Urban Metabolisms With a growing global population and rapid city expansion, there's increased pressure on 'urban metabolisms'. Professor Peter Kraftl uses the voices of young people to maintain and improve these for future generations.
Understanding heritage Understanding the role of heritage in the intricate relationship between people and places.
Clean cold chains Energy demand for cooling, particularly for food, is projected to nearly triple by 2050 posing a catastrophic threat to our environment.
Cleaning up the skies The University of Birmingham is playing a vital role in providing the air-quality data and science to inform policy makers and protect the public health of citizens in the world's cities.
Interdisciplinary air science Air pollution has multiple causes, from architecture and engineering to social policy, environmental law and history. Dr Lauren Andres argues for an interdisciplinary mindset for researchers to tackle it.
Microplastics Experts at the University of Birmingham are investigating the scale and impact of microplastics - and whether their properties could even be harnessed for environmental and human benefit.
Resilience to drought As water shortages come more into the spotlight, researchers in the field have reached something of a watershed moment and have been challenged. How do you reduce the impact of human activity on hydrological cycles?
Securing rare earths Our most important technologies depend on raw materials that are not evenly distributed around the world. Elements are at risk of supply disruptions, leaving import-dependent countries like the UK vulnerable.
Brake Dust and Brown Carbon From the busy highways of Britain to the icy waters of the Antarctic, environmental scientists at the University of Birmingham are exploring the impact of airborne particles on our planet's atmosphere.
Diagnosing our cities City-regions, much like the human body, are a complex coming together of systems and interdependencies, but we have failed to properly read cities.
Urban air pollution Researchers are looking at new ways of approaching health, social and economic problems associated with air pollution in the cities of India and other similarly polluted regions across the Global South.
COVID-19 and air pollution Researchers at the University of Birmingham are contributing to a developing global conversation about how the pandemic will impact on societies over short, medium and long time frames in both the global south and north.