Air Pollution 2013 - Call for Papers from the Wessex Institute

UWE is delighted to collaborate with the Wessex Institute of Technology and the University of Siena to organise Air Pollution 2013. This will be the 21st meeting in this important and influential series. The call for papers is now open. Please see the details below.

Organised by: Wessex Institute of Technology, UK                        University of the West of England, UK                        University of Siena, Italy Sponsored by: WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment; International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning To learn more about the Wessex Institute of Technology please click here. View full details about the conference objectives, topics and submission requirements online at: http://www.wessex.ac.uk/air2013rem1.html

Benefits of Attending ·         Conference Books Papers are published in paper and digital format and widely distributed throughout the world.  Delegates will receive a copy of the book in digital format at the time of registration. Papers are also archived at http://library.witpress.com ·         Open Access Authors have the option to make their work available in Open Access format for wider dissemination. ·         Journal Papers Presenters will be invited to submit a paper to one of the six International Scientific Journals edited by the Wessex Institute. ·         Networking Participants can present their research and interact with experts from around the world, becoming part of a unique community.

Abstract Submission

Submit an abstract online at: http://www.wessex.ac.uk/air2013rem1.html or contact the Conference Secretariat below.

Conference Topics

Air pollution modelling Monitoring and measuring Air quality management Indoor air pollution Aerosols and particles Emission studies Air pollution chemistry Source identification Global and regional studies Exposure and health effects Economics of air pollution control Policy and legislation Case studies Innovative technologies

Conference Secretariat

Irene Moreno Millan Wessex Institute of Technology, Ashurst Lodge, Ashurst, Southampton, SO40 7AA Telephone: 44 (0) 238 029 3223      Fax: 44 (0) 238 029 2853 Email: imoreno@wessex.ac.uk Please circulate this announcement to colleagues who may be interested in this conference. They can subscribe by emailing enquiries@wessex.ac.uk with 'Subscribe - Air Pollution 2013' as the subject line. Follow us on:  Facebook Twitter Blogger

Email Policy

We endeavour to email you information relevant to your field. However, if you are now specialising in another field and wish to receive news relevant to this area, or if you no longer wish to be included in this list please email: enquiries@wessex.ac.uk

Presentation at Behaviour, Energy and Climate Change

Tim has had a paper accepted for the prestigious Behaviour, Energy and Climate Change conference in Sacremento in November. The paper will be presenting the work that he has been doing with DECC on developing a multi-model approach to tackling 'Energy Behaviour'.

Tim gives keynote lecture at Trinity College, Dublin

Last week, Tim attended a high profile air quality workshop at Trinity College, Dublin. He gave a keynote presentation on "Air Quality, Climate Change and Energy in thenUK: Moving towards integrated management?"' as well as chairing a session. As well as presenters from Trinity itself, speakers included Dr Steen Jensen from Aarhus University in Denmark, Dr Prashant Kumar from Surrey University and Dr Francesco Calabrese from the IBM Smart Cities programme.

Jo presents at Care4Air conference

Jo attended the Care4Air Clearer Future conference "Air Quality in 2012" held at the Mansion House, Doncaster, yesterday. The one-day conference was well-attended and included presentations from ITN's Clare Nasir, talking about the Healthy Air Campaign, ClientEarth's Karla Hill, who spoke about taking the government to task for their failure to meet the EU Limt Values, and Defra's Robert Vaughan, who gave an update on UK air quality policy. Jo presented the findings from the local authority questionnaire survey, conducted by AQMRC and Air Quality Consultants, to voice Environmental Health Officers' concerns about Local Air Quality Management and to identify the barriers to local air quality action planning in the UK. The presentation was well-received and chimed with the earlier presentations from Karla and Robert.

Jim to serve on FCT Environment and Global Change Panel

Following a recommendation from the Portuguese Scientific Council for Natural & Environmental Sciences, the Board of Directors of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) have invited Professor Jim Longhurst to serve as a member of the Environment and Global Change panel. Jim will participate in the evaluation of research applications received under the 2012 call for proposals in the sub themes of Global Environmental Change, Sustainable Management of Resources, Environmental Technologies and Environmental Modelling and Assessment.

FCT is the public research-funding agency in Portugal which selects and distributes research funds for a wide range of scientific fields of research.

For further information about FCT visit http://www.fct.pt/

Rose's paper included in European Commission 'Science for Environmental Policy' news bulletin

Rose's recent paper published in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, entitled 'Exploring a city's potential low carbon futures using Delphi methods: some preliminary findings', was selected for inclusion in this week's 'Science for Environmental Policy' news alert.
Science for Environmental Policy is a free news and information service published by Directorate-General Environment, European Commission. It is designed to help the busy policymaker keep up-to-date with the latest environmental research findings needed to design, implement and regulate effective policies. 
More information on Rose's research can be found on her webpage.

Rose wins the 2012 John Rose Award from the Institution of Environmental Sciences

Rose has been announced as the 2012 winner of the John Rose Award from the Institution of Environmental Sciences, for her research exploring the low carbon futures for the Bristol region. The award aims to help exceptional research fulfil its potential by communicating it beyond the scientific community. A £1,000 grant is awarded to a project that demonstrates innovative, quality research in environmental sciences. The grant will be used for media training and the dissemination of the winner’s project, aiding in promoting the work as widely as possible and so maximise its value.

Rose intends to use the grant, with support from project partners Bristol City Council and in collaboration with the Create Centre, to produce an exhibition of her work, and hopes to collaborate with UWE's award winning animation department to produce an animation of life in 2050 low carbon Bristol!

More information on the award can be found here: http://www.ies-uk.org.uk/awards/awards.php

More information on Rose and her research can be found here: http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/rose.html

18th International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment

18th International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment
15 - 17 May 2012, A Coruña, Spain

Jim Longhurst is co-chairing the 18^th meeting of the Urban Transport conference series and will deliver the conference Keynote address on the 15^th of May. With Carlos Brebbia Jim has also edited  the proceedings of the conference which are published by WIT Press. The conference has been organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology and UWE, Bristol and is the latest in a successful series of collaborations between the two institutions.

Keynote Address

J.W.S. Longhurst, J.H. Barnes, T.J. Chatterton & E.T. Hayes (2012) Managing transport induced urban air quality – A review of British experience. Presented at Urban Transport XVIII,  A Coruña, Spain, May 2012

20th International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution

20th International Conference on Modelling,
Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution
16 - 18 May,
A Coruña, Spain

Jim Longhurst is co-chairng the 20^th meeting of the Air Pollution conference  series and will deliver the conference Keynote address on the 16^th of May. With Carlos Brebbia Jim has also  edited  the proceedings of the conference which are published by WIT Press. The conference has been organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology and UWE, Bristol and is the latest in a successful series of collaborations between the two institutions.

Keynote address:

M.A. Fagbeja, J.L. Hill, T.J. Chatterton, J.W.S. Longhurst  & J.O. Akinyede (2012)  Managing air quality in the Niger delta. Presented at Air Pollution XX, A Coruña, Spain, May 2012

The research of Jo Barnes and Dotun Olowoporoku is also being presented at the conference.

J. H. Barnes, E. T. Hayes & J. W. S. Longhurst (2012) Air quality action planning: barriers to remediation in local air quality management. Presented at Air Pollution XX,  A Coruña, Spain, May 2012

A. O. Olowoporoku, J. W. S. Longhurst & J. H. Barnes (2012) Framing air pollution as a major health risk in Lagos, Nigeria. Presented at Air Pollution XX, A Coruña, Spain, May 2012

Forthcoming Title - Air Pollution XX

Air Pollution XX DESCRIPTION: The book contains papers presented at the twentieth in a series of annual International Conferences dealing with Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution. Papers in this proceedings deal with advances in a wide variety of topics, including: Air Pollution Modelling; Air Quality Management; Emission Studies; Monitoring and Measuring; Aerosols and Particles; Atmospheric Chemistry; Indoor Air Pollution; Policy Studies; Climate Change and Air Pollution; Regional and Global Studies; Exposure and Health Effects; Rural Pollution Studies; Air Pollution Effects on Ecosystems; Air Pollution Mitigation; Case Studies. EDITORS: J.W.S. LONGHURST, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK and C.A. BREBBIA, Wessex Institute of Technology, UK SUBJECT: Air Pollution ISBN: 978-1-84564-582-3 eISBN: 978-1-84564-583-0 PAGES: 500 CONTENTS: ·  Section 1: Air pollution modelling ·  Section 2: Air quality management ·  Section 3: Air pollution problems in Thailand ·  Section 4: Emission studies ·  Section 5: Indoor air pollution ·  Section 6: Monitoring and measuring ·  Section 7: Air pollution mitigation ·  Section 8: Health effects ·  Section 9: Innovative technologies ·  Section 10: Carbon sequestration    Click Here For More Information  For information on all our books on this subject, please visit: Air Pollution     Download our Book Catalogue & Read our latest Reviews To find out more information about our books, please contact Simon or Dee: Simon Ibbotson WIT Press UK Marketing Co-ordinator Tel: +44 (0)238 029 3223 Fax: +44 (0)238 029 2853 Email: sibbotson@witpress.com Dee Halzack WIT Press USA Marketing Manager Tel: (1) 978 667 5841 Fax: (1) 978 667 7582 Email: dhalzack@witpress.com eBooks are available from these eBook vendors: dawsonera E.B.L. ebrary EBSCO Please note: We endeavour to e-mail you information relevant to your field. However, if you are now specializing in another field and wish to receive news relevant to that area, or if you no longer wish to be included in this list please email: database@wessex.ac.uk

Forthcoming paper

Everard, M., Pontin, B., Appleby, T., Staddon, C., Hayes, E.T., Barnes, J.H., Longhurst, J.W.S. (In press) Air as a common good.  Environmental Science & Policy

AQMRC’s Jo Barnes, Enda Hayes and Jim Longhurst have collaborated with lawyers Tom Appleby and Ben Pontin and ecosystem services expert Mark Everard to explore the question of air as a common good. In the paper, to be published later this year in Environmental Science & Policy,  legal, technical, social and systems approaches are used to explorer  how the ecosystem services framework might inform management of the air.

Farewell, Mo!

Following his  successful PhD viva  Mofoluso is returning to Nigeria after 4 years in AQMRC, UWE  researching  for his PhD. Mo rejoins the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) in Abuja and will continue to collaborate with AQMRC on a range of air quality and carbon management issues. Mo will return to the UK in July 2012 to attend his graduation ceremony and in the meantime will continue to publish the findings of his PhD in the peer review literature.

All colleagues in AQMRC wish Mo a safe journey home and send best wishes for the resumption of his career in NASRDA.

Jo presents at IAQM Action Planning meeting

Jo was invited to speak at the IAQM meeting on Action Planning last Wednesday (18th April) and presented her research on: "Barriers to developing and implementing local Air Quality Action Plans". She was joined by Simon Baldwin (Welsh Government), Steve Moorcroft (Air Quality Consultants Ltd), and Robert Vaughan and Emily Connolly (Defra). The presentations were well-received and prompted a very intense and interesting debate around the future of Air Quality Action Planning in the UK. The presentations will be uploaded to the IAQM website shortly - http://www.iaqm.co.uk/. Thanks to Bernard Fisher and Clare Beattie for organizing and Roger Barrowcliffe for chairing.

Congratulations to Jo

The Air Quality Management Resource Centre is pleased to announce the promotion of Jo Barnes to Research Fellow. Congratulations to Jo on this well-earned promotion!

Jo delivering LAQM training to Devon local authorities

Jo will be delivering a two-day workshop of LAQM training to Environmental Health Officers from across Devon on 19th-20th April. The event, hosted by Plymouth City Council, will provide an introduction to LAQM for EHOs who have recently taken on an air quality role. The training materials are drawn from the Air Quality and Carbon Management short courses which the AQMRC run in conjunction with the MSc Air Quality and Carbon Management. Further details on the MSc and on the short courses can be found on the UWE website (http://courses.uwe.ac.uk/H22A1/2012). Alternatively, if you would like us to come and deliver bespoke training for your local authority or region, please contact jo.barnes@uwe.ac.uk.

Jo to present at IAQM Action Planning meeting

Jo will be presenting at the IAQM Action Planning meeting in London this afternoon. Her presentation, entitled 'Barriers to developing and implementing local Air Quality Action Plans', will draw on the findings of her PhD research so far and the LAQM review questionnaire undertaken by AQMRC, UWE and Air Quality Consultants as part of a report to Defra in 2010. Other presentations include Simon Baldwin, Welsh Government: 'Examples of Actions Plans illustrating ‘better practice’ in terms of the integrated environmental policies', Steve Moorcroft, Air Quality Consultants ‘Efficiency of Action Plans (Defra study)’, Emily Connolly and Robert Vaughan, Defra: ‘Review of LAQM – outlining the options for a future regime’.

Tim speaking at international development conference

Tim giving a presentation on Air Quality, Climate Change and Development, and participating in a panel discussion today at the Bristol International Development Conference. http://www.bristolidc.org/index.html

Sent from my BlackBerry

Energy Behaviour Review

On Wednesday, Tim attended the inception meeting with DECC for the review of energy use and behaviour change in the domestic sector.  The work is being led by the RAND Europe, with Tim and Dr Charlie Wilson from the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia employed as additional energy experts.

 

Dotun's new publication available online

Dotun Olowoporoku, Enda Hayes, James Longhurst, and Graham Parkhurst (2012) The rhetoric and realities of integrating air quality into the local transport planning process in English local authorities. Journal of Environmental Management 101 (2012). pp. 23 -32.

This paper highlights the policy and practice of integrating air quality management into transport planning. It provided evidence of the deprioritisation of air quality management within the LTP2 process.  The paper is available online, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.01.017

Mofoluso's presentation at the 2012 AAG Annual General Meeting in New York

Manhattan skyline taken while aboard a ferry from Staten Island. Picture by Fagbeja Mofoluso

Mofoluso attended the 2012 Association of American Geographers (AAG) Annual Conference at the Hilton Hotel, New York 24 - 28 February 2012. He presented a paper titled, 'Developing an emission inventory of air pollutants and GHGs from residential sources in the Niger Delta'. The paper focused on the methodological approach used to develop the area-source component of the Niger Delta Emission Inventory (NDEI) infrastructure, which he constructed for his PhD study. The process of generating input data for the infrastructure are also discussed during the presentation. The presentation has been developed into a journal paper, which will be submitted for peer review and publication. Find out more about Mofoluso's research here

Publication in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

Bailey, R., Longhurst, J.W.S., Hayes, E.T., Hudson, L., Ragnarsdottir, K.V., and Thumim, J. (2012) Exploring a city’s potential low carbon futures using Delphi methods: some preliminary findings. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management (In Press.)

Rose’s paper is now available online, at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09640568.2011.635192

The paper discusses the results from the first round of Delphi questionnaire survey that Rose undertook with a large expert group, to create scenarios for a low carbon 2050 Bristol region.

More information about Rose's research can be found on her webpage here.

Ozone Contract - Inception Meeting

On Thursday 16^th February Tim  represented UWE along with other colleagues from the EU AQDD Review consortium to present the inception report for the review of ozone contract to the European Commission.

TfL Olympics Travel Behaviour Legacy

 

On Wedesday 22^nd February, Tim has been invited to attend a TfL workshop on how to maximise the legacy of the Olympics in terms of improvements in travel behaviour.  He will be representing the Disruption project www.disruptionproject.net

UWE awarded the Carbon Trust Standard

UWE has been officially recertified and awarded the Carbon Trust Standard which shows we have taken real action on climate change by reducing our carbon emissions by 3.9% relatively since the footprint year.  This is a great recognition of our achievements in carbon reduction and demonstrates our commitment to reducing carbon emissions year on year.

 

The Carbon Trust Standard indicates which organisations can be trusted to have genuinely acted on climate change and committed to ongoing emission reductions.  It also shows that we are taking personal responsibility as a University to reducing the carbon emissions that we are directly responsible for rather than just paying to off-set our emissions.

Some of the projects that have enabled us to get the Carbon Trust Standard include investment in LED street lighting, improved insulation, motion sensitive lighting and lighting improvements, air handling unit optimisation, the Student Switch Off campaign and many more.

The Carbon Trust Standard requires us to recertify every two years, which means we will continue to keep working to cut our carbon emissions.

View our Sustainability pages to learn more about how UWE is tackling climate change and reducing our environmental impact.

AQMRC PhD research update

• David Williams recently  joined AQMRC as an EPSRC funded PhD student as part of the Disruption  project. His director of studies is Dr Tim Chatterton. Welcome David.
• Simon Baldwin has been awarded his PhD subject to minor corrections. His thesis was examined by Professor Bernard Fisher, Environment Agency, and Dr Tim Chatterton. Congratulations to Simon.
• Mofoluso Fagbeja has submitted his PhD thesis and will be examined in March by Dr Sarah Lindley, Manchester University, and Dr Enda Hayes.
• Rose Bailey will submit her thesis in March and she will be examined by Professor David Gibbs, Hull University, and Dr Tim Chatterton.
• Ross Hunter will submit his thesis in the Spring.
• Jo Barnes submitted her outline thesis this year and following a  successful  viva chaired by  Dr Enda Hayes has now progressed to the final stage of her research. Well done Jo.
• AQMRC staff have been active in examining PhD candidates. Jim Longhurst has recently examined theses from the University  Putra Malaysia and Gautam Buddh Technical University, Lucknow India, and acted as internal examiner for a UWE PhD candidate. Dr Enda Hayes has examined a PhD thesis from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Tim goes back to Whitehall......

Tim has been successful in receiving an ESRC ‘Follow-On Fund’ award linked to his recent 12-month Fellowship in DECC. The award will allow him to spend 5-months over the next year extending the learning on Energy Behaviours from his original Fellowship with DECC, Defra, DfT and DCLG. The work will help to develop and implement ‘multi-model’ approaches to climate and energy behaviours within government (see Chatterton, 2011 http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/about/ec_social_res/sr_cus_insight/sr_cus_insight.aspx and Wilson and Chatterton, 2011 http://www.envplan.com/epa/editorials/a44404.pdf).

In addition to this, the opportunity to work simultaneously with 4 of the main climate change Departments will be used to help identify areas of weakness in terms of cross-departmental policies, and encourage more co-ordinated working.

Tim giving UCL Energy Institute Seminar

Tim will be giving a presentation on Tuesday 24^th January at the UCL Energy Institute energy seminar.  His presentation ‘DECC – a View from the Inside’ will be presenting the work he did in his Fellowship last year, as well as the recent developments, particularly in extending the work to consider end-use energy demand from transport.

 

 

Tim gives two talks at 44th University Transport Study Group conference

Tim was invited to give a plenary lecture on "The continuing problem of air pollution from transport and important lessons for the control of greenhouse gas" at the 44th UTSG Conference in Aberdeen last week.

He also made a second presentation on "Leaders and Laggards in Transport CO2 Emissions: The challenges and outcomes of benchmarking sustainable urban transport systems across Europe" which covered the work that he has done with Erel Avineri and Owen Waygood from the Centre for Transport and Society on the EU Framework 7 CATCH project http://www.carbonaware.eu/

AQMRC project shortlisted for Great Western Research (GWR) Impact Award

Congratulations to Simon Baldwin, Enda Hayes, John Merefield (Exeter University), Mark Everard (Environment Agency), Will Pope (AAR Environmental) and   Jim Longhurst. Their  GWR, Environment Agency and AAR Environmental co funded project “Integration of climate change and local air quality management at a regional and local level” was shortlisted from 106 entries for a GWR Impact award.   The research project will now feature as a GWR case study.  

For more information on Great Western Research visit http://www.greatwesternresearch.ac.uk/GWRthestorysofar2.php

Academy of Science of South Africa workshop “Pathways towards a low carbon city” papers published

Papers presented at the Academy of Science of South Africa workshop “Pathways towards a low carbon city”, held at the UNFCC Conference of the Parties, Durban South Africa on 5 December 2011, are now available at  http://www.assaf.org.za/environment-energy-and-water/

• International initiatives on low carbon cities - Prof Jim Longhurst, University of the West of England
• Cities GHG emissions, inventorying and comparisons - Dr Shobhakar Dhakal, Global Carbon  Project                 
• Sustainable urban infrastructure to achieve a low carbon city – Prof Anu Ramaswami, University of Colorado Denver
• Climate change initiatives in the city of Durban – Dr Sean O’Donoghue, eThekwini Municipality
• Towards a Low Carbon City: focus on Durban – Prof Roseanne Diab,  ASSAf
• Opportunities for greening the buildings and industries – Dr Francis Yamba, University of Zambia
• Low carbon planning in cities – Prof Dave Dewar, University of Cape Town

DECC Fellowship bears Publication Fruits!

 

This month has seen the publication of two outputs from Tim’s 12-month ESRC/RCUK Energy Programme funded Fellowship based in the Department of Energy and Climate Change last year.

 

Firstly, the DECC has published Tim’s report “An Introduction to Thinking about Energy Behaviours: A Multi-Model Approach” on the department website. http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/about/ec_social_res/sr_cus_insight/sr_cus_insight.aspx

 

Secondly, Tim has co-authored a Commentary paper with Charlie Wilson at the University of East Anglia that contributes to a high-profile discussion in Environment and Planning A about government policy and the ‘behaviour change’ agenda: Multiple models to inform climate change policy: a pragmatic response to the `beyond the ABC' debate http://www.envplan.com/epa/editorials/a44404.pdf

MSc Air Quality and Carbon Management given the green light

The AQMRC, UWE's recently developed MSc Air Quality and Carbon Management was this morning accepted by the validation panel for delivery from September 2012. This qualification course is unique in drawing together the component aspects of air quality and carbon management, and the management-based and solutions-focused  approach is aimed at existing professionals or those wishing to enter the field. The course is also designed to cater for the flexible demands of this market with blended class/online learning and options to utilise work-based learning where appropriate. Details are available on the website, or contact Jo Barnes for further information.

Mofoluso presenting at the AGU 2011 Fall Meeting

Mofoluso is presenting a poster at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2011 Fall Meeting taking place 5 - 9 December at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA, USA. The poster is titled, Assessing the suitability and limitations of satellite-based measurements for estimating the CO, CO2, NO2 and O3 concentrations over the Niger Delta. The poster presents a component part of Mofoluso's PhD that investigates the relevance of currently available satellite sensors to measure and monitor the concentrations of air pollutants and greenhouse gases for integration into air quality management frameworks in developing countries that lack the capacity to establish networks of air quality monitoring ground stations. Mofoluso received grants from the AGU and the Faculty of Environment and Technology, UWE to attend the conference. All the best, Mo.

Cop 17 ASSAf workshop

Professor Jim Longhust will be attending the ASSAf workshop Durban, December 5th 2011, Pathways towards a low carbon city next week.  He will be presenting on 'International initiatives on low carbon cities' and facilitating a workshop to discuss 'Should developing cities strive to be low carbon?'.

The agenda is now available at http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/files/ASSAf%20programme_Pathways%20towards%20LCCs_CCR%20Expo_5%20Dec.pdf.

Dotun is the recipient of the 2011 Ian McCrae Travel Award

 Dotun recently won the Ian McCrae Travel Award from The Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM). This award acts as a memorial to Ian McCrae who was an internationally-respected air quality scientist and IAQM committee member. Dotun was formally presented with the award at the annual general meeting of the institute on 17 November 2011 in London. The award will enable Dotun to present his current research at the Urban Environmental Pollution 2012. The conference, organised by Elsevier, will be held in June 2012 at Amsterdam, The Netherlands.


Dotun recieving the award from Prof Bernard Fisher, Chairman of IAQM



UNFCCC CoP 17

Jim Longhurst will be attending the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties 17 meeting in Durban, South Africa.

Jim will be a member of the Academy of Science  of South Africa Delegation and will speak at the CoP side event workshop “Pathways Towards Low Carbon Cities”

Environmental Auit Committee say "Its a Scandal!"

The Environmental Audit Committee today launched its follow-up report on air quality, finding that “The Government is putting thousands of lives at risk by trying to water down EU air quality rules instead of prioritising action to cut pollution on UK roads”.

 

Full details of the report can be found here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/news/air-quality-a-follow-up-report/

 

AQMRC submitted evidence to the Enquiry which has been published online here:  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenvaud/1024/1024vw20.htm

 

Tim to Present at Photocatalysis Conference

On Thursday 17^th November Tim will be making a presentation on “The Science of Air Pollution and the Policies and Legislation to Combat It” at a Cristal Global conference on Photocatalysis in London.

 

http://cleanairinitiative.org/portal/node/7715

 

N.B. Involvement in the conference does not suggest that AQMRC currently believe that photocatalytic paint is an appropriate solution for most air quality problems!

Tim to give Energy Seminar at University of Southampton

On Wednesday 16^th November Tim will be presenting an energy seminar based on his Fellowship with DECC and subsequent developments.  The seminar will be hosted by the Centre for Citizenship, Globalization and Governance http://www.soton.ac.uk/C2G2/

 

Carbon Aware Cities: CATCH Final Conference, 13 December 2011, Bristol, UK

The CATCH project is holding its final conference on 13 December 2011 in the University of West of England in Bristol, UK. This EU FP7 project conducted ground-breaking research into how information about climate change and transport should be communicated, and has developed an online knowledge platform designed to facilitate an holistic view of transport in order to better communicate the need for low carbon transport systems, and plan for the low carbon transport future.

The final conference will present research from the project, and present the CATCH knowledge platform in the context of a variety of co-benefits that a low carbon transport will bring to health, safety, the economy and to planning. It will be demonstrated how the CATCH knowledge platform links to these different areas by providing information and improving communication between the general public and transport professionals. Presentations from experts from different fields will also detail the wider benefits of a low carbon transport future.

Who will attend?
- Transport professionals interested in low carbon transport systems: city representatives, public transport operators, consultants, and others.
- Climate change experts with an interest in transport.
- Professionals from other disciplines which can benefit from low carbon transport systems: for example from health or civil society.

Registration
It is free to attend the conference, but places are limited and registration is required.
To cover our costs, if you register and do not attend and do not inform us by 9th December 2011, then you will be charged 100 EURO (see terms and conditions).

Conference web page, including registration: http://www.carbonaware.eu/events/catch-final-conference.html

Draft programme: http://www.carbonaware.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/IG_meeting/Final_event/Programme_and_travel_CATCH_conference.pdf

Contact
For more information, contact Anna Clark (aclark@polisnetwork.eu)

British Science Association Bristol and Bath- "Watching the Earth from Space" Wednesday 2 November

“Watching the Earth from Space; addressing Climate Change and Global Issues”, a talk by Prof Alan O’Neill, Director, National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Reading

Wednesday 2 November at 7.00pm, St Mary Redcliffe Church (close to Bristol Temple Meads Station) Entry £1.00 at door.  There is a public car park opposite on Redcliffe Way.

Data from Earth-orbiting satellites are revolutionizing our understanding of our home planet.  Alan O’Neill’s talk will give a number of examples of the scientific use of such data, including understanding the ozone hole, climate change and earthquakes.

You would be extremely welcome to attend and please also do forward to any friends or colleagues who might be interested.  

Latest information of programme also on our website, http://BSciA-BSBA.org.uk   

Urban Transport 2012: Call for Papers from the Wessex Institute

Professor Jim Longhurst will be co-charing the 18th International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment on 15 - 17 May, 2012 in A Coruña, Spain,organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology, UK and sponsored by: WIT Transactions on the Built Environment & The International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning.

View full details about the conference objectives, topics and submission requirements online at: http://www.wessex.ac.uk/transport2012rem3.html

Forthcoming publication in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

Bailey, R., Longhurst, J.W.S., Hayes, E.T., Hudson, L., Ragnarsdottir, K.V., and Thumim, J. (Forthcoming) 'Exploring a city’s potential low carbon futures using Delphi methods: some preliminary findings'. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management


The paper discusses the results from the first round of Delphi questionnaire survey that Rose undertook with a large expert group, to create scenarios for a low carbon 2050 Bristol region.
More information about Rose's research can be found on her webpage here.

Air Pollution 2011 conference

The 19th International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution 2011 held in Malta 19th-21st September was well-attended by an audience of air quality professionals and students from academia and industry. Delegates representing more than 20 countries gave a truly international feel to the conference and brought an opportunity to share a broad range of experiences and expertise. Around 40 presentations were delivered over 10 sessions over the 3-day conference covering themes of Air pollution modelling, Monitoring and measurement, Air quality management, Aerosols and particles, Economics of air pollution control, Emissions studies, Health effects and Innovative technologies.

The conference was co-chaired by Professor Jim Longhurst who gave an invited keynote presentation introducing new research the AQMRC are undertaking working 'towards a new framework for air quality management in Nigeria'. Jo Barnes also gave a presentation, which critically described the UK policy on air quality management since the introduction of first national Air Quality Strategy 14 years ago and 'assessed the potential for local action to meet EU limit values' based on previous experience and in the context of evolving related policies.

A call for papers has been announced for the 2012 Air Pollution conference which will be run back-to-back with Urban Transport 2012 in A Coruna, Spain next May. Further details are available on the Wessex Institute website.

Tim attends IUAPPA Regional Conference

Tim will be presenting AQMRC at the IUAPPA regional conference in Paris on 29^th and 30^th September.

The event is hosted by APPA – the French Air Pollution and Environmental Protection Organisation.

 

 

Disruption begins!!!

The start of the month saw the beginning of the Disruption project. This is a 3-year project looking at low-carbon travel behaviour funded by the RCUK Energy programme.

The project is a £1.3million project involving 7 research groups (at UWE, Leeds, Aberdeen, Lancaster, Brighton, OU, and Glasgow). The project is taking an inter-disciplinary approach to look at the issue of travel behaviour, suggesting that travel habits may not be as fixed and resistant to change as is commonly held.

Jim and Jo attending Air Pollution 2011

Jim and Jo are both attending the 19th International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution 2011 in Malta this week. Jim will be co-chairing the confernce and presenting a keynote address entitled 'Towards a new framework for air quality management in Nigeria', Jo will be presenting 'Assessing the potential for local action to achieve EU limit values'. The papers will be available in the conference proceedings book published by WIT Press.

Tim Gives CTS Seminar as New Associate Member

On Wednesday 14th September, Tim gave a presentation on "Air Quality and Climate Change: Environment, Transport and Behaviour" at the Centre for Transport and Society at UWE http://www.transport.uwe.ac.uk/

The seminar marked the inclusion of Tim in CTS as an associate member in recognition of the close links between the two centres.

Latest AQMRC publications

Recently published
Bailey, R., Longhurst, J.W.S., Hayes, E.T., Hudson, L., Ragnarsdottir, K..V. & Thumim, J. (2011) Envisioning the Future: a methodology for city scale carbon management The International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses. 2 (4) 51-66

Olowoporoku, A. O., Hayes, E. T., Longhurst, J. W. S. & Parkhurst, G. (2011) Improving road transport-related air quality in England through joint working between Environmental Health Officers and Transport Planners. Local Environment 16 (3) 603-618

Liu, J. , Pankhurst, L.J., Deacon, L.J. , Abate, W. , Hayes, E.T. , Drew, G.H. , Longhurst, P.J. , Pollard, S., Longhurst, J. , Tyrrel, S.F. , Jackson, S.K. (2011) Evaluation of inflammatory effects of airborne endotoxin emitted from composting sources. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 30, 3, 602-606

In Press
Longhurst, J.W.S., Olowoporoku, A. O., Barnes, J., Chatterton, T.J., Hayes, E.T. and Irwin, J.G. Exploring issues of process efficiency and outcome effectiveness in the United Kingdom’s Local Air Quality Management Regime. (In Press, 2011) The International Journal of Sustainable Development & Planning

Weitkamp, E.L.C & Longhurst, J.W.S., (In press, 2011) Mediating Consultation: insights from private sector consultancies involved in air quality consultations Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

A. O. Olowoporoku, J.W.S. Longhurst, J. Barnes & C. Edokpayi. (In press, 2011). Towards a new framework for air quality management in Nigeria. In Brebbia, C., Longhurst, J.W.S. & Popov, V. (Editors) Air Pollution XIX WIT Press. Southampton and Boston.

J. H. Barnes, T. J. Chatterton, E. T. Hayes, J. W. S. Longhurst, A. O. Olowoporoku. (In press, 2011). Assessing the potential for local action to achieve EU limit values. In Brebbia, C., Longhurst, J.W.S. & Popov, V. (Editors) Air Pollution XIX WIT Press. Southampton and Boston.

Brebbia, C., Longhurst, J.W.S. & Popov, V. (Editors, In press 2011) Air Pollution XIX WIT Press. Southampton and Boston.

A full list of AQMRC publications is available on the website.

Academy of Science of South Africa Low Carbon Consensus Panel report published

The Academy of Science of South Africa Low Carbon Consensus Panel has now published their report Towards a Low Carbon City. AQMRC Director Jim Longhurst served on the panel and the full report can accessed at http://www.assaf.org.za/2011/08/durban-on-a-pathway-towards-a-low-carbon-city/

Full reference details are as follows:

Academy of Science of South Africa (2011) Towards a Low Carbon City. Focus on Durban. Report of the ASSAf Consensus Study on Low Carbon Cities. ASSAf, Pretoria, South Africa. pp263 ISBN 97809869835-4-2

Towards a Low Carbon City: Focus on Durban

On Tuesday 23^rd August, the Academy of Science of South Africa published its report for the City of Durban/eThekwini Municipality on developing a pathway towards a low carbon city.

 

Members of the AQMRC team (especially Tim, Jo and Dotun) provided significant assistance in helping ASSAF develop their recommendations.

UWE Consortium Wins EU Air Quality Framework Contract

The Air Quality Management Resource Centre is part of a consortium that has been awarded the Framework Contract for providing support to the European Commission for the review of the Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution and the related instruments on ambient air quality (Directives 2008/50/EC and 2004/107/EC) and the National Emissions Ceiling Directive (2001/81/EC).  The work to be undertaken under the contract will include the assessment of current and future policies and the identification of management options at European, national, regional or local level including the assessment of their effectiveness, cost and benefits and means of implementation measures through various legal and non-legal instruments.

 

The consortium is led by the Dutch consultancy ECORYS, and other partners include NERI (the Danish National Environmental Research Institute), Risø DTU, (the Danish National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy), Milieu (a Belgian consultancy specialising in European law and policy), and MWH (a global consultancy specialising in sustainable governance and engineering).

EPUK-SW Division National Students and Young Professionals Competition 2011 - Presentations available

The presentations from the EPUK-SW Division National Students and Young Professionals Competition 2011, held at UWE on 28th June, are now available on the AQMRC website at http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/training.html.

Workshop held to discuss the low carbon futures for the Bristol region

A workshop discussing the outputs of a year-long Delphi consultation process on the Low Carbon Futures for the Bristol Region was held on Friday 22nd July at UWE. A number of key stakeholders from the Bristol region attended, from Local Authorities, Businesses, and other public, private and third sector organisations. Participants carried out a 'backcasting' exercise for two possible scenarios for a low carbon Bristol region in 2050, discussing the emission and policy trajectories necessary to bring about the scenarios.

This workshop was the final part of Rose's PhD research project, investigating the low carbon futures for the Bristol Region. More about the Rose's research can be found here: http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/rose.html

The outputs from the workshop will be available shortly on the research page, at: http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/rosesresearch.html

Environmental Trade Show UK - UWE Exhibition & Conference Centre - 13th October 2011

The best place to network and learn about Low Carbon business in the UK

Sponsored by the Environmental Technology iNets, bookings are now being taken for Environmental Trade Show UK (ETS UK), a major international environmental trade show and conference taking place at the UWE Exhibition & Conference Centre on 13th October. The largest event of its kind in the South West, it will bring together the best in environmental and low carbon goods and services. With over 200 exhibitors and over 1,000 visitors expected, it is the perfect opportunity to showcase the best and brightest businesses and technologies. Click here to find out about opportunities for your business.

Save the Date – 13th October 2011

http://www.environmentaltradeshow.co.uk/

House of Lords reports on 'Behaviour Change'

Last autumn, Tim was called to give evidence at the House of Lords’ Science and Technology Committee inquiry into ‘Behaviour Change’. 

 

The final report of the committee has now been published and can be found here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/science-and-technology-committee/news/behaviour-change-published/
(along with a short video of Baroness Neuberger talking about the issue)

Jo to co-deliver EPUK ‘Planning and Air Quality’ Training

The South West Region are holding a workshop ‘Planning and Air Quality – appraising air quality assessments in line with the EPUK guidance’ at Bristol’s CREATE centre on 13th September. The training morning is aimed at anyone who needs to assess, evaluate and make decisions based on air quality assessments submitted to support planning applications.
The morning will start with presentations relating to planning policy, the 2010 update of the EPUK Planning and Air Quality Guidance, and issues relating to modelling and monitoring which might be pertinent to air quality assessments.
Following the presentations, there will be a workshop in which delegates will appraise an example of an air quality assessment, using a checklist based on the EPUK guidance. The workshop element will be undertaken in small groups, with plenty of opportunity for discussion and debate around issues which local authorities face on a daily basis. There will also be an opportunity for a Q&A session on the theme of air quality and planning.
The Workshop starts with coffee at 9:30am and will finish by 1pm, cost £25 members, £50 non-members. Attendees will be able to purchase lunch at the Create Café or in a nearby public house. Please contact Pete Fryer at peter.fryer@bristol.gov.uk for a draft program and to book a place.

Round Table with Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

Tim has been invited to attend around table event on Tuesday 12^th July at the Houses of Parliament with Meg Hillier MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Workshop at the Government Social Research Conference

Tim will be running a workshop at the Government Social Research/Government Economic Service annual conference at Warwick University on Thursday 14^th July.  The workshop, with Oliver Anderson from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, will be on Tim’s work with DECC on developing a ‘Multi-model approaches to (energy) behaviour’.