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Research undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM) has enhanced capacity for assessing and responding to climate change impacts and risks in urban areas, by moving from basic research around user requirements to the development of scaleable decision support tools. The needs of end users have been considered from the outset, with a co-production model of research — academics working in joint enterprise with stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors — leading to enhanced take-up of the resulting ideas, tools and techniques. Impacts are based upon supporting climate change adaptation responses within planning authorities, at local, regional, national and international scales, with the web-based climate change adaptation tools, developed at UoM, now freely available to municipalities worldwide.
University of Manchester (UoM) research has made a key contribution to adaptation planning strategy for urban climate change, at a range of scales. Impact was achieved via the generation of data, and the creation and refinement of tools and frameworks that offer a distinct geographical perspective and a means of generating local evidence on urban climate risks, vulnerabilities and adaptation potential. Proof of principle was established within Greater Manchester, with extensive and ongoing use of research findings to support urban adaptation. Subsequently, the research has guided additional localities, and contributed to national policy formulation. More recently, a number of cities — including on mainland Europe and the African continent — have used the research within local adaptation planning, and related green infrastructure policy and practice.
The majority of people in developed countries live in neighbourhoods characterised as `suburban'. Yet, suburbs in their current form are unsustainable: they contribute to, and are at risk from, climate change. UWE's research on how suburbs can become more sustainable has been used by international agencies, Governments and local authorities to develop policies, and to identify and tackle climate risks. It has informed the OECD's stance on suburbs within urban intensification policies. It has helped shape the National Adaptation Programme for England, and improved UK Government's ministers' and departments' (CLG, DEFRA, DECC) understanding of climate risks. UWE's research has modified the delivery of the Government's flagship energy efficiency Programme: Green Deal, which retrofits dwellings for energy efficiency, to ensure that its implementation does not result in homes overheating. It has also benefitted local authorities, helping them plan effectively for climate change. Overall, it has helped ensure that suburbs contribute to sustainable development patterns, and remain liveable.
Key insights from LSE Cities' interdisciplinary research on the `compact and well-connected' city have been incorporated by central government in national planning policy and by the Mayor of London in the London Plan. This has led to urban land being developed more intensively, ensuring more sustainable and efficient use of space in English towns and cities. Research on green city policies has been adopted by the United Nations Environment Programme (2011) and is determining policy formulation in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Portland. Urban Age conferences and research have created an international network of urban policy-makers and scholars, and LSE Cities staff have had impact on the design of the Olympic Park in London and development plans for cities outside the UK.
Extreme heat events are likely to occur more frequently in a warmer future climate. Cities worldwide are concerned that the urban heat island effect will exacerbate the impact of climate change on urban populations and infrastructure. The UK government expects local councils to play a vital role in making sure the country is prepared for climate change. Birmingham City Council, the largest local authority in the UK, has worked in partnership with the University of Birmingham (UoB) in the BUCCANEER project (Birmingham Urban Climate Change Adaptation with Neighbourhood Estimates of Environmental Risk). The city has drawn extensively on BUCCANEER to design climate resilience into their city systems. The project has had public policy impact by informing the City's influential Green Commission and by being included in the City Council's new development Guidance — urban temperature change has become a mandatory factor to be considered for every new development requiring permission in the city. The guidance explicitly points developers towards BUCCANEER as the tool with which to consider this factor. A second public policy impact derives from the value of the tool for health planning: a significant proportion of the inner-city population is particularly vulnerable to extreme temperatures through age or ill-health and live where the heat island effect is shown to be largest. This aspect is now being increasingly employed by Public Health analysts and managers in the city. As a result of the city/university partnership, Birmingham has been recognised by the European Union as a Peer City and source of best practice for urban climate resilience.
This is a case study of ESRC-funded research at Liverpool University which enhanced policy making and governance structures around low carbon policy in Liverpool, UK. The Low Carbon Liverpool Knowledge Exchange Partnership explored how Liverpool's economic development agencies can facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy, combining a healthy, vibrant and socially inclusive economy with mitigation of dangerous climate change. The outputs that had a significant impact on policy making in the city included an audit of the city's environmental performance, and an institutional innovation, Liverpool Green Partnership, to carry through the changes in policy identified in the audit.
The government expects local councils to play a vital role in making sure the UK is prepared for climate change. Birmingham City Council, the largest local authority in the UK, has worked in partnership with University of Birmingham (UoB) researchers in the BUCCANEER project (Birmingham Urban Climate Change Adaptation with Neighbourhood Estimates of Environmental Risk). The city has drawn extensively on the tool developed from BUCCANEER to inform their approach to adapting city systems to the increased likelihood of extreme temperatures in the future. This is a particular risk to cities like Birmingham where the projected higher overall temperatures in the UK as a result of climate change would exacerbate the existing urban heat island effect and produce potentially-damaging consequences for inner city areas. The project has had public policy impact by informing the approach taken by the City's influential Green Commission and by direct inclusion in the City Council's new development guidance. Temperature change and the urban heat island have now become mandatory factors to be considered for all developments requiring permission and guidance explicitly points developers towards BUCCANEER as the tool with which to consider this factor. A second public policy impact derives from the value of the tool for health planning: a significant proportion of the inner-city population is particularly vulnerable to extreme temperatures through age or ill-health and live where the heat island effect is shown to be largest. This aspect is now being increasingly employed by Public Health analysts and managers in the City.
The United Kingdom is today better adapted to climate risks as a result of a sustained programme of research completed by the School into the impacts of climate change on ecological, social and infrastructural systems. This work has had significant and continuing impact on the design and implementation of UK (and international) climate adaptation strategies and policies, especially with regard to flooding, the built environment and water and coastal management. Decision-support tools (such as climate scenarios and options appraisal) and direct policy advice produced by the School have been used by numerous public and private sector organisations to inform and guide their adaptation strategies and investments.
Significant climate change is forecast for the Middle East by the end of this century, leading to — amongst other things — greater water scarcity and falling agricultural productivity. LSE research resulted in the development of the Palestinian Authority's first climate change adaptation strategy. This in turn led to the creation of a Palestinian national committee on climate change and, with the implementation of specific recommendations from this research, the strengthening of climate change planning within the Palestinian Authority. The research also shifted regional priorities for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which subsequently included climate change in its 2011-2013 Strategic Framework as a policy priority for development work in the occupied Palestinian territory.
A comparative methodology to assess the impact of climate change in different countries, implemented by Gosling for a report commissioned by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), informed EU negotiations at the 2011 UN climate change conference in Durban, South Africa. The conference concluded with the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action - a `road map' by which global legal agreement on climate change is to be implemented no later than 2015. For the first time, government ministers and their advisers attending an international conference were able to compare the impact of climate change in different countries, including those where scientific institutions have limited research capacity.