A busy few months for Jim and the AQMRC

AQMRC’s Professor Jim Longhurst has had a busy few months sharing the research outcomes of AQMRC with various international audiences.  

In April, along with Dr Jo Barnes and Professor Carlos Brebbia he co- chaired the 25th International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution, organised by Wessex Institute of Technology, UWE Bristol and the University of Cadiz.  Read the conference report at http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2017/air-pollution-2017.  He delivered the conference opening keynote paper entitled “The Continuing Challenge of Managing Local Air Quality: a UK Perspective”.  Jo and Dr Ben Williams made presentations on their current work which were very well received.  The 26^th Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution conference, organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology, UWE Bristol and the Parthenope University of Naples will be held at the Villa Doria d’Angri, Naples between 19 - 21 June 2018. Conference details are at  http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2018/air-pollution-2018,

In May, Jim attended the Clair City annual conference in Szentendrei, Hungary where he chaired the special session for the External Advisory board. He provided a concluding reflection on the conference themes and a horizon scan of the issues and challenges arising from interactions between air pollution, climate change and public health in the period to 2050. 

In June, he was invited to speak at a workshop in Essen organised by the World Bank’s  Pollution Management and Environmental Health team for the delegation from the  environmental protection administrative agencies in the Jingjinji Region of China. This region centred on Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei is home to some 100 million people.

Jim provided two contributions at the workshop, in the first he reviewed British air pollution control policies up to and including the 1956 Clean Air Act. In the second he considered contemporary UK air quality management issues and policies.

Read about the work of   the World Bank’s   Pollution Management and Environmental Health team here.  The site contains a useful set of resources.

Read about the Jingjinji Region  here

 

 

 

 

 

 

AQMRC Air Quality Consultation Response

The AQMRC have responded to Defra's latest consultation on 'Improving air quality: national plan for tackling nitrogen dioxide in our towns and cities'. Our response can be found here: http://www.claircity.eu/2017/06/16/partner-response-to-uk-government-consultation-on-clean-air/

  

 

 

Enda interviewed by Statistics Netherlands

Enda was interview by CBS - Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek [NL] or Statistics Netherlands on the ClairCity project. https://corporate.cbs.nl/#articleId=a597f74b-38b0-401f-8339-e046064ec99e-nl-nl

 

New paper by Tim on Practice Theory and Social Marketing

Tim has just had a paper published in the Journal of Social Business looking at interdisciplinary opportunities between social practice theory and social marketing.

 

The paper is written with colleagues Fiona Spotswood, Yvetter Morey and Sara Spear in the Faculty of Business and Law at UWE.

 

Spotswood, F., Chatterton, T., Morey, Y., & Spear, S. (2017). Practice-theoretical possibilities for social marketing: two fields learning from each other. Journal of Social Marketing, 7(2), 156-171.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/JSOCM-10-2016-0057

 

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce key concepts from practice theory (PT) to the social change agenda and draw on the unique contributions of the social marketing field. PT has underpinned a growing stream of research in pro-environmental studies seeking to reduce impacts of particular behaviours, but it remains theoretical. By drawing on social marketing’s applied roots, this paper introduces a practice-theoretical intervention planning process (P-TIPP) which frames the unique contribution of social marketing in behaviour change and foregrounds practice- not individual-level change.

Design/methodology/approach

The P-TIPP draws on the total process planning model, introducing the concept of “practice as entity” and “practice as performance” to frame intervention planning tasks. The process locates the contribution of social marketing within a transdisciplinary framework which emphasises transforming collective conventions.

Findings

This is a conceptual paper, but the possibility for PT to make a significant contribution to the world of social marketing is outlined.

Research limitations/implications

P-TIPP is untested. Also, practices can be difficult to identify and somewhat abstract. Finally, it can be challenging to introduce the approach to policy, funding and practitioner procedures.

Practical implications

The implications of P-TIPP are that social change interventions are devised, underpinned and planned using insights from PT, such as the way behavioural patterns fit into broader understandings of practice. The subsequent social change agenda will be inherently transdisciplinary, sustainable and reduce focus on individual power to change.

Originality/value

This paper is a first attempt at exploring what PT, and social marketing can learn from each other for the future effectiveness of social change activity.

 

Tim speaking at ICE Big Debate tonight

Tonight Tim will be one of four speakers at the Institution of Civil Engineers annual 'Big Debate'.

This year's title is "A growing city is a polluting city: Will London always have an air quality problem?" 

5 June, 2017 | 18:30 - 20:00

About the Event

Air pollution is one of London's greatest environmental challenges. Nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions from road transport, domestic and commercial gas use, aviation and construction have led to a significant health risk to those living, visiting and working in the city. Up to 9,400 Londoners died prematurely due to toxic air in 2010 and the Capital continues to breach EU legal limits.

Some say that as a growing city, predicted to have 11 million residents by 2050, London will always face air quality issues. More people travelling around the city, increasing congestion on the road, a reliance on gas boilers in old building stock and high levels of construction activity have all contributed to poor air quality and are unlikely to change. Perhaps we have to accept that a growing city will always be a polluting city and instead focus our efforts on changing lifestyles to reduce exposure to pollutants. We can do this through monitoring pollution and keeping people away from the most polluted streets on days of particularly poor air quality.

On the other hand, some say that we can solve the problem. Through a mixture of incentives, such as vehicle scrappage schemes and disincentives, such as road user charges, we can have a city where growth does not come at the expense of the environment. We can change our construction methods, replace the most polluting vehicles and gas boilers and make new developments greener. It may take time, but with the correct policies, greater public awareness and buy-in from different sectors, London could finally solve its air quality problem.

The ICE London G&S Big Debate will present both sides of the argument, before asking you, the audience, who was most persuasive.

Speakers

Professor Peter Hansford, Chair of Construction and Infrastructure Policy, UCL

Chair.

For

Kathryn Woolley, Senior Air Quality Consultant, Hilson Moran

Tim Chatterton, Senior Research Fellow, University of West England

Against

Simon Birkett, Founder and Director, Clean Air in London

Rob Rule, Group Business Development Director, Hexadex

Tim speaking at running workshop at eceee summer study

From 29th May to 3rd June, Tim attended the eceee (European Council for and Energy Efficient Economy) summer study in Hyeres, France. He presented a paper (to a packed out room) on "Making your energy behaviour research relevant to policy" based on the experiences of having carried out two evidence reviews for DECC/BEIS.

REpresenting the ClairCity (Citizen Led Air Pollution Reduction in Cities www.ClairCity.eu), he also ran a workshop on transferring learning on behaviour from the energy sector to air quality management with Dr Sea Rotmann from International Energy Agency Demand Side Management programme Task XXIV and Theresa from Graz Energy Agency