BUCCANEER, an innovative partnership with Birmingham City Council which developed a climate modelling tool, won the award for Environmental Sustainability at the prestigious Lord Stafford awards held on Thursday 15th November.

Created as a KTP partnership with the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council, the project developed an interactive online tool for enhancing decision making amongst city planners, public health and developers to deliver a more sustainable future for Birmingham. For the first time decisions can be taken with consideration of the varying heat stress across the city caused by the urban heat island and the likely impacts of climate change up to 2100. Layers of socioeconomic and environmental vulnerability highlight areas of high risk to prioritise action. Thanks to the BUCCANEER, Birmingham will become an international expert in climate modelling.

Working on the project in the School were Professor John Thornes, Dr Xiaoming Cai,
Dr Lee Chapman and Richard Bassett.

The award was one of two won by the University at the event. Professor David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor and Principal said, “The Lord Stafford Awards pioneered championing the importance of collaborations between universities and Industry. I am especially proud of the University of Birmingham’s own record of success in supporting business growth and I am delighted that two of our innovative partnerships have been recognised this evening .”

Cllr James McKay, Cabinet Member for a Green, Safe and Smart city, said: “I’m delighted that Birmingham has won the Lord Stafford Awards category for Innovation in Environmental Sustainability. This is a fantastic recognition of Birmingham’s efforts to prepare for a future climate and fulfil its aim to become a leading green city. If we are to avoid the costly and unsustainable impacts of extreme weather and climate change, then we need the accurate and detailed information that the BUCCANEER provides. This is a tribute to the excellent collaboration between the City Council, the University of Birmingham and public health over the past few years. I would like to thank all of the partners for their past and future efforts.”

Read the full University press release

Find out more on the Lord Stafford Awards news page

Lord Stafford Awards

BUCCANEER project contributors: Dr Xiaoming Cai (fourth from left), Richard Bassett (seventh from left), Lee Chapman (eighth from left) and John Thornes (sixth from right).