JPI Urban Europe SUGI - CRUNCH: Climate Resilient Urban Nexus Choices: Operationalising the Food-Water-Energy Nexus
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Portsmouth
Department Name: Portsmouth Sch of Architecture
Abstract
CRUNCH will demonstrate how the Food-Water-Energy Nexus can strengthen urban resilience through creating an interconnected knowledge platform with cross-sectorial indicators for a support tool and assessment framework (the Integrated Decision Support System - IDSS), to guide and improve robust decision making on future urban development. In order to implement integrated Nexus solutions for FWE, CRUNCH will co-define context-specific challenges for each of the Urban Living Labs (ULLs) in the participating cities (Southend-on-Sea, Uppsala, Eindhoven and Gdansk; Miami and Taipei). It will deliver a comprehensive overview of potential solutions, deep knowledge and evidence for the co-design of the selected urban areas.
The potential solutions include urban food production with renewable energy systems through biomass (anaerobic digestion using organic waste); holding, cleaning and draining water naturally through an integrative and systemic ecological approach combined with sustainable storage solutions and urban drainage (reducing flood risk).
Using 4 (plus 2) ULL scenarios developed through CRUNCH for the participating cities, a context specific FWE-Nexus framework will be developed and visualised (supporting Follower/Multiplier Cities). To facilitate co-production and foster innovation and cost-effectiveness across the ULLs, the project proposes to underpin the processes by strategic trajectories through an evidence based framework for creating resource-efficient and resilient cities.
The CRUNCH project addresses all three sectors of food, water and energy through the integrative FWE-Nexus approach.
It aims to support local decision and policymakers, practitioners and civil society organisations by translating the key findings of a deep review of literature, knowledge and research evidence on the FWE-Nexus into the design of Urban Living Labs. The primary objective is the realisation of an Integrated Decision Support System (IDSS) as a multi-dimensional GIS-system (geographic information system supported) map-based baseline platform for decision makers that will provide consistent and coordinated support for multiple users on varied decisions in urban planning.
The proposal creates a tool for integrated decisioning using the Urban Living Lab (ULL) approach; identifying the cities' needs, developing the tool and framework, testing and analysing the models using different scenarios.
The potential solutions include urban food production with renewable energy systems through biomass (anaerobic digestion using organic waste); holding, cleaning and draining water naturally through an integrative and systemic ecological approach combined with sustainable storage solutions and urban drainage (reducing flood risk).
Using 4 (plus 2) ULL scenarios developed through CRUNCH for the participating cities, a context specific FWE-Nexus framework will be developed and visualised (supporting Follower/Multiplier Cities). To facilitate co-production and foster innovation and cost-effectiveness across the ULLs, the project proposes to underpin the processes by strategic trajectories through an evidence based framework for creating resource-efficient and resilient cities.
The CRUNCH project addresses all three sectors of food, water and energy through the integrative FWE-Nexus approach.
It aims to support local decision and policymakers, practitioners and civil society organisations by translating the key findings of a deep review of literature, knowledge and research evidence on the FWE-Nexus into the design of Urban Living Labs. The primary objective is the realisation of an Integrated Decision Support System (IDSS) as a multi-dimensional GIS-system (geographic information system supported) map-based baseline platform for decision makers that will provide consistent and coordinated support for multiple users on varied decisions in urban planning.
The proposal creates a tool for integrated decisioning using the Urban Living Lab (ULL) approach; identifying the cities' needs, developing the tool and framework, testing and analysing the models using different scenarios.
Planned Impact
Expected impacts
Project legacy: Beside knowledge creation, CRUNCH has the potential to benefit the living conditions of more than a million residents in the case study cities directly and many more indirectly. With major international cities participating, the project will have end-user involvement and a lasting impact with a wide geographical spread (from Europe to the US and to Chinese Taipei).
In addition, the project will add value and build long-lasting partnerships through user engagement with the city councils, industry and other research institutions, to generate scientific progress and transformative benefits for the municipalities. The IDSS tool will become open-source and worldwide accessible through the project web site (M4.3: months 24-36 and beyond). These activities will benefit society, urban citizens as end-users and the general public through cost savings and a cleaner environment, enabling municipalities to deliver better urban development. Outcomes will be highly applicable and transferable to other cities. Regular stakeholder events will be organised involving participants from other cities and researchers from Chinese Taipei and the USA to share findings of case studies. Workshops organised in the UK, Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands will inform all stakeholders of necessary knowledge, best practice globally and fine-tune the aims. High innovation potential for 'green growth/jobs' can be expected, introducing new services and approaches, providing useful lessons for take-up by cities. Strategies for strengthening of competitiveness and urban growth will be addressed.
More efficient urban design assessment and strategic integration of technologies: Throughout the entire project there will be extensive stakeholder engagement with participatory workshops, international design charrettes and co-creation techniques. In the final year, targeted activities will ensure that technologies developed will be taken up by those identified as users and implemented in practice. Interim outcomes will be presented at industry seminars and conferences globally (in Year 2 and 3) and findings presented to relevant government departments, local councils, developers and community groups. Southend-on-Sea, Gdansk, Uppsala, Eindhoven and Glasgow City Councils have committed to provide previous studies, support the project work, promote findings (shared with 425 local authority staff) and host events.
Engaging local communities and civil society as end-users: The researchers will engage in regular discussion and give presentations to the general public (3 presentations pa each). In Year 1 there will be specific public engagement and co-creation events involving the public and other stakeholders, and in Phase 2 collaboration with local municipalities will be intensified - councils have agreed to undertake activities to keep the public informed of changes and involve their extensive end-user networks.
The team believes that the research on strategic trajectories of sustainable water and energy use in cities has a strong impact and duplication/replication potential, as is the implementation of communication models and advisory aimed at 'good' urban decision making, place-based solutions and the development of procedural mechanisms to inform future regulations and building codes.
Dissemination and/or exploitation of project results:
A targeted communication and dissemination strategy, aligned to the research aims, builds on the already existing network and will create new links: an interactive project website (online open-source platform) with algorithmic sampling applications for statistics to communicate the detailed outcome summaries. The project website, toolkit and data will remain open source and freely available for at least 3 years after the project is completed (3 + 3 years, until 2023).
Project legacy: Beside knowledge creation, CRUNCH has the potential to benefit the living conditions of more than a million residents in the case study cities directly and many more indirectly. With major international cities participating, the project will have end-user involvement and a lasting impact with a wide geographical spread (from Europe to the US and to Chinese Taipei).
In addition, the project will add value and build long-lasting partnerships through user engagement with the city councils, industry and other research institutions, to generate scientific progress and transformative benefits for the municipalities. The IDSS tool will become open-source and worldwide accessible through the project web site (M4.3: months 24-36 and beyond). These activities will benefit society, urban citizens as end-users and the general public through cost savings and a cleaner environment, enabling municipalities to deliver better urban development. Outcomes will be highly applicable and transferable to other cities. Regular stakeholder events will be organised involving participants from other cities and researchers from Chinese Taipei and the USA to share findings of case studies. Workshops organised in the UK, Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands will inform all stakeholders of necessary knowledge, best practice globally and fine-tune the aims. High innovation potential for 'green growth/jobs' can be expected, introducing new services and approaches, providing useful lessons for take-up by cities. Strategies for strengthening of competitiveness and urban growth will be addressed.
More efficient urban design assessment and strategic integration of technologies: Throughout the entire project there will be extensive stakeholder engagement with participatory workshops, international design charrettes and co-creation techniques. In the final year, targeted activities will ensure that technologies developed will be taken up by those identified as users and implemented in practice. Interim outcomes will be presented at industry seminars and conferences globally (in Year 2 and 3) and findings presented to relevant government departments, local councils, developers and community groups. Southend-on-Sea, Gdansk, Uppsala, Eindhoven and Glasgow City Councils have committed to provide previous studies, support the project work, promote findings (shared with 425 local authority staff) and host events.
Engaging local communities and civil society as end-users: The researchers will engage in regular discussion and give presentations to the general public (3 presentations pa each). In Year 1 there will be specific public engagement and co-creation events involving the public and other stakeholders, and in Phase 2 collaboration with local municipalities will be intensified - councils have agreed to undertake activities to keep the public informed of changes and involve their extensive end-user networks.
The team believes that the research on strategic trajectories of sustainable water and energy use in cities has a strong impact and duplication/replication potential, as is the implementation of communication models and advisory aimed at 'good' urban decision making, place-based solutions and the development of procedural mechanisms to inform future regulations and building codes.
Dissemination and/or exploitation of project results:
A targeted communication and dissemination strategy, aligned to the research aims, builds on the already existing network and will create new links: an interactive project website (online open-source platform) with algorithmic sampling applications for statistics to communicate the detailed outcome summaries. The project website, toolkit and data will remain open source and freely available for at least 3 years after the project is completed (3 + 3 years, until 2023).
Organisations
- University of Portsmouth (Lead Research Organisation)
- Florida International University (FIU) (Collaboration)
- Southend-on-Sea Borough Council (Collaboration)
- Gdansk University of Technology (Collaboration)
- National Taiwan University (Collaboration)
- Cultinova Ltd (Collaboration)
- KnowNow Information Limited (Collaboration)
- Government of Italy (Collaboration)
- Eindhoven University of Technology (Collaboration)
- Uppsala University (Collaboration)
- GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL (Collaboration)
Publications
Donovan-Stumbles L
(2018)
How to build cities and destroy motorways
GarcĂa-Del-Amo D
(2023)
Local reports of climate change impacts in Sierra Nevada, Spain: sociodemographic and geographical patterns.
in Regional environmental change
Huang Q
(2022)
Spatial-temporal differences of COVID-19 vaccinations in the U.S.
in Urban informatics
Khemri M
(2020)
Informality through Sustainability - Urban Informality Now
Lara-Hernandez J
(2020)
Temporary appropriation and urban informality: Exploring the subtle distinction
in Cities
Lara-Hernandez J
(2019)
Using the street in Mexico City Centre: temporary appropriation of public space vs legislation governing street use
in The Journal of Public Space
Lehmann S
(2018)
Implementing the Urban Nexus approach for improved resource-efficiency of developing cities in Southeast-Asia
in City, Culture and Society
Lehmann S
(2019)
Reconnecting with nature: Developing urban spaces in the age of climate change
in Emerald Open Research
Lehmann Steffen
(2019)
Urban Regeneration: A Manifesto for transforming UK Cities in the Age of Climate Change
Title | Food-Water-Energy Nexus at the XVII Bienal Internacional de Arquitectura de Buenos Aires |
Description | Borboletta is a sonic installation, simultaneously operating as display system with living organisms. The installation consists of 4 integrated entities representing the essential ingredients of a future resilient ecosystem: a variable scaffolding structure which allows assimilation with the human body, sensorial milieu activated by the sonic integration (two 3D-printed guitars) and the Arduino feedback audio systems; the self-sufficient habitat oriented to the proliferation of biodiversity (Wunderbug spheres), and the climate responsiveness of the system, through expansion and contraction of an mass of creeping protoplasmic cells (Slime Mold). |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | This was a first exhibition demonstrating the potential of the food-water-energy nexus. It has formed the basis of part of the installation at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2020. It also offered the opportunity to collaborate with students, and with external partners, integrating the nexus into novel settings. |
URL | https://58fb59b4-aa87-41f1-a01f-42873db6f2b7.filesusr.com/ugd/48f85c_4592f14d57144b8294f1800d1cd5bf0... |
Title | Spandrel installation |
Description | It is a curatorial installaztion for the explorations of biology in architecture |
Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | The installation will be exhibited in the Italian Pavilion at the Architecture Venice Biennale |
Description | The impacts included the development of an IDSS (Integrated Decision Support System) and its refinement. It is a tool whose potential has gone beyond the present research and which has allowed data collection, simulation and decision making in other researches over the last year, demonstrating a high degree of transferability. IDSS is a digital platform that facilitates decison making processes. |
Exploitation Route | IDSS can be used in various fields and disciplines to facilitate decision making processes. Therefore, even by inserting information and inputs that do not necessarily concern the case studies examined, the results can still contribute positively to other research and initiatives. |
Sectors | Construction Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Environment Healthcare Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism Government Democracy and Justice Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
URL | https://www.comunitaresilienti.com/ |
Description | The findings deriving above from the research (especially deriving from qualitative methodologies) were used to enrich the exhibition itinerary of the Italian pavilion at the XVII Architecture Venice Biennale. The Biennale is the most important exhibition of architecture in the world. The 2021 Architecture edition recorded the highest number of visitors in history (300,000 + and generally has a pool of about 160000 visitors. The findings have also considered by a few decision makers concerning urban planning aspects. The town of Peccioli, in Italy, for instance, has published the Charter of the Resilient Communities also inspired by the CRUNCH researches. Findings also helped facilitate the continuation and consolidation of collaboration between research partners. The IDSS used for this research also inspired other researches regarding extreme climate Phenomena in small islands. The CRUNCH edited book titled "Designing Sustainable and Resilient Cities" has been published in 2022. |
First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal Policy & public services |
Description | Foundation of the Community Resilience Research Centre |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | The research centre is a partnership including universities, city council and industry parrners. The activities include the researches in the field of community resilience and the promotion of the charter of resilient community. These researches have been effective and inspired planning policies (i.e, Government on Campeche in Mexico/ Pablo Garcia Foundation) |
Description | Peccioli Charter of Resilient Communities |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
Description | Urban Transformations |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
URL | https://www.urbantransformations.ox.ac.uk/ |
Title | CRUNCH literature review database |
Description | This is a literature review database. As part of the first work package of the project, all members of the project team were asked to collect the articles which they felt were most relevant for understanding the urban food-water-energy nexus. The articles were collated, and the entries were standardised and entered on a Google sheet. This allows the data to be added to as new articles appear. It also allows for an up-to-date copy of the database to be made publicly available on the project's website. Articles are listed with links to their DOIs rather than listed with PDF copies, as this complies with the publishers' copyright restrictions. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The creation of the database made it possible to understand the links between food, water and energy in an urban context. Compiling this database was essential for commencing the second work package. |
URL | http://fwe-nexus.eu/fwedb.php |
Title | ULL matrix |
Description | A matrix was developed in order to assist with the development of an urban living lab framework that would allow a meaningful comparison of the projects being developed in each of the six participating cities. This framework needed to be sufficiently robust to encompass different climate change scenarios, as well as solutions which encompass the full breadth of the food-water-energy nexus. |
Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This matrix was developed as part of work package 1 of the project. This work package concluded in November 2018. We are now analysing the completed matrix and using the results to develop a unique urban living lab research framework. A description of the matrix, and its use in developing this framework, is currently being written up with a view to publishing this in an academic journal. |
Description | CRUNCH collaboration |
Organisation | Cultinova Ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The University of Portsmouth is the lead partner in the CRUNCH collaboration. We are responsible for the management and organisation of the project, the distribution of tasks amongst the project team, ensuring regular reporting on tasks and deliverables and coordinating regular team meetings. |
Collaborator Contribution | CRUNCH is an international, interdisciplinary project. The partners listed in this section are our collaborators on the project. |
Impact | Disciplines: architecture, geography, mathematics Outputs: papers, website, database, workshops |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | CRUNCH collaboration |
Organisation | Eindhoven University of Technology |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The University of Portsmouth is the lead partner in the CRUNCH collaboration. We are responsible for the management and organisation of the project, the distribution of tasks amongst the project team, ensuring regular reporting on tasks and deliverables and coordinating regular team meetings. |
Collaborator Contribution | CRUNCH is an international, interdisciplinary project. The partners listed in this section are our collaborators on the project. |
Impact | Disciplines: architecture, geography, mathematics Outputs: papers, website, database, workshops |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | CRUNCH collaboration |
Organisation | Florida International University (FIU) |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The University of Portsmouth is the lead partner in the CRUNCH collaboration. We are responsible for the management and organisation of the project, the distribution of tasks amongst the project team, ensuring regular reporting on tasks and deliverables and coordinating regular team meetings. |
Collaborator Contribution | CRUNCH is an international, interdisciplinary project. The partners listed in this section are our collaborators on the project. |
Impact | Disciplines: architecture, geography, mathematics Outputs: papers, website, database, workshops |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | CRUNCH collaboration |
Organisation | Gdansk University of Technology |
Department | Department of Architecture |
Country | Poland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The University of Portsmouth is the lead partner in the CRUNCH collaboration. We are responsible for the management and organisation of the project, the distribution of tasks amongst the project team, ensuring regular reporting on tasks and deliverables and coordinating regular team meetings. |
Collaborator Contribution | CRUNCH is an international, interdisciplinary project. The partners listed in this section are our collaborators on the project. |
Impact | Disciplines: architecture, geography, mathematics Outputs: papers, website, database, workshops |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | CRUNCH collaboration |
Organisation | Glasgow City Council |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The University of Portsmouth is the lead partner in the CRUNCH collaboration. We are responsible for the management and organisation of the project, the distribution of tasks amongst the project team, ensuring regular reporting on tasks and deliverables and coordinating regular team meetings. |
Collaborator Contribution | CRUNCH is an international, interdisciplinary project. The partners listed in this section are our collaborators on the project. |
Impact | Disciplines: architecture, geography, mathematics Outputs: papers, website, database, workshops |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | CRUNCH collaboration |
Organisation | KnowNow Information Limited |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The University of Portsmouth is the lead partner in the CRUNCH collaboration. We are responsible for the management and organisation of the project, the distribution of tasks amongst the project team, ensuring regular reporting on tasks and deliverables and coordinating regular team meetings. |
Collaborator Contribution | CRUNCH is an international, interdisciplinary project. The partners listed in this section are our collaborators on the project. |
Impact | Disciplines: architecture, geography, mathematics Outputs: papers, website, database, workshops |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | CRUNCH collaboration |
Organisation | National Taiwan University |
Country | Taiwan, Province of China |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The University of Portsmouth is the lead partner in the CRUNCH collaboration. We are responsible for the management and organisation of the project, the distribution of tasks amongst the project team, ensuring regular reporting on tasks and deliverables and coordinating regular team meetings. |
Collaborator Contribution | CRUNCH is an international, interdisciplinary project. The partners listed in this section are our collaborators on the project. |
Impact | Disciplines: architecture, geography, mathematics Outputs: papers, website, database, workshops |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | CRUNCH collaboration |
Organisation | Southend-on-Sea Borough Council |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The University of Portsmouth is the lead partner in the CRUNCH collaboration. We are responsible for the management and organisation of the project, the distribution of tasks amongst the project team, ensuring regular reporting on tasks and deliverables and coordinating regular team meetings. |
Collaborator Contribution | CRUNCH is an international, interdisciplinary project. The partners listed in this section are our collaborators on the project. |
Impact | Disciplines: architecture, geography, mathematics Outputs: papers, website, database, workshops |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | CRUNCH collaboration |
Organisation | Uppsala University |
Country | Sweden |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The University of Portsmouth is the lead partner in the CRUNCH collaboration. We are responsible for the management and organisation of the project, the distribution of tasks amongst the project team, ensuring regular reporting on tasks and deliverables and coordinating regular team meetings. |
Collaborator Contribution | CRUNCH is an international, interdisciplinary project. The partners listed in this section are our collaborators on the project. |
Impact | Disciplines: architecture, geography, mathematics Outputs: papers, website, database, workshops |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Resilient Communities - Italian Pavilion Venice Architecture Biennale 2020 |
Organisation | Government of Italy |
Department | Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities |
Country | Italy |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The pavilion is about city resilience and transformation due to climate crisis. Major sections of the exhibitions regard FEW protortypes and Installations. The program also includes a series of activities, event, conferences on the topic. |
Collaborator Contribution | The Italian Charter for Resilient Communities with a focus on FEW has been already launched and approved by a steering Committee I have nominated, in agreement with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. |
Impact | It is multidisiclinary. It onvolved climatologist, microbiologist, policy makers among others. Output include the First International Conference on Resilient Communities in Peccioli (Novembre 2019), the Educational program of the Italian Pavilion Venice Biennale (2 workshops, 2 confereces), the realisation of several ptotoypes and inatallation, the exhibition at the Italian Pavilion, a series of books (7) now under publication. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | CRUNCH website |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | We have deigned and built a website for the CRUNCH project. The website is aimed at the general public and contains information on the aims and scope of the project, the full list of project partners, information on our meetings and workshops, a list of publications, and free access to our literature review database and working definitions. It will also host our integrated decision support system once this has been built. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
URL | http://fwe-nexus.eu |
Description | Comunita' Resilienti - Peccioli, Italy, November 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Alessandro Melis represented CRUNCH at the Resilient Communities conference in Peccioli, Italy, in November 2019. Here he was instrumental in drafting the Peccioli charter on resilient communities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Eindhoven workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Our Dutch partners invited the CRUNCH team to Eindhoven for a workshop on green infrastructure and green spaces within the urban environment, and to explore the role of greening the city as a starting point for exploring the urban food-water-energy nexus. Participants from Portsmouth, Southend, Gdansk, Taipei, Miami and Uppsala joined the team from Eindhoven Council and the Eindhoven University of Technology to work together on strategies for co-design and co-creation within the urban realm, and to share knowledge and best practice regarding the use of the urban living lab methodology for this type of research. We also went on a walking tour of Eindhoven to view the strategies that had been implemented to date. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Gdansk interview |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Whilst attending a workshop in Gdansk, Poland, two members of the team were asked to take part in a televised interview regarding the aims and the outcomes of the project, and the benefits of international cooperation. An edited version of the interview has been uploaded to YouTube and is publicly available. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://youtu.be/xanLageyfYI |
Description | Gdansk workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Our Polish partners invited the CRUNCH team to Gdansk for a workshop on urban living lab design, and to explore the role of water as a starting point for exploring the urban food-water-energy nexus. Participants from Portsmouth, Southend, Eindhoven, Taipei, Miami and Uppsala joined the team from Gdansk to work together on urban living lab design, and to share knowledge and best practice regarding the use of the urban living lab methodology for this type of research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Interview international magazine |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Interview on International Magazine on architecture and planning |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.floornature.com/design-trends/strongonstage-interview-alessandro-melis-strong-15511/ |
Description | Interview on future of resilience |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Interview on Future of Resilience |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.floornature.com/design-trends/strongonstage-interview-alessandro-melis-strong-15428/ |
Description | Resilient Cities International Symposium, July 29th 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | CRUNCH co-organised a one day international symposium on resilient cities with the University of Portsmouth's Cluster for Sustainable Cities and the Sustainability and Environment research theme. The event was open to students, academics, practitioners and the wider public. Following three sessions of pecha kucha style presentations there was time for a wider discussion and debate. There was interest in further collaboration, both within the academic community as well as with institutions such as the city museum and local history trusts. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | SUGI meeting, Bristol |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Representatives from the project team were invited to participate in a workshop for the SUGI projects, hosted by the University of Bristol. This provided an opportunity to update our fellow SUGI projects on the progress of our project, as well as look for areas where we could collaborate and cooperate. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | TEDx talk on climate change and the compact city at TEDx Mestre |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Alessandro Melis was invited to give a talk (in Italian) at the TEDx event in Mestre on how architecture and the compact city can respond to the challenges posed by climate change. Over 1000 people participated in the event, and there have been subsequent requests for Alessandro to speak at other events. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwQclCWkmfE&t=323s |
Description | Uppsala workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Our Swedish partners invited the CRUNCH team to Uppsala for a workshop on decision support for the urban food-water-energy nexus, and the role of AI and machine learning in smart cities. Participants from Portsmouth, Southend, Gdansk, Taipei, Miami and Eindhoven joined the team from Uppsala Council and Uppsala University to discuss the types of data and inputs available both in open access format, and collected from our urban living labs, exploring how this could be combined into a working decision support system. We also heard about Uppsala's ongoing sustainable expansion plans, and viewed the site of one of the proposed new builds which works on a circular water use principle. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Urban Greening - exploring the benefits for Southend on Sea |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The CRUNCH team were invited to participate in a capacity building workshop hosted by Southend Borough Council, exploring strategies for increasing the amount of green space and green infrastructure within the city. It was a half day workshop in Southend that engaged with the council's planners, economic development teams, health, parks, policy and 2050 Strategy Team on the benefits or urban greening, with a view to both designing and implementing strategic projects, and exploring how local authorities can build a business case to approve finance on urban greening projects. As a result of the workshop we are working closely with a variety of departments in the city on food-water-energy related projects, and we have a better understanding of the barriers that Southend Borough Council faces in implementing green infrastructure projects. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |