The London Climate Change Partnership, with CIBSE and the MESH climate services network (co-founded and hosted by Space4Climate), organised this event about green infrastructure to promote health, wellbeing, and climate resilience in indoor and outdoor building environments, as part of the London Digital Climate Action Week.
With everyone talking about the importance of green space for health and especially in light of COVID-19 (but precious little about specifics and practical solutions), the London Climate Change Partnership, of which Space4Climate is a member, ran an event to promote the practical learning from projects that could point to specifics of how to use greening for health, wellbeing, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The event also explored opportunities to support implementation of green space for people and nature – including through innovative funding mechanisms.
This event took place in July 2020. It was chaired by Louise Pryor, Chair of the London Climate Change Partnership
Event recording
Speaker slides
Biophilia and the Built Environment, Flavie Lowres, BRE
Mitigating the climate and ecological crisis in the urban environment, Robert Winch, UKGBC
Green Roof Shelters: connecting people to nature through everyday structures, John Little, Duncan Kramer, Green Roof Shelters
Greening for air quality in schools – implementation & strategies: Joe Clancy, WSP
A new framework for green infrastructure implementation: Prof. Prashant Kumar, Surrey University
Vegetation Health Index -Enhanced Green Infrastructure Monitoring & Management under a Changing Climate : Briony Turner, Space4Climate
Further resources
Biophilia/greening and benefits to indoor spaces:
- Human Spaces report – biophilic design in workplaces
- Ulrich research paper on recovery of patients in hospital with views of green space
- Useful publications on workplace design
- Improving work place health and well-being with sensory gardens – ARCC network event resources page, event took place at the Wellcome Trust, London
- Flourishing Workplaces: a Multisensory Approach to Design and POE research paper
- The Multi-Sensory Experience in Buildings (Chapter 3, 3rd Edition Creating the Productive Workplace – requires purchase)
- Feeling Good in Public Spaces series event slides and resources, event series ran by the Feeling Good Foundation and ARCC
- Economics of Biophilia report published by Terrapin Bright Green, 2013
Links between aspects of environment and health
- Eco-Health Relationship Browser [online] – EPA, USA
CIBSE Green Infrastructure Design Challenge projects:
Greening and air quality:
- Roadside hedges protect human health at the cost of plant health – report published by University of Surrey, June 2020
- Quantifying particulate matter reduction and their deposition on the leaves of green infrastructure, research paper in Environmental Pollution, October 2020
- Regional-scale modelling for the assessment of atmospheric particulate matter concentrations at rural background locations in Europe, research paper in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, June 2020
- The nexus between air pollution, green infrastructure and human health Prashant Kumar, et al, research paper in Environment International, December 2019
- Designing vegetation barriers for urban air pollution abatement: a practical review for appropriate plant species selection, review article in Climate and Atmospheric Science, March 2020
- Considerations for evaluating green infrastructure impacts in microscale and macroscale air pollution dispersion models, research paper in Science of the Total Environment, July 2019
- Quantifying particulate matter reduction and their deposition on the leaves of green infrastructure, research paper in Environmental Pollution, October 2020
- Considerations regarding green infrastructure implementation for improved air quality, report published on Figshare, May 2019
- Guidance on using green infrastructure to protect people from air pollution, report published by the Greater London Authority, April 2019
School greening and air quality projects:
- Goose Green Primary School in Southwark- example of a school that involved parents, local businesses and the wider community in greening the school and improving air quality. Webpage about the project.
- Mayor’s school audit programme included engagement as a central theme. Wepage, Greater London Authority website.
- Examples of school greening projects funded by the Mayor’s City Greening Fund, webpage, Greater London Authority
- A primary school driven initiative to influence commuting style for dropping-off and pickingup of pupils Community school engagement – part of Guildford Living Lab, research paper published in Science of the Total Environment, July 2020
Nature-based solutions in mitigating natural hazards:
- Towards an operationalisation of nature-based solutions for natural hazards Carbon sequestration, research paper, Science of the Total Environment, August 2020
Carbon sequestration
- Newcastle University project: Sustainable Urban Carbon Capture: Engineering Soils for Climate Change Soils in cities are more effective carbon sinks for carbon than agricultural soils. List of project publications on UKRI Gateway to Research
London Climate Change Partner initiatives
- UK Green Building Council Increasing Nature-Based Solutions programme webpage
- IGNITION project webpage (developing innovative financing mechanisms for greening in Manchester).
- WSP Future Ready Landscapes webpage– redefining urban spaces with multiple benefits – includes case studies.
- TCPA Healthy Homes Act webpage – Campaign for a proposed Healthy Homes Bill, including reference to the curtiledge
- MESH network and directory of climate service professionals – you can join via the website: http://meshclimate.net/