UCL IEDE Summer Symposium on Planetary and Human Health under Climate Change

UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering is carrying out world-leading research on the environmental determinants of health and wellbeing in the context of climate change. Our work aims to improve the design of buildings and cities and inform policy towards a healthier and climate resilient built environment.

Our Summer Symposium on Planetary and Human Health under Climate Change will showcase ongoing, cutting-edge research by IEDE academics and partners on healthy buildings and cities, including work on thermal, visual, acoustic performance, and air quality, at the indoor/outdoor continuum, through a systems thinking lens.

Speaker: Marcella Ucci, UCL IEDE: 'Housing and Inequalities.'

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Speaker: Hector Altamirano, UCL IEDE: 'Decoding the Clues: Unveiling the message behind mould growth in buildings.'

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Speaker: Jian Kang, UCL IEDE: 'Acoustic environments and soundscape for healthcare facilities - This talk will present our recent work on the measurements of acoustic environments in healthcare facilities including care homes and hospitals worldwide, as well as users’ perception and evaluation, towards better soundscapes of those spaces for health and well-being. Discussions will also be made in the context of climate change.'

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Speaker: Florence Lam, UCL IEDE: 'Light for Health - Improving human health, safety and well-being is intrinsically tied to the health of the planet and quality of the built environment. As lighting designers, our work impacts people and the environment. This talk reflects a personal view on a new design paradigm emerging based on human-centred principles and systems transdisciplinary approach.'

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Speaker: Mike Davies, UCL IEDE: 'Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health: Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health (CUSSH) is a five-year Wellcome Trust funded project that is addressing  key global research on the systems that connect urban development and population health. Since 2018, CUSSH has worked with thirteen partner organisations across four continents to help cities develop in ways which improve population health and environmental sustainability.'

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Speaker: Clare Heaviside, UCL IEDE: 'Heat related mortality associated with the Urban Heat Island (UHI), and potential health and economic impacts of interventions - Heat exposure in cities is exacerbated by the UHI effect and is projected to worsen due to climate change. We present recent research which quantifies the health and economic impacts of the UHI in terms of heat-related mortality, and the potential impacts of urban scale interventions to protect health.' 

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Speaker: Nahid Mohajeri, UCL IEDE: 'How did Covid-19 related mobility restrictions affect air quality in UK cities? - Using the location-based mobile phone data from Google, we explored the daily changes in human mobility in the UK cities during the Covid-19 first lockdown. After applying a weather-corrected machine learning (ML) technique, we analysed the impacts of mobility restrictions on the outdoor air quality.'

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Speaker: Michael Chang, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities / University of Bristol: 'Building the Foundations for Population Health Improvement - reflections on the current state of public health spatial planning in policy and practice: In this talk, Michael will make the case for why the planning system should be seen as an important public health intervention by illustrating how health determinants can be integrated into local plans across all councils in England and how the health effects of climate change consequences such as increased flood risk and urban heat island effect need to be brought to the fore in practice. Michael will address this issue both from combining a policy and researcher perspective to emphasise the need to turn knowledge into action.'

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Event information

Venue: Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, Wilkins Building, UCL Bloomsbury campus, Gower St., London, WC1E 6AE (Reception - South Cloisters, Wilkins Building)

Date: Monday, 19th June, 2023

Time: 11.00am - 4.00pm

Programme:

10.30 Registration and networking

11.00 Welcome: UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering portfolio, Anna Mavrogianni, UCL IEDE

Session 1: Healthy buildings

11.10 Talk 1 – Marcella Ucci, UCL IEDE

11.30 Talk 2 – Hector Altamirano, UCL IEDE

11.50 Talk 3 – Jian Kang, UCL IEDE

12.10 Talk 4 – Florence Lam, UCL IEDE

12.30 Panel discussion, chaired by Gesche Huebner, UCL IEDE

13.00 Lunch and networking

Session 2: Healthy cities

14.10 Talk 5 – Mike Davies, UCL IEDE

14.30 Talk 6 – Clare Heaviside, UCL IEDE

14.50 Talk 7 – Nahid Mohajeri, UCL IEDE

15.10 Talk 8 – Michael Chang, UK Office for Health Improvement and Disparities / University of Bristol

15.30 Panel discussion, chaired by Anna Mavrogianni, UCL IEDE

16.00 Closing remarks, Anna Mavrogianni, UCL IEDE

16.05 Drinks and networking

18.00 Close

Photo credit: Syed Qaarif Andrabi / pexels.com