News
The URBANBUZZ About Town - Find out about the programme that will literally chnage the way we live.
26 July 2007
‘Why do we not build sustainable communities? They are where we want to live. They can give us healthy economies, societies and cultures. They are what will deliver environmental sustainability. What makes them so elusive?’
Launched in November 2006, the UrbanBuzz: Building Sustainable Communities programme aims to develop new ways of delivering genuinely sustainable forms of development and community in London and the wider Southeast region.
The 2 year scheme, awarded £5 million by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) under the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), has been designed as a practical, evidence-based programme that will fund non-research projects designed to share knowledge, stimulate new thinking and bring the ideal of building sustainable communities within our grasp.
The success of UrbanBuzz will be the legacies its portfolio of projects generates. It is hoped that through undertaking these projects a community of practice will grow and thrive under its own inertia. UrbanBuzz is looking for new ideas; new ways of working and new ways of exchanging knowledge to help us all succeed where the old ways have failed us.
UrbanBuzz was co-originated and is facilitated by University College London and University of East London. However, over 120 organisations from the worlds of finance, management, design and implementation together with residents and regulators are involved in the programme’s activities.
The Projects
An UrbanBuzz project is a funded non-research activity aimed at overcoming a barrier to knowledge transfer/exchange within the framework of building sustainable communities. To date there have been two funding calls where project applications are evaluated before a decision is made whether to award funding. A total of 16 projects (subject in some cases to final negotiations) have been funded under the first 2 calls and a list of the projects and the lead organisations are below. For further information regarding the projects please visit the UrbanBuzz website: www.urbanbuzz.org.
Successful projects that have successfully obtained funding include:
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PROJECT TITLE
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LEAD ORGANISATION
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VIBAT: Looking Over the Horizon: Transport and Global Warming – Visioning and Backcasting for Transport in London
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Halcrow
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SSSP: Smart Solutions for Spatial Planning
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University of East London
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EASY: Evidencing Adaptable Sustainability
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University of East London
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RETILE COMBEEP: Real-time learning for community-based environmental projects
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University College London
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LSTS: London Students Towards Sustainability
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London Sustainability Exchange
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SEDUC: Socio-environmental disorder and urban configuration
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University of East London
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i-VALUL: The intangible values of layout
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Space Syntax Ltd
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Sustainable Training: Sustainable design training programme
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Lancefield Consulting Ltd
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ESP-SIM: Enabled self procurement simulation
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University of East London
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GBE: Gender and the built environment
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Women’s Design Service
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LEVH: Low energy Victorian Housing
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London Borough of Camden
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Birfor-p: Locally-based interactional relationships to respond to recent Government policies for sustainability in large new developments
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University of Cambridge
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LSS_MobKnow: Mobilising Knowledge – solving the interaction gap between older people, planners, experts and general citizens within the Thames Gateway
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Goldsmiths
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FEfUR: Fresh eyes for urban regeneration
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British Urban Regeneration Association
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MCSC: Mapping change for sustainable communities
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University College London
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REBOPSE: Reducing Barriers to Opportunities for People Socially Excluded
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Meganexus
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A third and final funding call is expected in the coming months.
The UrbanBuzz programme aims to consign to the past the misunderstanding and mistrust between architects, academics, planners and communities and replace it with engagement, interaction and communication to ensure a more efficient, effective and rewarding collaboration.
