Prescription of Nature-Based Solutions to Cities (UGPN-NBS)

Start date

August 2024

End date

July 2025

Overview

Led by Professor Prashant Kumar, the Director of the Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE) and Co-Director, Institute for Sustainability at the ��, researchers from three partner universities – ��, University of São Paulo, and North Carolina State University – are collaborating with experts from additional Universities in Brazil, UK, China and Australia. Together, they are advancing world-leading research on nature-based air quality solutions to help mitigate the impacts of environmental challenges on society.

Vision

Cities currently house ~55% of the global population, a figure expected to increase to 68% by 2050. Due to their dense construction and high population density, cities face severe environmental challenges such as high air pollution, urban overheating, flooding, droughts, and loss of biodiversity. These challenges are often addressed in isolation and only when they become prominent. To build resilient cities, implementing sustainable nature-based solutions (NBS) is crucial. This effort necessitates multidisciplinary partnerships to integrate innovative monitoring, modelling, AI, and citizen science methods, driving a significant paradigm shift.

UGPN-NBS aims to tackle the multidisciplinary challenge of urban sustainability and climate resilience in the UK, US and Brazilian cities using the NBS, and directly address the : ; ; ; ; and .

Objectives

The overall objective of is to create a methodological framework for prescribing NBS through a diverse range of 51 green-blue infrastructure types. This framework aims to balance functionality, performance, and co-benefits in the future planning of megacities like Sao Paulo, growing cities like Raleigh, and typical towns like Guildford. Specific objectives (SO) include:

[SO1] Build a global UGPN network for NBS applications in cities, including UGPN partners and external collaborators and policy makers across the globe
[SO2] Develop case studies on the multifunctionality of NBS benefits for preparing bespoke prescriptions to NBS deprived areas
[SO3] Foster staff-student exchange to share knowledge, best practices and the experiences for developing a vibrant NBS community
[SO4] Exploit the project findings and network to write joint publications, develop new ideas for project proposals for applying to bi/trilateral international grants.

Funding amount

$30,000

Funder

Related sustainable development goals

Team

Lead principal investigator

Professor Prashant Kumar

Director of the Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE) & Co-Director, Institute for Sustainability, School of Sustainability, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences, ��

See profile

Co-principal investigators

Professor Maria de Fatima Andrade

Professor at the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Dr Rajan Parajuli

Associate professor of forest economics and policy in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University

Co-investigators

School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of São Paulo, Brazil

School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Institute of Environmental Research from the State of São Paulo, Cluster of Ecology, Brazil

Vice-Chancellor Fellow at the ��; & International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (ILAQH), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia

Dr Devendra Saroj

Reader and Head of Centre for Environmental Health and Engineering (CEHE), Fellow of Institute for Sustainability, FEPS, �� Adjunct Faculty, CRDT, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi

Dr Erick Giovani Sperandio Nascimento

Associate Professor (Reader) in AI for Clean Air and Programme Lead of AI and Sustainability, ��, UK

Professor John Watts

Professor of Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering Sciences, ��, UK

Dr Giovanni Lo Iacono

Senior Lecturer in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, ��, UK

Institute of Chemistry, Department of Fundamental Chemistry, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Associate Professor, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University

Assistant Teaching Professor, Director of Environmental & Technology Program, and co-Director of Environmental Sciences, North Carolina State University

Assistant Teaching Professor, Co-Director of Environmental Sciences in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University

Assistant Professor, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University

Collaborators external to UGPN universities

Department of Sanitation and Environmental Engineering at School of Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Planning (FECFAU), State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil

Federal Technology University - Paraná, Londrina Campus, Brazil

Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil

Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo , Brazil

Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Federal Technological University of Paraná, Londrina Campus, Brazil

Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil

Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield, Principal Investigator H2020 CONEXUS project

DECRA Fellow & Senior Lecturer, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney

Professor Shi-Jie Cao

Southeast University China

Imperial College London

School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Australia

Early career researchers

Dr Anubhav Dwivedi

��/GCARE Experimental Officer

Dr Sarkawt Hama

��/GCARE Post-doctoral Researcher

Dr Jeetendra Sahani

��/GCARE Post-doctoral Researcher

Lucy Green

��/GCARE PhD Student

Soheila Khalili

��/GCARE PhD Student

Dr Huaiwen Wu

�� PhD Student

USP-IAG PhD student

Iara da Silva

USP PhD Student

Vicky Wei

��/GCARE PhD Student

Maria Carla Queiroz Diniz de Oliveira

USP-IAG PhD Student

USP-IAG, PDRA

NCSU PhD Student

Mohammad Mohammad Abdul Baseer

Postgraduate Research Student

Noah Gibbons

Postgraduate Research Student

Rafael Loureiro

Postgraduate Research Student

Research themes

Find out more about our research at ��:

������