Urban greening for heat-resilient neighbourhoods

Leslie Mabon, Lecturer in Environmental Systems, School of Engineering and Innovation, Open University

Wednesday 23rd October, 1-2pm, Cottrell LT 2V1 and streamed on Teams (if the link does not work for you contact tony.robertson[a]stir.ac.uk). This seminar is open to all staff, students and affiliates of the University of Stirling. The seminar is hosted by Biological and Environmental Sciences (BES).

Title: Urban greening for heat-resilient neighbourhoods

Who this talk might appeal to: The talk will be of interest to researchers working on climate change adaptation, extremes and resilience from both a social and natural science perspective, as the social science research I will present is supported by wider natural science and remote sensing based research into how temperatures and green coverage vary across Glasgow.

The talk also engages with how residents in potentially over-researched communities can be connected in applied research, and in how this can then feed into policy and planning processes. This may be of interest to people working at local or national government in urban planning and environmental management, as well as those working in environment or conservation for third-sector organisations.

Abstract: Street trees, parks, gardens and other green and natural spaces are gathering interest as a way of reducing the risk to people from extreme hot weather in cities in summer. However, these green spaces may not be distributed evenly across space and society, and the cooling and shading benefits that nature brings might need to be balanced up with concerns over safety and accessibility. It is therefore vital that the people and places at most risk are involved in decisions about how nature in their neighbourhoods can best be managed to reduce risk from heat.

In this talk, I share experiences from a community research process to energise heat-resilient urban greening in two neighbourhoods in Glasgow: Govan and Pollok. We worked with community researchers in both neighbourhoods to develop research questions, interview fellow residents and construct creative outputs on what green spaces mean under a changing climate. Across both neighbourhoods, we found residents were noticing extreme heat and rain in their surroundings, and that this was impacting on how they engaged with green spaces and nature. We also found that residents expect local authorities to take the lead on maintaining green and natural spaces, but that there was a critical role for engaging and empowering residents to take stewardship of the environments in which they lived. I also reflect on the practicalities of enabling engaged research in communities, especially the time commitments for researchers and the challenges of leaving a sustainable legacy.

Bio: Leslie Mabon is a Lecturer in Environmental Systems in the School of Engineering and Innovation at the Open University. He has an interdisciplinary background in environmental social science, with research that focuses on the question of whose knowledges and experience count when making decisions about the environment. Leslie’s research engages in particular with people living in coastal and urban environments, and with climate change adaptation and resilience. As well as research in his native Scotland, Leslie also has extensive collaborations in Japan as well as wider Asia. He is an Ambassador for Scotland’s National Centre for Resilience, as well as a member of the First Minister’s Environment Council. You can read more about Leslie’s research at resilientcoastal.zone or on BlueSky/Twitter @ljmabon