Environmental Design Research Association’s Post

In my opening keynote at the IABSE - International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering symposium last week, I spoke about the need to look beyond just embodied carbon, and start understanding the wider impacts our material use has on nature and biodiversity. The scary facts I shared included: 🍃We know that nature is in just as bad a state as the atmosphere - the WWF reckons we've lost 69% of our wildlife in the last 50 years. 🐿Construction plays a profound role in this decrease, with 29% of all threatened and near-threatened species being directly impacted by our industry. ⚖ The vast majority of all humanmade materials in existence are buildings and infrastructure (there's nothing much else as heavy!) ⛏️Our industry extracts 50 billion tonnes of raw material each year, destroying habitats, and releasing pollution - air, soil, water and noise. 📈 For a building, researcers are suggesting that between 60-95% of such impacts occur at the site of material extraction, rather than on our construction sites or near to our finished projects. ⌛ No matter how low-carbon your concrete, if you want to pour 100 m3 of it, you still need to extract 120 tonnes of gravel, 60 tonnes of sand, 60 tonnes of limestone, and 17 000 litres of fresh water. Those all come with impacts. Worrying about ‘biodiversity net gain’ at each end of a bridge or in the park around a building is well and good (and obviously worth doing), but we must also worry about equivalent impacts at the source of our materials. No-one has yet produced a roadmap for nature-positive steel, or pollution-negative concrete... We need to dig deeper! Pun intended. Some reports I recommend reading on this: Expedition Engineering Ltd: https://lnkd.in/dakgCCCy UK Green Building Council (UKGBC): https://lnkd.in/ewXtZ3h6 WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development: https://lnkd.in/drRpfqmH Thank you again to Ian Firth and the IABSE British Group for the invitation to speak! #nature #biodiversity #ecology #emergency #regenerative

As @IPBES“#Landuse decisions(direct drivers of change in #nature with largest global impacts)affect #biodiversity,climate &human well-being”👉Principles of buildings environmental design,@Najim_Ali 1st book"Environmental Visions"2007,should be the first line of protection!”#SDGs #SDG13 https://lnkd.in/drECk-9P

Tomorrow: #water #trees and #urbandesign people - interesting webinar by Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ) tomorrow Wednesday 17.4.24 link to rego -> below " Join Alex Czura for a webinar which will discuss the principles of WSUD (water sensitive urban design) and making more room for trees in an urban setting. The webinar will explore answers to the following questions: - Can trees and water assets co-exist without tree root intrusion? - How do we better design with water to apply innovative WSUD solutions? - What is Liveability & how do we measure success? - Nature Markets - what does it mean? And how can we benefit? https://lnkd.in/eyz5YmEu small $$ to pay. Meet the speaker Alex Czura | Senior Environmental Planner, IWM specialist, Nature Positive, Liveability, Arup

Today #MangroveDay,#Mangrove trees are a vital line of defense against the impacts of #climatechange,but decreasing👉Principles of buildings environmental design,@Najim_Ali 1st book"Environmental Visions"2007 play essential role in #MangroveRestoration & preservation!#SDGs #SDG15 https://lnkd.in/d9fh9HYm

🌱 Exploring the Impact of Green Spaces in Urban Nepal At IES Consult, we conducted a household survey in Kathmandu, Nepal, to explore the relationship between green space exposure and human well-being. This critical study for the University of Leeds sheds light on urban planning strategies that prioritize both community health and environmental sustainability. 📊 Key Highlights: 🔹 Innovative survey methodologies 🔹 Insights into urban green space management 🔹 Sustainable planning recommendations 🌍 Learn more about our approach to environmental research: https://lnkd.in/g5mPDQj2 💬 How do you think green spaces impact urban living? Share your thoughts below!

📢 New ‘Addressing the environmental and climate footprint of buildings’ report by the European Environment Agency. 📘 The report assesses the current state of Europe’s #buildingsstock and reflects on what is needed to make Europe’s buildings more sustainable. Indeed more than 30% of the EU’s environmental footprint comes from #buildings, making it the sector with the highest #environmentaimpact. The study also explores what policy actions are need to achieve that by 2050: - Making building renovation a priority - Making buildings circular - Constructing buildings using products which have a low environmental impact over their entire life cycle - Reducing energy consumption in the use stage - Fostering fairness and inclusion - Climate-resilient and nature-positive buildings 🌿🏙️ The report is interesting for #BUILDSPACEproject, which is designed to reduce the carbon footprint of the building stock and to support the resilience of buildings in urban environments to climate change and natural hazards. 👀 To read the report: https://lnkd.in/d7Vx-RPf ⚡ To discover #BUILDSPACEProject: https://lnkd.in/eH8kVzxh EUSPA - EU Agency for the Space Programme SingularLogic  SPACE HELLAS S.A. DSS Lab, EPU-NTUA CARTIF  Universidad Politécnica de Madrid  European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts  Nazka Mapps Mobics S.A.  alda* - European Association for Local Democracy  Mostostal Warszawa S.A. Municipality of Piraeus  IMZI Blue-green Infrastructure Institute   Riga Planning Region  University of Cambridge #BUILDSPACEProject #HorizonEU #SustainabilityofCities

CONSUS - A transdisciplinary research project Collaboration on nature-based solutions for sustainable cities The main objective of CONSUS is to facilitate a context-driven and sustainable transformation of the blue-green urban landscape in South Africa through nature-based solutions and collaborative learning. Key researchers lead the project at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and Aarhus University, Denmark. In CONSUS, we seek to bring knowledge into action for sustainable city planning in Tshwane. We gain experience by learning from real-life NbS experiments promoting actionable transformative change. Specifically, we propose and test well-designed, community-based NbS projects that take advantage of the synergetic use of resources. For 2025, CONSUS will support four landscape architecture students financially for their engagement in community-based Nature-based design projects; the students will be supervised by Prof Ida Breed and PhD candidate Tania du Plessis from the landscape architecture program at the University of Pretoria. The scholarships are to the value of R30 000 per student. The students are: Rose Mongau Danielle Nigrini Melissa Lewis Shane de Beer The project is funded by Danida Fellowship Centre, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For further information find us on our website: https://lnkd.in/dytc6vPz #DFC;#CONSUS;#landscapearchitecture;#UniversityofPretoria;#DanidaFellowshipCenter;

Government begs eco groups not to scupper its plans https://lnkd.in/eH9YQkS3 The government is hoping to win over nature conservation organisations with the line that house-building is ultimately good for the natural environment. Read Full Article: The Construction Index #Construction #UKConstruction #Building #Infrastructure #Engineering #ProjectManagement #ConstructionNews #InnovationInConstruction #SustainableConstruction #MegaProjects

🌍The Importance of Ecological Engineering*🌱: Ecological engineering combines ecological principles with engineering practices to design sustainable environments. This field is essential for addressing environmental challenges and promoting sustainable development. 🔹 #SustainableSolutions: By working with natural processes, ecological engineering helps mitigate issues like climate change, water pollution, and biodiversity loss. 🔹 Climate Resilience: Integrating green infrastructure and natural habitats into urban planning enhances community resilience against extreme weather and climate impacts. 🔹#BiodiversityConservation: Protecting and restoring ecosystems ensures the survival of diverse species and maintains ecological balance. 🔹Human-Nature Integration: Ecological engineering considers human needs, promoting sustainable development that supports economic growth while preserving natural resources for future generations. Supporting and investing in ecological engineering is crucial for building a sustainable future. #EcologicalEngineering #Sustainability #ClimateAction #Biodiversity #GreenInfrastructure