WeCount on the BBC

AQMRC’s latest project, WeCount, was covered by the BBC website recently. The project is a 2 years citizen science initiative that seeks to engage citizens to count local transport using a low cost sensor and use that data to start a new dialogue on issues such as traffic planning, air pollution, active travel, road safety etc. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51123760

 

Paper on the implementation on the WFD in England and Scotland

Laura’s paper on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive has been accepted for publication in Water. The paper “Implementing the Water Framework Directive and Tackling Diffuse Pollution from Agriculture: Lessons from England and Scotland” explores how national governance arrangements either facilitated or hindered the adoption of stricter policies with regards to the delivery of agricultural and water policies on the ground in England and Scotland.  

 

 

CADTIME presented at the 2019 Royal Geographical Society Conference

Laura presented preliminary findings from the CADTIME project at the 2019 Royal Geographical Society Conference in London earlier in August. The presentation focussed on how geography and socio-economic status together influence the way air pollution and is experienced by citizens. The event was well attended and the presentation generated a good discussion on how to incorporate environmental justice issues in policymaking.

 

Dr Laura De Vito

Research Fellow: Air Quality Management Resource Centre

 

Faculty of Environment and Technology

University of the West of England

Coldharbour Lane

Bristol, BS16 1QY

Tel. 0117 32 85011

 

 

AQMRC research showcased on RTE

AQMRC research, in collaboration with University College Dublin, on ammonia and its impacts on Natura 2000 sites in Ireland will be showcased on the RTE television programme, Ear to the Ground. Dr David Kelleghan (UCD) will be discussing the work of the AmmoniaN2K project and the ammonia monitoring that has been undertaken in some sensitive bog habitats. The programme is to be shown on Thursday 19^th February 2019 at 7pm on RTE1.

AQMRC supporting the Environment Agency

AQMRC are supporting the Environment Agency to undertake a strategic review of the UK’s air quality monitoring network and explore how that network might evolve in the future. Dr Ben Williams is currently on secondment within the EA and is working alongside EA, University of York and Kings College London colleagues to build baseline evidence and enable UK air quality practitioners to have their say on the future network. Supported by Enda Hayes and Jo Barnes, the secondment is expected to run for approximately 12 months.

AQMRC represented at the Met Office Workshop

Enda Hayes and Jim Longhurst were invited to attend and present at the Met Office / UKRI workshop to inform the development of the Strategic Priorities Fund Clean Air Project. Run over three days in Exeter (6^th – 8^th February 2019), the event brought academics and practitioners from a number of backgrounds together to share their understanding of the challenges facing the system of air quality management and explore how the Strategic Priorities Fund could close these gaps.

ClairCity presented at the Scottish Government Annual Seminar

Enda was invited to present at the Scottish Government Annual Air Pollution Seminar organised by Ricardo (Edinburgh – 12^th February 2019). The event was well attended with over 85 registered delegates and covers a range of interesting topics from communication, to low cost sensors, to remote sensing for tail-pipe emission testing. Enda presented on the lessons learned from the ClairCity project on how to communicate air quality and carbon issues/solutions to the public and also drew from some of the findings from the Urban-ID and Upstream projects.

New paper on bioaerosol monitoring

Check out our new paper on Scoping studies to establish the capability and utility of a real-time bioaerosol sensor to characterise emissions from environmental sources published in Science of The Total Environment with our EndotoxII Project partners from Cranfield, Open University, Plymouth, Public Health England and the Environment Agency. The EndotoxII Project, funded by NERC (NE/M01163/1), is investigating the monitoring, modelling and public health impact of bioaerosols emissions from biowaste and intensive agricultural facilities. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718330845

 

 

Laura De Vito presents at the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen

Dr Laura De Vito (Air Quality Management Resource Centre) was at the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen to present the results of a project on the links between socioeconomic status and exposure to air and noise pollution. The project, led by Dr Jo Barnes (AQMRC) and in partnership with the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and Trinomics, assessed the latest evidence and state of knowledge regarding the role of socioeconomic factors in determining exposure, susceptibility and vulnerability to air pollution and noise. The results of the project contributed to inform the EEA’s Knowledge Innovation Actions and the debate about environmental justice in Europe.

 

Supporting the Eden Project's Invisible Worlds Expo

AQMRC are very excited to have had the opportunity to support the development of the Eden Project's Invisible World Exhibition. The permanent exhibition, which is due to open on 25th May 2018, aims to reveal a world beyond our senses: too big, too small, too fast, too slow, too far away in space and time. Enda Hayes @ AQMRC has been helping colleagues at Eden to ensure that narrative on the 'Pollution and Solutions' section of the exhibition is scientifically robust and relevant.

Tim presents new work on sustainability of new housing developments at AAG

On Tuesday 10th April, Tim gave a presentation at the 2018 meeting of the American Associati9n of Geographers looking at the energy performance of new housing developments in the UK.

The presentation clearly exposes the issue that whilst we are improving the electricity and gas consumption of new housing, the new developments appear to be significantly driving up car use.

Chatterton, T. (2018) Sustainable developments? Assessing the direct energy (building and vehicles) consumption of new housing developments in the United Kingdom using social and structural benchmarking. In: American Association of Geography Annual Meeting 2018, New Orleans, Louisiana, 9-14 April 2018. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/35704/1/Tim%20Chatterton%20-%20AAG2018%20Sustainable%20Developments%20%28Circulation%29.pdf

New UK Centre on Energy Demand announced

Tim is Co-Investigator on a new £19.5 million research centre funded by the EPSRC and ESRC that has been announced today.

The  UK Centre for Research on Energy Demand (UKCRED) brings together a world-leading and multi-disciplinary group of over 40 academics at 13 institutions across the UK, and will be led by the RCUK Energy Demand Research Champion, Professor Nick Eyre, at the University of Oxford.

 

The centre will develop and deliver internationally leading research, focusing on energy demand from a systemic, socio-technical perspective.

 

https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/newukcentreforresearchonenergydemandannouncedbyepsrcandesrc/

 

 

 

Tim gives kick-off plenary presentation at Air Quality 2018 Conference

On Monday 12^th March, Tim gave the introductory plenary presentation at the 2018 Air Quality: Science and Application conference in Barcelona.  The talk, “Putting People at the Heart of Air Quality Management”, based around the work of the ClairCity (www.ClairCity.eu), MOT (www.MoOTproject.net) and Disruption (www.DisruptionProject.net/ www.fleximobility.solutions) posed challenges to the scientific air pollution community to work view air pollution as a social problem as well as ether an environmental one.

 

A copy of the one-page abstract and slides is available from the link below:

Chatterton, T., Hayes, E., Barnes, J., De Vito, L., Boushel, C., Husby, T., Ivanova, O., Csobod, E., Szuppinger, P. and Heves, G. (2018) Putting people at the heart of air quality management. In: Air Quality 2018: Science and Application, Barcelona, Spain, 12-16 March 2018. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/35484

Tim Gives Masterclass on Planning and Air Quality

On 20^th January, Tim presented at a Developer Masterclass on “Air quality and its impact on planning and development”.

The event was hosted by TLT and Peter Brett Associates and held at the TLT offices in Bristol.  Tim presented alongside Graham Harker, the Air Quality Team Leader at PBA.

 

Tim talking to DEFRA, NCAS and TSUG

On the morning of 17th January, Tim will be present in work from ClairCity, Disruption and the MOT project to a DEFRA policy workshop coordinated by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science. The invited presentation will deal with developing a more social approach to air quality management.

In the afternoon, he we be presenting work from the MOT project to the Transport Statistics User Group at TfL.  This presentation will look at the spatial and temporal diffusion of hybrid and electric vehicles in Great Britain.

For more info on these projects see:

ClairCity www.ClairCity.EU

MOT www.MOTproject.net

Disruption www.Fleximobility.Solutions

TIm on Plenary Panel Session about AQ at UTSG 2018 Annual Conference

On Thursday 4th January, Tim will be participating on a plenary panel discussion on 'Tackling Air Pollution in the UK – what more should we be doing?' At the 50th Universities Transport Study Group Snnual Conference in London.

Enda presents ClairCity at IAPSC

Enda was invited to present at the Investigation of Air Pollution Standing Conference (IAPSC) on the ClairCity Project (4^th December 2017). Presenting to a room full of local authority officers, academics and air quality/environmental consultants, the ClairCity project was well received with a number of questions raised regarding public engagement and how to involve ‘hard-to-reach’ communities. A number of local authorities expressed an interest in becoming associated partners and learning more from the Bristol case study and wider ClairCity experience.

Enda speaking at Horizon 2020 Information Day

Enda was invited by EASME at the European Commission to Brussels to speak at a Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 5 Information Day on Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th November 2017. Enda will be speaking about the experience of putting together the consortium and proposal for the ClairCity Project (www.claircity.eu).

MOT project Outreach and Impact

Today, Tim will be attending the “Data, driven” event at the RAC Foundation to present work from UWE’s Motor vehicle Ownership and Trends in the UK (MOT) project www.MOTproject.net, alongside project colleagues Prof. Jillian Anable, Dr Sally Cairns and Prof. Eddie Wilson.

 

The event is launching a new report from the project that has been commissioned by the RAC Foundation.  The report, MOToring along: The lives of cars seen through licensing and test data, presents a vibrant and colourful look at some of the huge range of information and knowledge that the project has extracted from the MOT vehicle test data recent.y released by the Department for Transport (who were also project partners).   This event marks a soft launch of the report, prior to its full public launch next week.

 

In addition to today’s event at the RAC Foundation, Tim, Sally and Eddie also attended a workshop yesterday at the Department of Transport to provide support on the government’s work to use the MOT dataset to produce offical vehicle mileage statistics.

 

 

Tim invited to DfT Foresight Roundtable

On 28th September, Tim will be an invited participant at the DfT foresight Roundtable event in London on the Future of Mobility.

The Foresight Future of Mobility project aims to answer the question: 'What opportunities could the transport system of the future provide, and what are the implications for government and society?' The project has strong engagement with policymakers across government, with the aim of informing policy to make best use of new technologies with the potential to transform the UK transport landscape. The project has identified sustainability as an important driver of change in this area. The purpose of the roundtable is to explore the opportunities for innovation to deliver improved outcomes from the transport system, the barriers to implementation of these opportunities, and possible actions that can be taken to overcome these barriers. It forms part of a series of roundtables addressing other key areas of interest to the project.     

The AQMRC's initial response to the 'UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations'

The AQMRC have set out their initial response with regards to the UK government's latest air quality plan.

The response can be found in full, here: http://www.claircity.eu/2017/08/03/uk-plan-for-tackling-roadside-nitrogen-dioxide-concentrations/

 


 
 

Jim delivers air quality keynote at the first CIEH air quality conference

Last week Jim had the pleasure of delivering a keynote at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health’s first air quality conference.   The morning session of the conference discussed and critiqued the Government’s long-awaited plans to improve air quality in the UK through the draft revised UK Air Quality Plan for “Tackling   nitrogen dioxide in our towns and cities”.

 

You can view Jim’s presentation in UWE’s Research Repository at http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/32405/  or  read the short article he published on LinkedIn here    

 

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 

Ben discusses air pollution on Voice of Islam Breakfast Show

Ben discussed the global causes and consequences of air pollution with other contributors on the Voice of Islam Breakfast Show this morning. Also discussed briefly were the ways of improving air quality globally. The breakfast show podcast can be found here: http://voiceofislam.co.uk/podcasts/breakfast-show-podcast-23-05-2017/ in due course.
 
 

UWE ClairCity Team heading to Hungary

The UWE ClairCity team is heading to Hungary en masse to attend ClairCity project meetings and our first Annual Conference in Szentendre just north of Budapest. Jo, Laura and Corra are running training events for the project partners on social media and how to run the Delphi process. Jim is chairing a special session with the External Advisory Board. While, Enda, Tim and Andy are all presenting at the Conference and running dedicated work packages sessions. More details of the conference can be found here http://www.claircity.eu/2017/02/28/claircity-conference-agenda-released/. It should be an exciting three days!!

Enda interviewed by DESMOG UK

Enda was interview by DESMOG UK who were investigating funding cuts on the local authorities and the impact it has had on their ability to fulfil their LAQM responsibilities. Article can be found here - https://www.desmog.uk/2017/05/19/local-authority-air-pollution-reporting-failures

Tim to speak at Institution of Civil Engineers 'Big Debate'

Tim has been invited to participate in the Institution of Civil Engineers Big Debate where panellists are invited to argue for and against a topic. This year it will take place on Monday 5^th June 2017 from 18:30 to 20:00 in the Thomas Telford Theatre of One Great George Street. (see the link here: https://www.ice.org.uk/events/the-big-debate-a-growing-city-is-a-polluting-city)

The topic is 'A growing city is a polluting city: Will London always have an air quality problem?'.

AQMRC contributes to NERC/ASDC Workshop

Enda was invited by the Association of Science and Discovery Centres and NERC to an 'ideas charette' for a new initiative called Our Planet Earth. Funded by NERC, ASDC in association with Eden Project, Natural History Museum and Dynamic Earth are developing an inspirational and exciting national hands-on environmental science programme celebrating the science of the natural environment, the latest research and the scientists who make it happen, through activities and experiments for families and the wider public delivered through the UK's science and discovery centres and science museums. The ideas charette brought together people from a variety of backgrounds to come up with new ideas and to address specific questions including NERC scientists, university researchers as well as public engagement professionals from ASDC, Dynamic Earth, Eden Project, Natural History Museum and others. 

Enda gave a presentation on AQMRC research such as the NERC funded CADTIME, EndotoxII and Biomold projects and utilising props like the Bristol AQMA Floor Map, Enda demonstrated the approaches that AQMRC have utilised to communicate and engage the public. Enda and AQMRC hope to continue supporting the initiative as it develops in the coming months to ensure that air pollution is part of this exciting initiative. 

Tim giving presentation to Ricardo-AEA

On Wednesday 26^th April, Tim will be giving an ‘Airspot’ seminar at Ricardo-AEA, Harwell on the RCUK funded Motoring and vehicle Ownership and Trends (MOT) project (www.MOTproject.net)

 

 

Jo on ITV Westcountry News tonight

ITV Westcountry News will be reporting this evening in their 6 pm bulletin on air pollution and proximity to nursery schools. Jo was asked to contribute as an air quality expert to talk about the health effects and management options, in which she highlighted the ClairCity research AQMRC are currently involved in (www.claircity.eu).