New Air Quality and Carbon Management Training

The Air Quality Management Resource Centre are now offering CPD training in the following Air Quality and Carbon Management courses (please click on the course name to access the webpage for descriptions and booking forms):

Introduction to Local Air Quality Management	08/11/2012
Review and Assessment: Updating and Screening Assessments & Progress Reports	09/11/2012
Environmental Permitting Regulations	22/11/2012
Review and Assessment: Detailed & Further Assessments	23/11/2012
Introduction to the Science of Climate Change	06/12/2012
Introduction to Climate Change Policy & Carbon Management	07/12/2012
Technical Guidance for LAQM: Monitoring, Modelling & Emissions Estimation	10/01/2013
Air Quality Action Plans and Action Plan Progress Reports	11/01/2013
Technical Introduction to Air Pollution Monitoring	24/01/2013
Integrating Air Quality Management into the Local Transport Planning Process	25/01/2013
Monitoring QAQC: Automatic Monitors and Diffusion Tubes	07/02/2013
Low Emission Zones and Strategies	08/02/2013
Dispersion Modelling & Model Validation, Verification & Adjustment	21/02/2013
Planning and Air Quality: Air Quality Assessments	22/02/2013
Consultation in Air Quality & Carbon Management / GIS for LAQM	07/03/2013
Sustainable Planning & Development: Local Development Framework & Healthy Urban Design	08/03/2013
Air Quality & Carbon Management: International Case Studies	21/03/2013
Action Planning: Behaviour Change & Innovative Technologies	22/03/2013

All of the Air Quality and Carbon Management short courses are run as single day sessions at the main Frenchay campus at UWE, Bristol, from 9.30 to 4.30 with one hour for lunch. The short courses are aimed primarily at professionals working in, or wishing to skill themselves to enter, the field of air quality and carbon management. However, they are equally applicable to those working in related fields such as transport, planning and energy management. The courses are accredited by the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES) and the Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM). The content of the short courses cover the breadth of air quality and carbon management including principles, policies, practices and integrated solutions. The fees are £150 per delegate with a 10% discount for three or more delegates from the same organisation.

For further information, contact Jo Barnes or the FET Short Course Unit.

Tim writes for 2degrees

Tim's article on "Behavioural change or societal change?" has recently been published on the 2degrees website: http://www.2degreesnetwork.com/groups/managing-sustainability/resources/behavioural-change-or-societal-change/.

Congratulations to Ross Hunter

Congratulations to Ross who successfully defended his PhD entitled “Enhancing air quality in Wales: Relating pollutant interactions to management approaches for Nitrogen Dioxide.” More information on his research can be found here: http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/ross.html. Well done Ross!!

 

POST Note on Engergy Use Behaviour Change

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has just published a briefing note on ‘Energy Use Behaviour Change’ http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/POST-PN-417.  The note was informed by the report on multi-model approaches to energy behaviour that Tim wrote for DECC during his Fellowship (http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/about-us/economics-social-research/3887-intro-thinking-energy-behaviours.pdf), and he also provided additional support in reviewing the note as part of his Fellowship Follow-On Funding.

 

 

Eleven Member States exceed air emissions limits under LRTAP Convention

Emissions of most air pollutants have fallen over the last two decades in Europe. But many Member States have exceeded internationally-agreed pollutant limits set to protect human health and the environment, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). Road transport, households, power plants, agricultural activities and certain industry sectors continue to emit significant amounts of air pollution.

Read more...

Jo travels to Malta

Jo travels to Malta this weekend for a contract initiation meeting with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA). AQMRC have been contracted by MEPA to undertake air quality consultancy work in relation to Delimara Power Station. Jo will visit the plant and monitoring sites and discuss the project methodology with the Monitoring Committee. 

And the Dr Nurul Leksmono Memorial Prize goes to... Mo!

Dr Mofoluso Fagbeja was awarded with the Dr Nurul Leksmono Memorial Prize at yesterday's Graduation Ceremony in Bristol Cathedral. The award, which was devised to celebrate the life of our much-loved colleague, is awarded to the UWE Postgraduate International student whose PhD or MSc thesis on the subject of air quality, carbon management or environmental management can be considered the best in the graduating year. Congratualtions, Mo!

Dr Mofoluso Fagbeja

PhD Graduation ceremony

Mofolosu Fagbeja, Simon Baldwin and Rose Bailey were yesterday (26th July 2012) awarded their Doctor of Philosophy degrees at the UWE Graduation Ceremony held at Bristol Cathedral. Their supervisors and AQMRC colleagues were delighted to help them celebrate their well-earned successes and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

Drs Mofoluso Fagbeja, Rose Bailey and Simon Baldwin

Tim at Caberet of Ideas

On Saturday 21st July Tim will be part of The Cabaret of Ideas event at IF: Milton Keynes International Festival 2012. 
For two hours Tim will participate with a range of other nominated experts in what has been described as a 'live Wikipedia type event'
20+12 (in other numbers 32) people from a wide range of fields will gather in the Festival's Spiegeltent to share their passions, thoughts, insights and revelations with member of the public.
 
The event will take place on Saturday 21st July at 11.30am, at the Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD (MK)
 
More details on the festival website http://www.ifmiltonkeynes.org/2012-festival-programme/2012/07/21/the-cabaret-of-ideas.html

Enda interviewed for article on the concept of a sustainable 'Aerotropolis'

Enda was interviewed for an article in the South African urban design magazine, Urban Green File, on the concept of a sustainable aerotropolis (airport city). The article questions if an aerotropolis could be sustainable through efficient waste management? This follows on from a project last year, which Enda led, that delivered a Framework for Sustainability for the development of a Dube Aerotropolis in the vicinity of King Shaka International Airport, Durban.

The article can be found here: http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/brookepattrick/urban_green_file_june_2012_ebook/2012060701/#36

 

Award for Best Poster at Doctoral Exchanges

On 2nd July the Faculty of Environment and Technology held its annual Doctoral Exchange conference. David Williams’ poster: A Social Perspective on Travel, won the best poster presentation award.

 

The poster can be found at the following location:

http://www.disruptionproject.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Poster-Disruption-UWE2-Social-Practices-and-Travel.pdf

 

 

FET Doctoral Exchange

On 2nd July the Faculty of Environment and Technology held its annual Doctoral Exchange conference. Three AQMRC PhD students presented their work at the conference.

Rose Bailey's  presentation summarised her completed doctoral research, Jo Barnes presentation reported on her progress approximately half way through  her PhD whilst David Williams' poster presentation set out the context and preliminary results from his  work.

Many congratulations to David, Jo and Rose on their excellent contributions to the Doctoral Exchange Conference.

PhD Successes

AQMRC is delighted to announce that Rose Bailey, Simon Baldwin and Mofoluso Fagbeja will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the UWE Graduation Ceremony to be held in Bristol Cathedral on the 26th of July.

Very many congratulations to Rose, Simon and Mo on this deserved success.

Look out for the photographs from the graduation ceremony which  we will post at the end of the month.

Tim Quoted in Guardian

We have just found out that part of Tim’s contribution to the House of Lords’ enquiry into ‘Behaviour Change’ has been quoted by the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/19/nudge-is-not-enough-behaviour-change

AQMRC win Welsh Government contract to assist in Port Talbot

AQMRC has been successful in winning a prestigious 3 year contract with the Welsh Government to provide independent peer-review of a programme of work to be delivered by the Port Talbot PM10 Data Team (a technical working group). The Data Team are tasked with providing a robust evidence base upon which action can be taken to improve PM10 concentrations in Port Talbot. AQMRC will act as external, independent reviewers to ensure that this programme of work remains focussed on its objective to provide a fit-for-purpose and robust evidence base, and that it is making the best use of scientific data and methodologies.

This project follows on from our 2009 study in which we delivered a comprehensive independent review of PM10 in the vicinity of the Port Talbot Steelworks. (http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/projects.html#An_Independent_Review_of_Monitoring_Measures_Undertaken_in_Neath_Port_Talbot_in_Respect_of_Particulate_Matter_(PM10)_(2009)

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.