UK-China Newton Researchers Link Workshop on Sustainable Cities

Under the Researcher Links scheme of the Newton Fund, the British Council and the National Science Foundation of China are sponsoring a workshop on the above theme in Shanghai, China on 14th – 16th June 2019.

The workshop will be coordinated by Prof Neil Robertson, Dr. Dan van der Horst, (University of Edinburgh), Prof Changying Zhao and Dr. Wenjun Ma (Shanghai Jiao Tong University China-UK Low-carbon College)

Urbanisation is one of the fastest-growing trends in the world, with one billion people adding to the global urban population by 2030, and much of this growth is located in China. This puts tremendous strain on quality of life and sustainability in growing cities. The workshop will bring together researchers in science, engineering, social sciences, environment, business, law, architecture and economics, from China and the UK, who have an enthusiasm for multidisciplinary cooperation to address the challenges of the sustainable, low-carbon city. The workshop aims are to:

• Foster interdisciplinary working across physical science, social science, economic, regulatory and business domains which are all essential to address the complex, multidimensional sustainable-city challenges.
• Break down communication barriers and enhance understanding between disciplines in the sustainable city context.
• Extend participants’ awareness of low-carbon city challenges.
• Develop draft collaborative proposals on identified sub themes.
• Accelerate cooperation on strong research and innovation themes.

The workshop will bring together physical scientists/engineers working in low-carbon technologies, with social scientists working in delivery and study of the use of technology in the urban context. Each of these groups will include participants from both China and the UK to build robust networks and share ideas.

We are now inviting Early Career Researchers from the UK and China to apply to attend this workshop. The coordinators will select 20 each from the UK and China, aiming for an even split between those working in the physical sciences and the social sciences.

To be eligible for consideration, Early Career Researchers must have obtained a PhD within 10 years prior to the workshop. Participants must also have links to UK or Chinese higher education, research institutions or relevant industrial R&D organisations.

The workshop will be held in English. The costs of travel, accommodation and meals during the workshop will be covered.