Other Research Council UK projects on Green Infrastructure

This page captures relevant research from RCUK that have important green infrastructure applications. Only integrated projects are used that dovetail with the 4 research and policy challenges I have identified. 

1. The Urban Living Partnership Programme is a set of 5 pilot projects funded by RCUK and Innovate UK looking at innovation across Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, York and Newcastle. Each city is assessing urban living through a different lens and project rationale in this 18 month pilot programme. A summary of progress is here . Each project is looking at improving urban living and thus how green infrastructure is embedded into this will be significant.   

2. Blue Green Cities  was funded by EPSRC 2013-2016 and developed new strategies for managing urban flood risk as part of wider, integrated urban planning intended to achieve environmental enhancement and urban renewal in which multiple benefits of Blue-Green Cities are rigorously evaluated and understood

3. The UK National Ecossytem Assessment Follow on project  2012-2014 looked at mainstreaming ecosystem science into policy and decisions building on the science from the UKNEA in 2011.   

4. ECO-URBANISATION: PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN METROPOLITAN REGIONS OF CHINA Focusing on the case study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region, the study aims to develop a robust conceptual framework to assess wellbeing in urban communities through a variety of indicators. Having undertaken a detailed assessment of resource consumption and the environmental impacts of urbanisation in the area, the research will explore a range of approaches to encourage more efficient forms of urbanisation. Drawing on examples of international best practice, the research findings will produce a coherent framework for promoting sustainable urban development in China, with lessons for other countries experiencing similar levels of growth.

5. Urban green infrastructure: optimising local food and fuel production for regional sustainability and resilience  EPSRC More than half of the worlds' population now live in urban areas. Consequently, urban areas are key drivers of global change and are responsible for >70% of carbon emissions. The UK government has committed to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% on 1990 values by 2050. Maximising local energy and food production could provide a key mechanism to achieve this goal. Urban green infrastructure (UGI) (e.g. parks, gardens, wasteland, allotments) represents a substantial component, typically >50%, of UK cities. However, there has been no quantitative evaluation of the potential for UGI to support sustainable local food and biofuel production.

6. EPSRC SUCCESS project; Sustainable Urban Carbon Capture; Enginneering Soils for Climate Change. This links into a NERC public engagement grant on the carbon capture meadow. The essence of the SUCCESS project is to determine the performance of soils to act as a carbon sink, by engineering them to absorb carbon and to convert them into a benign state. The project completes 30 September 2017