Geography: Making Our Cities More Resilient To Climate Change & Improving Their Liveability With Andy Clayden From The University of Sheffield

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Parc Billancourt – Paris – Wilder and messy nature and space for storm water flooding 

In this interactive urban design workshop senior lecturer and Landscape Architect Andy Clayden will introduce new ways of reimagining our cities and outdoor spaces to meet the challenges of a changing climate and loss of habitat.

In response to this challenge, the UK government has set ambitious targets to increase habitat diversity by 30% by 2030 and increase woodland planting by 90 million trees per year.  It is hoped this will partly address declining bird and insect populations, capture carbon and also increase public access to nature.

Landscape architects can contribute to meeting these targets and at the same time tackle this challenge.  They are designing urban spaces that reduce the impact of flooding through sustainable urban drainage systems and also reduce the impact of the urban heat island by improving the urban microclimate by planting trees.

Session structure

Part 1: We will explore real case studies from the UK and Europe that demonstrate new approaches to how our streets, urban squares and parks can be designed and managed in order to deliver much greater environmental and social benefits. It will also introduce some of the design tools that landscape architects use to develop these design solutions.

Part 2: Participants will now have the opportunity to apply this knowledge and skills to re-designing urban spaces.  You will have an opportunity to work in groups and individually to share and discuss your ideas using an interactive online MIRO ‘board’.

Who is this session aimed at?

This session has been designed to appeal to geography, biology, art and design students and all those who are interested in helping to make the transition towards more sustainable cities. It may appeal to students considering an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ).

Session taster

This 3-minute video highlights some of the big challenges we will be exploring in the session and gives a quick overview of Landscape Architecture as an undergraduate degree:

Lecturer Profile (Please Click): Andy Clayden

Our events are designed so that a group of students can take part from a classroom, or students and teachers can take part as individuals, either from school or from home. This means that sessions will continue irrespective of possible school closures.

As a live, participative event, this session will not be recorded but slides and relevant resources will be shared where available.

Suitable for: Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 students (and equivalent) studying geography, biology, art, design and related disciplines. Student groups as well as students and teachers joining individually are very welcome.

Preparation/Pre-Reading: Students may wish to consider the topic in advance and questions they have. Students can also think about questions about studying Landscape Architecture at university level.

The IT Setup: The event will be run on Bluejeans and participants will be able to join using laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. If you are joining as a school group, we recommend connecting with one device and projecting on to a whiteboard. You will be able to interact with the university via a microphone and/or typed comments and questions. Full details will be sent to those who have registered (see below) prior to the event.

Booking a Place: This is free for schools and colleges. If you would like to take part in this event, please register your interest using the link to the registration form below:

Register here