Centre for Sustainable Solutions

COP26 Universities Network Green Zone

The Centre for Sustainable Solutions worked on behalf of UofG with the COP26 Universities Network. When the Network was given a space to demonstrate UK higher education research during COP26 in the official Green Zone exhibition space, we organised a wide range of proposals from the University. With only 55 spaces available out of 120 entries from universities around the UK, we achieved a great hit rate of exactly half of our proposals being successful - and the organisers told us that every entry passed the quality review with flying colours! 

Check out what happened on which date in the Green Zone from UofG on the COP26 Universities Network stall below.

See the full COP26 Universities Network Green Zone Exhibition Programme of over 50 exhibits.

University of Glasgow Exhibits

5 November (Youth and Public Empowerment Day: 1.00 - 2.30pm)

• Carbon Collector Game: Sustainability and Gaming - Dr Timothy Peacock, Co-Director of UofGGamesLab (Games and Gaming Research Lab), School of Humanities, in partnership with OpenAir Collective.

Carbon Collector - showcasing an interactive collaborative educational game about Carbon Removal, demonstrating its significance in climate change, and empowering participants in the roles they might ‘play’ through advocacy and citizen science research. Using your phone as a controller, you can collaborate onscreen in quick, iterative play sessions.

7 November (Scotland Sunday)

• An EnerPHit Traditional Glasgow Tenement Retrofit (10.00 - 11.30am) - Prof Ken Gibb, Urban Studies / UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE)

Lessons from a demonstration project evaluating an EnerPHit traditional Glasgow tenement retrofit: video and discussion. A partnership between Southside Housing Association, Glasgow City Council, John Gilbert Architects and CCG Construction are retrofitting eight one-bed flats in a tenement close in Strathbungo East to EnerPHit standards (involving both fabric first and renewables). This is a demonstration project setting a benchmark.

• New Dialogics: An Interactive Artistic Representation of Glasgow City Council’s Statutory Carbon Emissions Report (2.30 - 4.00pm) - Lynn Bradley, Adam Smith Business School in collaboration with Glasgow School of Art

This exhibit demonstrated an artistic representation of Glasgow City Council’s statutory carbon emissions report showing how the people of Glasgow can help achieve carbon reduction targets. There were attractive graphic representations of Glasgow City Council’s targets. They also showed examples of how the people of Glasgow can make a contribution to reducing carbon use. The examples were based on every day activities and were designed to provide positive and motivating messages. The mats were designed by Glasgow School of Art students to show how technical and numerical data, designed for policy makers, can be made attractive and accessible to the public. Some of the mats were made to be coloured in or drawn upon by the audience.

8 November (Adaptation, Loss and Damage Day: 10.00 - 11.30am)

• The Impacts of Climate Change on Insect Vector-Borne Diseases - Prof Heather Ferguson, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine

This exhibition highlighted the global burden of insect vector borne disease, and the anticipated impacts of climate change in enhancing the spread of these diseases, and diminishing ability to control them. The display was themed around a series of case studies from collaborative research being undertaken by our team at the University of Glasgow and our international partners. Through a combination of high impact images from our ongoing collaborative research, posters with simple infographics and key messages, and a hands-on activity, they used the display to highlight how climate change and its associated impacts on humans and land use is expected to increase the global burden of vector-disease.

9 November (Science and Innovation Day)

• visNET: Only inclusive scientific communities can deliver truly ambitious and impactful climate solutions (10.00 - 11.30am) - Dr Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay, James Watt School of Engineering

The Presidency themes Gender, and Research & Innovation were programmed on the same day. The Venn diagram between these two themes is the participation of women in climate-related science. Gender representation of authors, reviewers and plenary delegates linked to IPCC reports shows that gender balance is yet to be achieved in climate research. Ambitious and effective climate solutions can be delivered only by inclusive teams; here, the visNET team demonstrated to delegates that, for these to exist meaningfully and sustainably, networking and collaboration in science need to move from a transactional model to the building of communities that empower all. They shared the results of the EPSRC-funded Inclusion Matters project, visNET, which explores the relationship between collaborative networks and career satisfaction in a cohort of female postdoctoral researchers.

• QuantIC: Quantum Imaging and Climate Change: Making the Invisible, Visible (1.00 - 2.30pm) - Researchers from QuantIC, UK Hub for Quantum Enhanced Imaging.

To tackle climate change, it is necessary for both industry and government organisations to have accurate, widespread access to monitoring solutions that can show the emissions, condition, and sustainability of our society. QuantIC has developed a range of imaging solutions that address major areas of climate impact. These include seeing gas emissions such as methane and hydrogen, structural health monitoring within challenging environments, and enabling better product longevity for renewable energy sources. This exhibit educated visitors about the UK National Quantum Technology Programme and how innovations in quantum imaging can help to alleviate environmental damage.

10 November (Transport Day: 2.30 - 4.00pm)

• Launch of the World’s first AI Vehicle & Property Fire or Flood Damage Loss Mitigation System - Mohammed Iftkhar, UofG incubation facilities user; one of the original Digital Enterprise Glasgow cohort; now a PhD student at University of Strathclyde.

This exhibit launched the world’s first AI Vehicle & Property Fire or Flood Damage Loss Mitigation System. This is a proprietary process of real-time monitoring applications with embedded analytics (telemetry, anomaly detection, predictive analytics) for highly efficient next generation decontamination process control, and corrosion mitigation of fire or flood damaged vehicles, machinery, and contents.

11 November (Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day: 10.00 - 11.30am)

• Climate Injustice of Sea Level Rise and Coastal Erosion - Dr Ria Dunkley, School of Education

This exhibit shared findings of research that focused upon the unequal spread of vulnerability to climate change-related flooding events experienced by coastal communities in Scotland. This research was conducted as part of the Dynamic Coast project, an interdisciplinary project focused on mapping Scotland's historical, present, and future coastal erosion. The maps have an overlay that shows the relative social vulnerability of coastal communities. Visitors to the stall were engaged in activities that enabled conversations around these maps. The activities also guided visitors to think about the five actions they might take to contribute to climate action at a local level and drew upon local examples and citizen science projects.

12 November (Final Day: 10.00 - 11.30am)

• Urban Design and Health Inequalities - Dr Jon Olsen and Gillian Bell, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit / Institute for Health and Wellbeing

What built environment features ‘on the ground’ within a city are linked to levels of inequality in life satisfaction? This exhibit was a short video describing how built environment features, including natural spaces, in cities are associated with improved health and reduced health inequality. The video highlighted research conducted at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit from a European-wide study of 63,554 people from 66 cities in 28 countries that found links between urban design and levels of inequality in life satisfaction. This is the first study to theorise and examine how the entire urban landscape may affect levels of and inequalities in wellbeing in a large international sample.