Climate Cartographics
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Westminster
Department Name: Sch of Architecture & Cities
Abstract
The idea behind this project is that the cartographic methods developed during the Monsoon Assemblages project (European Research Council Starting Grant no. 679873) provide a breakthrough innovation in the field of climate change visualisation. It proposes to offer competitive cartographic services to organisations seeking to better understand, communicate and act on the impacts of climate change in their contexts. As a way of testing this proposition, the project will undertake and evaluate four pilot cartographic projects with organisations from the public, private, not-for-profit and academic sectors. On the basis of these pilot projects and further market research, a business case will be made and an appropriate delivery vehicle for rolling out the innovation will be set up. By the end of the grant period, at least one contract will be signed in each sector for future work.
Organisations
- University of Westminster (Collaboration, Lead Research Organisation, Project Partner)
- Bakers Street Quarter (Collaboration)
- Trees for Cities (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- ARUP Group (Collaboration)
- LONDON BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK (Collaboration)
- Space Syntax (Collaboration)
- Southwark Council (Project Partner)
- Pelagian Ltd (Project Partner)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Lindsay Bremner (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Bremner L
(2024)
Anthropocene Desire Lines: A Coal Story
in Anthropocenes - Human, Inhuman, Posthuman
Cook, J.
(2023)
Kudafari Pilot Field Study Report
John Cook
(2023)
Pilot Project Case Study Report: Active Travel Academy
Pollock, B.
(2023)
Pilot Project Case Study Report: Trees for Cities
Pollock, B.
(2023)
Pilot Project Case Study Report: Southwark Council
Punnett, N.
(2023)
Climate Cartographics Competitor Research Report
Putzer A
(2025)
Putting the rights of nature on the map. A quantitative analysis of rights of nature initiatives across the world - Second Edition
in Journal of Maps
| Title | - Mapping the Rights of Nature map |
| Description | A map of global rights of nature legislation produced for the Rotterdam Architecture Biennale. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | A publication in the Journal of aps and an invitation to exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) at the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB), Lisbon in 2025. |
| URL | https://climatecartographics.com/3009_rights-of-nature |
| Title | Climate Cartographics Website |
| Description | An ongoing digital archive of the Climate Cartographics collective's work |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | The website is Climate Cartographic's primary interface with the public. |
| URL | https://climatecartographics.com/ |
| Title | Climatic Interface for Greater London, CREATECH 2023 |
| Description | Large scale digitally fabricated model of Greater London with augmented reality overlays. The interface was an experiment in communicating climate, ecology, and socio-demographic data with a wider audience. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | None that we are aware of as yet. |
| Title | Interactive Web-map of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in London |
| Description | An online interactive web-map exploring the rise of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods throughout London over the course of the 2 year COVID recovery period alongside selected demographic and environmental variables and influences. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | None that we are aware of as yet. |
| URL | https://uowestminster.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=a5298aea015546e8924c992d01458... |
| Title | Interactive digital cartographic visualisation platform |
| Description | An interactive digital artographic visualisation platform to communicate the existing environmental performance of Southwark Councils building stock, as well as retrofitting and zero-carbon pathway options and associated costs. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Southwark Council has a more effective decision making tool that visually communicates the environmental performance of its building stock, costs of retrofitting it to meet environmental objectives, and the relationship of this building stock to demographics and environmental factors such as flooding. |
| URL | https://uowestminster.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=c34d98866c8c40b49d89e66a9c9a2... |
| Title | Marylebone Station Anniversary Map |
| Description | A physical mural on a wall of the station, celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Marylebone Station in London. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | Highly visible in a public space. |
| URL | https://climatecartographics.com/3007_marylebone-station-125-anniversary |
| Title | Nature of Hope, Architecture Biennale Rotterdam |
| Description | Global map of sites where rights of nature recognised. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | Invitation to exhibit at Interspecies : Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) at the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB), Lisbon in 2025. |
| URL | https://iabr.nl/en/biennales/nature-of-hope |
| Title | Trees for Cities Story Map |
| Description | A web-based story map with interactive maps and visual assets for communicating the community engagement, regeneration and planting work of Trees for Cities throughout their 5 year project at Northolt Racecourse Estate |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Effective communication of Trees for Cities work at a one-day community celebration event at Northolt Racecourse Estate; use of our work by Trees for Cities to communicate with funders more effectively abut what it is they do. |
| URL | https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/416e054fe93349088e2c31dea898883c |
| Description | This was a proof of concept grant, initially awarded by the ERC and transferred to the UKRI. Its aim was to offer innovation in the field of climate change visualisation and to offer a competitive service to organisations seeking to better understand, communicate and act on the impacts of climate change in their contexts. It undertook four pilot cartographic projects for external parties, delivering different cartographic products to them, enabling the team to develop new cartographic skills and test new software platforms in response to the external parties' briefs. These products were evaluated, and from them an approach to future work was developed. By the end of the proof of concept period, the objective was to set up a service delivery vehicle to take the grant findings forward and to have signed contracts with four external parties, one in each of the following sectors - academic, private, public and not-for-profit. These objectives were, to a large extent, met, with the exception that we only had two signed contracts by the end of the grant period (for not-for-profit and commercial parties), with discussions for others ongoing. |
| Exploitation Route | The project is being taken forward by two of the researchers involved in this award, via a new CIC called Climate Cartographics, set up and incorporated in January 2024. Climate Cartographics been commissioned to undertake a number of projects during the reporting period, as reported under various categories. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Energy Environment Government Democracy and Justice Transport |
| URL | https://climatecartographics.com/ |
| Description | This award has potential societal impact through the pilot cartographic studies undertaken for external parties as a key component of the award. The external parties were Southwark Borough Council, the Kudafari Island Council in the Maldives, the not-for-profit Trees for Cities and the Westminster University-based Active Travel Academy. For Southwark Council we developed an interactive cartographic visualisation platform to communicate the existing environmental performance of Southwark Councils building stock, as well as retrofitting and zero-carbon pathway options and associated costs. Southwark Council has ongoing access to this platform as a decision making tool and interest has been shown by the Westminster City Council in exploring it. For the Kudafari Council we developed graphic and technical baseline mapping resources for the community to assist in urban development, protection of the natural environment and spatial data for future climate adaptation. While conducting a 12-day field trip in the Maldives to generate data for the maps, we undertook networking and relationship building with local stakeholders for further project work and potential development or scaling up of the project. For Trees for Cities, we developed a web-based story-map for communicating the organisation's community engagement, regeneration and planting work during a 5 year project at Northolt Racecourse Estate. It was intended to improve the organisation's impact and future fund raising endeavours. For the Active Travel Academy we developed an online interactive web-map exploring the rise of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods throughout London over the course of the 2 year COVID recovery period alongside selected demographic and environmental variables and influences. Given the pilot nature of all of these projects, they have not necessarily generated impact in themselves, but we have used them to test ideas, evaluate what works and what does not, and to network and build relations for further impact and knowledge exchange activities. The project was not academically focused, but outward facing, though we have been approached by a number of academic research centres with a view to undertaking cartographic work for them. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | Regeneration of post-industrial sites in the South Wales Valleys |
| Amount | £48,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2025 |
| End | 08/2025 |
| Description | UKRI QR and RCIF Uplift for November 2022 - March 2023 |
| Amount | £5,416 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Westminster |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2022 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Title | Client Briefing and Servicing Process |
| Description | During the grant period, we developed a five-stage client briefing and service delivery process, with outputs and checkpoints at the end of each period. The stages are: Project Briefing by Client to agree the nature of the project; Outline Proposal on the basis of which a service agreement is signed; Project development to 50% completion; Project Finalisation to 100% completion; Project Handover. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The method is efficient, transparent and collaborative and is the basis of further work now underway. |
| URL | https://climatecartographics.com/ |
| Description | Environmental Mapping Work |
| Organisation | Space Syntax |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Subcontract for environmental mapping work. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Briefing for work to be done. |
| Impact | Production of climate maps for Space Syntax |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Los Angeles: Reimagining the Four Ecologies |
| Organisation | Arup Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Design Research and data visualisation project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Data required for visualisation. |
| Impact | None to date. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Marylebone Station's 125th Anniversary |
| Organisation | Bakers Street Quarter |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Production of a Connectivity, Community & Heritage large format map for public display at celebration event. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Briefing. |
| Impact | A Connectivity, Community & Heritage large format map for public display at celebration event. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Pilot Project 1 |
| Organisation | London Borough of Southwark |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Climate Cartographics designed and developed an 'online map' to support Southwark Council's preliminary analysis and review of their housing stock property and retrofitting pathways in relation to their net zero 2030 target. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Southwark Council supplied the necessary existing data, design plans, media assets and outline project information, sector knowledge and personnel time required to undertake the pilot project. |
| Impact | An interactive cartographic visualisation platform to communicate the existing environmental performance of Southwark Councils building stock, as well as retrofitting and zero-carbon pathway options and associated costs. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Pilot Project 2 |
| Organisation | Trees For Cities |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Climate Cartographics designed and developed an 'online story map' to visualize and communicate the work undertaken and data created and collected by Trees for Cities at the Racecourse Estate, North West London UB5 4DX. Climate Cartographics also developed physical printed counterparts of cartographic elements for promotional material such as community pamphlets and signage. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Trees for Cities supplied the necessary existing data, design plans, media assets and outline project information, industry knowledge and personnel time required to undertake the pilot project. |
| Impact | A web-based storymap with interactive maps and visual assets for communicating the community engagement, regeneration and planting work of Trees for Cities throughout their 5 year project at Northolt Racecourse Estate. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Pilot Project 3 |
| Organisation | University of Westminster |
| Department | Active Travel Academy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Climate Cartographics created a web-based interactive mapping platform to reveal the spatial and temporal patterns of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), introduced within the Greater London area throughout the COVID recovery period of March 2020 - March 2022, including their relationship to selected demographic, political and environmental variables. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Active Travel Academy supplied the data necessary to create the interactive mapoing platform. |
| Impact | An online interactive web-map exploring the rise of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods throughout London over the course of the 2 year COVID recovery period alongside selected demographic and environmental variables and influences. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | CREATECH 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of Climate Cartographics Design Research Methods at a seminar titled Design through Making at the CREATECH Festival 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Hawkins Brown |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A talk introducing the work of Climate Cartographics to Hawkins Brown Architects |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Jestico + Whiles, Laboratory Talk Series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A presentation of Climate Cartographics: Introduction and Design Research Methods at the series of monthly talks at Jestico + Whiles Architects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A presentation of the work of Climate Cartographics to members of the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, University of York. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Little Big Island Festival: World Environment and Ocean Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A cutural festival on Kudafari Islands at which the mapping survey of the island by Climate Cartographics was exhibited. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Map Musings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to the UK Ordnance Survey. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation at Stuart Piercy and Co, Architects |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to the staff of Stuart Piercey and Co, London=-based architects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Southwark Council Climate Change Unit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Demonstration and discussion of the online platform produced for Southwark Council as part of the research project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Space Syntax Laboratory |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A talk introducing Climate Cartographics to the Space Syntax Laboratory. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | University of Westminster Public and Community Engagement Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Climate Cartographics presented a poster at an event to showcase the University of Westminster's Public and Community Engagement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Westminster City Council |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A presentation of Climate Cartographics to the Westminster City Council's Climate Action Unit. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |