Turbulence in the climate regime

"The global climate change regime . . . . was once considered an elegant, ground-breaking area of multinational environmental law [but] is now looking decidedly complex, increasingly weary, and, to some, unfit for its purpose.

The Hero Who Overslept

"We all love a lie in, but the alarm clock is definitely ringing. The time has finally come to throw back the duvet and leap into this playfully unhinged show about finding the hero under the covers. It’s a sincere and heartfelt invitation to defy indifference and experience a new, tender love story for our long-neglected earth, one in which we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. In a never seen before mix of climate science, psychology, philosophy and surrealist dance, our unlikely heroes strive to remake themselves in preparation for an overdue remaking of the world. These quirky ‘Clark Kents’ of climate change will shake your inner snooze button awake, so come see a performance that stretches what’s possible in an hour but will be a lifetime in the living.

A software vision to enable the holistic design of low carbon buildings

The need to reduce the energy used by buildings and the resultant carbon emissions is changing how they are designed, look and work. This position paper outlines the urgent need for new software that integrates thermal simulation with building information modelling. A vision for the software is presented

Zero and low carbon buildings: A driver for change in working practices and the use of computer modelling and visualization

Buildings account for significant carbon dioxide emissions, both in construction and operation. Governments around the world are setting targets and legislating to reduce the carbon emissions related to the built environment. Challenges presented by increasingly rigorous standards for construction projects will mean a paradigm shift in how new buildings are designed and managed. This will lead to the need for computational modelling and visualization of buildings and their energy performance throughout the life-cycle of the building. This paper briefly outline how the UK government is planning to reduce carbon emissions for new buildings. It discusses the challenges faced by the architectural, construction and building management professions in adjusting to the proposed requirements for low or zero carbon buildings. It then outlines how software tools, including the use of visualization tools, could develop to support the designer, contractor and user

Building capacity in climate change policy analysis and negotiation: methods and technologies

Capacity building is often cited as the reason “we cannot just pour money into developing countries” and why so many development projects fail because their design does not address local conditions. It is therefore a key technical and political concept in international development. Some of the poorest countries in the world are also some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Their vulnerability is in part due to a lack of capacity to plan and anticipate the effects of climate change on crops, water resources, urban electricity demand etc. What capacities do these countries lack to deal with climate change? How will they cope? What steps can they take to reduce their vulnerability? This innovative and high-profile research project was part of a larger project (called C3D) and conducted with non-governmental organisations in Senegal, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The research involved several participatory workshops and a questionnaire to all three research centres

Policymaking as design in complex systems - the international climate change regime

This paper explores policymaking as a design process in complex systems using the example of the international climate policy regime. Applying Johnson's (2008) framework on science and the designing of policy for complex futures, we establish that the evolution of international climate policy displays some characteristics of an ad hoc complexity-science policy-design process. The IPCC's emissions scenario approach is used as an example of the current climate-science policy regime's approach to dealing with policy uncertainty. We conclude that such an approach fails to capture the true relationships between policymakers, the complex models they seek to design and the actual uncertainty inherent in the environment. Further, we conclude that more formal linkages between climate policymaking and complex systems science could generate valuable new insights for both policymakers and scientists

Software engineering challenges: Achieving zero carbon buildings by 2019

The planet Earth is warming up. There is an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings account for almost 50% of UK carbon dioxide emissions. [1] The UK Government have set out a programme to make all new buildings zero carbon by 2019. This will require a paradigm shift in how buildings are designed, with an increased reliance on computational modelling of building performance early in the design process. This paper outlines how architects have traditionally worked, the available software and how it is used. It discusses the challenges faced by building designers in achieving zero carbon buildings and then outlines how software tools might develop to meet not only the zero carbon challenge but also take the concept further to help design sustainable buildings

Computer Simulations of Electromigration Based on a Molecular Dynamics Approach

Most research on electromigration has centered around macroscopic simulations of electromigration where a value for the diffusion coefficient was assumed to be spatially uniform throughout the material. The research in this thesis goes a step further and, through microscopic molecular dynamics computer simulations, calculates and updates the atomic drift velocity and atomic position as a function of time to analyze how various defects within the conductor affect these quantities. The simulations are carried out with defects in the form of dislocation half-planes placed in different locations within the simulation space. The atomic drift velocity and position changes derived from these simulations can then be used to carry out further research involving both microscopic as well as macroscopic computer simulations. In addition, the simulations proposed in this thesis can be extended to include other materials in different environments by changing the parameters. All simulations presented here are bound by 2-D simulation spaces containing only a few atoms in order to determine if a molecular dynamics simulation approach is appropriate for simulating electromigration

Technology without borders: case studies of successful technology transfer

Technology Without Borders presents case studies of successful transfer of climate-friendly technology and practices. It explores the causes for success and draws the lessons learned. Key messages are presented for the fight against climate destabilisation. The terms “climate-friendly technology” and “climate technology” used here refer to technologies, practices or techniques, which reduce greenhouse-gas emissions or assist countries in adapting to climate change