Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
As an anchor institution in our city of Lincoln, it is incredibly important to us to work with our local communities. Our local partnerships are working to improve the resilience and sustainability of our home city amd includes being founder members of the Lincoln Climate Commission, alongside he City of Lincoln Council, and local community groups. The University's involvement has burgeoned with many of the original delivery group members, who work at the university, developing the terms of reference and structures and governance of the Commission. University staff have also helped to position the Commission as a member of the UK Place-based Climate Action Network, a consortium of Climate Commissions from around the UK.
This engagement has now moved beyond staff to include the many students at Lincoln. Students within the Department of Geography have contributed to local climate policy documents such as the Lincolnshire Impacts Profile and chaired sub-groups of the Commission to get real world experience of local climate policymaking and governance. Our involvement is now at a critical stage as members are work towards engaging the general public more closely in local climate governance. They have also recently published a 2030 Climate Action Plan to provide an evidence base to inform local, regional, and national policy making to address the climate emergency.
Research Spotlight
The University is home to Lincoln Conservation, a research and consultancy centre specialising in the conservation and restoration of the interior and exterior features of listed and historic buildings. It has worked with high-profile clients, including the National Trust, English Heritage, and the V&A Museum.
Our commitment to collaboration to improve the sustainability of Lincolnshire communities is further exemplified by research in the south of Lincolnshire in collaboration with local government that was directed towards improving the resilience of communities to flooding risk. The project called Adaptive and Resilient Coastal Communities was commended by local government leaders as being hugely important due to the physical and social challenges faced on the Lincolnshire Coast both now and in the future. The work contributed by the University of Lincoln complimented their previous understanding of flood risk and brought this together with the social and economic challenges such as health, deprivation, and the demographic of the population. This gave them a far greater understanding of the pressures and vulnerability of the communities and businesses on the coast, and provides an excellent platform to move forward in considering a long-term plan for thriving coastal communities.
Recognising that designing and supporting truly sustainable buildings requires full whole life emissions analysis covering the intended lifetime of the building, Carbon LEAF was set up to offer a services to a range of clients. Based in our School of Architecture and the Built Environment, this team of specialist architects, building physicists, BREEAM assessors, and experts can offer a range of support to business undertaking low carbon construction projects.
Dr Amira Elnokaly has led a to restore some of Alexandria’s most impressive buildings, reinvigorate its culture, and create dynamic new business models to ensure the city thrives into the future, addressing the importance of cultural heritage in urban regeneration.
As a rapidly growing University with more than 14,000 students and 1,500 staff, we know that our activities will have an impact on the environment. This is why we’re working to reduce the negative impact of our operations, while also finding opportunities to make a positive impact. Our Sustainability team, based in the Estates Department, is working hard to reduce energy consumption and utilise our estate as a resource to improve biodiversity and support environmental sustainability projects. This team supports the University to maintain the internationally recognised ISO14001 standard for Environmental Management, the ISO5001 standard for Energy Management, and the EcoCampus Platinum award.
The purpose-built Ross Lucas Medical Sciences Building was completed in March 2021 and is the most sustainable building on the University Estate and features both solar panels and a living wall. This thermally efficient building is designed to minimise energy consumption, and is the new benchmark for future buildings.
Our Architecture programmes are designed to equip students with the skills they will need to operate effectively within a globalised, innovation-driven economy, with sustainability being a core element. Course content is informed by current trends and developments in both practice and the built environment sector, utilising industry-standard equipment and technologies. Our links with local design practices and key organisations in the construction industry provide opportunities for live briefs and work experience. Our ambition is to educate students to the highest professional standards and to nurture confident graduates who will make a positive difference in the world.
Our Geography students are also making contributions to sustainable city planning through placement project work around the city. Geography student Matthew Gurnhill has been praised for his work during a placement with Lincoln City Council, where he worked in the Environment and Sustainability Department analysing whether key services in the city were accessible to residents within a 15-minute walk or cycle ride. He found that this was largely the case in Lincoln, contributing to planners’ understanding of sustainability in the city.
We had 22 outputs relevant to this SDG in 2022 according to SciVal and 23 in 2023.
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Lourdes et al. (2022) Planning for green infrastructure using multiple urban ecosystem service models and multicriteria analysis. Landscape and Urban Planning 226
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Kythreotis, A. et al. (2023) Rethinking urban adaptation as a scalar geopolitics of climate governance: climate policy in the devolved territories of the UK Territory, Politics, Governance 11, Pages 39-59
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21622671.2020.1837220
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.