Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments (SPE)

by Carla De Laurentis The 31st of July 2025 marked the end of my Vice Chancellor’s Early Career Researcher (VC-ECR) Development Award entitled: ‘Exploring waste management opportunities and challenges from end of life of on-shore wind infrastructure in the UK’. When I wrote the proposal, my aim was to investigate the challenges associated with managing … Continue reading "Waste management at end of life of wind turbines: reflection on my VC-ECR research journey"

Joseph Harbourd As part of my MSc in Sustainable Development in Practice, I am undertaking an internship, and I have been fortunate to join the GP4Streets project, working alongside Danielle Sinnett, Owen Cranshaw and Issy Bray. This opportunity has allowed me to explore my passion for sustainability and deepen my interest in green infrastructure through … Continue reading "Beyond the Pavement: Learning the Cumulative Power of Everyday Green Spaces"

by Reem Elnady When I first began my PhD, I thought I was designing a study. What I did not realize was that the study would also reshape me—my methods, my assumptions, and my understanding of what it means to do feminist urban research. Working closely with Muslim refugee women in Bristol has continually challenged … Continue reading "Beyond Methods: Co-Creating Urban Knowledge with Muslim Refugee Women"

by Yarden Woolf Over the last two and a half years, I have been researching some of the greenspaces on campus as part of my PhD. Overall, my study explores the relationship between students’ experience in greenspaces, nature connectedness, and pro-environmental orientation. To understand this relationship, I deployed several methods, including observations, photo-elicitation interviews, and … Continue reading "How UWE Bristol students use and experience campus greenspaces"

by Philippa Hughes, Danielle Sinnett and Jessica Lamond Biodiversity loss is a global threat. Urban development is a major contributing factor to this crisis, future urban growth could destroy habitats for hundreds of species. However, new approaches to urban development could help halt, and even reverse, the loss of biodiversity and create urban spaces that … Continue reading "What’s needed for urban development to better deliver for biodiversity? Examining the goals, co-benefits, barriers and enablers to biodiversity delivery in new urban development and redevelopment"

by Rachel Alcock-Hodgson How can a community know what impact their work has on their local area? What are the key features of a ‘Healthy High Street’ in a Bristol neighbourhood setting? Can monitoring be robust, community-led and place specific? In summer 2024, we  set out to collect information about the Arnside, Greystoke and Glencoyne … Continue reading "Healthy High Streets? Establishing a baseline and co-creating monitoring, in Glencoyne Square, Southmead"

By Danielle Sinnett, Issy Bray, Harry West and Owain Hanmer A recent study, using Bristol City Council’s Quality of Life data, has found that neighbourhood satisfaction, wellbeing and life satisfaction are all related to how satisfied residents are with their greenspaces. Mental health, particularly for urban populations, is a growing public health concern. There is … Continue reading "Quality of life and access to green-blue-grey infrastructure in Bristol"

by Lydia Mahan After completing my BSc in Urban Planning at the University of the West of England (UWE) earlier this year, I had the opportunity to dive deeper into the world of research through a summer internship with the university. This was an exciting and insightful experience, offering me a unique chance to explore … Continue reading "Reflection on a summer internship at UWE to explore the intersection of urban planning and sustainability"