With a new entry every fortnight, blog posts written by various Earthscan from Routledge authors will be displayed both on the Routledge website and on our Facebook page here. Each post within Facebook will be open to comments so please feel free to voice your thoughts!

It’s remarkable when you think about it: there are literally hundreds of courses, webinars, certifications, and trainings all geared towards the re-education of built environment professionals for the purposes of moving towards a sustainable future. But the colleges who teach future designers, architects, engineers and construction managers continue to lag behind the curve when it comes to the development and promotion of sustainable curricula. Sure, you’ll find a plethora of courses that feature “green” additions to an otherwise traditional course or new “Sustainability” programs that are cobbled together from existing courses under the mantle of collaboration and interdisciplinary work. Part of the disconnect lies in the fine line that can be drawn between “casual greening” and “authentic sustainability.”

The Razor’s edge, shown below, demarcates a chasm between “Greening”, which can be categorized as the mitigation of damage that results from the construction, habitation, and demolition of built structures; and “regenerative”, which seeks to reverse the long centuries of damage caused by the design and construction industries. In this model, “greening” is an important step towards more ambitious and more effective sustainable design. (See Figure One)

As we move further into the 21st century, the signals of pronounced climate change become more apparent; rising temperatures, wild weather, finite fossil fuels, and catastrophic oil spills form the context of a new era in the history of humanity. The question then remains, can the universities ramp up their offerings to authentically address the challenges that lie ahead? The answer is yes, but. Yes, educators are generally open to new ideas and are interested in change, albeit at a slow pace. But university structures as they are currently configured do not encourage teaching and learning pedagogies that are increasingly inclusive, collaborative, and interdisciplinary. Collaboration is inhibited by antiquated credit structures. More ambitious holistic sustainability courses are blocked by outdated divisions between disciplines and the connection between what is taught in school and what happens in the real world continues to remain as wide as ever. So, what to do? The answer lies in the simultaneous work in four distinct perspectives. First, shift towards a biospheric consciousness (think Globally) by reading, attending trainings and by keeping an open mind. Second: Change your behaviors through small every day actions to reflect your new found awareness (act locally). Third: build an integral culture for your organization by developing a new set of core values that authentically express sustainability. Fourth: institute policies and procedures that align and support the new core values of the organization. (See Figure Two)

Ultimately, form follows world view, and the winds of sustainability are upon us as the next great epoch in human history. The time is now for dramatic, transformational shifts in our personal lives and in our Institutions. Greening has been a great first step for humanity, now hard work begins!

The two-year theme for 2013 and 2014 is together we have the power to protect the ocean! Find out more here.

Remaking Cities is a history and closely argued analysis of the British planning system, from its origins in turn-of-the-century utopianism to its first thirty years of operation as an integral part of the Welfare State. It produced the urban and town-country settings that still surround us: functionally segregated and shaped by supposedly neutral planning expertise, according to government policy. Other professions besides town planning were involved: notably architecture, transport and highway engineering.  Planning was challenged by, and accommodated as best it could, the fall and rise of different industries and invasions of new technologies – notably the rising tide of motor transport. As a composite system, it was bound to reflect the values and power relations of its times.

For all the changes made in the 1960s and ‘70s, planning never achieved the autonomy its founders had wanted. In the years covered by this book it faced public protest and campaigns, weathering several ‘crises’ both of the profession and in the environments it sought to control. It was compromised by its inability to protect the victims of development whose space and local activities were overwhelmed by the invasion of what Jane Jacobs called ‘cataclysmic money’. This In effect created new categories of powerlessness, such as the ‘transport poor’ and the ‘housing poor’, that have carried over to the present, subsumed in the ‘inner city problem’ described and prescribed for countless times, but never in fact resolved.

Planning’s core contradiction was that its existence was owed to the very for-profit development whose harmful effects it was created to remove. This was crucial in the export of western-style planning theory and design icons to ex-colonial and developing countries lacking the social and economic frameworks that supported them in Britain. It was rooted in the philosophy of environmental determinism: a naive belief that ideal, designed environments could meet social needs as experts defined them, while disregarding the difference between ‘place’ as used and inhabited by people, and the more  abstract ‘space’ of planning lore and practice. A review of collective and individual patterns of behaviour in ‘places’ leads Remaking Cities to new insights into the vital but problematic practice of ‘public participation’ in planning.                  

The book’s later chapters ask whether there were any alternatives to the way planning developed in Britain. This was not for the purpose of presenting a manifesto for change, as did many critiques of planning at the time, but to explore what they might entail in practice. Communist planning did not answer because, whatever its differences, it was as exploitative of people and natural resources as the west. The only genuine alternatives available were those of the ‘counter culture’: a variety of disconnected, mostly short-lived group experiments whose limited practical achievements were perhaps outweighed by the significance of their removal or re-drawing of conventional boundaries between work and life, home and workplace, town and country, and male/female roles in society.

The theme is taken up in again in The Government of Space, a succinct guide for non-specialists to the operation of planning in society. Its chapter ‘Turning Points’, highlights three classic cases of interaction between state and local people. Two of them (Black Road in Macclesfield and Tolmers Square at London Euston) were led by people who saw potential in old, supposedly expendable, urban environments. The third was the big council estate of Byker in Newcastle upon Tyne, where an old environment had already been destroyed and it fell to an on-site architectural team to reconnect a former ‘slum’ population to its industrial and cultural past.

By the time Government of Space was published, British planning was in such deep crisis that many thought it would not outlast the century. In the event, the ‘new right’ Thatcher regime made drastic inroads into it as a local government service and abolished London’s and other metropolitan authorities that threatened central control. Competition, rather than need, became the criterion for distributing limited funds, and the short, sharp, one-off initiative the mechanism for kick-starting ‘enterprise’ where this had failed. A generation later, in Coalition Britain, where riots and homelessness have returned to the streets, government again views planning as an unnecessary  brake on enterprise and projects of national importance. Inroads into development control have become bolder and parts of the planning apparatus summarily abolished. But the recent worldwide crises of banking and growth-based economies raise the question whether it is less planning we need, or more. Either way, notions of ‘growth’ and ‘development’ are involved, and if we are shopping for new paradigms, the broad retrospective sweep of The Government of Space is a good jumping off point.

For more information on Remaking Cities and to order your copy, visit:  http://www.routledge.com/9780415844444/

For more information on The Government of Space and to order your copy, visit: http://www.routledge.com/9780415844451/

The Leeds council estate of Quarry Hill Flats was a paradoxical combination of Victorian paternalism and 1930s architectural Modernism. Using wholesale slum clearance to effect city centre renewal, it was the first application of a prefabricated building system to council flats, which – another first – were equipped with passenger lifts. The estate plan showed a room set aside for the dead awaiting burial, a communal laundry with ironing room, and a range of community facilities that included shops, bank, kindergarten, social centre with stage, tennis courts, bowling greens, and an on-site estate management office. Each flat was supplied with radio relay and a fitted kitchen, while an open coke grate in the living room had a trivet for cooking and was supposed to heat a back-to-back oven. This had a double gas ring and was connected to the Garchey waste disposal system (later used in London’s Barbican and other state-of-the-art schemes) but the coalman humped his sacks through the kitchen to a coal hole on a very utilitarian balcony. 

Contrasts like these are outdone, perhaps, by another puzzle: that this estate of nearly a thousand homes, once an object of civic pride and host to countless housing delegations from all over the world, should be demolished in its entirety before reaching its fortieth birthday, with thirty years of the mortgage period still to run. A popular myth – though there was no evidence to support it - was that the estate was an irremediable social failure.

As well as its physical features, the Quarry Hill estate was unique in its abundance of surviving records, which enabled the pursuit of themes and questions not normally covered in estate studies. Records included the prolonged and bitter three-cornered correspondence between the French inventor of the (Mopin) building system, the Hull contractor who built the Flats, and the architect, who doubled up as city architect and director of housing. There are also documents from a critical period when, after twenty years or so of use, design flaws seemed to presage building failure – causing the architect to frequent the site with a torch after working hours.

The file for each separate flat also survives, from which detailed analyses of tenant movement, individual and collective, were worked out. Records show how the estate was managed, and how it was affected by local politics and ‘labelling’ in the media.  With these and personal reminiscences, it was possible for Alison Ravetz to piece together the choppy history of successive tenant organisations and campaigns to get the estate completed after the hiatus of war, and later to improve and update its open spaces and playgrounds. These were uphill struggles, as they occurred well before tenant participation in council housing was formally recognised and encouraged.

The many facets of the Quarry Hill story are characteristic of the  ‘estates’  so liberally bestowed on our towns and cities in the last century and still forming a significant part of our social geography now. The aspects driving their operation – national and local politics and subsidies, centralised management, professional roles and inter-professional rivalries, together with the many impediments to tenant participation – all must be carefully weighed to arrive at any reliable theory of what constitutes ‘failure’ or ‘success’ in mass housing. With something important to show under each of these headings, Leeds’s ‘model estate’ yields its ultimate paradox: that of being ‘uniquely typical’ of this important strand of Britain’s housing and social history.

For more information on this title and to order your copy, visit:  http://www.routledge.com/9780415855921/

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How did this project begin?

When recruited to my post I was given the task of creating 3 innovative centre of excellence with an engineering /technology skills base. As I have an environmental management interest, these projects were always going to have an environmental bias. One of these ideas was the Solar Meadow. The idea started with just using enough solar panels to cover the energy usage of the college campus. So the project began with a draft proposal for 500 panels positioned in a one acre site. I then had a fortunate discussion with a representative of SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy) who offered to invest in the project but were only able to do this if the project was of a certain size. Following a few more meetings a new proposal emerged for 2500 panel to be positioned in a 5 acre site that now generates enough energy for 5 college campuses. And so the project was born.

How long did it take?

Due to necessary earthworks the project was planned to take 12 months but with the excessive amounts of rain we experienced during this period, it took 18 months. The installation of the technology took only 4 weeks.

Could you tell us a little about the ups and downs of undertaking such a project?

The biggest down was dealing with two large utility companies when one has encroached onto the others territory. I had to use up all of my ‘congeniality vouchers’ to get both sides to make the grid connection by March 2013 or the project would not have qualified for full ROC’s funding.

Another down was having a 5 acre brown coloured swimming pool for a large part of the project period.

The biggest up was meeting the connection deadline and seeing the looks of amazement on visitors’ faces when they see the project for the first time.

You told radio's "Good Morning Scotland" that some people thought you were "mad". What do you think was behind their diagnosis?

BBC Radio Scotland first interviewed me about this project on a dark winters morning (7.30am) next to an over grown field in the pouring rain/sleet talking about the idea of the solar meadow project. The ‘you must be mad’ comments came in the next day from everyone who heard the broadcast (and there were a number who had). The fact that this scale and type of project being undertaken this far North coupled with the amount of sunlight, or lack of it, this far North was the issue for many people.

What would you say the most damaging myth surrounding solar power is, and how can we best work to bust it?

One major myth for solar energy generation is the loss of land for other uses such as growing food. In between the rows of solar panels we will be growing organic vegetables for college use.

In relation to the book you co-wrote with Ilona Pillai, Environmental Management Systems, what practical advice could you give to businesses that wish to follow in the college’s footsteps by implementing their own Environmental Management System?

The best bit of advice is that implementing a formal or informal EMS provides a business with new opportunities. Whether by creating new collaborative partnerships, access to new markets, products and services particularly when looking at new methods), processes or technologies when saving money in waste reduction and energy efficiency. Innovation comes to the fore; new ways of doing things brings new opportunities and rewards; staff members also have a feel good factor about their place of work.

Your book examines the different strategies that companies adopt to establish EMS. What would you say was the wildest strategy you’ve come across?

The strangest one I have come across is one very large computer manufacturing company that introduced a policy to incentivize all staff to recycle cardboard boxes and packaging within the company. Staff received ‘beer vouchers’ per kilogram of cardboard collected in a month. This policy proved to be very successful, after only two months recycling levels were at 100%. However, the policy was quickly abandoned when complaints were received from Tesco, Asda, Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s about computer company staff members taking excessive numbers of cardboard boxes from local stores.

What would you say was the most simple strategy a business could adopt to implement effective EMS?

Write a one page policy statement about how the company will minimise waste and reduce energy usage over one year. Put this statement on every notice board in the company so that all staff has access to it. This is a simple, informal, EMS that can begin tomorrow. The majority of staff and clients will love it. However, not delivering on this policy commitment will have a significant negative impact on future staff morale and client retention. Do not do if you do not mean it, nobody likes ‘greenwash’.

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With a new entry every fortnight, blog posts written by various Earthscan from Routledge authors will be displayed both on the Routledge website and on our Facebook page here. Each post within Facebook will be open to comments so please feel free to voice your thoughts!

Is solar still relevant, and more importantly, is my book? Errr... yes, I think so.

BY ALASDAIR CAMERON, author of Desert Energy
 

It's a strange thing to write a book and feel yourself suddenly overtaken by events, but that's the situation I found myself in shortly after completing Desert Energy. As my book, exploring the potential and application of large scale solar power generation in the deserts was going through production, the Arab Spring erupted into full force. At the same time the ongoing financial crisis has pushed climate change down the political agenda, while in the US the emerging shale gas revolution is dramatically altering the economics of energy production. The solar industry too is undergoing a massive shake-out. Falling costs and mass production in China has led to global over-capacity, with many well known names going bust or struggling. A looming trade war over Chinese government subsidies to solar producers is on the horizon, making manufacturers and installers jittery.

So with all this in mind, is the book still relevant? I think so, yes. Part of the reason is that the book will hopefully equip the reader to understand the background and context to new developments. As I was writing it, I was aware that rapid change was possible... indeed, I stated that I expected many of the companies and projects mentioned would change hands or go out of business in the coming years, and that political instability could stymie plans for solar in North Africa. Yet despite these changes, the underlying rationale for solar power, including large arrays in desert or sunbelt lands, has not changed. Climate change is not going away, and after a couple of years in the wilderness it may be edging its way back up the agenda again. The recent announcement that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have passed 400 parts per million for the first time in millions of years shows we cannot hide from this problem indefinitely. Prices for solar continue to fall rapidly, and new, more efficient technologies are being constantly developed. While this may put pressure on existing solar businesses, in the long run the direction is clear – solar power is becoming more affordable, and it has never been needed more.

Of course, technology and potential can only take you so far. Political will is required too. The entrenched nature of the existing energy infrastructure is a big problem which still needs to be overcome. So too is the diffuse nature of solar power. Concentrated energy sources like fossil fuels, almost by definition, are worth a lot of money to a relatively small number of people. Non-extractive energy sources have a very different set of winners and losers. This provides a tremendous incentive to maintain the status quo. Yet in the long run the elegance of solar power and the benefits it could bring argue strongly in its favour. Despite all the changes Desert Energy remains a useful and readable introduction to what could be one of the most important and exciting technological revolutions of the 21st century.

The theme of this year's International Day for Biological Diversity is Water and Biodiversity. Find out more here.

With a new entry every fortnight, blog posts written by various Earthscan from Routledge authors will be displayed both on the Routledge website and on our Facebook page here. Each post within Facebook will be open to comments so please feel free to voice your thoughts!

Are We ‘Chasing Our Own Tail’ on the Circular Economy?

By Philip Monaghan, author of How Local Resilience Creates Sustainable Societies.

Wow. What a seminal year for sustainable development and corporate responsibility it has been, for bad as well as good.

The corporate scandals came thick and fast – ranging from News Corporation hacking the phones of victims of serious crime through to Barclays manipulating market interest rates at a time of tax-payer funded bank bailouts. Political power brokers also continued to fail to strike a deal when the world needed them most – with the earlier disappointment of Rio+20 in Rio de Janeiro being followed by them kicking the can down the road once more at COP18 in Doha. Despite this, some ‘big ticket’ initiatives continued to gain momentum. One notable campaign by the likes of the Aldersgate Group and Ellen Macarthur Foundation is for the business community to step up and fill a leadership void by supporting the switch to a Circular Economy in order to reverse unviable patters of consumption. Another is the ongoing promotion of the Smart Cities concept by likes of The Climate Group and LSE Cities to ensure an age of rapid urbanisation is sustainable. Both have great merit and in fact have a common thread in their focus on stronger resource efficiency being able to save the day.

But, we will look back again in twelve months time and curse another missed opportunity? In short, are we chasing our own tail when it comes to solutions such as the circular economy?

The cold hard truth is that, despite sector growth that bucks the recession trend, not only is the green economy uncompetitive when pitched against the (heavily subsidised) brown economy, it is not a serious rival to other green issues such as street litter. How so? Well, because at the end of the day, there is a marked difference between what is important and what is a priority. Yes, adapting to extreme weather or tackling food supply shortages at some point in the near or distant future is important. But it is not as important as paying your mortgage or ensuring your kids go to the best school and have a better life than yourself. In fact, for many, climate adaptation tomorrow is not as important as a clean street is today.

So what has this got to do with the circular economy and smart cities? Well, their well-intentioned focus on stronger resource efficiency may be seriously misplaced. Yes, avoiding industrial waste through closed loop product engineering or reducing energy demand through smart grid infrastructure makes best use of scarce resources. But so what? Saving money, process innovations or boosting resource security should not be confused as the end goal. These are all important, but only as pathways to the real priority outcome: creating more desirable livelihoods. That is, to succeed these campaigns need to make the connection between stronger resource efficiency an quality housing and sanitation in slums, creating job opportunities for the youth unemployed, boosting neighbourhoods’ capacity for self help, and so on.

By linking the circular economy and smart city concepts to close to home issues like these, then and only then, we will be able to rewire the current flawed economic framework and construct a new, resilient model. For CSR and sustainability practitioners in 2013, be they at Timberland or New York City, this means being able to see the synergies and navigate the connections between the circular economy, sustainable urbanisation and the practical needs and hopes and dreams of everyday people. Failing to do so, means these great ideas will otherwise go the same way as the Sinclair C5 car or Betamax video recorder – relics we point at and giggle about in the museum.
 

Philip Monaghan is founder & CEO of Infrangilis (a consultancy and think-tank on resiliency strategies).
 

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Prepared by an architect, this book offers an excellent entry point into the remarkable work of Michel Foucault, and provides a focused introduction suitable for architects, urban designers, and students of architecture.

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