong exemplars of the approach our university has adopted in the UCL Research Strategy, through which our collective expertise is brought to bear on problems of major significance.

First, the UCL – Lancet Healthy Cities Commission drew on expertise from 11 UCL departments and other universities in order to highlight the role that urban planning can and should play in delivering health improvements through reshaping the urban fabric of cities around the world. The commission’s report is achieving further impact through sector-specific workshops and briefings with key policymakers and practitioners.

Second, the Climate Change & Financial Risk workshop, co-organised by our new UCL Public Policy unit, brought leaders in government, business and policymaking in touch with leading academic expertise from a number of disciplines, in order to consider the financial risks associated with climate change adaptation (or the lack thereof).

In areas such as these, the UCL Environment Institute plays an important role in identifying

environmental issues that cross-disciplinary approaches can address effectively, and in drawing together research leaders from across our university to do so. It enables experts to synthesize the insights from their subject-specific research – thereby addressing problems in their full complexity – and to share their analysis with policymakers and practitioners.

I congratulate those involved for their contribution to the success of London’s Global University.

Professor David PriceUCL Vice-Provost (Research)

from the UCL Vice-Provost (Research)

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Director’s Report

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Biodiversity

Co-Director: Dr David Murrell, UCL Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment (GEE)

The Biodiversity theme continued to be run by Dr David Murrell. David’s research concentrates on understanding what biological processes act to maintain bio-diversity. In other words, what acts as the glue to hold natural communities together? In particular he is interested in the effects of spatial structure on

population and community ecological and evolutionary dynamics.

Under this theme, a wide variety of seminars were held as part of the UCL GEE/CEE series.

The following are a selected few to highlight the diversity of topics covered.

Stories about Polychaetes from Deception Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Sergi Taboada Moreno, University of Barcelona.

Theme ActivitiesThe UCL Environment Institute (UCLEI) acts as a ‘hub’ for environmental research at UCL, providing access to expertise across the university and running a variety of events show-casing UCL Environmental research. Most of the events of last year were organised as part of the UCLEI’s 7 themes, but there were others that were organised by the EI as a whole and others still that were sponsored or supported by the Institute.

Antelope conservation in the 21st century: from diagnosis to action.

The drastic decline in wildlife populations since 1970 has hit antelopes particularly severely with more than a quarter of species now threatened by extinction. However, antelopes have received far less conservation attention than many of their mammalian relatives in spite of providing some of the most fascinating wildlife spectacles on earth. Thus in the absence of immediate action, several species are in imminent danger of joining the scimitar-horned oryx as recent extinctions in the wild.

This symposium aimed to clarify the current trends in global antelope biodiversity, understand what drives the major threat processes and, on this basis, highlight conservation priorities, taking into account both biologicaland socioeconomic aspects.

Contamination in coastal eco-systems: old and new issues and some responses. Julian Blasco, Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucia.

The origin of sponges and the Cambrian explosion. Dr Jonathan Antcliffe, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol.

Because antelopes demonstrate striking variation in morphology, ecology and behaviour, they are exposed to a wide range of the threats facing biodiversity today. In this way, the focus on antelopes provides a prism through which general insights into the principles governing conservation threats and their mitigation can be achieved.

The topics addressed by world leading experts in antelope conservation included: how to turn habitat loss into conservation-friendly land use in a world of environmental change; how antelope-livestock interactions affect resource competition and disease transmission; how to render bushmeat hunting sustainable; and the usefulness of sport hunting, game ranching and reintroductions as tools in conservation.

Organised by Jakob Bro-Jorgensen and David Mallon, ZSL.

Restoration Ecology: fantasy and reality. Prof. Jane Memmott, University of Bristol

Professor Jane Memmott’s interests include pollination ecology, invasion ecology, agro-ecology, biological control, urban ecology and restoration ecology. A theme that runs through many of her projects is the use of ecological networks to as a tool to answer a variety of environmental questions.

For example, does restoration ecology restore ecological function, are ecosystem services affected by farming approach and how do aliens integrate into ecological networks? She works as both a pure and an applied ecologist and is particularly keen on working at the interface between the two disciplines. A wide variety of techniques are used by her research group, from field observation to field experiment, from theory to molecular approaches.

Conservation in China: unique challenges or global lessons?Samuel Turvey, ZSL.

Using herbarium specimens to track the arrival and spread of non-native seaweeds. Jane Pottas & Juliet Brodie, Department of Botany, NHM.

What role does stress play in translocation outcomes? Molly J. Dickens, University of Liege.

The curious case of the disappearing devil. Shelly Lachish, University of Oxford.

The Journey to SCAN: A Schistosomiasis Collection at NHM. Aidan Emery, Department of Zoology, NHM.

© Z

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Climate Change Co-Director: Prof. Bill McGuire, UCL Department of Earth Sciences

The Climate Change theme was new this year and is the result of the combination of previous two themes, Past Climate & Ecologies with Climate Predictions & Impacts. Climate Change was led by Professor Bill McGuire. Bill is Professor of Geohazards at the UCL Department of Earth Sciences and is one of Britain’s leading volcanologists. His main interests include monitoring volcanoes and global geophysical events.

Under this theme a number of workshops were held. A brief synopsis of each event is included below.

Knowledge Exchange, the Media and Climate Science: A Workshop.

Workshop convenor: Dr Neil Gavin,Department of Politics, University of Liverpool

Workshop overviewDr Gavin is a researcher in the politics and mediation of climate change, who - based upon this experience - offered free, half-

exchange and public outreach activities. The session was specifically geared towards those engaged in all aspects of climate science, and it augmented, developed and extended (rather than replaced) the media training courses offered by organisations such as NERC (e.g. NERC’s ‘Engaging the Public with your Research’).

The workshop covered the following areas: • The journalistic environment

and how this affects climate scientists’ engagement with the media.

• How the public react to climate change messages, and what this says about how to (and how not to) project your research.

• The politics of climate scepticism; what to expect in debate with ‘contrarians’; and best and worst practice in confronting them.

• The extent to which ‘climategate’ has changed the nature of the media environment.

• The dangers in misrepresenting climate science, even with the best of intensions.

• The resources available to climate researchers who are engaged in media and public outreach activities.

Climate Change Communication - Critical to mitigation policy and carbon governance?

Discussion Panel: • Richard Dent MSc (Visiting

Researcher, UCL Environment Institute);

• Prof Mark Maslin (UCL);• Prof Chris Rapley (UCL);• Camilla Scassellati Sforzolini

(UCL);• Mark Raven MA.

Concern about climate change is fairly high in the UK yet the problem of climate science scepticism and a value-action gap in the public is increasing. What role does climate communication play and has the media become a political force in defining the direction of our low carbon economy?

A group of students from UCL and LSE looked into this and related topics during the summer as part of a research project based at the UCL Environment Institute. They found complex and unique issues that surround climate change and renewable energy communication that could present significant barriers to successful mitigation policy and carbon governance. They also presented potential solutions and ways forward applicable to scientists, policy makers and civil servants working in climate change or renewable energy sectors.

Climate Change and Financial Risk

The policy discourse on climate change has tended to focus primarily on mitigation in order to reduce carbon emissions and minimise a global temperature rise. However, with growing evidence pointing to a likely global average temperature rise of more than 2ºC, possibly within decades, it is apparent that future efforts also need to focus much more seriously on adapting to the effects of climate change that are now inevitable.

The workshop considered the financial risks associated with climate change adaptation, or the lack thereof. It addressed potential scenarios of climate change and adaptation, and explored the degree of awareness amongst business leaders and policy makers of the risks presented by a changing climate.

Through a particular focus on water, the event addressed some of the specific financial risks of climate change in more depth. It investigated the financial and

business risks of both flood and drought, including the challenges facing the continued operation of business, and increasing and unpredictable insurance exposure to such risks.

The speakers also reflected upon the actions that businesses will need to take in order to adapt to changed circumstances brought about by climate change, and the role of policy-makers in mitigating the associated risks and establishing the appropriate policy frameworks.

Speakers: • Rob Bailey, Senior Research

Fellow for Energy, Environment & Resource Governance, Chatham House.

• Dr Sarah Bell, UCL Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering.

• Darius Campbell, Head of Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation, DEFRA.

• Dr Julien Harou, UCL Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering.

• Lisa Horrocks, Project Director for Climate Change Impacts & Adaptation, AEA Group.

• Professor Bill McGuire, Professor of Geophysical & Climate Hazards, Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Centre.

• Bill Peck, Head of Corporate Planning, Aon.

• Bob Piggott, Head of Group Contingency Risk, HSBC.

• Chaired by Julian O’Halloran, BBC.

Organised by UCL Public Policy, in conjunction with Aon and the UCL Environment Institute.


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Cultures of Sustainability

Co-Director: Dr Jerome Lewis, UCL Department of Anthropology

The Cultures of Sustainability continued to be run by Co-Director Dr Jerome Lewis from the UCL Department of Anthropology. Jerome began working with Pygmy hunter-gatherers and former hunter-gatherers in Rwanda in 1993. This led to work on the impact of the genocide on Rwanda’s Twa Pygmies. Since 1994 he has worked with Mbendjele Pygmies in Congo-Brazzaville researching child socialisation, play and religion; egalitarian politics and gender relations; and language, music and dance.

Under this theme a one day conference and a postgraduate workshop were held. The conference was jointly organised with the Urban Lab.

Sustainability: Concepts, Culture and Practices Conference.

The UCL Environment Institute and Urban Lab hosted a joint event on the theme of Sustainability: Concepts, Cultures and Practices, with the aim of bringing together staff working on sustainability issues from any discipline, including and especially from those with a focus on anthropological/sociological/ethnographic/historical and cultural perspectives.

The conference opened with three 20 minute presentations from the following speakers:

Dr Sam Randalls:The Goals of Sustainability

Exhortations to live sustainably are usually accompanied with assumptions about the nature of the good outcome to be achieved: sustainability. But this good outcome is much harder to conceptualize and justify in practice, albeit we can note it is unlikely to be singular. In this short talk, I explore these debates within the context of climate change considering their source of legitimation (here it is instructive to consider precaution/pre-emption and the ‘rational’ basis for action) and their effects (here thinking particularly of the universality or not of the sustainable subject).

Professor C.J. Lim: Science Fiction and Biblical Tales of Sustainability

Science fiction (SF) and constructs of biblical tales have often presented us with scenarios of sustainable futures. Imaginative SF often predicted the future, predates modern technology and cities, and is much more than the narrow pop culture definition.

SF is often used to comment on the failings of the real world - Edward Bellamy’s utopian socialism ‘Looking Backward’ and William Morris’ ‘News from Nowhere’ questioned egalitarian wealth as well as bureaucracy. In Jack Vance’s ‘Rumfuddle’, a typical job is driving a bulldozer that shoves

the detritus of industrial civilization through a portal into the oceans of a garbage world, restoring the earth to its pristineness. Adam and Eve did not have to go far for sustenance, for everything was aplenty in the Garden of Eden, where every type of tree, pleasing to the eye and good for food was planted. However, can the world ever achieve perfect sustainability credentials.

Dr Jerome Lewis: Competing Cultural Conceptions of Sustainability

Pygmy hunter-gatherers conceptualize sustainability in terms of maintaining abundance through proper sharing.

The talk will present and contrast these widespread indigenous cultural conceptions of sustainable resource use in the Congo Basin with dominant capitalist discourses that value goods according to their scarcity. Interestingly, emerging NGO sponsored sustainability programmes such as the Forest Stewardship Certificate have more cultural and structural similarity to indigenous conceptions than existing capitalist paradigms underpinning efforts to achieve sustainability. From this perspective internationally imposed top-down REDD (reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) programmes are unlikely to achieve their anticipated outcomes.

Sustainability: Concept and Materials: Postgraduate Workshop

The Anthropology Sustainability Reading and Research Group at UCL held a one day interdisciplinary workshop on the Theoretical and Analytical Perspectives of Sustainability.

PhD level papers, presentations and poster submissions were invited from all departments across the university. The aim of the workshop was to draw postgraduates together who are working on sustainability and encourage interdisciplinary exploration and networking across UCL’s faculties. Different departments brought their understandings and theorisation of sustainability and the panels were diverse in their approaches and subject matter. Sessions were innovative in format.

Latour argues that this is a historical moment, not only when material engagements are more frequent but also more intimate, and this intimacy has given us

detailed (scientific) knowledge about changes to the climate of the earth. This has resulted in a redefinition of the term ‘sustainability’ which implies a reordering of the material and moral. Now it feels like the entire material world is being redefined in terms of sustainability.

The definition of sustainability, however, is still highly contested, ranging from Rayner (2009) and Giddens (2009) who like the usefulness of the term, to Beckerman, who calls it an all-embracing concept “with no clear analytical bite” (2008:1). This, despite so much time, energy and money going into its implementation at almost every level of society. It is time to further clarify and to ask: What are the ideas that constitute sustainability? And what possible futures are these producing? How is sustainability made material and what does this mean? How can we work together to make sure that the best ideas surface, constructively critique developing concepts of sustainability and how it is being materialised.

Sponsored by

Sustainability: Concepts, Culture and Practices

UCL Environment Institute and URBAN LABORATORY

Location: UCL Archaeology Lecture TheatreUniversity College LondonGordon SquareLondon WC1H 0PY

17th May 201214.00-18.30

drinks reception

FREEEVENT

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/environment-institute/forthcoming-events/cultures




CALL FORPRESENTATIONSSubmit by no later than 5pm Friday 20th April


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flexible enforcement that makes for more cooperative compliance, but some scholars argue that the European Union’s system of checks and balances and its expansion of judicially-enforceable rights are leading its policies down a path of legalistic and rigid enforcement standards. In this conference, these claims were examined and what they mean for the future of environmental protection in the European Union and beyond.

Environmental Governance

Co-Director: Dr Colin Provost, UCL Department of Political Science/School of Public Policy

The Environmental Governance theme was led by co-director Dr Colin Provost. Colin’s primary research interests are American state politics, judicial politics, organisational behaviour and government regulation, specifically consumer protection, financial regulation and environmental policy. In particular, his research has focused on the policy making decisions of American state attorneys general.

Under this theme a conference and a public lecture were organised.

Designing Environmental Protection: Law, Regulation and the Environment in the European Union

The implementation of regulatory policy is central to protecting our environment and our natural resources. Whether businesses comply with environmental regulations depends heavily on the design and enforcement of such regulations. The European Union has long had a reputation for high standards coupled with

The Inefficiency of CurrentEnvironmental and Energy Policy

Lecture by Professor Robert Hahn

Professor Robert Hahn of Oxford and Georgetown Universities spoke to an audience of the UCL Environment Institute about inefficient energy and environmental policies.

Professor Hahn’s talk was designed to appeal to both staff and students, as he spent much of the time discussing simple economic solutions to environmental problems, such as taxes on polluting firms that are designed to reduce output, thereby also

reducing pollution. Professor Hahn went on to illustrate a number of examples of inefficient policies, such as subsidies for petrol which encourage people to drive. Finally, in the question and answer period, Professor Hahn answered more questions about specific policies, as well as talked about his own time working for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in the United States.

Robert Hahn is director of economics at the Smith School at Oxford, a professor of economics at Manchester, and a senior fellow at the Georgetown Centre for Business and Public Policy. From 1999 to 2008, Professor Hahn served as the director of the AEI-Brookings Joint Centre, a leader in policy research in law and economics, regulation, and antitrust.

Migration & Settlement

Co-Director: Dr Laura Vaughan, Bartlett School of Graduate Studies,UCL

The Migration and Settlement theme was run by co-director Dr Laura Vaughan of the UCL Bartlett School of Graduate Studies. Laura’s research stems from a concern with the challenges posed by an increasingly urbanised society. In collaboration with colleagues she uses space syntax to study the relationship between micro- and macro- scales of urban form and society and to this end has been collaborating with geographers, historians and social scientists for nearly a decade.

The Migration and Settlement network organised a one day film festival this year.

UCL Urban Migration Film Festival

The festival and symposium explored the impact migrants have on their physical, social, cultural and economic environment as well as how cultural, spatial, legal and ideological forces affect rights, mobility and settlement.

By showing a wide variety of film clips from various periods and settings of the past 70 years, an

opportunity was created for an interdisciplinary dialogue raised by the selected films and film-making practices.

These questions related to: • Journeys - how do migrants

negotiate their environment whilst on the move?

• Transition - how do migrants adapt to new systems, shape their communities and create temporary environments?

• Negotiation and Accommodation: with films on establishing roots, acculturation and myths of return.

• Migrant experience in the built environment relates to settlement patterns, modes of acculturation, contextual legal and immigration systems, the divergence of different generations’ experiences. It may even lead to return to the place of origin, a move onwards, or – for the children of migrants – a visit through memories to places from the past.

An interdisciplinary panel of experts from architecture, anthropology, film studies, planning, psychiatry and art were joined by several of the film-makers, who introduced their own films and participated in discussions at the end of each session.

UCL Bartlett Faculty of the

Built Environment UCL Environment Institute


Funded by

COME FOR THE DAY...feel free to drop into one of the sessions or come to the lunchtime showing.

FILM FESTIVAL

Location: UCL Archaeology Lecture TheatreUniversity College LondonGordon SquareLondon WC1H 0PY

15th February 20129:30 - 17:00

FREEEVENT

http://urban-migration-filmfestival.eventbrite.co.uk/

UCL URBAN MIGRATION


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Sustainable Cities

Co-Director: Dr Adriana Allen, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL

The Sustainable Cities theme continued to be run by co-director Dr Adriana Allen. Adriana has specialised over the years in the fields of urban environmental planning and political ecology. She has over 25 years international experience in research and consultancy undertakings in 16 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and less extent the Middle East. Both as an academic and practitioner, Adriana’s work focuses on the interface between development and environmental concerns in the urban context of the global south, and more specifically on establishing transformative links between environmental justice and urban sustainability and resilience.

Urban Metabolism at UCL, Project Report

The objective of the project “Urban Metabolism at UCL” was to examine in detail a theoretical concept which is gaining currency in engineering, economics, planning and human geography, “urban metabolism”, to address sustainable cities challenges.

We wanted to examine how far this concept has influenced work within different UCL departments and examine the potential to create interdisciplinary dialogue around this notion which can contribute to the UCL Environment Institute agenda on sustainable cities.

The concept of urban metabolism, referring to the exchange processes that produce the urban environment, has already inspired new ways of thinking about how cities can be made sustainable and has raised criticisms about specific social and economic arrangements in which some forms of flow are prioritised or marginalised within the city.

Within this framework we asked the following questions: • How is the concept of urban

metabolism understood within different disciplines? Can this concept foster new ideas and concepts of the urban? What is its potential to develop practical applications?

• The methodology aimed at addressing these questions within UCL and more broadly, within academic debates about urban metabolism. To address the former, we conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with key researchers in UCL. We did a global call in UCL aimed at contacting both established academics and post-graduates.

We also targeted individuals whose work on urban metabolism is internationally recognised.

The interviews were filmed and key passages were transcribed for their analysis using qualitative analysis software. To address the later, we conducted an interdisciplinary literature review, we explored six specific questions about how urban metabolism has been addressed in different fields. The project has had a very defined audience of established, but principally up-coming researchers in sustainable cities interested in urban metabolism.

The project has produced the following outputs: 1) a literature review on urban

metabolism which was published by the UCL Environment Institute;

2) a project report summarising the conceptual basis of different views on urban metabolism found at UCL;

3) a short film putting different UCL academics and postgraduates in conversation around the idea of urban metabolism;

4) a journal paper which is currently under review within the Journal of Industrial Ecology;

5) a synthesis paper which is currently in preparation; and

6) an exhibition at the UCL Cities Methodologies 2012, where we presented the film and offer the opportunity to visitors to provide feedback.

These outputs can be accessed through a dedicated project website hosted by the development and planning unit

www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/dpu/urban-metabolism

and have been promoted with a flier which was distributed at the UCL Cities Methodologies 2012 and through the project networks.

The project has had the following outcomes: a) Within UCL: both the film

and the report, particularly through their presentation at the UCL Cities Methodologies 2012 and the project website, have provided a window for participants and other interested parties to get to know and understand the different

approaches to urban metabolism that emerge within different methodologies. The emphasis on dialogue shows that there is a significant potential for cross-disciplinary collaborations and we expect that this outputs may generate the grounds for such collaboration. Through the exhibition in UCL Cities Methodologies 2012, and with the flier, we were also able to reach many post-graduates and students who provided feedback and have further engaged with this dialogue.

b) Beyond UCL: the project has focused on challenging the boundaries of the concept of urban metabolism, demonstrated that there are on-going dialogues to which some disciplines remain oblivious. Our approach has the potential to have an impact on bridging dialogues normally confined to disciplinary silos. For example, after publishing the literature review on our website, we were

approached by the editor of the Journal of Industrial Ecology to submit a paper to this journal. He commented: “Interest in urban metabolism is growing rapidly in the industrial ecology community and this literature review would be very valuable. The perspective presented in the literature review is different from what many in the industrial ecology community have seen and would attract a lot of interest” (Reid Lifset, 07/03/2012).

Although it is still early to be precise about the broader impact of this project we are confident that it has generated the grounds for interdisciplinary dialogue for sustainable cities within and beyond UCL.

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The Heuristics of Mapping Urban Environmental Change

The objective of the research platform entitled “the heuristics of mapping urban environmental change” is to investigate the agency of maps and of mapping, and develop a heuristic path through interdisciplinary dialogue and collaborative action.

The use of mapping by ordinary citizens is increasing and taking a central role in contestations. However, it is often adopted without fundamentally engaging with the assumptions it is based on and the diverse effects it is able to produce. The research project seeks to problematise maps and mapping by engaging with these assumptions and critically evaluating to what extent can mapping, as a political tool, be a means to contest and re-shape the unjust distribution of resources and opportunities in cities. The main questions we ask are: how can mapping be appropriated by ordinary citizens in their place-making practices? What are the lessons and practical applications that can be drawn from its use in various disciplines?

Since the project’s inception in February 2012, we have established a website through which the outputs, so far produced, can be viewed.

The website address is:

www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/dpu/portlets/dpu/mapping-environmental-change

Within UCL, we have so far conducted three interviews with key academics from the department of Architecture, the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis and the department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering. These interviews were filmed and will be made accessible through the project website. The aim of these is to understand how different departments within UCL approach mapping and more specifically what they map, why and what for. Some of the reflections extracted form part of a literature review, which looks at the role of mapping within different conceptions of place and justice. Also informing the literature review, have been two mapping workshops in Milan and Cairo.

We have established a working relationship with the Politecnico di

Milano and MEGAWRA (Built Environment Collective) in Cairo. Together with the Development Planning Unit, these two institutions form the platform entitled ‘Dialogues on the Move’.

Two events have taken place as part of the dialogue bringing together academics, activists and organisations.

The first was hosted by Politecnico di Milano, from the 21st to the 23rd of March 2012, under the central theme ‘Mobilising the Margins’. The objective of the latter was to promote a reflection on participatory mapping as a practice that can (re-)activate ‘hidden territories’ – spaces and practices that are positioned ‘on the margin’ of the dominant forms of city planning, and the processes conditioning emerging urban environments.

The second Dialogue on the Move, curated by MEGAWRA (Built Environment Collective) in conjunction with Politecnico di Milano/DIAP- Laboratory of International Cooperation took place in Cairo, between the 26th to the 29th of May 2012, and focused on ‘Mapping Informality’. The discussions centred on the dichotomy established between the formal and informal in Cairo and the role of mapping in challenging such dichotomy through contemporary and historical practices of place-making in the city.

The outputs from these two workshops are in the form of a paper capturing the reflections from the discussion and several filmed interviews with participants. The latter portray the different responses to the question: What is a map for you? These outputs have been made public and can be accessed through the project’s website:

www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/dpu/mapping-environmental-change/dialogues-on-the-move

The organisation of the third event is underway and will be hosted by the Development Planning Unit in London on the 20th to the 21st of September 2012. This will take the form of a seminar bringing speakers and discussants from different UCL departments,

post-graduates, students as well as outsiders, to partake in the interdisciplinary dialogue about the role of mapping in place-making. Moreover, a paper integrating the literature review has been written and will be presented by Adriana Allen and Alex Frediani at the ‘Research Committee 21’ ISA Forum Conference in Buenos Aires, in August 2012.

Although it is too early to be specific about the impact of the project, the workshops have established a valuable exchange between academia and the general public. Furthermore, we believe it will enable a dialogue between different UCL departments and outside academic and non-academic organisations engaged in mapping.


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Ground-breaking research from Dr Richard Taylor received over 35,000 downloads in one week!

Quantitative maps of groundwater resources in Africa.

A.M. MacDonald, H.C. Bonsor, B.É.Ó. Dochartaigh and R.G. Taylor.

AbstractSubstantial groundwater resources underlie Africa. New research by the British Geological Survey and Richard Taylor (UCL Geography) maps and, for the first time, quantifies the substantial ground-water resources that underlie

the African continent. This study funded by the Department for International Development and published in the open-access journal, Environmental Research Letters, reveals that groundwater resources in Africa are orders of magnitude greater than the water present at the surface in rivers, lakes and wetlands. The quantitative maps draw from over 250 studies. The analysis reveals, however, that high-intensity abstraction of groundwater (e.g. individual wells pumping in excess of 10 litres per second) for irriga-tion and town water supplies may only be possible in a few areas. Low-intensity development of

groundwater may nevertheless prove an invaluable strategy in many parts of Africa to adapt to the current high variability that exists in surface water resources and rainfall which is expected to increase as a result of global warming.

View full paper here:

http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/7/2/024009/article?dm_i=U64,S88Q,4VVQDG,2CSCI,1

Water Security

Co-Director: Dr Richard Taylor, UCL Department of Geography

The water security theme was run by Dr Richard Taylor. Richard’s research interests fall primarily into two areas:1) the impact of climate change

and rapid development on freshwater resources with a particular focus on basin stores of freshwater; and

2) the role of groundwater in improving food security and access to safe water.

The water group organised a seminar series, a workshop event and a record-breaking publication.

London Water HackathonThe London Water Hackathon was a fun and successful event that attracted a total of over 40 developers and water problem solvers. The event begun with short introductory talks by Mark Charmer (akvo.org), Deepak Bhatia (World Bank), and hosts Julien Harou (UCL) and Emmanuel Letier (UCL).

The programmers and problem definers settled into 4 groups and produced 4 projects/products:

• BlooBelly - a personal shopping water footprint calculator.

The vision is an app that allows you to compare your water consumption with others in your social network, your street, etc. Objective is to make consumers aware of the water demands implied by their choices.

• Water trading portal - an international water trading system.

Imagine logging in and seeing the price of water mapped all over the world. An initial iPad app was made to investigate how this could work and what data needs and outputs could be relevant.

• Water supply-demand planning tool.

How do you plan 20 or 50 years of water supply and demand management (water conservation) interventions to minimise capital, operating, social & environmental costs while guaranteeing supply > demand with sufficient reliability. This HydroPlatform app does it in 1 page of code!

• Taarifa - the London Water Hackathon 1st prize winner!

Congratulations to the Taarifa 10-person team. In 30 hours of non-stop development they produced a functional website and app! Their work is designed to enhance the Ushahidi citizen reporting system to enable better managed sanitation complaints in Tanzania (soon globally).

The panel posed tough questions but in the end was supportive of all submissions. Prizes consisted of lots of Google gear and an IBM global conference call to promote the winning project.

Water Security Seminar Series

Highlights of the seminar series include:

An inter-departmental seminar series promoting interdisciplinary discussion and debate over water science within UCL.

Karen Hudson-Edwards, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (Birkbeck).Mining and Water: Contamination, Remediation and Future Issues.

Chiara Ambrosino, UCL Department of Statistical Sciences.Precipitation analysis for hydrology and water resources: some

statistical tools and models.

Sarah Bell, UCL Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering.The technical code of water in cities.

Julien Harou, UCL Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering.Policy and regulatory design for UK water and environment regulators - Building custom water management models.

Paul Sutherland & Willy Burgess, UCL Department of Earth Sciences.Effective vertical permeability in sedimentary basins – scoping the

impacts of Coal Bed Methane development on shallow groundwater.

UCL Environment Institute, Institute for Global Health and Urban Lab Seminar.

Elisa Roma, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.‘Sustainable sanitation initiatives in ‘Thekwini municipality, South Africa’.

Luiza Campos, UCL Environmental Engineering.‘Sustainable and resilient sanitation service chains for the urban poor’.

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Royal Society of Canada Panel on Oil Sands

The Canadian Oil Sands – an Environment Institute Debate, lecture by Professor Steve Hrudey

The ‘Environmental and Health Impacts of Canada’s Oil Sands Industry’ report, published in December 2010 was an investigation commissioned by the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) , and was the first in a ‘new series’ of expert panel reports. According to the RSC, this report is the most comprehensive evidence-based assessment of the full spectrum of major environmental and health impacts of Canada’s oil sands industry that has been available to the public to date. The expert

panel that produced this report was chaired by Professor Steven Hrudey, FRSC and Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta.

On 12th December 2011, the UCL Environment Institute held a debate to discuss the report’s findings. The development of the Canadian oil sands in northern

Alberta is a highly controversial topic that has raised important issues about energy security, decarbonisation, environmental degradation and international trade in energy. The UCL Environment Institute debate examined these and other issues. It offered an opportunity to hear the Chair of the Royal Society of Canada present the report of its expert panel on the environmental and health impacts of Canada’s oil sands industry, and to hear reactions from a UCL expert panel.

The debate was chaired by Prof. Yvonne Rydin, Professor of Planning, Environment and Public Policy and Director of the UCL Environment Institute, and the Panel comprised: Prof. Paul Ekins, Professor in Energy and Environment Policy, UCL Energy Institute; Prof. Catherine Redgwell, Professor of International Law, UCL Faculty of Laws; and Prof.Peter Sammonds, Professor of Geophysics, Director of UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction.

General EventsPublic Lectures

The Complex Physicsof Climate Change: Nonlinearity and Stochasticity

Lecture by Professor Michael Ghil

Recent estimates of climate evolution over the coming century still differ by several degrees.This uncertainty motivates in part the work presented in this lecture. The complex physics of climate change arises from the large number of components of the climate system, as well as from the wealth of processes occurring in each of the components and across them. This complexity has given rise to countless attempts to model each component and process, as well as to two overarching approaches to apprehend the complexity as a whole: deterministically nonlinear and stochastically linear. Call them the Ed Lorenz and the

Klaus Hasselmann approach, respectively, for short.

We propose a “grand unification” of these two approaches that relies on the theory of random dynamical systems. In particular, we apply this theory to the problem of climate sensitivity, and study the random attractors of nonlinear, stochastically perturbed systems, as well as the time-dependent invariant measures supported by these attractors.

Results are presented for several simple climate models, from the classical Lorenz convection model to El Nino-Southern Oscillation models. Their attractors support random Sinai-Ruelle-Bowen measures with nice physical properties. Applications to climate sensitivity and predictability are discussed.

This lecture is the result of recent collaborations with M.D. Chekroun, D. Kondrashov, J.C. McWilliams, J. D. Neelin, E. Simonnet, S. Wang, and I. Zaliapin.

Biography:Prof. Michael Ghil is Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), since July 1994, and Distinguished Professor of Geosciences (since September 2002) and Director of the Environmental Research and Teaching Institute (CERES-ERTI), since January 2003, at the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS), in Paris, where he also acted as Head of the Geosciences Department (July 2003-December 2009).


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Workshops

Climate Change & Cities Workshop held with Professor Sue Parnell

The UCL Environment Institute hosted a half day workshop with Professor Sue Parnell, who is one of the editors of “Climate Change at the City Scale: Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation in Cape Town”.

The chapters of the book draw from research that was commissioned from specialists under a partnership known as the “Cape Town Climate Change Think Tank”. Cape Town has long been acknowledged as an innovator in the area of urban environmental management. Few Southern cities have been as proactive or as successful as Cape Town in putting issues of global environmental change at the core of their governance philosophy and practice. As a highly unequal coastal city with limited resources to manage the demand for a more resilient and equitable future, the Cape Town response to climate change challenges presents an especially provocative case study of the challenges of urban transformation in the context of climate change.

Professor Parnell gave a short 30 minute presentation on “Climate

at the City Scale - reflections on the co-production of knowledge for local action from the Cape Town Climate Think Tank”. The Climate Think Tank brought together consultants, academics, activists and city administrators in an effort to establish a credible and locally useful evidence base to inform climate action in the City. The partnership was not without its stresses, but the ‘Think Tank’ established not only new local knowledge that has already informed action in the local authority, it also established an epistemic community of climate change leadership across the city region. Working in areas as diverse as climate science, legal reform, energy modelling and institutional and organizational change the findings of the first phase of the

‘Think Tank’ are to be published by Routledge (Earthscan) in May 2012. This talk presents highlights from the book and provides critical reflection on one cities’ collective experiences in responding to climate change.

We also invited Pete Daw, Policy & Programmes Manager - Climate Change Mitigation & Energy Development & Environment, Greater London Authority; Doug McNab, Sustainability Officer in Planning Environment & Regeneration, Islington Council and Paula Vandergert, Sustainability Research Fellow, Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London, to form a panel in response to Sue’s presentation.

Conferences

In Conjunction with the Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities:

UCL-Lancet Healthy Cities CommissionFollowing the first UCL-Lancet Commission on the Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change (published in The Lancet on 16 May 2009), UCL and The Lancet collaborated again on a second Commission report.

The Healthy Cities Commission is a UCL Sustainable Cities Grand Challenge (GCSC) project on the role that urban planning can and should play in delivering health improvements through reshaping the urban fabric of our cities.

The project has involved 19 academics and students from a variety of disciplines led by Prof. Yvonne Rydin, Director of the UCL Environment Institute and Professor of Planning, Environment and Public Policy in the UCL Bartlett School of Planning.The Commission’s report, Shaping Cities for Health: the Complexity of Planning Urban Environments

in the 21st Century, has now been published.

With almost 30 years’ experience from the Healthy Cities movement, the features that transform a ‘city’ into a ‘healthy city’ are increasingly evident. What is less well understood is how to deliver the potential health benefits and how to ensure that they reach all citizens in urban contexts across the world. This is an increasingly important task given that the majority of the world’s population already live in cities and that, with current high rates of urbanisation, many millions more will soon do so.

The UCL–Lancet Commission of Healthy Cities provides an analysis of how health outcomes are part of the complexity of urban processes, arguing against the assumption that urban health outcomes will improve with economic growth and demographic change. Instead, it highlights the role that urban planning can and should play in delivering health improvements through reshaping the urban fabric of our cities. The report considers this through case studies

of sanitation and wastewater management (Mumbai), urban mobility (Bogotá), building standards (London), the urban heat island effect (London) and urban agriculture (Havana and Accra). These are followed with a discussion of the implications of a complexity approach for planning of urban environments, emphasising project-based experimentation and evaluation leading to self-reflection and dialogue.

Key Messages• Cities are complex systems,

so that health outcomes are emergent properties;

• The urban advantage in health outcomes has to be actively promoted and maintained;

• Inequalities in health outcomes should be recognised at the urban scale;

• A linear or cyclical planning approach is insufficient in conditions of complexity;

• Urban planning for health needs to emphasise experimentation through projects;

• Evaluation leading to dialogue between stakeholders and self-reflection is essential.


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Writer-in-ResidenceJanuary 2011 – June 2012

David Finnigan

David is an Australian playright, theatre producer and festival director.

For more information please visit:www.bohointeractive.com

David produced a UCL Residency Report: Performance Piece on Climate Models.

Since founding science-theatre ensemble Boho Interactive in 2006, David Finnigan has developed a reputation as a significant emerging science/arts practitioner. Boho’s Game Theory-based play A Prisoner’s Dilemma presented seasons in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra and the Gold Coast, including at the 2007 Asia-Pacific Complex Systems Science Conference.

In 2009, Boho was funded to complete a residency in the Manning Clark House Cultural Centre to write and produce Food for the Great Hungers, a performance exploring Australian history and complex systems science. In 2010, Boho was co-commissioned by the Powerhouse Museum to produce and tour True Logic of the Future, an interactive science-fiction performance exploring issues of Climate and Global Change. Boho’s collaborators include scientists from CSIRO’s Centre for Sustainable Ecosystems, the Powerhouse Museum and the National Centre for Science and Technology (Questacon).

With Boho, David developed a diverse set of styles and techniques for live interactive performance. Building on pre-existing forms ranging from street performance, live art and computer gaming, Boho employed different techniques to elicit varying forms of audience participation and contributions. Over 2006-10, Boho developed and tested more than 15 unique

interactive performance formats. This array of forms include: a broad spectrum of interactive mechanisms; performer/audience relationships; passive/active involvement; narrative/experiential performances; and individual/large-scale audience involvement. Having consolidated this ‘menu’ of functioning mechanisms, David is now seeking to apply them to the field of participatory co-modelling.

This is a presentation of the results of his creative research residency at UCLEI. For this project David examined different forms of modelling. His research included looking at predictive climate simulations, participatory models for communities and governments, integrated assessment models, and the processes through which these scientific tools are translated into public policy and decision-making.

This research is the first phase of the development of a new theatre work, which will be developed over 2012-13. This work will be constructed in the form of a participatory model, which audiences will be able to engage with to develop a deeper understanding of a series of interconnected real-world phenomena, and use to reach a stable consensus as the basis for coordinated action. This report presents a summary of the research David conducted, with the support and advice of UCL scientists, and outlines the proposed format for the development of a new interactive work based on this research.

Often working outside the gallery space and in diverse contexts, Ackroyd & Harvey are acclaimed for large-scale architectural interventions where they grow landmark buildings with seedling grass. In 2007 they realised their largest temporary living public artwork ‘FlyTower’ on the exterior of London’s National Theatre.

They are also acknowledged for their pioneering work utilising the light-sensitivity of the pigment chlorophyll in making complex living photographs in seedling grass, receiving the NESTA Pioneer award, the Wellcome ‘Sci-Art’ award and the L’Oreal Grand Prize for this work.

Earlier in 2011 they were also selected for the major MAPPING THE PARK public art commission in the Olympic Park; their winning proposal comprises 10 artworks marking the entrances of the Park as a lasting legacy of the 2012 Games for future generations. The artists were also awarded special

mention in the ‘Prix COAL Art & Environment’ for their on-going project ‘Beuys’ Acorns.’

For their residency they held the Beuys’ Acorns Installation:Beuys’ Acorns, an artwork by Ackroyd & Harvey involving 250 sapling oak trees are displayed at the Southbank Centre this summer as part of Festival of the World. On Sunday 8th July guests, including writers Robert Holtom, Oliver Morton and Edward Parker will join Ackroyd & Harvey for an afternoon of conversation and debate. Placing a tree grown from Joseph Beuys’ famous artwork 7000 Oaks at the centre of their conversations, Ackroyd & Harvey and guests discuss the cultural, biological and climatic significance of trees and how art can act as a transformative agent.

The audience is encouraged to join the artists and guests in questioning and understanding the role of trees in the 21st century.

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Artists-in-Residence sponsored by

Artists-in-ResidenceJanuary – September 2012

Heather Ackroyd & Dan Harvey

For more information please visit: www.ackroydandharvey.com

UCL Environment Institute Writer-in-Residence UCL Environment Institute Artists-in-Residence

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On May 31st 2012 they presented at Hay Festival with Ed Gillespie (Futerra) and Steve Colling (Onearth) on The Art Response - 5 Images to Change the World - “From baby seals to flooding devastation, has the use of dra-matic imagery lost its potency to inform the climate change debate? Despite our short attention span, can an incredible image in our increasingly visual world still make an impact?”

www.hayfestival.com/p-4525-ed-gillespie-steve-colling-and-ackroyd-harvey.aspx

They are participating at a 5 day event (11-15 September 2012) at dOCUMENTA 13 in Germany organised by the Nature Addicts Fund.

http://na-natureaddictsfund.org/#/en/creations/artists/ackroyd-harvey

dOCUMENTA is highly prestigious in the art-world and the concentra-tion an art and sustainability is an excellent opportunity for us to further our connections and research. The UCLEI residency is key to supporting this.

Artists-in-ResidenceJanuary – September 2012

Heather Ackroyd & Dan Harvey

Artists Residenciesfor 2012-13

David Finnigan will undertake the second stage in the development of this new performance work looking at systems modelling and drawing on the UCL-Lancet Healthy Cities Report.

The UCL Environment Institute will also be funding a TippingPoint Commission: TippingPoint offer a range of activities centred on exposing artists from all art forms to the enormous challenges of climate change, working in tandem with the scientists at the forefront of the subject. TippingPoint’s role is to be a catalyst and to find new ways of increasing the level of engagement of artists in this complex issue.

TippingPoint is network-based organisation aiming to be a year

round ‘connector’ of the arts and climate science worlds. At the heart of our work is an inter-national programme of two-day gatherings where artists and scientists participate in an informal but intense series of meetings and exercises to provoke and engender collaborative thinking and creative work. We also offer points of engagement through one off events, conferences and public debates.

We launched the TippingPoint Commissions in 2009 – an open invitation to artists to propose performative work that in some way embraces climate change.

The UCL Environment Institute is funding the 2012 Commission, the work for which will be presented at next year’s Annual Report.

Artist-in-Residence

October 2012 – June 2013

David Finnigan

David is an Australian writer, theatre-maker, festival director and founding member of science-theatre ensemble Boho Interactive. From July - November 2011, David has been working at the UCL Environment Institute, examining different forms of modeling.

Working with Yvonne Rydin and other UCL researchers, David’s research has included looking at predictive climate simulations, participatory models for communities and governments, integrated assessment models, the processes through which these scientific tools are translated into public policy and decision-making and UCL’s inter-disciplinary report Building Health Into Cities. This research is the first phase of the development of a new model-based interactive performance, which will be developed over 2012-13.

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UCL Environment Institute Artists-in-Residence Artists Residencies for 2012-13

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The Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP) is a registered independent charity hosted by the UCL Environment Institute. They provide a neutral communication network and project management service for the Thames and its coastline within the Thames Gateway.

TEP won funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for their award winning project: the Thames Discovery Programme. This project was subsequently successfully transferred to the Museum of London Archaeology in March 2012, in order to continue its vital work with local volunteers, monitoring and recording the wide variety of cultural remains on the foreshore. TEP also supported staff working on the Balanced Seas Project and this was completed in July 2012. Working in partnership with those who have an interest in the marine environment, TEP’s aim was to identify and recommend Marine Conservation Zones for the inshore and off-shore waters of south-east England. The work goes to public consultation this autumn.

This year two new partnership projects have started:

• The Greater Thames Marshes Nature Improvement Area (NIA).

Key contact: Jo Roche, [email protected]

Biodiversity in the Greater Thames Marshes is in decline and struggling to compete with increasing pressures in the south east. This pilot project, deploying funding won from DEFRA in a national competition, will bring together skilled and enthusiastic residents and local communities, businesses, landowners and technical experts to work to restore and create habitats for wildlife. Increased public understanding and enjoyment of the environment will help to deliver greater resilience by the natural world to the effects of development and climate change. Our delivery partners are Greening the Gateway Kent and Medway, RSPB, Essex County Council, Environment Agency and Natural England.

• Water Framework Directive: Tidal Thames Catchment Pilot. Key contact: Amy Pryor,[email protected]

TEP, together with environmental charity Thames21, has been appointed by government to co-host a pilot project to complete a Tidal Thames Catchment Plan. The year-long project in 2012 is a step towards compliance with the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) which states that all rivers and other bodies of water across the Union should achieve ‘goodecological potential’ by 2027.

By co-working we can bring together the huge variety of stakeholders who have interests in the Tidal Thames and it is hoped we can extend the project beyond December 2012.

The core activities of TEP include running action groups. The Dredging and Sediment meetings offer an open forum for stakeholders to discuss key issues such as sediment contamination and the beneficial reuse of dredged materials, whilst

Affiliated Organisation: Thames Estuary Partnership(TEP)

Jill Goddard

Executive [email protected]

furthering understanding of the hydrodynamic processes within the estuary. The Fisheries Group brings together local fisherman and commercial bodies to voice concerns about the key impacts of the dynamic changes in the outer estuary. The Thames Learning Group, run in conjunction with the River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, is developing a new, web-based learning resource to help educators find outdoor centres and to download free materials.

TEP Events Equally important are our events – this year we held a summer networking gathering at UCL and our Annual Forum on the river on the Silver Sturgeon and had Minister Richard Benyon as the keynote speaker. Planning is underway for this year’s forum on November 14th at Glazier’s Hall, near London Bridge. Our twice yearly magazine ‘Talk of the Thames’ has a circulation of 5,500.

We are keen to support UCL students with a research interest in any matters relating to the Thames Estuary.

Please contact: Sue Harrington, [email protected], with any enquiries.

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Greater Thames Marshes Nature Improvement Area Map

UCL Environment Institute Affiliated Organisation: Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP)

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Visiting Professors

Professor Motoo Kusakabe

Motoo Kusakabe is the founder of the Open City Foundation and formerly the senior counsellor to the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Before joining EBRD, he worked for the World Bank as the Vice-President for Resource Mobilisation and Co-financing for six years. Professor Kusakabe was responsible for mobilising concessionary and grant resources for the Bank’s operations in poor countries and for enhancing donor relationship. He led the Bank’s initiative to promote global partnership programmes as the Chair of the Council of Development Grant Facility and has been instrumental in drumming up support for

the ICT and development, community-driven initiatives and promoted partnership with NGOs and foundations. He promoted various activities of the World Bank and its partner institutions relating to ICT, knowledge sharing and development, including the Community Telecenters.

After the retirement from the World Bank in January 2003, he spent half a year at Stanford University, on the Digital Vision Fellowship programme as a visiting scholar assisting fellows from different countries around the world to develop and implement their innovative projects using ICT for development.

Before joining the World Bank, he worked for the Japanese Ministry of Finance on international finance, liberalisation of domestic financial markets and developmental matters, and was appointed

as Deputy Commissioner of National Tax Administration in charge of international transfer taxation issues. He has a MA in Mathematics at the University of Tokyo and MPhil in Economics at Yale University.

He is currently developing the Community Carte Project.

The Community Carte System is a holistic welfare system to prevent social exclusion and has been designed by Professor Motoo Kusakabe, Director of the Open City Foundation, Former Vice-President of The World Bank. The ‘Community Carte Survey’ aims to investigate dynamic processes of ‘Social Exclusion’ asking questions about whether people feel deprived in their own sense of wellbeing or in social relationships. The questions covered 8 areas, including health, education, family, employment, housing

Visiting Professors - Talks & Activities

and neighbourhood. The survey was conducted in 3 cities, Tokyo, London and Liverpool. Professor Kusakabe will present his project which has been endorsed by the Japanese largest academic grant organization, JSPS, for a three-year testing in Tokyo, Liverpool and Melbourne. This socially-led innovation is part of the Open City Portal, an open-source platform developed by universities and development organisations, which enables small cities to create their tailor-made e-government portal.

ProfessorJim Penman

A physicist by training, Jim Penman has over thirty years’ experience in science, energy and the environment - firstly in university research and

consultancy, and from 1990 to 2012 for the UK government. For nearly twenty years he led the UK’s greenhouse gas response strategies programme, covering evaluation and assessment of greenhouse gas mitigation for UK Climate Change Programmes. He is a principal architect of the treatment of land-use, land use change and forestry in the climate negotiations and was the EU’s lead negotiator on LULUCF in Durban. He played a large part in establishing and developing REDD+ under the UNFCCC, including the guidance negotiated in Bali in 2007 which set the initial guidance for results-based payments.

He supported the initiative that led to the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and negotiated the 2008 Poznan Statement that increased political momentum of REDD+. He retired from DECC in January 2012 and become an Honorary Professor in the

Environment Institute at University College London.

His current interests include greenhouse gas inventory methodologies and the future development of the climate negotiations. He was awarded an OBE in 2009 in recognition of work on establishing the UK emissions mitigation evidence base, and in the international negotiations.

Invited Talks

Forestry and land use in the climate negotiations University of Oxford, School of Geography and the Environment, 26 April 2010.

Global Forest Observing Initiative, IPCC and UNFCCC Global Forest Observation Initiative Meeting organised by the Norwegian Space Agency, Tromsø, June 2012.

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Activities

Global Forest Observation InitiativeEstablished under the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the Global Forest Observation Initiative (GFOI) exists to improve the use of remote sensing data in forest monitoring. The priority is to meet the needs for a future climate agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Following an invitation from Australia, which co-leads the GFOI, Jim Penman chairs an international Advisory Group to ensure that GFOI will meet the needs of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The GFOI Task Force met at the UCL Environment Institute in April 2012 and, with input from the Advisory Group, will publish in 2013 a practical guidance document for countries and organisations to use in

integrating remote sensed and ground based data for forest-related greenhouse gas estimation.

This activity is supported by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Natural Environment Research Council.

Greenhouse Gas inventoriesA future climate agreement will only work if countries can agree on how to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and other sources, and emissions and removals from the atmosphere by land use. Jim Penman is the UK representative on the committee that steers development by the IPCC of the greenhouse gas inventory methods used by countries to report emissions to the UNFCCC. The IPCC is currently working on better estimation methods for greenhouse gases

associated with wetlands, and on the land use reporting requirements from the decisions made by the UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Durban in 2011. This activity is supported by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Climate Change ProgrammesAt the invitation of the UNFCCC Jim Penman acted as one of two Lead Reviewers for a UNFCCC review of the climate change programme of the United States of America. This is scheduled for publication later in 2013. There is a requirement under the UNFCCC for countries to report to the international community on their actions to address climate change. These reports are reviewed by international teams of experts coordinated by the UNFCCC Secretariat. Jim’s participation is supported by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

www.ucl.ac.uk/environment-institute

DirectorYvonne Rydin

Deputy DirectorMarianne Knight

Co-DirectorsBiodiversity - David Murrell Climate Change - Bill McGuire Cultures of Sustainability - Jerome Lewis Environmental Governance - Colin Provost Migration & Settlement - Laura VaughanSustainable Cities - Adriana Allen Water Security - Richard Taylor

AdministratorNina Crane

Visiting ProfessorsStephen BrownMotoo KusakabeJim PenmanMartin PoessinouwMike Young

Artists-in-ResidenceHeather Ackroyd and Dan HarveyDavid Finnigan

Special Advisor on Climate ChangeChris Rapley

Emeriti ProfessorsDavid GoodeRichard MuntonDavid Norse

Honorary Research AssociatesSimonetta Tunesi Jean McNeil

Image credit - front cover: Fotolia.

UCL ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE STAFF

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