CASE STUDY:
ISSUES Project
Broadening the IMPACT
AN ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY KTN
CASE STUDY
Web streaming Sustainable Urban Environment Success Stories
ISSUES, the knowledge transfer arm of a major EPSRC
research programme into greater sustainability in the urban
environment has successfully partnered with the ESKTN to
add “massive value” to an important dissemination event.
The Sustainable Urban Environment (SUE) programme’s
IMPACT 360° event presented research findings and success
stories to a live audience in London and to remote
participants via an interactive web cast on ESKTN TV.
The need
About 90% of the UK population live in
urban areas, so urban sustainability is a
prime issue. Everyone wants such
communities to become more sustainable
but what knowledge, technologies and
processes are needed? What is available
and where is it? And where are the gaps?
The Sustainable Urban Environments
(SUE) Programme is an EPSRC funded
portfolio of research looking at ways of
improving sustainability in the urban
environment. Spanning 30 different UK
Universities, this programme has funded
18 consortia in different areas including
waste, water management, transport
planning and strategy, spatial planning,
regeneration and stakeholder
engagement.
ISSUES (Implementation Strategies for
Sustainable Urban Environment Systems)
is the knowledge transfer arm of the SUE
programme, which works to ensure that
the findings from SUE research work are
understood and used by policy makers,
practitioners and other end-users.
www.innovateuk.org/sustainabilityktn
The results
IMPACT 360: Success Stories from the Sustainable Urban
Environment, held on 10th February 2011, was always planned
as a high profile event for the SUE programme. Held against the
backdrop of panoramic views from the top of Westminster’s
Millbank Tower, the event presented SUE research findings in
order to stimulate discussion amongst the researchers, decision
makers, practitioners and policy makers about urban futures,
urban sustainability and pathways to achieving impact.
According to ISSUES project team manager Annabel Cooper,
“Partnering with ESKTN for IMPACT 360° added massive value to
the event. Publicity in the ESKTN e-bulletin and around the
network attracted around 20 extra attendees.”
“The live video stream was a fantastic addition to the day’s
proceedings and without ESKTN’s expertise would never have
been achieved. The stream gave the opportunity to the 100+
invitees who could not attend to witness the event live. Also
several members of the ISSUES team who were unable to travel
were able to contribute.”
Competitive advantages
Adopting a concerted multimedia approach to dissemination has
not only enabled ISSUES to broaden the impact of their event on the
day, but also to ensure that insights shared by speakers are readily
accessible on an ongoing basis. The availability of on-demand
recordings of presentations and extended panel discussions on
ESKTN TV, along with downloadable copies of presentations means
that both explicit and tacit knowledge is available to members of
the ESKTN community at any time.
This also adds value to ISSUES own extensive library of “bite-size”
success stories from the SUE supported research projects, and other
knowledge transfer resources.
Annabel Cooper concludes, “Our partnership with ESKTN has been
really strengthened by this collaboration and we hope its success
will encourage other research projects to undertake similar
initiatives. We will continue to work with ESKTN to broaden the
scope of our dissemination and engagement in the follow up to this
event and beyond.”
The live video stream
was a fantastic addition
to the day’s proceedings
and without ESKTN’s
expertise would never
have been achieved.
Annabel Cooper
ISSUES
School of the Built
Environment
Heriot-Watt University
Contact
ISSUES
1.12 James Nasmyth Building
School of the Built Environment
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh
EH14 4AS
Annabel Cooper
Tel: +44 (0) 131 451 8163
Email: [email protected]
Web: urbansustainabilityexchange.org.uk
The Environmental Sustainability KTN
The Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network is accelerating
the UK’s transition to a low carbon, resource and energy efficient economy by
connecting businesses, universities, other research organisations and
government agencies, and catalysing innovation across a wide range of
environmental technologies.
Tel: +44 (0)1865 610 500 | www.innovateuk.org/sustainabilityktn
www.innovateuk.org/sustainabilityktn
For enquiries about web streaming on ESKTN
TV, contact:
John Henderson
ESKTN, Associate Director Communications
+44 (0) 151 347 2950
[email protected]