Dr Ian Duncan MEP has welcomed a crucial vote in the European Parliament in Strasbourg (Wednesday 28 October) which resulted in the award of 1 million Euros to Glasgow Caledonian University to fund research into green infrastructure projects.
The funding bid was worked on jointly by Ian and Rohinton Emmanuel, Professor and Subject Leader in Sustainable Design and Construction at Glasgow Caledonian University. The money will help develop a set of standards to assist the creation, management and governance of green infrastructure projects. The ultimate goal will be to improve the use of green space, such as parks, and to reduce emissions.
Speaking after the vote, Dr Duncan expressed his delight at bringing European money back to Scotland:
“This is an exciting opportunity to support one of Scotland’s universities through direct EU investment. The project put together by Professor Rohinton of Glasgow Caledonian University is unique and could bring significant health and environment benefits for people living in city centres. As a member of the Research Committee I have championed this project, and am delighted that MEPs gave it their backing. I will continue to fight to bring more investment back to Scotland”
Professor Rohinton Emmanuel, the project’s author, added:
“We are delighted to be supported in translating our research into practical application for the benefit of urban communities. While the benefits of green infrastructure are well known, evidence-based tools and policies for its promotion, monitoring and implementation are not widely available. This project will develop protocols for an EU-wide deployment of urban green infrastructure that could act as a catalyst for enhanced urban sustainability and resilience at a time of major societal, economic and environmental change.”
Universities Scotland’s Director, Alastair Sim, said:
“European sources of research funding are important to Scotland, so It is welcome news that the European Parliament has voted to award this funding to a Scottish university research project. This is a great example of how our higher education sector attracts investment into Scotland. Every one of Scotland’s higher education institutions undertakes research judged to be of world-leading quality and a recent assessment also found that Scottish research performs more highly in than the UK average in terms of impact."