Obstacles and solutions to maximising urban biodiversity throughout the lifecycles of major developments in England

Thus far, achieving net biodiversity gains through major urban developments has been neither common nor straightforward - despite the presence of incentives, regulatory contexts, and ubiquitous practical guidance tools. A diverse set of obstructions, occurring within different spatial, temporal and actor hierarchies, are experienced by practitioners and render the realisation of maximised biodiversity, a rarity. This research aims to illuminate why this is so, and what needs to be changed to rectify the situation. To determine meaningful findings and conclusions, capable of assisting applied contexts and accommodating a diverse range of influences, a ‘systems approach’ was adopted. This approach led to the use of a multi-strategy research methodology, to identify the key obstructions and solutions to protecting and enhancing biodiversity - incorporating the following methods: action research, a questionnaire to local government ecologists, interviews and personal communications with leading players, and literature reviews. Nevertheless, ‘case studies’ are the predominant research method, the focus being a ‘nested’ case study looking at strategic issues of the largest regeneration area in Europe ‘the Thames Gateway’, and the largest individual mixeduse mega-development in the UK (at the time of planning consent) ‘Eastern Quarry 2’ - set within the Gateway. A further key case study, focussing on the Central Riverside development in Sheffield, identifies the merits of competition and partnership. The nested cases, theories and findings show that the strategic scale - generally relating to governance and prioritisation - impacts heavily upon individual development sites. It also enables the identification of various processes, mechanisms and issues at play on the individual development sites, which primarily relate to project management, planning processes, skills and transdisciplinary working, innovative urban biodiversity design capabilities, incentives, organisational cultures, and socio-ecological resilience. From these findings a way forward is mapped, spanning aspects from strategic governance to detailed project management

Reimagining Necklace Road: exploring new forms of public space for Hyderabad City

Màster universitari en Estudis Avançats en Arquitectura: Contemporary ProjectWhile straddling three scales of small, medium and large architecture should aspire to simultaneously be an object, a place and a well-fitting part of the puzzle that is the city. This architectural thesis proposal, submitted towards the completion of the ‘Contemporary Project’ specialization for Masters in Advanced Architectural studies at ETSAB (Escola Tecnica Superior d’Architectura de Barcelona), attempts to demonstrate this understanding through a hypothetical design exercise along the Hussain Sagar lakefront in Hyderabad city. The reading of architecture on three scales has been reflected in the organisation of the thesis in three parts. The first part is a non-linear assimilation of essays that aims to present a subjective reading of ‘place’ in the context of the city of Hyderabad. Albeit by distinct people from diverse backgrounds and interests, the readings on which these essays are based, are in coherence with a personal vision and help in constituting the lens through which the reality of ‘place’ and ‘city’ along with their many layers are viewed. The essays also present a way of articulating the different threads of thoughts that have led to the final design proposal. The second part is a more linear narrative that aims to present an objective reading of the physical dimension of a place in the city. ‘Place’ in the context of this thesis is the urban waterfront and waterfronts of two port cities, Barcelona and Mumbai, are studied and compared with the idea of reflecting on the urban lakefront of Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad. The third part is the design narrative that advocates for architectural intervention as a means of introducing new forms of public space along Necklace road while attempting to address urban issues related to its context

Climate Change and Cultural Heritage: developing a landscape-scale vulnerability framework to measure and manage the impact of climate change on coastal historic landscapes

The impacts of climate change, including sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and flooding, have the potential to damage or destroy archaeology and cultural heritage assets. Most studies that have modelled or measured the impact of coastal and climatic processes on archaeology have focussed on archaeological features as discrete entities rather than as part of the historic landscape. The results, therefore, can only inform a comparison between single sites and do not reveal threats to the wider cultural heritage and historic landscape. This thesis develops a Landscape Vulnerability Framework, which uses several methodologies to establish the vulnerability of the historic landscape to climate change and identify sustainable management approaches. Each step of the framework is tested on the Dysynni valley and estuary (west Wales), which acts as a pilot study for the methods being developed. Historic Landscape Characterisation characterises the historic landscape into definable areas with similar form, function and history. This is based on an analysis of aerial photographs, modern and historic maps, archaeological database records, archive research, and geophysical surveys. A two-step vulnerability index is then developed to determine the vulnerability of the historic landscape to climate change. The first step assesses the vulnerability of archaeological sites and landscape features to climate change. The second step uses the results of the first vulnerability index, as well as spatial data on the landscape character areas and the threat in question, to calculate the vulnerability of each landscape character area to climate change. The results of the vulnerability index are used to inform a sustainability assessment of different potential coastal and flood-risk management options. A multi-attribute value theory is used to calculate the level of impact that different management approaches would have on the most vulnerable historic landscape character areas, the local ecology, economy and community. The Landscape Vulnerability Framework developed in this thesis can be applied to landscapes in the UK and beyond. It will provide a simple, well defined method for policy-makers and heritage organisations to effectively consider the vulnerability of the historic landscape to climate change, and inform a holistic, proactive approach to the sustainable management of cultural heritag

Land Contamination and Brownfield Management Policy Development in China: Learning from the UK Experience

Ming Liu (Department of Science, Technology & Innovation, British Consulate-General Guangzhou), Xia Yang (Administrative Centre for China’s Agenda21) and Paul Wills (UK Trade & Investment) helped discussion and revision of the report. Diogo Gomes (Cranfield University) also provided support for the graphical arts and assisted with the editing. The authors are grateful to all partners of the SPF project which include a wide team of collaborators and advisors across China and UK for their useful discussions and contribution during the two workshops organised during the project. Government, Academia, Industry and Public bodies have been collaborating together to drive structural changes far beyond the scope of a single organisation.Over the last 30 years, China’s fast urbanisation along with huge expansion of its manufacturing industry has led to the emergence of significant soil and water contamination problems across China. In the meantime, a number of policies and regulatory agencies for the protection of the environment have been implemented to stop deliberate pollution and more recently to address pollution prevention at source on a wider scale. Soil protection and management have been featured in policy discussions since the late 1950s in China. However, the topic has recently been of greatly expanded interest in the development of emerging policies, particularly with regards to the role of soil as a resource, independent of the functions that it carries out. Soil provides multiple important functions such as provision of food and raw materials, a platform for urban development and human wellbeing and a filtering and transforming media for water, nutrients, and carbon. However as pointed out by Yuan Si, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee of the National People Congress (China Daily, 11 March 2016), the move toward integrated management that has been driving policies for air and water has proven to be a challenge for soil management, mainly due to the multiple functions that soils provide. This is also true internationally and explained by several drivers for soil protection including among others soil contamination, construction, agriculture and amenity value.Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Prosperity Fund programme - China Prosperity Strategic Programme Fund (SPF) 15SU3

The feasibility of a network materials utilization plan, with an emphasis on upcycling of material.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.In most countries, the road network is under the jurisdiction of an agency that is state-owned. Road agencies have the responsibility for the management, maintenance and development of the network through careful management of resources taking into consideration the financial obligation to manage public funds. Kasim et al. (2005) quantify that the cost to manage materials can range from 30-80% of the total construction costs. Because these costs are so high, they can determine the winning bidder. This gives rise to the need for the agency to reuse materials to their full potential and ensures the optimal salvage value of each material. The fall back design approach is to down cycle materials by recycling the existing pavement layers into lower-value layers. This design approach becomes questionable when the road agencies have a responsibility to optimally reuse the agency’s current assets. Due consideration of the financial obligation to manage public funds underpins the need to upcycle. Materials from the existing layer and materials required from external sources are managed in the Materials Utilisation Plan. The aim of the research is to investigate the opportunities of upcycling in a Materials Utilisation Plan. The objective of the research is to determine the factors influencing the specification of upcycling in the design of a Materials Utilisation Plan, to assess the effect of the identified factors and to produce a set of recommendations when implementing upcycling in a road upgrade project/program. Competitive tendering is the procurement process followed by potential design consultants, whereby the consultants, bid against each other to win a tender. The efficiency of the tendered resource becomes a major influential factor when competitive tendering is adopted. The consequence of such an environment is reduced rates and reduced hours with no additional capacity for any additional design improvements as described by Messner et al. (2018). The design for upcycling is the process of applying engineering judgment to assess the existing materials and determine its function in the new pavement. The use of engineering judgement is pinned on relevant design experience, the lack of adequate design experience to facilitate upcycling was a recurring theme throughout the research. The reliance on the catalogue design for pavements was emphasized as a major disbenefit to upcycling. Planning is the process of forethought into the project requirements. At the planning stage, key decisions are made. The design philosophy and design strategy is developed to meet the objective of the clients. The type of contract implementation is influenced by the decisions made at the planning stage. Technology advancement is the application of new, more accurate or more efficient use of scientific methods or equipment to improve on previous methods. The use of nanomaterial and nanotechnology in pavement design is gaining momentum. Design engineers are still to respond to the advancement in technology so that the industry can progress in the various methods of upcycling. There is a fundamental mismatch between the knowledge learned at tertiary level and what is being implemented in the industry. The data collected indicated a gap in knowledge relating to upcycling of materials, stemming from tertiary level education. The gap in knowledge was based on the undergraduate syllabus not including current industry practices. Upcycling is a fundamental concept and must be engrained at the tertiary level so that graduates can rely on the knowledge gained to enhance and improve on methods of upcycling. Exposure at tertiary levels promotes further research in the field

Towards an ethical jewellery business

This report presents the results of phase 1 of research which is intended to identify the main social, environmental and ethical issues in the jewellery sector and to assist industry bodies in identifying how to integrate ethical considerations into their activities. The phase one report is based on an extensive review of literature related to ethical issues in the jewellery sector, covering ethical issues throughout the jewellery supply chain, from extraction of jewellery materials by mining processes, through to the retail of finished jewellery. In addition to highlighting established existing knowledge and literature in this field, our report highlights gaps in the literature and understanding that will influence the form and focus of more applied research to be proposed for phase two of the project