Get Sust! issue 34

FEATURE

Conference report: Can the built environment change to survive?

The Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development (OISD) and School of the Built Environment (SoBE) at Oxford Brookes University recently organised a one-day conference and exhibition on the themes of corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Here, Dr Noriko Otsuka from the School’s Department of Real Estate and Construction, presents an overview of proceedings (scroll down to ‘Learn more’ for links to all the day’s presentations):

“The event, which was sponsored by South East Excellence, attracted over 80 delegates, including property developers, house builders, public sector agents, politicians, investors, architects and academics,” writes Noriko.

“The conference was opened by Dean of the School, Prof. John Raftery, who drew the three themes together, emphasising the importance of different organisations and sectors working together to address climate change and to create a sustainable built environment. Then Director of the OISD, Prof. Tim Dixon outlined some of the research expertise OISD and SoBE researchers were engaged in – from Dr. Rajat Gupta’s award wining DecoRuM model for measuring carbon emissions of individual households, to Elizabeth Wilson’s work on links between adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change.

“The first Plenary session drew attention to the fact that, while there is a great deal of research into building zero-carbon new buildings, these represent only 2% of the UK's building stock. So it is essential that we address carbon emissions from the existing building stock – adapting buildings is as important as mitigation of CO2 emissions, and this needs to be considered at the building scale, site-level and planning of neighbourhoods.

“It won’t be easy, though. As Dr. David Vincent, Director of Policy at the Carbon Trust suggested, the battle against climate change is ‘a war for survival’. It will be a massive task to bring about changes, both in our attitudes and behaviour.

“Plenary 2 focused on exploring the relationships between the relatively new phenomenon of ‘corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. The main speaker was Prof. Paul McNamara, Head of Research at PRUPIM, the property investment arm of Prudential plc. He presented an institutional perspective on CSR and SRI (Socially Responsible investment), drawing on work undertaken by PRUPIM, and explained how this links with ongoing work at OISD.

“We also heard presentations from David Shiers of the International Land Markets Group on the property sector’s views on sustainability and CSR; and Dr. Samantha Miles, of Oxford Brookes Business School, highlighted that robust and accurate accountability is critical if CSR is to be taken seriously by shareholders, stakeholders and the industry.

In the afternoon sessions delegates attended two sets of parallel workshops on the themes of:

* sustainable technology

* counting and reducing carbon emissions

* well-being in sustainable environments

* planning, urban design and environmental assessment

* sustainable real estate and construction

* sustainable urban form and competitive cities. 

“Of particular note was the debate on well-being, where delegates picked up on Prof. Elizabeth Burton’s research into the link between well-being and the design of neighbourhoods, with particular reference to older people. The feeling o the floor was that ‘inclusive design’ should cast its net wider instead of simply focusing on older generations.

“Overall, we were really pleased with the conference. And if the research presented today was anything to go by, we’re already gathering plenty of information to help our buildings ‘change and survive’. As Professor Dixon said in his closing address: ‘Our mission is to really make a difference, and contribute to a more sustainable environment and better quality of life. We face tremendous challenges but we hope that by building on our strong research partnerships with industry and the public sector we will have a real impact on the outside world.”

Learn more:

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The full programme is listed at www.brookes.ac.uk where you can download the presentations of all the day’s speakers.