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University to open Public Lecture Series by focusing on sustainable cities

Published: 11 July 2017
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The new Public Lecture Series begins on July 19.

The University of Southampton will open its Public Lecture Series for 2017 on Wednesday, 19 July, with a session titled Sustainable Cities: challenges, trade-offs and innovative approaches.

The world’s population has tripled in the last 70 years. Most of the global population and capital goods are now concentrated in urban areas. Cities have become central to social development and economic prosperity. Globalisation, urbanisation and climate change are interacting in a way that is unprecedented, placing conflicting pressures on our natural environment and our urban service delivery systems. This presents an urgent challenge to politicians, planners, architects, scientists and engineers alike – how do we create resilient, sustainable cities?

In this session, our experts will explore and discuss the challenges, trade-offs and innovative approaches we are using to make urban systems more environmentally sustainable. We will discuss how we can create an enduring way of life across the four domains of ecology, economics, politics and culture. We will discuss how cities may develop to allow people to feed and accommodate themselves, power themselves with renewable sources of energy, and provide efficient, mass transit systems. We will discuss how we may protect such cities against sea level rise, flooding, natural and man-made disasters, heatwaves and the spread of disease. And we will discuss how we can ensure that these gains are socially inclusive, resilient, and that they are achieved in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Keynote speakers

Professor William Powrie
William Powrie is Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and Dean of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton.  His main technical areas of expertise are in geotechnical aspects of transport infrastructure, and sustainable waste and resource management. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2009) in recognition of his work in these areas.

Jane Wernick CBE
Jane Wernick CBE FREng Hon FRIBA FIStructE FICE is a University of Southampton alumna and director of engineersHRW, incorporating Jane Wernick Associates.  With Arup from 1973-1998, she started and ran their Los Angeles office from 1986-88.  Her most notable Arup project was the Millennium Wheel.

In 1998 she founded Jane Wernick Associates.  Projects include the Young Vic Theatre; the treetop walkway at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; the Living Architecture Houses; and many institutional, cultural and public realm projects. In 2015 Jane stepped back from running the business to concentrate on engineering and broader industry issues.  Her practice was incorporated into engineersHRW, a firm with a similar ethos.

Richard Bonner
Richard is the UK Cities Director for Arcadis, focussing on the issues that cities face in addressing their challenges with sustainable urban development.  Areas of market focus include housing, mobility, city resiliency and asset productivity working with public and private sector clients and those in regulated industries, working with our global network of City Executives.  Richard has worked in the natural and built asset sector since graduating as a Civil Engineer, and has held a number of senior leadership positions with Arcadis in the UK.

Joining our Keynote Speakers for a Panel Discussion will be:

Professor Stephen Holgate, Medical Research Council Clinical Professor of Immunopharmacology and Honorary Consultant Physician within Medicine at the University of Southampton.

Adam Read, Resource Efficiency and Waste Management Practice Director at Ricardo.

The event runs from 4.30pm at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London WC2R OBL. If you are interested in attending, please email events@soton.ac.uk with your name and area of interest.

The event will also be live-streamed from 5.15pm on our website. Register for a reminder here.

 

 

 

 

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