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31 March 2011 – 11:41 am

Also posted in climate change

summary of the IPCC Expert Meeting on Human Settlements and Infrastructure

Thanks to Professor Alistair Woodward for providing us with this brief summary of the IPCC Expert Meeting on Human Settlements and Infrastructure – March 22-24, Kolkata

The 4th Assessment Report had no stand alone section on urban issues, despite the importance of cities as an economic force and the centre of population growth world-wide. It has been resolved that the 5th Report will focus more explicitly on settlements and the related issue of infrastructure, and also will attempt to bridge more satisfactorily the work of Working Group 2 (impacts and adaptation) and Working Group 3 (mitigation). It might be noted also that AR4 focused strongly on technology and efficiency as responses to climate change; here there is an opportunity to take a broader approach, and examine the systemic and structural influences on land use and energy consumption.

31 March 2011 – 11:36 am

Call for Papers 2011 PHA Conference

Themes and streams

1. A vision for the future of public health: for projects or work that suggest new ways of working in public health or successful models of intervention.
2. Sustainable communities and environments: for projects or work that suggest ways of sustaining strong communities and safe environments.
3. Diversity: for projects or activities that reflect health development issues for specific communities or groups of people.

More details available on the website

30 March 2011 – 3:29 pm

New UN Habitat report

The world’s cities are responsible for up to 70 per cent of harmful greenhouse gases while occupying just 2 per cent of its land.

This report explores the threats and opportunities of our cities in relation to climate change.

22 March 2011 – 1:04 pm

Also posted in climate change and news & events

Call for Papers – Cities at Risk: Building Adaptive Capacities for Managing Climate Change

Taipei, Taiwan
April 11-13, 2011
Asian coastal cities are increasingly vulnerable to flooding disasters resulting from the combined effects of climate change (sea level rise, intensified storms, and storm surges), land subsidence, and rapid urban growth. As a part of the ongoing multi‐year effort titled “Cities at Risk” (CAR), which aims to reduce risks and vulnerabilities of Asian coastal cities brought on by climate change and urban growth, a series of international conferences were envisaged. The first such conference, CAR I, was held in Bangkok in February 2009 with support from APN, ICSU and Ibaraki University (Japan). Since then a number of priority activities have taken place, including formation of active city teams working on vulnerability assessment issues and establishment
of the IRDR International Center of Excellence at Academia Sinica in Taipei. Other cities throughout Asia are also establishing national centers for disaster risk management. Hence, a second international conference –
CAR II – is now being organized with support from Academia Sinica and other partners to assess progress, to consolidate a network of researchers, decision‐makers and institutions in the region and to identify priorities for the next several years.
Details here:

11 March 2011 – 9:58 am

Also posted in housing & building and news & events

Bristol Celebrates Insulation

The event – entitled “Insulation Celebration” will take place on Sunday 20th March. 8 Homes will be opening across the city featuring interesting retrofitting solutions to wall, floor and loft insulation, 1 is a new build, and a couple are designed to Passiv Haus standards – so some really interesting things to see. Also, representatives from the construction companies involved in the projects will be available at a minimum of 4 homes, and architects who designed the retrofits at a further 2-3. This should provide some really valuable information that students, staff and general public can learn from.

Because we are so thrilled with what we have put together we have also given our website (www.bristolgreendoors.org) a makeover! Like some of the homes, the refurbishment is still in progress but we hope you will like the new features that are already up and running and will find items of interest. From Monday it will include a booking system necessary for visiting the homes.

So, if you are considering insulating your walls (and from my own personal experience I can assure you it makes a fantastic difference) find out more and plan on visiting some homes on the 20th. You could come with a neighbour and consider how a joint scheme might work. Alternatively pass this on to a friend or someone who you think will be interested.

1 March 2011 – 3:53 pm