An article on the sustainability of hemp-based construction materials -- published for The Conversation
May 1, 2024
Source
The Conversation
Summary
Hemp could become a key tool in the fight against climate change. Like timber, hemp is a biogenic material – it’s produced by growing plants. When used to make long-lasting building materials, they provide an effective and low-tech way to reduce carbon emissions because plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere as they grow. This then gets stored in solid form for the foreseeable future within buildings and cities.
I have estimated that substituting concrete with cross-laminated timber in all new building floor construction globally for the next 30 years, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by between 20 and 80 million tonnes.
Yet, hemp grows much faster than trees, growing up to four metres within four months, giving it a greater capacity to absorb CO₂ per hectare of farmed land compared to any forest or commercial crop. Industrial hemp can absorb twice as much CO₂ compared to trees, with approximately one hectare of hemp estimated to sequester between eight to 22 tonnes of CO₂ in a year.
The Lions’ Gate Permaculture Garden
Callum Egan explains how his academic community transformed The Lions’ Gate at Napier University, Edinburgh, into a series of permaculture gardens to create a healthier, nature-focused form of educational workplace.
Films by Napier Academics screening in Londo
Nov 7, 2024
Summary
The short documentary film Leonel & Lesli by Paul Gray and the feature drama film Itu Ninu by Ita Jansen are both screening at the Garden Cinema in London in November as part of an event on New eco-narratives in Latin American film.
Film by Napier academic will be screening at UCLA
Oct 21, 2024
Summary
The film Itu Ninu by Napier academic Ita Jansen will be screening at UCLA. The event is organised by the Latin American Institute at UCLA.
The film is a Science fiction drama and tells the story of two climate migrants.
Blog on 20mph speed limits in settlements across Scotland as a move from 30mph. This follows the Bute House Agreement between the SNP and Green Party so that the Scottish Government has stated that all appropriate roads in built up areas will have a safer speed limit of 20mph by 2025.
Research from Edinburgh Napier University features in SIAM news
Jul 27, 2023
Source
SIAM news
Summary
Research by Dr Chris Guiver at Edinburgh Napier University has featured in SIAM news. SIAM is the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The work relates to the novel use of so-called adaptive feedback control in pest and weed management --- a timely 21st century societal challenge. The linked article summarises a talk given in Philadelphia by a Prof. Richard Rebarber, a co-author with Chris of the study.
An Oasis backlash, promoting the Pentlands and residents returning to the Old Town What happened when tourism industry leaders met residents to discuss ‘over-tourism’
Nov 12, 2024
Source
Edinburgh Inquirer
Summary
"According to initial findings from a study by Napier University funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh there's a perception in the city of there being 'too many large scale events'.
Dr Louise Todd who is leading on the research told the conference they had heard increasing criticism within the city and a perception of 'top down decisions' with limited community engagement.
The pushback stems largely from large scale music and sporting events being held at times of year that are already busy, or in very busy parts of the city. Dr Todd said communications with local communities about such events and the timing of them doesn't always seem to be considered.
News reports of soaring hotel prices and homeless people being moved out of the city during Taylor Swift's Murrayfield concerts had fueled negative perceptions, Dr Todd added.
One solution cited in the study is dispersing major events and festivals, both to different parts of the city and to less busy times, in order to tackle key concerns such as crowds packing out the historic centre during August.
The study also found the benefits of tourism and events need to better communicated, including discounted festival tickets for residents. But Dr Todd said more clarity was needed on the extent of any so-called 'overtourism' and how to measure it impact on Edinburgh."
Dr Timothy Olawumi invited to serve on EPSRC Strategic Infrastructure Review Panel
Nov 19, 2024
Summary
Dr. Timothy Olawumi was invited by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to serve as a panel member on the Strategic Infrastructure Interview Panel.
The two-day panel session, held on November 26th and 28th, 2024, brought together five experts with diverse expertise spanning the full scope of EPSRC Strategic Infrastructure applications.
The panel's responsibilities included evaluating and ranking applications, conducting interviews with applicants, and making final funding recommendations to EPSRC.
Linked Funders
EPSRC Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
From January 22nd to January 24th Screen Academy Scotland is organising a Symposium and different film screenings on Eco Narratives and Sustainability in Film with support of an AHRC grant and in collaboration with the University of Portsmouth.
OptiWaSP Walking School Bus project: Strategic Advisory Group Member
Oct 31, 2022
Summary
Over the past 4 decades, there has been a large modal shift from walking to school to accompanying children by car in England.
Many studies have demonstrated the social, environmental, health, and psychological benefits associated with children’s active travel, such as walking or cycling, to school.
To address these concerns and promote healthier habits, the UK Government has set a target to raise the percentage of children aged 5 to 10 who usually walk to school in England from 49% in 2014 to 55% by 2025. However, National Travel Survey in 2019 recorded the lowest-ever percentage of primary school children walking to school at 46%.
To contribute to the national target, the aim of the OptiWaSP (Optimised Walking Schoolbus Planning) project is to develop planning tools to enable schools, communities, and local authorities to organize and operate a Walking School Bus (WSB): a program where children walk to school in groups using planned routes and pick up spots, with each group lead by an adult.
The overall project will be conducted in three universities, Leeds, Lancaster and the West of England (UWE), with additional collaboration from Glasgow.
Educational Visit to a Retrofit Project and Offsite Manufacturing Facility
Feb 18, 2025
Summary
Students from Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) have been learning first hand from the deep retrofit of Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST)’s National Retrofit Centre.
The agenda included the following:
-1hr tour of ‘A-Lab’ (the building being retrofit) including a chat with the contractors carrying out the works.
-40 min tour of ‘Z-Lab’ (working offsite manufacturing facility + various demonstrator builds and products)
-20 min group discussion/ summary / reflections on what’s been learned – One of our former AT students will be hosting the visit. He kindly offered to answer any questions students might have about life after graduation as an AT In general.
3MT Competition is open for submissions! Can you convince non-specialist audiences that your research is really as important as you believe it is? Here’s your chance to find out!
