channel 09/2009

STERN WARNING: We must do more

on climate change

Special edition on sustainability:

How we at Brighton are helping

SEP | OCT09

EditorRebecca HaroutunianCommunications manager

Assistant editorPhil MillsCommunications officer

Channel magazine is published every two months by Marketing and Communications.

Channel is available online atwww.brighton.ac.uk/channel.

Alongside this publication our online newsletter eChannel is produced monthly athttp://community.brighton.ac.uk/echannel.

For the latest news about the university, please see www.brighton.ac.uk/news.

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Contact detailsChannelMarketing and CommunicationsMithras HouseLewes RoadBrighton BN2 4AT+44 (0)1273 [email protected]

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Front page imageLord Stern by David PerrisLuckyDog Photography.

Print and reproductionBy DSI Colourworks, registeredto environmental standard,ISO 14001. This magazine was printed using inks made from vegetable-based oils and without the use of industrial alcohol.Ninety-five per cent of the cleaning solvents were recycled for further use and 94 per cent of the dry waste associated with this production will be recycled.

Next editions of ChannelNovember–DecemberCopy deadline 26 OctoberDistributed on 30 November

Regular features

September | October 2009 Channel Magazine

Contents

03

News04–07 Round-up News from across the university

16–17Research briefingNews and grant awards

Lead features12–13Lead article Stern warning

14–15Lead featureLeading the way

Features08–09Staff in focus A look at the university’s biology division

10OpinionWhy waste a good opportunity, by Dr Ryan Woodard

11A constructive careerFarewell to Rod Mallinder

20 Why I became…A sustainable development facilitator

21 Science in briefNanotechnology in a nutshell

22 On campusSustainabilty:Switch on and see the light

23 The Long ViewConnecting the curriculum: How education is going global

21

10

12

22

18–19Research featureSaving the world’s treasures

UNIVERSITY ROUND-UP

Channel Magazine September | October 200904

On 29 July, in the dying days of the 2008–09 academic year, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) launched its latest and by far most important initiative on sustainable development. This consultation document on creating a carbon reduction target and strategy for higher education in England heralds the beginning of a phase when universities will face financial penalties for failing to develop effective carbon reduction and other sustainable development practices.

The gloves are, at last, coming off.

At Brighton we have (as the contents of this Channel illustrate) already made a lot of progress on sustainable development in our institutional practices, our teaching and research and our links with business and communities.

We are probably in the top 30 per cent of universities in the UK in taking these issues seriously. But we now need to accelerate the pace of our response and become more ambitious and more challenging to one another in a range of areas – from transport to curriculum development to purchasing to local partnerships.

For some, perhaps, the science of climate change is still contestable, although a thorough reading of the Stern report might change their minds. But even for climate change deniers the pressing issues of: waste reduction (as landfill becomes unavailable or hugely expensive); peak oil and fossil fuel scarcity; travel congestion; air and water pollution; fostering biodiversity; and energy costs and conservation are all clearly present and urgent.

Perhaps our biggest challenge is that we are still failing to communicate to many (probably most) of our student body that these are issues on which they should be leading the university rather than bringing up the reluctant rear.

Nevertheless, I am personally very optimistic that we can make major strides forward in 2009–10 if we are all prepared to confront the issues we each find most difficult and discomforting. If we do not do it for ourselves on our own terms we will increasingly find it done to us – let us then do all we can to keep our own future in our own hands.

CommentUCH, the home of the University of Brighton in Hastings, is committed to widening access to higher education for under-represented groups and those with little history of higher education. The award recognises UCH’s success in inspiring students from all kinds of backgrounds to succeed in higher education.

Winners were to be announced at an awards evening at Grosvenor House, London on 15 October. Margaret Wallis, UCH Centre Director, said: “I am delighted that UCH has become such a groundbreaking contributor, underpinning education-led regeneration and working with students who once firmly believed that ‘university isn’t the place for people like me’.”

FACULTY OF ARTS Sustainability Network

Get connected to the new Sustainability Network website to keep up to date with research initiatives and link up with others to exchange ideas. The website provides resources and links for staff, students and the wider public. The portal http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/research/sustainability-network boasts a new environmentally-focused research centre in architecture called Urban Performance.

Its director, Professor Susannah Hagan, said: “The portal is an essential facility for any emerging field of knowledge. Sustainability embraces the social, the economic, the environmental and governance. That covers at least four faculties, putting aside interdisciplinary complexities.

“It’s difficult enough for people in the same subject area to discover what their colleagues are researching, let alone for researchers in different faculties to do so. The portal is a potentially powerful means of achieving a much greater degree of awareness of the research going on across the university.”

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTONHealthy option

The university has started a project to investigate whether and how it can establish itself as a Health Promoting University (HPU). This two-year project will attempt to determine how we can embed good health and well-being into the many different aspects of university life, and to integrate health-promoting activities into the university’s structures and policies. This is a university-wide initiative which integrates into the mainstream activities of the organisation and involves all staff and students to bring benefits to the entire institution and its partners. With a vision to establish the university as an institution in which health is considered in all its activities – from building design and transportation to curriculum development and environmental sustainability – the project needs to obtain university-wide commitment and support to integrate health-promoting policies and structures, and to explore best practices for effective, sustainable implementation. To this end, the project team is seeking input, views, suggestions and ideas from as many university stakeholders as possible. A cross-section of staff and students will be interviewed in depth and a stakeholder workshop will be held in the next few months. If you would like to get involved please email the project team at [email protected] or email to [email protected].

UNIVERSITY CENTRE HASTINGSCentre of success University Centre Hastings (UCH) has been nominated for a Times Education Award for excellence in Widening Participation. Shortlisted from 600 entries and 137 of the UK’s higher educational institutions, UCH was said to have stood out from its peers to be nominated for the Widening Participation Initiative award of 2009.

By Professor Stuart Laing Pro-Vice-Chancellor

UNIVERSITY ROUND-UP

September | October 2009 Channel Magazine 05

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGNCouch casting

Concrete Couch was the name of a project and competition by the School of Architecture and Design to design and build furniture for an outdoor area at Mithras House.

Two entries were chosen winners: a team comprising Gina Doyle, Charlotte Blythe and Lily Gomm, who used concrete casting, and a team made up of Heidi Swinyard and Matt Jackson who used a modular cube-based design.The modular design can be seen in the foyer of the school and outside the annex of Mithras House.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTONHelping right on our doorsteps The university’s award-winning Community University Partnership Programme (Cupp) will be getting a cousin in the shape of a new project called On Our Doorsteps.

Whilst Cupp will continue to seek to reduce social inequalities in communities in the area, this new project would focus on funding and collaborating in very local community projects (all within a mile or so of the university) thus enabling us to work with our most immediate neighbours.

The aim of On Our Doorsteps is to share resources and expertise with communities experiencing significant needs in these challenging economic times.

The project is just starting and the team is working with the Development and Alumni Office to secure financial contributions to support the activity. If you are interested in finding out more about this project including how you can help, please contact Angie Hart or David Wolff at Cupp.

This will be done in additional Environmental Action Network (EAN) meetings specially scheduled for the purpose.

FACULTY OF ARTSArtist in residence

London-based David Harradine has been appointed artist in residence at the university to develop films using images of dancing bodies under stress as a metaphor for the environmental stress caused by a changing climate.

Each film will depict a human or animal body dancing in a different landscape and will be created for screening at film festivals, online, and public places. The aim is to explore how climate change can be made more meaningful by questioning the separation of humans from animals, and culture from nature.

Contributors are invited to send in text, images or film to Tom Ainsworth at [email protected] or to Michael Wilson at [email protected].

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTONUniversity travel plan – site consultations coming up

The university is developing its travel plan in several consultative phases. Now it is time for site-specific ideas and responses. All staff have already had the chance to answer an online survey and face-to-face paper surveys have been carried out with students. Audits of existing provisions have been completed and postcodes plotted for staff and students. Early in the new term each campus will have an open meeting to discuss ideas so far.

David Harradine’s work featured at the Brighton Festival last year. The picture is An Infinite Line: Brighton.

UNIVERSITY ROUND-UP

Channel Magazine September | October 200906

UNIVERSITY CENTRE HASTINGSDJ in a day

Would-be radio presenters learned how to DJ live after just an hour’s tuition.Radio presenter and lecturer Abigail Wincott taught the skills at state-of-the-art studios at University Centre Hastings (UCH) during three taster sessions held on one day. Budding presenters learned how to drive the desk, to say something interesting in 18 seconds and how and when to stop talking just as lyrics begin.Students also got to present live on Burst Radio, the university’s radio station, while friends and family listened at home or while browsing at Priory Meadow shopping in Hastings, where Burst is broadcast. Abigail said students ranged in age from school pupils of 14 and 15 to more mature people. Two were from careers’ services, there to sample the course and to find out about the equipment available.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTONA week of diversity

A diversity week is being planned for the university, starting Monday 30 November, with the theme of internationalisation, race and culture.

The week, coordinated by equality and diversity advisers for staff and students, will tie in with events and activities already happening across the institution relating to diversity and equality issues, with contributions from academic staff, central department staff and students. It is hoped the week will generate lectures and debates, information regarding research projects, seminars and workshops. Other ideas being considered include art exhibitions, photography competitions, student events, film screenings, and dance workshops.

DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI OFFICE100 attend 100th anniversary

More than 100 graduates from around the UK and abroad including Brunei and France attended the 100th anniversary of the university’s School of Education at the Falmer campus on Saturday 12 September.

Some graduated as long ago as 1959 and were part of the Brighton Teacher Training College before it merged in the 1970s with what was Brighton Polytechnic and is now the University of Brighton.

They toured the Falmer campus and many were impressed that their former college had become one of the UK’s top teaching institutions.

SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGYDesigners descend on Brighton

The School of Environment and Technology’s Product Design course team played host to 120 delegates from around the world at the Engineering and Product Design Education conference which was held at Grand Parade.

The conference was organised by the Institution of Engineering Designers, the Design Society and the Design Education Special Interest Group. Among the keynote speakers was the Israeli-born, London-based designer Assa Ashuach, who works with advanced design and manufacturing techniques to produce award-winning products including his famous sit down trousers (best seen on YouTube).

He calls his design and production methodology Digital Forming. The course team acknowledge the excellent support they received from many colleagues across the university who helped to ensure the event was a big success.

Radio presenter and lecturer Abigail Wincott teaching a student the skills of being a DJ

UNIVERSITY ROUND-UP

September | October 2009 Channel Magazine 07

The Plug

Dr Anne Mandy, Dr Kevin Lucas, Jodie Lucas, and Janet Mcinnes have co-authored a new book entitled Podiatry Case Based Psychology. It is the only psychology text book written specifically for podiatrists. The book has a novel presentation, providing a problem and case based approach to understanding psychological and social difficulties commonly experienced by clients and presented to practitioners. Aimed at both undergraduate and postgraduate readers it is also an invaluable resource for practicing podiatrists. The book was launched September 2009 and is published by Wiley.

Professor Marian Barnes’ new book, Subversive citizens: Power, agency, and resistance in public services, has been published by The Policy Press. Co-edited with David Prior (University of Birmingham) Subversive citizens examines the ways in which public services staff and users can seek to subvert official policy objectives.

Citizens’ everyday conduct is shaped by governmental action, yet there is much evidence that both front line staff in public services and the people who use them can sometimes act in ways that change intended policy outcomes. Subversive citizens presents a highly original examination of how official policy objectives can be subverted through the actions of staff and users.

This book will be of interest to students of social policy, sociology, criminology, politics and related disciplines, as well as policy makers involved in public services.

Professor Barnes, director of the Social Science Policy and Research Centre, said: “This edited collection makes an outstanding contribution to the debate in a provocative, compelling and original way. It is rare indeed for an edited collection to have the conceptual coherence and sense of lively dialogue on display across its chapters. This is a must read for policy makers and practitioners, social science researchers and students, and, of course, potentially subversive citizens.”

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTONEngaging with companies on sustainability projects

A number of sustainability projects are taking shape across the university, supported by business development manager ‘environment’, Zoë Osmond.

The university, working with EnviroBusiness, a support company for environmental sectors in the south-east, has secured funding from the European Regional Development Fund for a £2m regional Environmental Innovation Network.

The network will bring together universities and companies to catalyse innovation in environmental products and services. It will be based around market-led themed events. The main outputs of the project will be high numbers of knowledge transfer, collaborative R&D and commercialisation projects resulting in new products, services and jobs. KTP funding to the tune of £112,000 is enabling environmental consultants Phlorum (based at the Sussex Innovation Centre) to model and predict the cradle-to-grave carbon footprint of new domestic properties.

This line of business will be new for them and should result in sales growth to complement their existing remediation (soil clean-up) services. The academic supervisor is Professor Andrew Miller from the School of Environment and Technology. The university’s Commercialisation Fund is providing £13,235 to develop a demonstrator software package that will model local-generation energy systems that incorporate a range of renewable and sustainable energy sources.

The package will enable the most efficient combination of energy sources to be devised, and the optimum control and scheduling algorithms to be developed, for any particular application and situation.

This package will then be used as a demonstration in discussion with companies to secure funding to develop the concept for full commercial exploitation. The project is being run by Shaun Lee, supervised by Dr Bob Howlett. The project links to CHAMP (low-Carbon Hybrid Advanced Motive Power) project. The aim of CHAMP is to develop an hybrid energy system for use in leisure boating or small passenger vehicles. The Commercialisation Fund also provided £9,500 to carry out research on the growth of algae for use in biofuel production. This project was carried out in conjunction with Viridine Oils, a local biofuel company, which provided £6,200 of match funding, Traditional crop-based biofuels have come under fire for causing rises in food prices and employing methods of production which do not fulfil sustainability criteria.

Algae is seen as an alternative feedstock, capable of overcoming these problems. The results have been promising and the team is currently investigating the best routes for a follow on project to address the use of algae-biofuel and other forms of renewable energy in a farm context with Plumpton College. Dr George Olivier of PABs is the main supervisor.

FACULTY OF ARTCreative success

Hollie Maloney, a Fashion Textiles Design with Business Studies graduate from 2008, collected the knitwear prize from the Texprint awards in August.

She was chosen by John Tate, head of design of knitwear specialist Lyle & Scott, who said: “Hollie has shown a high level of creativity, very architectural with good reference points and an ability to create a whole look; she has seen the route through from the initial idea and has translated it into something else.”

08 Channel Magazine September | October 2009

STAFF IN FOCUS

The world, she says, is facing massive loss of species, a “global catastrophe” on a scale similar to the wiping out of the dinosaurs, and it is mainly due to human population growth, loss of habitats and exploitation of resources. It will make the world, she said: “a much grottier and more challenging” place.

Destruction of natural habitat has often brought her to tears and, to her, the term sustainability carries a more profound different meaning than it may do to others.

Few can resist Dawn’s infectious enthusiasm and persuasive arguments, and visitors often leave her crowded room in Cockcroft feeling they are not doing enough individually and wanting to grab world leaders by the lapels to get them to do more globally.

The principal lecturer and course leader in ecology has to stop herself sometimes with “I won’t go on about it or I’ll sound like an eco-warrior” but even brief conversations reveal the depth of her conviction and deep desire for change.

IN FOCUS...

Biology divisionThe faces of her two children are smiling at her from photographs just above her desk, as if to remind her (not that she needs it) to promote conservation for future generations. Channel visited Dawn Scott’s office in the biology division of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences and discovered just how passionate she and her fellow ecologists are.

Above: Dawn Scott in her office in the Biology and Biomolecular Sciences

09 September | October 2009 Channel Magazine

STAFF IN FOCUS

Top: Ecology field skills students and ecology staff undertaking practical field skills at Downs Barn, Sompting, in July this year.

Above top: Dawn Scott and her team from the left: Dr Anja Rott, Dr Bryony Tolhurst, Dr Cath Waller, and Dr Niall Burnside.

Above bottom: Palm field.

She said: “The term is sometimes used a bit flippantly. Resources could be sustainable for human consumption but making them sustainable doesn’t always mean reducing impact on the environment or conserving biodiversity.

“When I was working in Sumatra (Indonesia) assessing biodiversity in oil palm we drove through an area of forest that had been recently cut and burnt for conversion to oil palm. Palm oil is cheap and it is used in many food products including biscuits, chocolates and even toothpaste. We drove for two hours and as far as the eye could see on either side of us the rainforest had been cut down and was being burnt to clear it for palm oil trees.

“After just 15 minutes I was crying, heartbroken. They said the forest was degraded or secondary forest anyway, but I know from our studies in the adjacent forest, this area had been home to a huge diversity of wildlife including clouded leopard, giant flying squirrels, samba deer, tapirs and it was certainly used by some of the 200–300 critically endangered tigers that remain in Sumatra.

“Oil palm plantations are very species-poor in comparison and can no longer support these species. The oil palm company that did this is classified as sustainable due to the way they manage their oil palm plantation, but they were not obliged to take into consideration the biodiversity loss and impact they had by converting it into a ‘sustainable’ product.

“So I have a bit of a bug-bear when people use the term sustainability in a way to justify its exploitation or that it is paired with biodiversity conservation. Making things sustainable shouldn’t be the excuse for over-exploitation in the first place.

We need to find a balance and compromise between human needs and maintaining biodiversity; a sustainable co-existence with biodiversity.

“Understanding impacts of exploitation, assessing the consequences and informing sustainable initiatives to reduce impacts and promote biodiversity compatible resource management is where ecology comes in. Ecology helps us understand ecosystem function, structure and services.”

It’s no surprise that students on field trips with Dawn and the ecology team arrive home with new ideas and thoughts. The ecology team comprises an interdisciplinary group ecologists and biogeographers from the biology division of the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences and School of the Environment and Technology. It covers expertise in a wide range of subjects including plant population ecology, wetland ecology and management, GIS and landscape ecology, chemical ecology and entomology, conservation biology, mammal ecology, behaviour and conservation, human-wildlife conflict and marine ecology.

Dawn calls herself a realist and believes it is probably too late to stop the juggernaut of environmental destruction and species loss but, she said, we can try to limit the damage. That, she said, will mean a change in lifestyle and attitude but one that could produce a positive side effect.

“We are part of our environment but recently we have lost that connection. As resources become more scarce we will learn to appreciate and understand them more. Becoming more environmentally sustainable will help us to appreciate different values in life, those not associated with material wealth.”


OPINION

Recent stories talk of householders being charged for waste collection, recycling being dumped in the developing world, markets for materials collapsing and councils spying on bins. They tend to be led by a cheap desire for negative news and do not reflect public opinion or give a true picture of how waste is managed.

The Waste and Energy Research Group (WERG) at the university aims in part to counter such inaccurate representations by reaching out to the public and helping them understand issues around waste management. It was set up in 1995 and has worked on a range of waste management projects, including manufacturing products from waste materials, working in partnership with local authorities to set up and operate recycling schemes, trialling and analysing waste technologies and communications campaigns.

Now we are turning our attention to new ways of reaching the public through, for instance, the award-winning Waste Prevention Advisor initiative set up with West Sussex County Council.

This involves WERG training volunteers about ways they can reduce waste. They then go out into the community where they set up composting schemes, assist businesses, give talks to community groups and work with minority groups.

The research fellow in the Faculty of Science and Engineering said: “Waste management is big news. You might not think so, but hardly a day passes without it hitting the headlines and often for the wrong reasons. Many reports distort the truth and serve up poorly researched garbage [forgive the pun].

The project has spawned over 200 initiatives, involving over 60 volunteers.

A lot of our work involves partnership working. For instance, WERG is working with university colleagues, Ford Prison and the charity Work This Way, to see whether it might be feasible to produce biodiesel from waste

cooking oil from prisons throughout the south of England. This project has been shortlisted as a finalist for the £1m Big Green Challenge award.

Much of our work involves partnerships with local and regional agencies. We are, for instance, working with East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove City

councils to develop a strategy for managing non-municipal wastes such as commercial, industrial and construction wastes.

We are also working with Improvement and Efficiency South East to share best practice through the Waste Improvement Network. WERG brings together all the information on good practice and knowledge and helps maintain the document library which contains links to thousands of documents.

We have also provided training to Horsham District Council staff, worked with Lewes District Council on a waste management strategy for St Georges Park and done research into whether schemes designed to encourage reuse of items such as furniture have helped to reduce landfill.

However, our work is not limited to the UK shores. We have trained waste managers in England who do an exchange with colleagues in France for a week to understand how waste is managed there and to share good practice. The course is funded by Interreg in partnership with East Sussex County Council, Smedar and CNFPT.

There’s a huge amount of activity going on in what is a vital area for all our futures. Maybe the newspaper headlines will one day steer away from hysteria and start reporting on what is happening on the ground.”

Why waste a good opportunity?Responding to the hysterical media coverage of recyclingBY DR RYAN WOODARD


THE LONG VIEW

A constructive career

“I’ve experienced quite a few roles in the construction industry and property management, from carpenter and joiner, to site manager to surveyor, to heading up an estate comprising over a hundred buildings. When I was serving an apprenticeship I had no idea that one day I would be instructing Queen’s Counsel at a public inquiry. [Referring to the planning application for the Community Stadium at Falmer.] I’ve had a marvellous career.”

Rod came to the university fresh from a posting in Germany where he managed part of the British military estate, including Checkpoint Alpha on the corridor through East Germany to Berlin, during the cold war. The post required Rod to take on a commission with the Royal Engineers.

“They taught me how to be destructive instead of constructive.” Rod explained. “In the event of hostilities, facilities had to be kept going as long as possible and when advancing forces approached, they had to be made as difficult as possible to encounter.”

Luckily, his post at Brighton has been anything but destructive. When he first joined the university there was a huge backlog of maintenance work required on buildings, many of which were not fit for purpose.

Some academic activity was taking place in former chapels, schools and churches.

Fit for purpose “All this changed when the university was granted corporate status in 1989 and we inherited the estate from East Sussex County Council. This allowed us to go to the city and borrow money as we had freehold assets and we started substantial developments.

“In the early years, prior to Sir David Watson’s time as Vice-Chancellor, funding to improve the estate was seen as a draw on resources. These days, there is much greater recognition of the importance of the physical environment for research, teaching, learning as a resource for marketing to potential students and staff and improving academic performance.”

During Rod’s time at Brighton over £150m has been invested in the estate with two buildings currently being completed which incorporate green design such as combined heat and power generation and green roofs.

A sustainable future So how important is sustainable design in higher education?

“There is an increased awareness and significance of sustainable design among universities.

Initially the focus was on sustainability in terms of costs of materials and maintenance over the life-cycle of the building – and then in terms of affordability, both capital and running costs,” explained Rod.

“Thanks to an excellent building services engineer, Mike Smith, who has since retired, energy saving devices were incorporated into new buildings from the early 1990s. However, the irony of this early investment means that the university will find it harder to demonstrate further reductions in CO2 emissions against the baselines now to be used.” This is why Rod has been lobbying HEFCE to set relative targets (eg CO2/fte) for each institution as well as the absolute targets for the sector.

The university has made much progress in greening its estate, explained Rod. “At Eastbourne we have a solar heating system providing hot water for the swimming pool and showers in the changing facilities. The combined heat and power generator at the new Checkland Building at Falmer, produces hot water as a by product of the electricity generation, which is harnessed to provide heating. The temperature of most parts of the estate can be monitored remotely from the EFM offices via a PC and adjusted to make sure that energy is used efficiently.

“Rainwater is collected from the roof of the Watts building, stored in tanks, then used to flush toilets. The latest development is that we have started to meter electricity consumption at a more local level. We can now compare energy use throughout the day and night and have noticed that at Watts a lot of IT equipment is left on overnight. This information can now help us encourage conservation of energy.”

Achievements Rod’s highlights at the university include producing the first long-term estates strategy which is related to the financial strategy, ensuring corporate investment in the estate at an affordable level. As part of this strategy, the Falmer campus has been almost totally rebuilt. Rod has also enjoyed working with the Association of University Directors of Estates and has developed international alliances, notably with southern Africa. But his main achievement has been building from scratch an excellent team and seeing colleagues develop their careers.

Very special place“I have mixed emotions about leaving,” said Rod. “I’ll miss the camaraderie with my colleagues, after so many years it feels like an extended family.” Rod’s daughters will be keeping him busy – they are calling on his carpentry skills, and he has been approached with concultancy offers.

Director of Estate and Facilities Management, Rod Mallinder, is retiring from the university after 26 years, having joined Brighton “thinking that it would provide an interesting episode in my career”. During his tenure he has seen the significance of sustainable design grow to the extent that it is now integral to the new builds at Falmer and Moulsecoomb. Rod talks bricks, mortar and more to Channel.

ROD MALLINDER


LEAD ARTICLE

STERN WARNING

13September | October 2009 Channel Magazine

LEAD ARTICLE

Billions of people will be in conflict as they migrate from parts of the world made uninhabitable by global warming, according to Lord Nicholas Stern, author of the landmark 2006 Review on the acceptance of human causation of climate change. He recently received an honorary doctor of science degree from the University of Brighton which is about to review its sustainability policy. Here, Lord Stern tells Channel how all universities should be doing more.

“The threat of human-induced climate change arises from the most serious market failure the world has ever seen.

“Without public action, the damages by producers and consumers from their emissions of greenhouse gases are not reflected in the costs and prices they face. The response must be strong and global public policy. Only then will we have the right framework for private investment.

“Universities have a unique role to play, through their research and teaching, in understanding and managing climate change and shaping public policy. Many are showing leadership in this area and are setting a strong example, but there is much more that can and should be done.

“Research is at the core of most academic institutions. Climate-change research is expanding rapidly on both the possible impacts of climate change and the technological innovations and economic policy instruments required to manage it. For example, the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) was established in 2008, as a multi-disciplinary centre for policy-relevant research ideas and training.

“The institute’s outputs are designed to support policy development, raise public awareness and contribute to private-sector strategy formation. It collaborates closely with the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, which focuses on scientific and technological aspects of climate-related research.

“Teaching and working with students, the next generation of leaders and thinkers, to provide them with the required knowledge and skills, is crucial. It is they who will ultimately manage climate change and guide our transformation to a more sustainable future.”

During his acceptance speech, Lord Stern, based at University College London, spoke directly to the University of Brighton graduates and urged them to join the worldwide effort. He said: “We don’t just celebrate with you today. We rely on you. “We need your skills – in mathematics, sustainable design, communications, business and architecture. These subjects will be at the heart of low carbon growth.”

Lord Stern told Channel: “Universities also have an opportunity and a responsibility to educate beyond their lecture halls, to share their ideas with the wider community, and to work more closely with policy-makers.

“Collaboration with universities in developing countries is another way UK universities can contribute effectively. The sharing of ideas and of knowledge and technical expertise are essential across the world: efforts to manage climate change must be inclusive and truly global.

“Many universities are committed to reducing emissions and promoting a culture of sustainability. The University of Cambridge, for example, has invested heavily in energy efficiency by improving heating and cooling controls, insulating buildings and installing automated lighting.

“The recently completed new academic building at the LSE incorporates leading sustainability measures in its design and operation, including ground water cooling systems and solar hot water heating. The LSE also has various environmental initiatives in place across its operations.”

Here at Brighton, green patio roofs have been incorporated in new buildings to insulate against heat loss and gain, and to help absorb pollution and reduce rain water run-off.

Lord Stern said: “Energy-efficient buildings, energy efficiency investments and environmental plans set a strong example for students and the community. But much more needs to be done. Carbon dioxide emissions across the higher education sector increased 34 per cent from 1990 to 2006. The Higher Education Funding Council for England recently announced that universities should cut emissions by at least 50 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020, and by 100 per cent by 2050. These are ambitious targets but necessary to demonstrate to the wider community that cuts on this scale are both achievable and affordable. The power of the example is a key aspect of the power of ideas.

“The risks from climate change are great and the arguments that we must act urgently are, or should be, over.

“Universities have a crucial role to play in guiding the policy and strategic responses that will guide us to a more sustainable and prosperous future.”


LEAD FEATURE

LEADINGTHE WAYTHE UNIVERSITY IS CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR WAYS TO IMPROVE SUSTAINABILITY AND ONE IDEA IS TAKING ROOT, FROM THE BOTTOM UP AND THE TOP DOWN.


LEAD FEATURE

Academics and students are rolling up their sleeves and getting involved in the Edible City project at grass roots level while at the same time, academics are ‘taking it to the top’ and engaging in planning issues within European research forums.

The project started with the idea to utilise spare land on campuses as orchards and vegetable plots, growing produce for university restaurants and for use by staff, students and even the general public. Not such a far-fetched idea when one considers the amount of unused and under-used land in and around university buildings, and the growing army of people wanting to take direct action on sustainability through planting, tending and harvesting food.

Edible City is one of the first initiatives of its kind in the UK, but Andre Viljoen and Katrin Bohn, senior lecturers in the School of Architecture and Design, always believed the scheme would expand beyond the campus gates to one day see entire cities involved in the grow-your-own idea, with containers and spare land everywhere being used for planting.

Andre’s small-scale experiment, launched this year at Grand Parade, involved raised bed containers growing salad items on the rooftop terrace and engaged second-year Faculty of Arts students and members of the public. Produce is being used by catering staff in the campus restaurant and staff/students can take it home.

The public and students are very enthusiastic, but the project is still very much in development. Andre said: “It was a good learning exercise but getting the balance between a structured programme and something that is self sustaining proved quite a challenge”. Ways of engaging with the public were needed and, he said, the key lesson now was to develop ways to properly structure and manage such projects.

Above photograpgh by Sharon McLean, MDes, second year. Materials Practice.

The first Edible Campus planters on the roof top terrace at Grand Parade: Sean Starowitz, an exchange student from Kansas School of Art, Ben King, Tarner Estate residents’ officer and Naqeeb Popalzy, University of Brighton Architecture student, bed the first plants and use sticks to deter seagulls from landing on them

There are plans to increase the growing area next year and students from the university’s partner college, Plumpton College, will be working on the site.There are also moves underway to identify a group of local residents to cultivate the plots next summer.

The carbon cost of transporting produce from around the world to our dining tables is making people think about the impact all of us are having on global warming. Edible City has a wide appeal for sustainability: it greens the city, burns less carbon fuel and generates less greenhouse gas.

It is new to the UK, although the Dig for Victory campaign during world war two was developed on similar lines, and Tania Wiseman and Harvey Ells have established growing plots at the Eastbourne campus, tended by staff and students on occupational health and hospitality courses.

A handful of other countries adopted the idea several years ago with varying degrees of success. In Cuba, for instance, 60 per cent of the country’s vegetables are produced this way, and 80 acres of land has been set aside in Vancouver, Canada, for urban agriculture in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The Grand Parade Edible Campus project is just one string to the academics’ bow. Andre, Katrin, Dr Neil Ravenscroft, Professor of Land Economy, and Della Madgwick, senior lecturer in the School of Environment and Technology, contributed to the successful Harvest Brighton & Hove bid for £500,000 National Lottery funds to build on and expand community and local authority-led food growing projects.

Neil is also advising, through the Community University Partnership Programme (Cupp), on a new community-supported agriculture (CSA) initiative that is seeking to

locate in the city. Neil is a Director of Tablehurst Farm, north of Brighton, which is one of the largest CSAs in the country. At the same time, Andre and Katrin have been working with Rosie Boycott and the Greater London Authority to set up a total of 2012 new food growing sites in the capital by 2012. They are also helping the authority determine whether current planning systems support urban agriculture.

Moving further up the government ladder, Andre will be representing the university’s Edible Campus network of researchers in the Netherlands during October for a conference aimed at finding ways that food systems can be integrated into European planning. Andre said: “The Grand Parade part of the Edible Campus project is a small experiment and we are now expanding into policy. As a university, we can support developments by tapping into the expertise which lies within our different faculties.”

Grand Parade may be only the beginning but it has produced more than just food. Academics were surprised and pleased by the way students and members of the public engaged with one another. The message is stronger than ever: That improving the sustainability of our way of life brings the added bonus of improving our quality of life.


RESEARCH BRIEFING

It involves placing the soil in a specially kitted out industrial skip, placing two arrays of iron electrodes at opposite ends of the skip and applying a low intensity electric current.

Toxic chromium VI contaminant in the soil moves in response to the electric field and is transformed to low toxicity chromium (III), and together with iron derived from the electrodes, the chromium is effectively locked within an ‘iron curtain’ which can then be removed.

THE GREEN IRON CURTAIN

The low-energy method is called Ferric Iron Remediation and Stabilisation (FIRS) and has been developed by Dr Laurence Hopkinson and Professor Andy Cundy of the School of Environment and Technology. They have developed the system for commercial use on chromium VI and other metallic contaminants with Churngold Remediation Ltd, although the system can be applied to a much wider range of problem pollutants.

Brighton scientists have discovered a new way of treating contaminated soil which could save industry and developers millions of pounds.

The technology is protected via a patent jointly owned by the universities of Brighton and Sussex.

Licensees are being sought to ensure that FIRS contributes to major land clean-up projects involving a variety of heavy metal, chlorinated solvent, and radioactively contaminated land.


STAR SHINING BRIGHT

RESEARCH BRIEFING

THE EYES OF THE WORLD ARE WATCHING

The media in China has been full of stories about a baby’s mattress that simulates the rocking feeling of being cradled and which has shown to reduce average crying time from 18 minutes to less than one minute.

Easidream is the brainchild of Lynda Harding, who has been working with researchers from the university’s School of Nursing and Midwifery. Lynda, who found herself on TV and radio with her invention, described the response as “amazing”.

Websites in India were intrigued by research showing that the deepening recession is fuelling a boom in cybercrime. Back home the research was reported in The Telegraph and The Independent and Radio 5 Live. The study, led by Professor Howard Rush, showed that criminals in poor countries are now turning their hands to scams as they become more computer literate. He said: “Law enforcement agencies are struggling to respond, especially in places where legislative frameworks are weak. The growth of cybercrime in Russia, India, China and Brazil is of particular concern.”

Two research projects have made headlines around the world and brought the university’s name to the attention of millions of web and newspaper readers.

She was headlined by the Times Higher Education (THE) earlier this year as a lone star who was enjoying a chance to shine.

Professor Alison Bruce is sparkling even brighter after news of a £500,000 grant and an important role in a world-leading research project.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council has announced a major new grant that will mean the UK playing a significant role in designing and building equipment for what will be the world’s

leading nuclear physics facility over the next 25 years. The experiment to be carried out will enhance our understanding of the most common form of matter in the universe, atomic nuclei, and also shed light on where and when the chemical elements are made.

The accolade for Alison follows praise in the THE when it reported on 2008 research assessments and on ranking the work of more than 50,000 academics in 159 institutions across 67 subject areas.

Alison was the university’s only entrant to the RAE for physics, but some 45 per cent of Brighton’s physics research output was judged to be internationally excellent, and a further 45 per cent was internationally recognised.

Alison is quoted: “It’s very scary being a sole entrant as there’s no hiding … but I have a research group with me, so it’s not a solo effort.

“The university and school have been very supportive, and within our school we have two other categories that did well – mechanical engineering, and earth systems and environmental sciences.”

£193,000 TO STUDY EFFECTS OF EL NIÑOThe university is to study the historical impacts of El Niño-related weather extremes to help shed light on where future climate change may hit hardest.

Researchers will examine references to weather conditions contained mainly in unpublished letters written by missionaries and colonial authorities in southern Africa to reconstruct what rainfall conditions were like in the past.

The letters and documents being researched are held in archives in cities around the world.

The grant has been awarded by the Leverhulme Trust, established by William Hesketh Lever, the first Viscount Leverhulme, for the support of research and education.

The research, focuses on events in three regions, Malawi, Madagascar and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and is to be directed by Dr David Nash, from the School of Environment and Technology.


The collaboration of researchers spans the School of Computing, Mathematics and Information Sciences, the Brighton Business School and researchers in Professor Arnold’s faculty office along with researchers from the Faculty of Arts School of Historical and Critical Studies and the Product Development Centre. The aim is to develop effective methods for 3D documentation and to create a European Virtual Centre of Competence in 3D digitisation involving the university and other members of 3D-COFORM’s consortium.

Trials have begun at Petworth House in West Sussex and at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London where sculptures and art works are being digitally captured and processed into a 3D record.

In fact, he believes more art will be conserved and, at the same time, mankind’s knowledge of the past will be enriched.

Art from around the world is coming to our computers in a form so real you will feel you could touch it. Imagine seeing Michaelangelo’s Pietà or Myron’s The Disc Thrower from every possible angle without leaving your home. Haptic technologies – interfacing with the user – might even give you a real feeling of handling the virtual object.

Worrying, maybe, if you are a museum manager concerned about falling visitor numbers, but Professor Arnold, dean of the Faculty of Management and Information Sciences, believes increased knowledge and regard will enhance community and national appreciation of the art’s significance and, in doing so, increase financial support for their maintenance.

More obscure cultural centres would become, better known and more attractive to visitors – the armies of pilgrims who swarm to the obvious cultural centres each year could become more evenly dispersed. Overcrowded venues would become less so and, it is hoped, visitors might be prepared to pay that little extra for a more pleasant viewing environment.

There is also the obvious benefit for those people unable to travel for financial or physical reasons. They would have a new world of art and culture to enjoy at the click of a mouse. But that is still a long way off. The project, funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme and called 3D-COFORM, Tools and Expertise for 3D Collection Formation, is still in its infancy.

RESEARCH FEATURE

Saving the world’s treasuresUniversity of Brighton researchers are paving the way for the world’s most treasured works of art to be recorded in 3D. But could the idea threaten the sustainability of art by deterring visitors and slashing the income of cultural centres? Professor David Arnold, leading the project, doesn’t think so.

Over the next three years, other sculptures, monuments and artefacts across Sussex and beyond will be recorded using a mixture of tools, including digital photogrammetry (remote sensing technology) and laser-scanning tools. Researchers in Professor Arnold’s previous project (EPOCH) developed a website which allows users to turn pictures into 3D models using photogrammetry, allowing the viewer to rotate and examine the artwork from all angles and close up. Another method used to capture smaller artefacts involves a portable dome in which the items are placed and photographed under controlled lighting.

Not all objects lend themselves easily to 3D imaging. Jewellery and other items with reflective surfaces, for instance, are difficult to capture. The research will target these situations and improve existing methods.

Above: 3D scanning of Pastoral Apollo at the North Gallery of Petworth, West Sussex.

Right: Statue of Pastoral Apollo at the North Gallery of Petworth, West Sussex.

The Pastoral Apollo was commissioned by George O’Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont in 1825.


RESEARCH FEATURE

Professor Arnold stresses that the day we can switch on our PCs and expect to find the world’s treasures in 3D is still a long way off: “We really are right at the beginning of this and when you look at how many visitor centres there are around the world, then you will realise how much work there is involved. In Britain, for instance, there are about 10,000 centres while in France there are 40,000. The number of cultural venues is huge.”

But, he says, the benefits would be profound: “What you see at any given time in a museum is only the tip of the iceberg – there are many more things in storage than on display and all these could be recorded and made available for 3D viewing.

“If you miss an exhibition at, for instance, the Victoria and Albert Museum, then the items may not be on view again for another 35 years. This is where digital access comes into its own. Everything a museum has could be available and accessible at any time. Virtual handling of the objects is a different challenge but you’ll also be able to see details that are invisible on a visit to the museum, even for items that aren’t on show.”

Recording and cataloguing items is a massive enterprise but Professor Arnold sees the day when members of the public will themselves be able to assist by uploading their own records to a Wikipedia of heritage website. “We are looking at how we can empower people to do the work on their own heritage.” Improved accessibility to art could raise the issue of interpretation: one country’s monument to triumph might be another’s memorial to tragedy. And, he says, old wounds, healed with time, might be exposed to generate ill feelings, but, he says, he has no doubts that sensitive handling would help understanding.

And he has no doubt about the worthiness of the investment in his team’s project. He quoted Derek Bok, past president of Harvard: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”


In recent years the university decided that such activities could significantly contribute to a professorship alongside the traditional research and/or teaching. But I don’t think of my life as a career; I never set out to climb anywhere. I just love usefully sharing knowledge.

What advice can you give people to be more sustainable?To figure it out for themselves. If they’re interested in making the world more equitable now and in the future then they’ll take the time to explore what changes it means for them; the guidance is out there, if they want it. Everyone can make a difference; every action counts!

WHY I BECAME

Marie Harder is the university’s facilitator for the implementation of the sustainable development policy, a role she took on about the same time she was made a Professor of Waste Management in 2008. But she started work here 20 years ago as a physics lecturer.

Why did you move from physics to sustainable development?Because the university gave me the space to do it. Twenty years ago we had quite rigid subject discipline boundaries and, although I had other interests, I was hired as a physicist and it was a stretch to be allowed to teach some maths and engineering.

Nowadays, subject boundaries are more permeable and I have contact with students from at least nine subject areas. I may be a physicist by training but my main driver is to be of use to society, and this combination means the areas I work in do not always fit in the same pigeon hole and may appear from a distance to be unrelated. I think the age of being trapped in one discipline is over – at least in this university.

What does your job involve?As a Professor, I feel committed to be aware of all sorts of needs my university has, and to actively seek to contribute where I can.

I also lead a research group, the Waste & Energy Research Group (WERG), which does applied work of all kinds for society, is self-funding, and contributes to teaching when possible.

What kind of work does your research group do?A project which epitomises our work is one we did with 12 local authorities, looking at how to incentivise householders to recycle more, by giving out vouchers, or awards to schools. We did different pilot trials for each district, but they were systematically designed

WHY I BECAME…

A sustainable development facilitator

to provide rigorous information on effects, like monetary value, individual feedback and types of incentives etc. This led to a research paper, advice to DEFRA on national policy, direct service to local communities, and an opportunity for undergraduates to work in the real world. And it was self-funded, though not through a research council. It is not usual in a university department to have expertise on hand to handle all aspects of such projects, but our group is willing to be very flexible and even do loads of paperwork and fieldwork. This allows us to consider a wide range of fun activities and gives us an immense sense of academic freedom.

What was your biggest career break?When the university started relaxing boundaries, about ten years ago. This allowed me to develop latent aspirations for economic and social engagement work with local authorities and businesses, and to exchange knowledge with all sorts of organisations.

I never set out to climb anywhere. I just love usefully sharing knowledge.

“


The integration of nanotechnology with biology will bring us the greatest rewards in the future. For example, we have a highly-complex organ inside our heads and the refinements in nanotechnology will, in my opinion, help in its understanding, treatment and even extensive repair.

Ultimately, nanotechnology will be incorporated into everyday life, whether it’s made obvious or not. Perhaps one could liken it to the internet, it’s become indispensible.

SCIENCE IN BRIEF

SCIENCE IN BRIEF:

Nanotechnology in a nutshell

What is nanotechnology? Strictly speaking, nanotechnology is the end product, created from nanoscience research, but for some reason the media prefer to use the word nanotechnology as a label. Perhaps because the public will be the end user and therefore it’s a more convenient term to use.

Most likely it sounds cooler. Anyway, nano deals with any realm at the one billionth scale. A nanosecond is 1 billionth of a second. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. It’s also the contemporary prefix for something really small and is liberally applied to consumer goods, for example, the ultra-slim portable media player, the iPod nano, which my wife won’t let me buy, or the new car by Tata, the Nano, which I could never bring myself to buy.

How is nanotechnology used in everyday life?It’s been around for a while. DNA comprises a double helix with a diameter of two nanometers, and so we have a nanoscale machine constantly working. As nanotechnology encompasses a wide area of research disciplines, there are many products on the marketplace that incorporate nanomaterials.

For example, carbon nanotubes have been used in mobile phone batteries for a while now – and the public has never been told about it. They’re also found in carbon fibre products as reinforcing agents to improve the strength and durability of sports equipment such as baseball bats and bicycle components. Nanosilver is being combined with fabrics and other polymers as an antibacterial agent in anything from mattresses to toothbrushes. Nanocrystals of zinc oxide are used in sunscreens and cosmetics.

Why does it get such a bad press?Poor information or false preconceptions. It doesn’t help when you have recognisable figures such as Prince Charles denouncing

nanotechnology as the harbinger of doom and that the world will be saturated with nanoscopic robots (nanites) that will turn us all to grey goo. The idea that nanites will be capable of possessing artificial intelligence (let alone it evolving to a malignant intelligence) is best left to the realm of sci-fi for the next 50 years; as with any technology, its application can be turned for good or ill. What is your expertise in the area?It began with fullerene molecules, self-contained units of carbon arranged like a football. I then moved into carbon nanotubes, looking at the ability to use nanoscale structures to develop other nanoscale systems, namely using them as a template.

I’m also trying develop new avenues of research. I collaborate with Professor Andy Cundy in the School of Environment and Technology, where we use nanomaterials such as iron oxide to clean-up water contaminated with other chemicals such as arsenic or estrogen, that are difficult to extract with conventional technology. I also have a new project hopefully looking at alternatives to carbon dioxide sequestration (the technique for the long-term storage of C02 ) which incorporates nanotechnology.

What is the future for nanotechnology?The field has progressed remarkably quickly to refine top-down approaches to make existing systems even smaller. We also have a plethora of techniques for bottom-up assembly too, which will facilitate the fusion of nano-level components to micro-level systems.

However, the cost is high and this is one of the current limiting factors in pushing nano products into the marketplace. Whilst research continues, the funds are slowly drying up. Graphene is the new kid on the block and a lot of research has now shifted to this new system.

It often gets a bad press but, like it or not, nanotechnology will eventually become as big a part of our lives as the internet. Dr Ray Whitby, from the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, explains.


Each university site has its own meetings, at least once a term, and all minutes and actions are fed back to each EAN meeting.

Projects don’t need to be complex to make a difference, like one launched by Aldrich Library staff who now make their own mulch and compost, and an initiative by the Falmer network to create a cyclist’s route guide.

Thousands of gallons of water have been saved thanks to Cath Couper in Environment and Technology at Cockcroft. She discovered that taps were running too long and now less wasteful taps have been installed.

A query at the last Mithras EAN has resulted in the issue of an ethical investment policy being raised with the Finance and Employment Committee in the autumn. The university is embedding education for sustainable development into

ON CAMPUS

SUSTAINABILITY

But the experts say the threat to the planet is so profound that it’s time we all stepped up our efforts.

The university’s Environmental Action Network (EAN) is a driving force for change, one that brings together staff and students to discuss ways we can make a difference and how we can live within environmental limits to achieve a sustainable society. The network has already had an impact on how the university uses water and suggestions towards the Cockcroft refurbishment. But there is much more to do.

The university’s new booklet Seeds of change – introducing the Environmental Action Network outlines the initiatives already underway and explains how the network acts as a forum for initiating grassroots change within the university.

To catch up on developments and to find out more go to http://tiny.cc/xJouA.

One scheme already blossoming stemmed from a May meeting of the Cockcroft and Watts EAN when staff expressed a desire to have a community garden and to be able to do some seeding, weeding and digging during lunch breaks.

Switching off standby buttons and recycling plastic bottles have become regular do-my-bit tasks for most people concerned about climate change.

Elona Hoover, research officer with the Faculty of Science and Engineering, contacted the Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project (MFGWP) who enthusiastically welcomed staff to help out in their garden. The opportunity now exists for others to get involved in their own time or during MFGWP away days.

Elona said staff and students could launch similar initiatives across the university: “This idea came from an EAN meeting and I’m sure there would be encouragement if other sites wanted to do something similar.

“Having staff involved with such a community project might also lead to other initiatives, for instance, having some kind of staff-led garden or gardening workshops that would encourage people to do something in their own gardens.”

But the EAN is not just about the environment. It encompasses all aspects of sustainability and some groups are calling themselves Sustainability Action Networks (SAN). Like EANs, they are an open forum for staff and students to bring up their own ideas and to decide the best way forward.

Switch on and see the light

the curriculum and the Students’ Union is getting involved too. It has launched the Sustainable Champions initiative which has recruited 12 students to become advocates of education for sustainable development. They will work with lecturers to explore how education for sustainable development can be integrated into different subject areas.

The Seeds of Change booklet will be going online this autumn and hard copies will be distributed on a limited basis, to keep its carbon footprint to a minimum. So after you’ve read a copy, pass it on!

Details will be announced on http://staffcentral.brighton.ac.uk/sustainable_development.

For latest news go to http://staffcentral.brighton. ac.uk/sustainable_development/news.

Join in and share your ideas


THE LONG VIEW

When some people hear the words education for sustainable development (ESD) they can be quite cynical, thinking it is just the latest trendy idea and that if they wait long enough, like buses, another will come along. For others, ESD is proving a useful framework for integrating and developing existing curricular activities and a focus for new and productive conversations across disciplines.

Graduates are going out into a substantially different world than a decade ago and they need to know something about globalisation and sustainable development. Whether that is through introducing examples of how social, economic and environmental issues are interlinked or by changing the way we teach to focus on the skills needed for dealing with a more complex and uncertain world, is up to individual tutors.

ESD is one of the five challenges identified in the university’s corporate plan. This has given it an important strategic weight, but there is still some hesitancy. Understanding what ESD is and how it is already being used within the curriculum at Brighton is one way of overcoming this. This was the focus of the HEA-funded Curriculum Outcomes, and Sustainable Teaching, Assessment and Learning project. One outcome is a new web area hosted by the Centre for Learning and Teaching that sheds some light on ESD by detailing and sharing examples from across the disciplines at Brighton.

The site includes 17 case studies of how lecturers are currently incorporating ESD into their teaching. Short vignettes describe the disciplinary context and the approach to learning, and soundings from the interviews reveal what tutors are trying to achieve and how.

There are also a number of videos of the teaching in action and commentary from students. Last year the School of Education took part in a collaborative project with Brighton Peace and Environment Centre (BPEC). The project was part of a wider review of ESD within the School of Education which followed on from previous work at the Faculty for Science and Engineering and the Schools of Applied Social Science and Service Management.

It included attempts to identify ways BPEC could work with the School of Education on issues of global citizenship, a review of ESD within existing modules and interviews with lecturers leading initial teacher training programmes.A survey of over 100 students

CONNECTING THE CURRICULUM

identified that 71 per cent believed global citizenship was very relevant for children and young people today, but over 50 per cent reported poor or fair knowledge of sustainable development issues and social justice.

Most students said their knowledge of global issues came mainly from the media and expressed some concern as to their capacity to lead on issues such as race, racism, identity and belonging. Many were uncertain of the resources available to support them.

Whilst staff certainly had some concerns about fitting more in (particularly with the wide-ranging demands of a Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies curriculum), the module review had identified areas of existing

provision that could readily be opened up to more students and/or adapted slightly. For instance, students’ confidence in addressing race and ethnicity in the classroom could be developed through engagement in specific modules such as International Education or by making explicit reference to these issues as they contribute to modules of a generic nature.

Other initiatives identified included a complementary placement scheme for all year three students studying on the undergraduate Initial Teacher Education programmes and a training day at BPEC for Geography PGCE students on global school linking.

The project’s findings are being used by the School of Education as it continues to refine and develop its undergraduate and masters provision. As a result of new alliances and the staff capacity developed through the ESD project, work is also underway for a new venture with East Sussex County Council towards developing the sustainable schools framework in the region.

In these ways, ESD in the School of Education (as elsewhere in the university) will continue to develop, with local ownership and defined within the local disciplinary context.

For more information go to: http://staffcentral.brighton.ac.uk/clt/resources/ESD.htm.

BY DR JENNY ELLIOTT, SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY AND LORRAINE HARRISON, HEAD OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

How education is going global

PUBLIC EVENTDesign Research Institute and School of Architecture and Design presentUtilitarian Dreams in Havana

Date Thursday 22 OctoberVenue Sallis Benney TheatreTime 7pm

PUBLIC EVENTSchool of Architecture and DesignPart of White Night event

Date Saturday 24 OctoberVenue Fabrica gallery Time 7pm–11pm

SPECIAL EVENTBeyond Biba

Date Thursday 29 OctoberVenue Sallis Benney TheatreTime 6pm

INAUGURAL LECTUREJonathan BlackbranchProfessor of International Law

Date Thursday 12 NovemberVenue Mithras House G8Time 6.30pm–7.30pm

INAUGURAL LECTUREPietro GhezziRM Phillips Chair in Experimental Medicine

Date Tuesday 24 NovemberVenue Chowen Lecture Theatre, Falmer Time 6.30pm–7.30pm

INAUGURAL LECTUREJackie O’RiellyProfessor of Personal and Professional Development

Date Wednesday 2 DecemberVenue Mithras House G8Time 6.30pm–7.30pm

EventsStill from a documentary shown in the Utilitarian Dreams in Havana at Sallis Benney Theatre


Two images from fashion and textiles students from the School of Architecture and Design

channel 09/2009

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