What Some Universities are doing during Climate Week 21st-27th March 2011

It is well known that Universities can teach us all a thing or two. So I decided to check out what Universities are doing during Climate Week here is a few snippets......

Leeds University Climate Week Event

Date: 21st Mar 11 - 25th Mar 11
Location: Marquee opposite University Union
Time: 10:00 - 15:00
Cost: Free
The University is using climate week to launch its carbon management plan and target of a 35 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020/2021.
There will be events on campus including:
* A marquee hosting an exhibition on the University's energy use
* A bike powered cinema showing short eco themed-films
* A screening of the film Dirty Oil followed by a debate.
The week will also see the launch of two competitions with prizes of £500 for staff and students. The University Union will be holding events throughout the week.
The marquee will be open from 10:00 - 15:00 from Monday-Thursday. Visit from the campaign against food waste on Friday.

The University of Edinburgh Business School are already doing their bit ......read more here:


'Business School hosts Scottish 2020 Climate Group'

The 2020 Climate Group was convened to help all sectors of Scotland’s economy and civic society contribute fully to achieving Scotland’s ambitious climate change targets over the next decade. The group is chaired by SSE Chief Executive Ian Marchant and meets quarterly at different locations in Scotland – this week at the Business School’s executive education suite.

Climate change is an important strategic area of development for the Business School. This year the School has launched the world's first MSc in Carbon Finance, focussed on the business opportunities and financial flows driven by society's response to climate change. This new programme fits well with the School's portfolio of masters programmes which also includes an MSc in Carbon Management. Other recent initiatives include the creation of a successful spin-out research company, ENDS Carbon, and support for the development of the FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy Index.

The University of Warwick have had several events also:

Wednesday: Higher Education Carbon Management Programme
Since its pioneering involvement in the first phase of the Higher Education Carbon Management Programme, the University has been working hard to reduce its carbon emissions. Now in the final year of the original programme, there have been some notable successes in reducing carbon emissions across the University, resulting in both absolute and relative reductions in emissions. In 2010, the University committed to significant reduction targets and, in conjunction with the Carbon Trust, has established an implementation plan to meet these targets by 2020.

For more information, visit the Estates Office's Energy, Water and Carbon pages at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/environment/energy/


Tuesday: WMG
WMG's hybrid vehicle research team is at the cutting edge of providing future sustainable transport solutions. The team has created a powertrain architecture simulation tool (from internal combustion engine only, through to any hybrid architecture, to pure electric vehicles ) that allows the rigorous technical and financial comparison of eco-friendly and conventional vehicles. This has delivered benefits for industry in concept vehicle modelling, control strategy development and component sizing. The team's current research is focussed on learning how a greater understanding of driver behaviour and driving style can lead to further improvements in energy efficiency.

Last month saw the launch of their Vehicle Energy Facility (funded by Advantage West Midlands and ERDF as part of the Science City Research Alliance (SCRA) Energy Efficiency Project ), that gives them a unique capability for testing and characterising advanced hybrid vehicle powertrain concepts.

You can read more on WMG's Hybrid Vehicle Research at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/hybrids


Monday: School of Life Sciences
The School of Life Sciences is undertaking a wide range of research relevant to climate change with the aim of identifying the problems, providing the solutions and recognising the opportunities of a changing climate for agriculture and the rural landscape. The key issues of impact, mitigation and adaptation are all subject to detailed investigation. > and, in order to celebrate, we are showcasing activities across the University relating to climate change improvement and adaptation. There is a huge diversity of both academic and administrative work undertaken at the University relating to the complex issues affecting climate change.

You can read more on the Crop Centre's pages here - http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/wcc/research/climate

De Montfort University:

The Energy Saving Challenges of an Iconic Building

Graham Law
Head of Technical Services at the National Space Centre (NSC)
Tuesday, 5 April 2011, 13:00 - 14:00
Queens Building, Lecture Theatre 1.10, De Montfort University
From 2005, Graham Law oversaw a low energy retrofit & reengineering programme of the National Space Centre, one of the most iconic buildings in the UK, achieving a reduction over 50% in energy consumption. Graham will provide an overview of the project details, addressing the practical issues to consider during the design of such buildings and how this can lead to conflict between style, efficiency and practicality. In light of these conflicts Graham will address the solutions for energy saving retrofit that were applied to the NSC building and Rocket Tower. The talk will take place in one of De Montfort University's iconic buildings - the Queens Building - that itself is subject to a programme of energy efficiency and sustainable measures as part of the Living Lab research project.
All are welcome to attend

For further information contact Dr Stefan Smith at stsmith@dmu.ac.uk

DMU Climate Week Open Day

Climate Week Open Day

Thursday, 24 March 2011, 12:00 - 15:00
Hugh Aston Building, De Montfort University

Between 12pm and 3pm on the 24th of March, the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development is organizing an open day event as part of Climate Week (www.climateweek.com). The event will take place in the Hugh Aston Building main Atrium with a series of stands (informative and interactive) highlighting research, initiatives and existing groups within DMU and Leicester that are in someway focused on issues of climate change and sustainability. There will, therefore, be a diverse range of activities - such as guided 'green walks' around Leicester, a chance to have your carbon footprint calculated, displays of realtime energy use in DMU buildings, interactive stands on cutting edge research and DMU green initiatives, and guided tours of the £35 million Hugh Aston building. The event will close with a talk by Roger Courtney on Urban Climate and Energy Use that will run from 2pm-3pm in lecture Theatre 0.08 of the Hugh Aston Building. Roger Courtney has been a key stakeholder for two major projects funded under the Living With Environmental Change programme which were coordinated by the Adaptation and Resilience to a Changing Climate Coordination Network.
Staff, students and the public are encouraged to come along to get an idea of the role DMU is playing in one of the Grand Challenge-led research areas.
All are welcome to attend

Programme of the open day can be found here. For further information contact Dr Stefan Smith at stsmith@dmu.ac.uk

Fir more information on climate week goto:

http://www.climateweek.com/supporters/

Let's all do our bit!