News from the SD research network

CABE ‘Climate Change Festival’
31st May – 8th June 2008; Birmingham
CABE is joining forces with Birmingham City Council to host the world’s first climate change festival to link climate change with urban planning and design. The Festival aims to illustrate how a successful planning response to climate change can transform the quality of life for people working and living in the city, and to stimulate fresh thinking about low carbon cities. Events will include a range of community-based projects, a green day for schools, a hothouse event for professionals working in the built environment sector, and the launch of Birmingham’s first climate change strategy and action plan to coincide with World Environment Day. It is hoped this festival will become an annual event, involving at least eight cities in 2009, and going international in 2010. More…

ASO Conference – ‘Obesity and the Built Environment’
3rd June 2008: The Kennedy Lecture Theatre, Institute of Child Health, London
This one-day conference will discuss and review the role of the physical environment in providing opportunities for, and barriers against, the adoption of healthy lifestyle choices.  more

JRF Report – ‘Regeneration in European cities: making connections’
In this report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, case studies from a range of European cities are used to explore different approaches to tackling deep-seated urban problems, such as the regeneration of run-down industrial areas.  More…

BRASS Working Paper 45 – ‘Supporting skills and knowledge to deliver sustainable communities: an exploration of the conceptual and policy context’
Written by Julie Newton, Terry Marsden, Alex Franklin and Andrea Collins
Delivering ‘sustainable communities’ is increasingly being recognised as an implicit component of the wider goal of sustainable development. However, a lack of appropriate skills or sufficient understanding of which skills are necessary has remained a significant obstacle to attaining this goal. This paper responds to a growing academic and policy interest in the role of skills in delivering sustainable communities. I Download the paper…