Cities - 2ej3yy3dhmmm499wwc3l4n36-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com2ej3yy3dhmmm499wwc3l4n36-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/... · on a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025.” Rebecca’s second

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Introduction ····································································· 3

Cities ············································································ 4-5

Innovation and Technology ··········································· 6-10

Biodiversity and Climate Change ·································· 11-13

Conversations ································································ 14

Communicating Sustainability ······································ 15-19

Society and Community ··············································· 20-24

Governance and Policy ················································ 25-26

Food and Agriculture ··················································· 27-29

Final Thoughts································································ 30

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On the 3rd

February 2017, the University of Leeds hosted its first Student Conference

on Sustainable Futures – Sustainable Perspectives on Future Challenges. The event

highlighted research excellence at Leeds, gathering works representing the full

spectrum of environmental, social and economic sustainability challenges all under

one roof.

At Leeds, building knowledge and capacity is a cornerstone of how we approach

sustainability. It underpins our commitment to support and promote research that

examines the issues relating to global challenges. The conference was a key part of

this, being first and foremost a platform for all students to share their curricular project

or research with a non-specialist audience.

Open to all, the event gave students, staff and visitors the chance to experience the

diverse topics that sit within the sustainability field, developing their understanding of

key sustainability issues and how each discipline is helping to address them.

45 student presenters

(21 Undergraduate /

24 Postgraduate) 34 student

posters

31 student

presentations

2 art

displays

Over 100 delegates

including students,

staff and visitors

A fundamental priority for the conference was to make it as accessible as possible for

all students to present their work. Oral presentations took place in morning and

afternoon sessions, along with a poster exhibition on display in Parkinson Court

throughout the day. In addition, an interactive performance art session was hosted, as

well as a dedicated space for photography and digital art next to student posters!

We were delighted that the conference attracted students from a variety of academic

backgrounds, with everyone having the opportunity to collaborate, exchange ideas,

ask questions, and gain valuable insight into subject areas not widely known to be

associated with sustainability research.

It was amazing to have presenters from all University faculties taking part in the event,

showcasing the true cross-disciplinary nature of sustainability. With project themes

spanning Biodiversity and Climate Change, Innovation and Technology, Governance

and Policy, Society and Community, and more, there were presentations to suit all

interests. This report summarises the fantastic work presented on the day.

- Feedback wall comment

http://sustainability.leeds.ac.uk/building-knowledge-and-capacity/

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Chaired by - Jenny Barlow (Sustainability Service)

Volunteer co-ordinator - Mumo Mutulili

Leeds: how green?

Callum McIntosh

Leeds University Business School

“Just how sustainable is our city? The answer is that nobody truly knows.”

Callum’s primary aim for his project is to discover more about the relationship between some

of the main organisations in Leeds and climate change.

Specifically, he is producing case studies of several organisations throughout the Leeds area

to obtain figures of CO2 emissions, learn more about the perspectives of firms on

accountability, and if any companies have or are in the process of introducing any carbon

reduction initiatives.

“Personally I believe that this project has an underlying theme of accountability. The law in our

country needs to be changed, to ensure that it is mandatory for organisations to regularly

publish accurate reports on their emissions. The impetus for this project was our city’s new,

country-first Committee on Climate Change. Ultimately the goal of this project is to help to set

a precedent for others to follow, for more accessible education on climate change, more

committees to instigate sustainability, more projects to invigorate fervour for this cause, and

more accountability for everyone.”

The Role of Businesses in Amsterdam’s Transition to a

Sustainable City

Rebecca Ewan

School of Earth and Environment

“It has been suggested that Amsterdam is a front-runner of sustainability, embarking

on a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025.”

Rebecca’s second year coursework project involved interviewing businesses around the city of

Amsterdam to gain a qualitative perspective on how energy efficiently is viewed and adopted.

“It is largely agreed that it is essential to involve local stakeholders in the effort to stabilise

atmospheric CO2 concentrations, with communication between government and businesses

being crucial for environmental stewardship. This study focuses on the energy practices of

businesses in Amsterdam, in particular if companies are faced with barriers when attempting

to be energy efficient, and if they receive support from the municipality.”

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Exploring the potential of solar energy for communities in

developing countries of Africa

Grigory Grebennikov

School of Chemical and Process Engineering

“The growing demand for clean energy in developing countries calls for exploration of

alternative energy sources.”

Grigory’s research explores the electricity demand of individual households by analysing field

survey data, collected by researchers from the Department of Energy at Leeds University.

“The aim is to create synthetic electricity demand profiles which can predict the future demand

for electricity by the hour. Areas of particular interest are the counties of the subtropical region

due to their abundance of sunlight hours.

By comparing this data to solar generation curves we could state whether solar installations

are a viable option for these homes. Knowing this information is useful in identifying the

potential solar energy installations can have.

The integration of solar energy could provide a supply of clean, reliable and sustainable

electricity in these communities, giving more homes access to being able to use the basic

commodity of electricity. The subsequent reduction in burning biomass and fossil based fuels

will also reduce communities carbon emissions.”

Bio filtration systems for optimized storm water management in

urban areas

Andrea Aiello

School of Civil Engineering

“The retrofit of this system in cities could improve landscape amenity, provide

ecological niches for plants and animals, and mitigate the heat island effect.”

The focus of Andrea’s work looks at improved bio-filter drainage system configurations, such

as certain types of soil and plants, to treat urban storm water run-off.

“Urbanisation and poor water management has been associated with negative impacts on

human and environmental health. A more holistic approach to urban water cycle management

has been proposed to restore pre-development condition at source. Sustainable Drainage

Systems (SuDS) like bio-filters are part of this approach.”

“This project will assess the capacity of a bio-filter to adsorb dissolved pollutants that are of

major concern for water quality because their bioavailability and the difficulty in their treatment.

Laboratory based experiments will provide preliminary information on the configuration that will

undergo a field experiment that will treat storm water runoff from a real car park in Leeds.”

- Feedback form comment

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Chaired by - Thomas Cooper (Sustainability Service)

Volunteer co-ordinators - Rizwana Alam and Jiayi Hu

Integrated low carbon energy solutions for remote rural areas

Andrew Price-Allison, Aaron Carvell and Toby Green


“Biogas and solar energy have been identified as potential integrated energy solutions

which are economically viable for rural and remote areas of Nigeria.”

A curricular group project, the Integrated Low Carbon Energy Solutions for Remote Rural

Areas (ILCERRA) looks at investigating the energy demands, technological requirements and

suitable off-grid locations for sustainable energy generation in Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan

and Nigeria

“This is a pump priming project that aims to gather together 20 representatives from Official

Development Assistance (ODA) eligible countries. Its outcomes are hoped to form the basis

for future research collaborations that will draw on the Global Challenges Research Fund

(GCRF) calls and opportunities in the next five years.”

Carbon savings from thermal pile foundations

Mumo Mutulili

School of Civil Engineering

“The biggest challenge is to quantify the carbon cost in the whole system. Initially, this

method is expensive, but it could be overcome with further research.”

During Mumo’s industrial placement year she began working with The Green Port Hull Project,

a joint venture to prepare the existing site at Alexandra Dock in Hull for the company Siemens,

to fabricate and assemble wind turbines.

“I was working on the piling section where we undertook the construction of a combi wall,

using 234 cellular bearing piles of 1.82m diameter.”

For her dissertation Mumo is researching carbon savings from thermal pile technology.

“Shallow geothermal energy is an innovative solution for heating and cooling buildings through

the thermal pile, also known as geothermal or heat exchange piles. The heat exchange

system contains fluid that circulates in pipes which are fixed in piles and connected to a heat

pump to produce the thermal energy required. Overall, it is a low carbon source of renewable

energy.”


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Grass to Gas: a Lawn Unto Itself?

Aaron Brown, Fernando Climent Barba, Judith Ford & Luke Higgins


“The demand for green energy sources is ever increasing to match government targets

to reduce GHG emissions. At the same time, councils across the country are being

forced to make stringent cuts to their maintenance budgets.”

Grass to gas involves producing biogas for the energy and transport sector through the

anaerobic digestion of grass clippings that would otherwise be left to mulch. The team

focussed on Lincolnshire County Council and how they could potentially adopt this technique.

“We found that grass cuttings from the rural roads of the county had the potential to produce

bio-methane and contained acceptable contamination levels. However a viable business

model relied on a suitable use for the heat generated, and was sensitive to grass yields and

harvesting costs.”

Audience questions:

“Is this project replicable in other areas?”

Yes but it depends on the available plants for producing biogas. Lancashire was selected for

the study as it has enough number of plants already working in the area for producing biogas

so minimising the initial cost of the project.

“How does it protect biodiversity?”

Road verges form important wildlife corridors providing links between habitats. The removal of

cuttings is an important management consideration when aiming to maintain or increase the

biodiversity of green spaces.

Designing with the Living - the future of sustainable textiles

Emma Weaver

School of Design

“With the knowledge that the textile industry is one of the most damaging to the

environment, change is absolutely necessary.”

For Emma’s dissertation project, she is exploring the potential of utilising nature as a

sustainable design tool. In particular, she is applying biomimicry (imitation of nature to solve

human problems) techniques to the manufacture and use of colours in textiles.

“A core focus will be on structural colour, which is the variable, iridescent colours achieved

within some forms of nature such as butterfly wings and bird’s feathers. The potential of

applying this engineering mechanism from nature to textiles will be practiced and

experimented with in the lab. This project suggests that instead of using un-natural,

sometimes toxic dyes, we can learn to evolve with nature and mimic natural resources for our

own benefit.”


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Simulation framework to support sustainable supply network in

Indonesia’s natural rubber industry

Muhammad Haikal Sitepu

School of Mechanical Engineering

“Indonesia is one of the main producers of natural rubber, producing around 30% of the

world’s supply.”

Muhammad’s PhD has been focussed on researching the recent reduction of rubber

production in some districts in Indonesia, its implications and how different remedial

simulations could help resolve the issue.

“The natural rubber industry has an important position in Indonesia’s economy, providing

income to the Government and its citizens. Early discussions with Indonesian natural rubber

stakeholders suggest the reduction of natural rubber supply is caused by too many rubber

plantations entering non-productive phases and switching to other crops.

“To address this problem, a rubber replanting programme is being exercised by the Indonesian

Government. One of the challenges of this programme is determining appropriate allocations

of rubber replanting for several areas or districts in Indonesia. It is necessary to define the right

direction for allocation because current and future rubber supply mainly depend on this.”

Reborn: An eco-friendly app to extend the life of clothes

Yu Huang

School of Design

“Around 30% of clothing in the average wardrobe has not been worn for at least a year,

most commonly because it no longer fits.”

Yu Huang has been tackling the fast fashion dilemma through ‘Reborn’, her free mobile

clothes swapping app which lets users exchange fashion products locally, join local clothes

communities, and stylist workshop and DIY events.

“An estimated £140 million worth (350,000 tones) of used clothing goes to landfill every year.

The real reason behind this is the fast fashion phenomenon, identified as cheap, easy, mass

production in the 21st century. Consumers keep purchasing new products in short periods of

time to catch up with the latest trends. 95% of textiles thrown away could get a second life.

Extending clothes longevity is the best solution for this problem.

Reborn is an Eco-friendly app to help users to extend the life of clothes while saving money.

More research is still being conducted.”

- Laura Redsell (Twitter comment)

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Parkinson Court

Sustainability in Healthcare - RESS SSP module

School of Medicine

The Research and Evaluation Special Studies module is a core part of the MBChB curriculum.

It aims to provide medical students with the opportunity to acquire, develop, and apply

research and evaluation skills as part of their studies.

This year (2016/17) the Sustainability Service in collaboration with the School of Earth and

Environment delivered a new project as part of this module, ‘Sustainability in Healthcare’. For

their assessment, students were tasked to design an innovative solution to a common

sustainability problem in the medical and healthcare field. Instead of a written report, we asked

the students to create a video or ‘vlog’ of their ideas. Here are three of the student’s projects

that were displayed at the conference:

ElectroniCARE

Kit Stanford, Timothy Carling,

Naomi Oldham and Sarah Wolloff School of Medicine

This project looked at the overuse of

paper in the NHS for patient records and

observation charts, and how we can

transition to a paperless system. The

group found that this is already happening

however not in co-ordination across all

trusts.

ElectroniCARE is an idea where all paper

files are accessed via an electronic

device. Every patient would be given a

unique barcode that could be scanned to

reveal a patients records. This would save

time of having to print and find the right

documents, and also save money in the

long term. The concept would create less

wasted resources and make patients safer

through more accurate, and up to date

patient data.


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Medicines waste

Polly Simpson, Timothy Hird, Matthew

Brigham and Wyatt Crossland

School of Medicine

Medical waste is a big problem in healthcare.

For example, unused prescriptions cost the

NHS an estimated £300 million per year. The

group looked at how this could be reduced

through raising awareness across the UK with

their campaign: Stop - before you order your

medicines, Think - do you really need the

medicines? and Check - what you have before

you leave the pharmacy.

The group also had other ideas, such as;

increasing security on drugs boxes to reassure

pharmacies they haven't been tampered with

and are usable, and also to increase awareness

around our waste culture in general.

The Sustainable Hospital

Adil Iqbal, Gemma Trodd, George

Higginbotham, Brian O’Connor

School of Medicine

Hospitals have high energy usage, with figures

showing the UK's healthcare sector spends

more than £400 million per year on energy. This

group focussed their project around the

operational aspects of a hospital, assessing the

pros and cons of geothermal energy as a main

renewable energy source. As part of this, they

included the geographical barriers that could

hinder certain places from utilising geothermal

within the UK.

They also looked at the future possibilities of

harnessing the kinetic energy from activities

around a hospital (such as revolving doors, and

equipment at an on-site gym) which could be

converted into electricity.

Another idea the group had was to increase

green spaces within hospital buildings to

improve patient recovery and wellbeing, e.g.

roof gardens.

- Michelle Marks (Twitter comment)

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Chaired by - Michael Howroyd (Sustainability Service)

Volunteer co-ordinator - Victoria Randall

To tree or not to tree?

Vishnu Sunil Kumar


“The study also found Mesua ferrea to possess higher carbon sequestration abilities;

opening the possibilities of having species specific reforestation efforts to increase

carbon stock.”

Data that informs governments on the most financially and ecologically efficient process to

focus conservation efforts is vital. Vishnu’s project examines the differing sequestration levels

along an altitudinal gradient in the Silent Valley National Park, India.

“Estimating and understanding the variation of carbon sequestration with elevation, will help

isolate certain ‘zones’ or areas of high carbon sequestration potential. Results showed that

with more focused conservation and management efforts at mid-elevation zones in a high

altitude tropical rainforests, we could potentially help stall the effects of climate change while

innovations in the field of renewable energy get cheaper and more accessible.”

Audience question:

“What was the selection procedure for the 5 test tree species?”

Essentially, the benchmark was that all the 5 species had to be found at all elevations of the

700m transect we were studying in.

Will it be a white Christmas in 2017?

James Norman


“Bookies were offering 5/1 on snow in London one month before Christmas Day in

2016.”

Questions still surround how we can integrate new forecasting methods into established

operational procedures. James addresses how our longer-term climate predications over a

season or year can be best applied.

“Foresight of likely weather conditions may hold value for decision-makers across a range of

different sectors. For example, taking note of a winter season forecast issued in Autumn,

National Rail could make an early start on plans to handle track disruptions that typically come

with a ‘deep-freeze’ winter.

Here, I demonstrate current abilities in predicting wind speeds over Europe and speculate as

to the potential uses in the wind energy sector.”

- Vishnu Sunil Kumar (Highly commended - Best Conference Poster)

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Death in the oceans: extinction risk in the marine realm

Adam Woodhouse


“Extinction rates are currently at their highest for 65 million years and are continuing to

rise at an unprecedented rate.”

Adam has focussed his PhD on analysing the planktonic fossil record of the Neogene period

(23 million years ago to the present day) for extinction indicators such as changes in ecology,

morphology, abundance or geographic range that can be used to predict present-day and

future extinctions.

“Oceanic ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to rapid environmental change, which is

compounded by our lack of knowledge regarding the evolutionary history of many marine

groups.

This project aims to provide the most detailed and comprehensive analysis of extinction risk in

a marine group to date, and subsequently provide a means to determine which present-day

species and marine ecosystems are under the highest risk of extinction through anthropogenic

climate change.”

Audience question:

“Considerations of timescales are pertinent to discussions about ocean warming and

acidification, are they not?”

Absolutely – recent change is the fastest recorded. There is no comparison with past events.

Better Biosecurity: stop the spread of invasive non-native

species

Stephanie Bradbeer

Faculty of Biological Sciences

“One of the most concerning aspects of INNS spread is once introduced, populations

are often impossible to remove.”

“Many Non-Native species are harmless or even beneficial, however some Non-Native

Species are able to spread and cause damage to our environment, the economy, or to human

health.

Biosecurity are measures people take to reduce the risk of spreading species when working in

the environment. As resources are often limited, developing scientific knowledge to design

effective and efficient biosecurity protocols is paramount.”

Audience question:

“At what point do ‘invasive’ species become ‘native’ species?”

It depends who you ask – there’s no clear answer or time span which denotes this. It also

depends on which laws you are considering; UK versus EU law, for example.

- Adam Woodhouse (Twitter comment)

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Antarctic Expedition (A2 B+W

Series ) and Crystal Ice

Oliver Wheeldon (www.2041.com)

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

“This crystal-like ice is from a glacier on

the Antarctic Peninsula. They are some

of the fastest warming in the world.”

During Oliver’s recent expedition to

Antarctica in 2016, he was the official

photographer to the first person in history to

walk unassisted to both North and South

Geographic poles, Robert Swan. The

haunting reality of the beautiful images bring

home the message that climate change is

occurring at an alarming rate.

“It is glaciers from land masses such as

Antarctica and Greenland that contribute the

most to global sea-level rise. Whilst this ice

is beautiful it has a very real message.

For ice to be that clear, it has to contain no

air. For glacial ice to have no air within it, it

has to have been under such immense

pressure within the glacier to melt and

refreeze continuously. When this happens a

bit of air is forced out of the ice every time.

This normally occurs in flat lines within

fractures of the ice, which is what gives

icebergs the occasional blue veins. However

for a piece this size to have so much clarity,

we know it has to have been within the

glacier for at least 10,000 years.

This ice is now finally in the ocean before

our very eyes, serving as a stark reminder

that these glaciers are melting, and they are

retreating faster than they should. I now

present these images as a reminder to all,

that the man-made effects on climate

change are very real and sea-level rise is

happening.”

Parkinson Court

- Professor Tom Ward (Deputy Vice Chancellor)

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Re(act) on Sustainability

Benno Zenker

School of Performance and Cultural Studies

Accommodating all project formats was a

fundamental priority for the conference, so to have

Benno deliver his Re(act) workshop was a great

experience, adding to the diversity of work being

shared throughout the day.

Through the interactive session audience

members were asked to think about basic

sustainability challenges and the behaviours we

exhibit to different scenarios.

“In this workshop session you will try to look

literally from different angles on the big issues of

sustainability, the ones that bother you! Put

yourself in the shoes of someone else, jump in

place and time - and engage with all of your body.

We use creative techniques, embody perspectives

and have fun in this session. Influenced by

process based theatre work and critical education,

the workshop puts you into the debate and gives

the chance to try out new approaches.”

Community Engagement within the Curriculum

SOEE 2035 Discovery Module students


The University of Leeds has a continuing commitment to be a positive partner in society and

create mutually beneficial relationships with the wider Leeds community. In line with this

commitment, a second year undergraduate ‘Community Engagement Project’ module as part

of the Creating Sustainable Futures Discovery Theme was created. The module involves

students working closely with a third sector host organisation to scope, prepare for, deliver and

evaluate a practical project. This interactive session explored the benefits and challenges of

the module for students, the host organisations and the University more broadly.

- Issy Petersen-Adams (Sustainability Service)

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Chaired by - Dr Sally Russell (School of Earth and Environment) and Kelly Forster

(Sustainability Service)

Volunteer co-ordinator - India Flores

The role of the arts in catalysing action towards a sustainable

future

Clare Martynski


“To tackle the broader range of environmental issues, we will need the active engagement of

citizens and institutions across the world.”

Clare’s work has centred around public action towards a sustainable society and how people’s

priorities differ with regards to the subject of sustainability.

“When faced with a challenge of global and intergenerational magnitude, it is unsurprising that

individuals struggle to grasp the urgency to take action and it can, in fact, have quite the

opposite effect.

Is this where the arts and cultural industries can play a significant role? Throughout history and

across society, the arts have been used to engage people at an emotional level, in a way that

scientific data rarely can; stimulating new ways of thinking and disentangling complex

messages, inspiring action and guiding movements, capturing hearts and minds.”

“I'm thrilled to have won an award for Most Original Concept at the inaugural Student Sustainability Conference. Sustainability is an issue that involves all aspects of society and the arts have a really important role to play. It was an absolute honour to present my work alongside such an inspiring group of researchers, all working towards a more positive and equal future.

Today, perhaps more than ever before, we need events like this to connect us together. I'm looking forward to an even bigger event next year!”

- Clare Martynski (Conference presenter)

Clare Martynski (Winner - Most Original Concept)

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The use of nostalgia at the ideation stage of permaculture

design: opportunities for sustainability?

Mary Loveday Edwards

School of Design

“Nostalgia is a longing for or wistful emotional relationship with the past.”

This presentation examined the extent to which nostalgia about older perceived agricultural

systems underpins permaculture, a method for growing crops which mimics natural

environmental processes.

“The aim is to suggest a strategic framework which supports using the nostalgia emotion when

designing permaculture processes.

Permaculture uses the same processes as natural systems to produce ethical, closed loop,

intelligent design interventions. This paper aims to provide evidence of how permaculture

frameworks can be aligned with evidence from frameworks of sustainability, to add support for

permaculture design consideration when designing urban spaces. It is at the design ‘ideation

stage’ - when design is being conceptually considered in terms of a contextual application –

that the use of nostalgia can be usefully employed.”

Investigating sustainability disclosure in Ugandan print media

James Ward

School of Geography

“Researching the sustainability discourse is key to discovering alternate views of the

world and its most pressing issues.”

How are sustainability issues viewed from the media’s perspective, and do readers agree with

what's being published? For James’s project he conducted a critical analysis to find out.

“Uganda is a nation under numerous pressures such as global neoliberalism, climate change,

and uneven development, so researching the sustainability discourse is key to discovering

alternate views of the world and its most pressing issues.

Through reading an extensive array of newspaper articles regarding sustainability and

collecting them in Nvivo, a piece of software utilised in the collection and coding of qualitative

data, I have undertaken a critical discourse analysis to discover how sustainability is portrayed

by Uganda’s two largest newspapers.

Whereas in the UK we expect sustainability to be tied to issues such as climate change,

generational transition and clean energy, Uganda’s discourse is constructed in strikingly

different ways. Central to the idea of sustainability was the expansion of Uganda’s economy

through engaging the youth in new business opportunities and intensifying agriculture, whilst

development was based on trickle-down economics and the 2014 Sustainability Development

Goals.”


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Resources and Education

Isabella Petersen-Adams


“Could geology be a sustainable subject?”

Issy was not only a student presenter at the conference, she is also this years Sustainability

Service Intern! She is currently in her placement year studying for a BSc in Geology. In her

presentation, she expanded on the current and future issues of sustainability topics in her

discipline and whether or not sustainability is covered in enough detail within the curriculum.

“Often geology is associated with oil and gas in the hydrocarbon industry which is very much

reflected in the modules and teaching style a lot of student these days experience.

Considering the subject focusses on anthropogenic processes and resource management, it

is often overlooked when considering sustainable solutions to global issues.”

What we know affects what we

do - exploring fashion

sustainability and it’s

perceptions by young

consumers

Ana Perez

School of Design

“Although fashion is one of the largest

factors contributing globally to the

economy, the environmental and social

impacts of it are vast.”

How aware are today’s young consumers of the

impacts of fashion on social and environmental

sustainability? Ethical issues in the fashion

industry have been widely reported, but does

this impact on peoples shopping habits?

“The purpose of this research is to examine the

relationship of young consumers to fashion

sustainability and their understanding of its

terms of reference. The results of the study will

hopefully increase understanding of the factors

behind young consumer behaviour in relation to

sustainable fashion, and will point to

opportunities for challenging and changing their

purchasing habits where sustainable fashion is

concerned.

Ana Perez (Winner - Most Effective Visuals)

- Louise Ellis (Director of Sustainability Services)

18

Assessing consumers’ perceptions of electricity use: does

providing reference points help?

Vedran Lesic

Leeds University Business School

“Participants in our study underestimated the use of high electricity consuming

appliances.”

Consumers often find it hard to assess how much electricity is used by their household

appliances. For Vedran’s postgraduate research, he wanted to see if a ‘reference point’ which

would show how much energy an appliance is using (e.g. a light bulb) would affect peoples’

perceptions of electricity use with other items and in turn lead to more energy efficient

behaviours.

“The aim of this study is to test whether the provision of single or multiple reference points

improves consumers’ perceptions of appliances’ electricity use.

Our findings suggest that reference points play an important role in improving the accuracy of

perceptions of electricity use across different appliances.

The results demonstrate that providing a single or multiple reference points influences the

accuracy of perceptions of electricity use across all of the appliances presented. Specifically,

having a single low (e.g. light bulb) reference point improved the accuracy of perceptions.

Also, in conditions with two or three reference points, participants were more confident in

their estimates and perceived the task as less difficult.”

Learning Champions inspiring adult learners

Lianne Asbury


“As a Learning Champion, I like to show people that if I, as a mature student and parent

can attend university, so can they.”

Learning champions are mature and part-time student volunteers, who use their experience to

inspire adults into further and higher education. Lianne, a current learning champion, tells us

her personal experiences with the scheme and its future goals.

“The Learning Champion scheme is an example of a positive role that Universities can take in

their communities. It adds considerable value to existing strategies to widen participation. The

scheme contributes to increasing the numbers of adults from low socio-economic areas

participating in higher education and opens up opportunities that would otherwise not be

available. The scheme has grown from just six volunteers in 2010 to over a hundred presently,

and through word-of-mouth and recruitment of new mature students, will continue to grow and

develop as a sustainable model for the future.

Audience question:

“Is there a gender difference with adult learners?”

Most adult learners tend to be women, as they have married young and not completed their

education.


19

What impact does the media coverage of extreme weather

events have on people’s likelihood of taking climate action?

Rachel Harcourt

LUBS and School of Earth and Environment

“This research will benefit those tasked to communicate the need for a greater climate

response in the community.”

Covering similar aspects to James’s project (page 16), Rachel’s post graduate research is

focussing around our actions towards mitigating climate change and how they are influenced.

“A changing global climate is a long-running, slow moving process, the day-to-day impacts of

which can be hard to detect for non-experts, especially those living in economically developed

and temperate weather countries such as the UK. In comparison, local extreme weather

events such as flooding or heatwaves provide short lived, fast paced dramatic events which

the public are likely to be at least informed about or possibly involved in.

These are two very different types of events which produce two very different types of media

coverage. This research will focus on how a more conscious telling of extreme weather events

might be used in the future to the benefit of greater engagement in climate discussion.”

Sustainability Crystals

Alexandra Oliver


“There has to be an emotional connection to

sustainability.”

The mesmerizing microscopic visuals form

Alex’s digital art presentation centers around

communicating the natural world in its chemical

form, linking sustainability values to everlasting

physical elemental properties.

“A misconception is that sustainability can only

be represented by biological living objects,

grass, trees, bee’s, birds etc., or as an outcome

– reducing your carbon footprint, reuse and

recycling. However, crystals remind us that at

the atomic level we are just a collection of

carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen atoms with

added elements arranged in a slightly different

way to, quartz, amethyst , citrine ,diamond etc.

and this will continue to the end of time.”


20

Chaired by - Amanda Jackson and Claire Bastin (Sustainability Service)

Volunteer co-ordinator - Alice Jervoise

People and Nature in Harmony?

Understanding the Consumer

Ethical Dilemma

Katie Thomas


“With growing interest in ethical

consumption, understanding how consumers

make ethical purchases is becomingly

increasingly important.”

Katie’s project focussed on providing a novel

approach to investigating consumer ethical

dilemmas by drawing upon a case study of social

enterprise in the Eastern Usambara mountains

of Tanzania.

“This research addresses a critical knowledge

gap in understanding how consumers respond to

ethical dilemmas in purchasing decisions, which

occur when consumers’ ethical concerns conflict.

My case study involves a cooperative of women

producing handmade jewellery using butterflies

sourced from a local cooperative of butterfly

farmers. The art project aims to significantly

improve the livelihoods of those involved,

however the production of the jewellery involves

killing butterflies. Thus considering the beneficial

and harmful consequences of producing the

jewellery may cause consumers to experience

an ethical dilemma. Amani Art is currently

seeking to sell their jewellery to a UK market,

and hence this research intends to identify

whether the jewellery is a suitable ‘ethical’

product for UK consumers.”

- Feedback form comment (School of Earth and Environment

Katie Thomas (Highly Commended - Most

Effective Visuals)

21

Diva Cup & Co - the role of sustainable menstrual products for

female empowerment

Gloria Koepke

School of Mathematics

“Access to sustainable menstrual products is a promising and uniting tool for female

empowerment all over the world.”

Here, Gloria presents her research on successful approaches to increase schooling among

girls during puberty in lower economically developed countries.

“Education and health improvements are believed to be the key drivers for sustainable

economic development in growing economies.

Research has found that the number of girls who drop out of school when entering puberty

increases if they do not have access to affordable menstrual products. A successful solution

has shown to be the distribution of re-usable menstruation cups and sanitary pads. Not only do

they lead to increased body awareness and confidence but they enable school attendance on

a greater scale.”

Audience question:

“How are menstrual cups more sustainable?”

There are many different brands on the market (e.g. Mooncup, Divacup etc.). They are mostly

made of a reusable silicone based, non-allergic, material compared to the single use

packaging of disposable products. Organic tampons and pads are available however price is

still an issue when considering lower income families.

The Church and Fairtrade: the challenge of promoting

sustainable livelihoods

Mark Dawson

School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science

“Fairtrade is a widely known concept which aims to create and promote sustainable

livelihoods.”

A long time advocate of Fairtrade Yorkshire, Mark has focussed his PhD research around the

involvement of church action in Fairtrade and its impacts.

“Despite the shift in Fairtrade towards greater levels of engagement with large corporations,

Church involvement in the Fairtrade movement remains remarkably resilient. My research

examines Church action for Fairtrade by means of qualitative interviews with churchgoers

involved in the promotion of the concept.

My findings indicate that the churchgoers regard the original ideals of the Fairtrade movement

as being of primary importance and are concerned about aspects of the mainstreaming of the

concept.”

- Michelle Marks (Twitter comment)

22

Investigating the social impact

of permaculture demonstration

projects

Alexander Dennis James

School of Chemistry

“Permaculture is a global sustainability

movement based on a shared set of ethics

and principles, implemented using a wide

range of design tools.”

Using the ‘5 ways to wellbeing

framework’ (Connect, Be Active, Take Notice,

Keep Learning and Give), Alex has been

analysing feedback collected from

questionnaires at permaculture sites across the

UK.

“The aim of this study is to investigate the

wellbeing impacts of experiencing a

permaculture project first hand. The projects

included were The Red Shed (a North hardy

plant nursery and forest garden in the Scottish

borders), Hyde Park Source (an urban

community and environment charity based in

Leeds) and The Grange (a rest and support

sanctuary for refugees and others in Norfolk).

The results show that visitors to permaculture

projects receive a wide ranging and balanced

set of wellbeing yields. The balance of these

yields vary with the type of project and method

of data collection. The result is that people who

experience permaculture feel better about

themselves, better informed and better

motivated to contribute to sustainable change.”

Audience question:

“Did anything surprise you about the

results?”

The Red Shed nursery focuses on sustainable

food production methods. It was surprising that

people really value meeting each other and the

community they have built, as much as they

value the skills they learn.

- Professor Lisa Roberts (Deputy Vice Chancellor)

Alexander James (Oral presentation -

Society and Community)

23

The impacts of improperly disposed of waste during University

of Leeds changeover

Lewis Mitchell


“At no time is this more obvious than from the 22nd of June to the 6th of July, where in

2016 186 tonnes of additional waste was collected from the streets of Leeds.”

Lewis conducted this summer research project on behalf of the Sustainability Service and

School of Earth and Environment in 2016, where he evaluated the sustainability impacts

student waste has on the local communities of Leeds.

“Within Leeds the student population is approximately 9% of the total population and their

waste habits have an obvious impact, with most of what is discarded being either avoidable

and/or recyclable or reusable.

The sharp increase in waste in June and July is a result of the mass movement of students as

private housing contracts end, and new ones begin. We discovered that the additional

collections cost the council over £25,000 and that in order to reduce this figure, awareness of

both the problem and the current projects, resolving and preventing the impacts, needed to be

increased. One recommendation was to examine more effective methods of communicating

the problem directly to students through campaigns and other awareness raising initiatives.”

Investigating the motivational dynamics of Indonesian

teenagers learning English

Laura Trace

School of Education, Social Sciences and Law

“Never more has English language learning been more accessible, nor proficiency

more desirable.”

Laura’s project aims to highlight some initial observations into the attitudes and emotions of six

Sumatran junior high school students and their autonomous learning activities.

“With the foci of much research tending towards Western cultures, there is at present little

literature on how such aspects affect learner motivation and the resultant informal learning

practices of those living in areas where direct exposure to spoken English varieties is rare, if at

all present.

After conducting the first phase of interviews and observations in Indonesia during August

2015 - researchers have maintained contact with participants through social media over the

course of an academic year. It is hoped that findings will contribute to our growing

understanding of the motivation of ‘persons-in-context’ [Ushioda, 2009], in particular those

competing for resources to gain the valuable symbolic capital of English in more marginal

global contexts.

- School of Sociology and Social Policy (Twitter comment)

24

The female body in conflict: a case study of the female

combatants of the Tamil Tigers and the gendered implications of

their role in the Sri Lankan civil war.

Rhiann Holloway

School of English

“Their participation as combatants was essential in the fight for Tamil freedom but

often their recruitment into the Tigers involved violent physical abuse and abduction.”

Rhiann’s undergraduate dissertation spans themes of equality, justice, and conflict. Her work

expands on societies expectations of women and what the women expect of themselves.

“Considering the generally inferior social positioning of women in Sri Lanka, were female

fighters victims of an oppressive patriarchal regime, as the forced recruitment suggests, or

were they empowered combatants working as equals to men? My research will explore this

question in relation to theories of masculinities in conflict as well as female agency within a

male-dominated environment.

Furthermore, how does the use of women’s bodies in the conflict compare to their lives post-

conflict? I will investigate how the female role in Tamil society has changed as a result of their

participation in the LTTE, since multiple accounts of ex-fighters have shown frustration that

they can no longer use the ‘masculine’ physical skills they acquired in combat.”

What does loss and damage mean to youth in informal

settlements of Cape Town, South Africa?

Phellecitus Nokuthula Montana


“The impacts of climate change are notably affecting vulnerable communities and

resulting in the loss and damage of basic survival necessities.”

Loss and damage (L&D) can be broadly referred to as the negative effects of climate change

materializing in developing countries after mitigation and adaptation efforts have been

undertaken. Thuli’s research looks at how youth perspectives relate to L&D and future flood

risks.

“Marginalised groups in society are particularly vulnerable. Much of the L&D they

experience is non-material and often difficult to document and measure. Non-material

elements of life (e.g. culture, agency, health, social relations, identity) are not traded within

markets and thus remain neglected within climate change negotiations.

This project relates to the conference theme “Sustainable Perspectives on Future Challenges”

because it sheds light on youth perspectives; an understudied and vulnerable group to climate

change whose engagement and participation is vital for overcoming and addressing the

complexities of transformative adaptation to avoid L&D and achieve long-term sustainable

development.”

- Vishnu Sunil Kumar (Twitter comment)

25

Chaired by - James Dixon-Gough (Sustainability Service)

Volunteer co-ordinator - Ruby Thirkettle

Urban Green Spaces

Governance: challenges and a

way forward to sustainable

development

Rizwana Alam

School of Geography

“Urban green spaces are declining all

over the world due to rapid urbanisation.”

Rizwana gave us an insight into her

approach to identifying the key challenges

and potential improvements of urban green

space planning and development in Lahore,

Pakistan.

“It is now widely recognised that, besides the

government, it is local communities,

enterprises and other non-governmental

stakeholders that also need to be involved in

urban policies and practices to improve

urban sustainability and resilience.

My study aims to reveal various dominant

discourses for planning among its actors and

will examine how various actors with different

interests interplay, cooperate or have conflict

with each other over green space which

could have implications for local politics and

planning. Moreover, it will also explicate the

main causes of poor state of urban green

spaces in Lahore. This study will further

suggest some sustainable strategies

required to address the situation by

comparing it with the ideal form of

collaborative governance of green spaces.”

Rizwana Alam (Winner - Best Conference Poster)

- The Gryphon (Twitter comment)

26

Regaining legitimacy following an environmental disaster: BP

and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Matthew Morton


“This was the largest peacetime offshore oil spill in history. Did BP's communication in

its annual and sustainability reports reflect this?”

Matt’s research centred on the transparency of reporting within large organisations, most

notably BP after the events of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in 2010.

“The study adopted a mixed methods design that incorporated quantitative and qualitative

content analysis in order to provide a more comprehensive view of the communication

strategies employed by BP.

Ultimately, the results revealed that BP utilised its annual and sustainability reports in order to

manipulate public perceptions and legitimise itself following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The findings support the notion that organisations use annual reports as a legitimacy tool

following environmental disasters as opposed to a genuine effort to become a transparent and

accountable corporate citizen.”

Audience question:

“Do you think legitimisation strategies work and who do think they work best for?”

Research is still ongoing into the main beneficiary, however stakeholders appear to gain the

most from it as they are the main readers of the report.

Calorington Secession - an application of remedial right only

theory and primary right theory

Muhammad Aiman Bin Zulkifli

School of Law

“In the year 2016, with secession ideas apparent in Scotland, Catalonia, Quebec and

other regions, it is clear citizens in some countries are embracing the idea that states

do have the right to secede.”

Secession, or the action of formally withdrawing from a membership or body, is seeing a

recent spike in popularity. Muhammad expands on his project on possible secessions in some

select US states and what this would mean.

“Should all states in any country have this right and could they invoke them at any time for any

reason? A changing and unfixed world map is surely a challenge in governance sustainability!

The idea of secession does not escape the United States of America (USA), especially with

the General Election 2016 outcome.

This research will examine the idea of California, Oregon and Washington (Calorington)

seceding from the USA by using Allen Buchanan’s Secession Theories; Remedial Right Only

Theory and Primary Right Theory. This research aims to identify the moral rights and the

constitutional rights of the states to secede (should it become reality).”

- Professor Tom Ward (Deputy Vice Chancellor)

27

Chaired by - Jen Dyer (School of Earth and Environment)

Volunteer co-ordinator - Victoria Randall

Connecting Indian Farmers - present challenges and future

prospects

Akshay Deoras and Mikolaj Swiderski


“A very high percentage of India’s population is dependent on agriculture and allied

sectors for their livelihood, which is extremely weather dependent.”

Akshay and Mikolaj shared their research which looks at the extent of damaging extreme

weather events and the policies in place to reduce the future impacts in India.

“The extent of such damages, such as hailstorms, droughts and extreme rainfall, is amplified

because very few farmers receive timely warnings and agro-weather advisories thus leaving

most of them unprepared from these weather outbreaks.

We have discussed the present challenges in connecting Indian farmers to such fast track

advisory dissemination services. Our analysis suggests that improper policy, lack of

co-ordination between central and state governments are some of the main impedances in

enhancing the connectivity.”

Audience questions:

“Do weather alerts and predictions have significant positive impacts for farmers?”

It depends on who sends them and whether or not the farmers trust the sender. Trust is a

huge issue. There is also the need for feedback from farmers in order to improve the message

alert services.

“Why are the text message alert programmes effective in some areas and not in

others?”

This is predominantly due to: farmers being unaware of the service; a lack of government

initiative; weak telephone connection; and low tele density.

“How did you both come to work together?”

We had a shared interest and knowledge of weather patterns and discussed work on Indian

weather systems. We thought we could work together to influence policy so we combined our

complimentary skill sets to achieve this.

- Mikolaj Swiderski (Twitter comment)

28

Feed a Friend

Cruz Glynka

School of Mathematics

“In addition to combating the local food waste issue, it brings young people in the

community together with the hope that they can make a friend in the process.”

Cruz’s O2 - Think Big funded project ‘Feed a Friend’ has been tackling non-sustainable food

habits in Leeds.

“The project focuses on young people learning more about reducing food waste, good

nutritional habits and easy meals they can do at home. The kitchen is run by young people,

meaning the chefs in the kitchen are learning new skills and feeding mouths at the same time.

Feed a Friend is here to change social attitudes within younger age groups, because the youth

are the future. In the UK around 15 million tonnes of food is wasted. Not only is this

detrimental to the planet but its also a health issue, with a third of UK adults struggling to

afford healthy food. This is where the project hopes to step in with good nutrition, easy recipies

and providing a fun, engaging place to get food that would otherwise be wasted. What makes

my idea new is its putting youth in the centre seat of the food waste revolution, asking them

how we can tap into reducing waste and working together doing it.”

Audience questions:

“How do you measure behavioural change? Do you conduct surveys?”

Not really. For the most part, I talk to people and write down their thoughts and feelings. We

need more volunteers for more thorough metrics.

Fool by Food?

Yeuk-nam NG

School of Sociology and Social Policy

“How can we turn food waste into fertilizers efficiently?”

Yeuk-nam discussed her project looking at the process of events that would need to happen at

a higher education institution.

“This programme would require a collaboration between the Faculty of Engineering,

Accommodation Services, offices and school-based societies such as the Green Action. In

order to handle the raw material efficiently, a food waste processor would need to be put in

place. Given the extravagant price of one composter machine (~£200) but with limited capacity

in handling the vast amount of food waste, it seems to be better if the university tailor-made

several processors for its own use.

This process is expected to take several years and would maximize the value of food waste

such as coffee grounds, helping to achieve a more environmentally sustainable organisation.

Only with the active engagement of students will the project proceed to the next stage

involving the participation of the Faculty of Engineering.”

- Professor Lisa Roberts (Deputy Vice Chancellor)

29

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030: ideas and

perspectives on tackling goal 2 ‘Zero Hunger’

Annabel Miller

Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences

“In 2016, 11% of the world’s population suffered from hunger, while one third of all food

produced was wasted.”

Annabel’s work centres around creating a provisional strategy that tackles Sustainable

Development Goal 2 ‘Zero Hunger’. During the Conference she presented ideas on tackling

food poverty and creating a more sustainable food supply.

“The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 focuses on ending hunger and

malnutrition through supplying worldwide access to a safe, nutritious and sustainable food

supply all year round. The main aims of the goal are to increase the sustainability of the food

production system through tackling the physical, economic and political barriers that lead to

food insecurity.

Over the next 7 months I will be working on a project with 20 other young people from across

the world to produce a provisional strategy. At the end of the project we will be disseminating

our strategy to the United Nations in New York.”

Keeping the good stuff: drying techniques to increase

antioxidants

Sandi Darniadi

Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences

“Dehydration is a mature method of food processing to extend the shelf-life of food

products.”

PhD student, Sandi, is basing his research around retaining antioxidants, substances that

remove potentially damaging oxidizing agents in a living organism, in certain foods, reducing

the likelihood of deterioration of nutrients.

“The drying process has several drawbacks such as loss of weight, vitamins and other vital

compounds in foods. In the present study, two drying methods (foam-mat freeze-drying and

spray-drying) were employed to convert blueberry juice into a powder product. The main

challenge was to recover the anthocyanins compounds, which are recognised as antioxidants

and responsible for the blue or purple colour of the powder. The application of food polymers,

such as proteins, was performed to decrease the anthocyanins loss during drying.

Our analysis suggests that the addition of proteins into the blueberry juice before drying

recovered the anthocyanins by 80-90% (foam-mat freeze-drying) and 55-65% (spray-drying).”

We conclude that the food polymers application successfully reduced the anthocyanins loss

during drying.”


30

The fantastic projects highlighted at the

conference were testament to the

University of Leeds’ commitment in

supporting research excellence.

We want to continue the conversations

which address global sustainability

challenges, and encourage others to step

forward and share their research and

experiences, no matter how big or small!

In her speech to close the conference,

Professor Lisa Roberts, Deputy Vice

Chancellor: Research & Innovation

commented:

“It’s really important to share and celebrate

the research our students are doing in

sustainability. Real innovation and impact

often comes from working together across

different disciplines. Venture out of your

disciplines, speak to others, challenge

your own ways of thinking and make a real

impact across Leeds, the UK and the

world.”

Professor Tom Ward, Deputy Vice

Chancellor for Student Education added:

“Today is about celebrating and nurturing

what we are doing. This agenda will shape

your future, be part of the sustainability

society.”

If you are inspired by the event and want

to know more about the student’s projects,

next year’s conference, or were an

attendee on the day itself and would like to

leave your feedback, we would love to

hear from you. Please contact the

Sustainability Service at:

[email protected]

Professor Lisa Roberts - Deputy Vice

Chancellor: Research & Innovation

Professor Tom Ward - Deputy Vice

Chancellor: Student Education

Dr Louise Ellis - Director of Sustainability

Services: University of Leeds

31

Rizwana Alam, Jiayi Hu, Victoria Randall, India Flores,

Alice Jervoise, Ruby Thirkettle, Adham Al Hossary, Dominic Quinn,

Yiqian Ling

Sally Russell, Jen Dyer, Jenny Barlow, Thomas Cooper,

Michael Howroyd, Kelly Forster, Amanda Jackson, Claire Bastin,

James Dixon-Gough

Sustainability Service

Facilities Directorate Building

Cloberry Street

University of Leeds

Leeds

LS2 9BT

W: sustainability.leeds.ac.uk

T: 0113 343 7033 @UoL_Sus

/UoLSustainability

@UoL_Sus

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