Fresh Perspectives: Climate action, retrofit and innovation in Arnhem

Our ‘fresh perspectives’ sessions offered new and inspiring takes on climate resilience and equity in bitesize format with an international flavour.

Recent graduates from the Future London Leaders programme opened our second Fresh Perspectives session followed by strategic insights from Arnhem in the Netherlands and an in-focus view on retrofit in Manchester.

Speakers

• Lesley Agyekumaa-Sasu, Planning Officer, Royal Borough of Greenwich
• Petra Marshall, Senior Programme Manager, Lewisham Council
• Ed Shaw, Assistant Project Manager, Brent Council
• Cathelijne Bouwkamp, Alderman for Urban Development, Municipality of Arnhem, Netherlands
• Michael O’Doherty, Director of Place, Local Partnerships

Proposals for London

For their final assignment, our latest Future London Leaders graduates presented an innovative idea for developing climate resilience in London in pecha kucha style presentation. Here are three Proposals for London presented again at the conference.

Lesley Agyekumaa-Sasu, Royal Borough of Greenwich

Lesley is a planning officer at the Royal Borough of Greenwich. She made the case thinking differently about landscaping, so the benefits it brings are equitably felt.

In 2023, London was the fourth most extreme heat island in the world, Lesley said. Our approach to urban greening must ensure that improvements to cooling and biodiversity are extended to all.

• According to the Resolution Foundation, warmer summer temperatures will impact low-income households and at-risk groups more than anyone else. As London’s development density increases, this is likely to get worse.
• Developers and local authorities need to think more about neighbourhoods beyond the boundary line of an area earmarked for development. Can community infrastructure levies be used for equitable landscaping in local under-resourced areas?
• Lesley believes that the Kings Cross Development is a good example of landscaping for public access. 40% of the land is available for Londoners to enjoy. Its success is a result of Camden Council and LB Islington setting equitable policy objectives for regeneration, Lesley said.

“To be truly equitable in delivering landscaping – and not just equal – it’s better to consider the land beyond the red line boundary of a site. Land initiative is undeniably an issue, but should we let that limit us?” – Lesley Agyekumaa-Sasu

Petra Marshall, Lewisham Council

Petra is senior programme manager at Lewisham Council. Her proposal for London is a simple solution: paint our roofs white.

By 2050, average temperatures in London will be predicted to increase by 2.6 degrees. In 2022 alone there were 387 heat-related deaths in London. Many of these were preventable, Petra warned.

People living in deprived areas, those with underlying health conditions, marginalised communities and older people will face the worst impacts of heating and cooling. Equity is central to this challenge.

• Buildings with white roofs are cooler and more energy efficient. White roofs minimise solar absorption and better reflect sunlight, Petra said. The reduction in heat transfer to the building below reduces indoor temperatures by 1-5 degrees.
• According to Berkeley Lab, a worldwide transition to white roofs would save as many deaths globally as taking 300 million cars off the road for 20 years.
• New York’s ‘hill risk programme’ has already painted 10 million square feet of rooftops white. And in California, flat-roofed premises are required to have white roofs. The UK should follow suit.

“A white roof is simple and effective in reducing heat build-up in buildings and cities. This centuries-old practice has the potential to make our buildings cooler, more energy efficient, and limit the urban heat island effect.” – Petra Marshall

Ed Shaw, Brent Council

Ed is assistant project manager at Brent Council and works on the South Kilburn estate regeneration.

District heat networks are a vital solution that can reduce carbon emissions and energy prices in London. Ed urged the public sector to take a proactive role in supporting their implementation.

• District heat networks are a network of pipes that distribute heat from a central source. You can think of them like a large boiler, on a neighbourhood scale. They have the potential to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs, if connected to a clean energy source
• Currently, there is a low adoption rate in the UK; only 3% of people are connected to a district heat network. And 90% of existing networks are connected to gas.
• We can look to Denmark for an example of best practice. 70% of people are connected to a district heating works, and the majority have renewable heat sources. This success is thanks to the Danish 1979 Heat Supply Act that supported local authorities to create zoning for heat networks across the country.
• The Greater London Authority has recently mapped the location of district heat network opportunities against energy demand. This is a useful tool for developers and local authorities.

“Let the public sector be bolder in its ambition: it could mandate that heat supply companies become not-for-profit. Policy needs to do more to encourage the growth of larger, more efficient district heat networks.” – Ed Shaw

UK and International Presentations

Cathelijne Bouwkamp, Municipality of Arnhem, The Netherlands (online)

Cathelijne is Alderman for urban development, sustainability and culture for Arnhem. She shared how the city is working with residents to implement climate adaptation.

The results are impressive: the city has seen as 10% increase in trees in three years, and has become a more popular place to live and work.

• Arnhem’s climate strategy has three main goals: removing concrete, planting trees and creating a cool network of green spaces. The city aims to reduce the surface-area of concrete by 10 per cent by 2030.
• The municipal authority asks residents what they want and need and allocates funding accordingly. It has visited all 24 neighbourhoods in Arnhem: each will have different socio-economic needs.
• Neighbourhood that are proactive in greening receive extra support; this encourages grassroots activity. For example, the city assists residents to get involved in gardening. Districts that are struggling economically also receive extra funding.

“We’ve just begun a 3, 30, 300 rule. Every resident should see at least three trees from their window. Every neighbourhood should be covered by at least 30 per cent leaf coverage. And every person should have a park within 300 metres of their home.” – Cathelijne Bouwkamp

Michael O’Doherty, Local Partnerships

Michael is Director of Place at Local Partnerships, a public sector consultancy advising the UK government. Local Partnerships specialises in the delivery of major infrastructure, place-making and tackling climate challenges.

Michael is currently working with Welsh government and previously led Local Partnership’s Green City team at Manchester.

He shared the challenges and opportunities around climate resilience in domestic retrofit programmes.

• Retrofit is needed to equip houses to regulate temperatures, Michael said. An approach known as ‘PAS 2035’ focuses on reducing overheating through adding external insulation, as opposed to internal insulation. This is effective but requires good building ventilation.
• There are pilot projects that use air source heat pumps to provide cooling. We need to see this happening at scale.
• In the housing world, regulation is an essential driver to make things happen. Retrofit policy needs to be positioned carefully, as there’s a lot of regional variation in building resilience.

“Retrofit and resilience does need some government pushing. Retrofit is complex and tends not to happen unless you’ve got a financial programme to drive it.” – Michael O’Doherty

Future of London’s takeaways

Speakers shared diverse provocations and proposals for London. Together they show that delivering equitable climate resilience will require us to think creatively, and out with the conventional frameworks available to us. Their ideas also show that impactful innovation can be both simple and complex.

Across the board, our speakers looked to public-sector leadership to deliver change. They asked, how will policy-makers set ambitious standards and support the sector to deliver best-practice at scale?

Conference session write-ups

Keynotes: Mete Coban (Deputy Mayor), Emma Howard Boyd (London Climate Resilience Review), Indy Johar (Dark Matter Labs)

Fresh Perspectives – Young people-led panel discussion

Fresh Perspectives – Two US projects using art and culture to explore climate resilience

Including All Voices – ensuring communities are fully involved

Neighbourhood Futures – Tackling climate resilience and health equity

Homes and Buildings – Designing inclusive climate approaches

Council-led Housing Network – climate resilience through council development

Fresh Perspectives – Alumni ideas on climate resilience, plus domestic retrofit and infrastructure innovation in Arnhem

Inclusive Finance – Financial models for equitable climate resilience

Neighbourhoods – Designing inclusive climate approaches

Health and Racial Equity – Developing community-led action for ethnic minority communities

Make It Happen – Closing plenary with conference takeaways, including governance, finance and partnerships

Strand Aldwych Walking Tour – how a striking new landscape was created in the historic London

Return to the main conference page

The conference is part of our major Knowledge programme for 2024/25, with a final report in Spring 2025. Find out more about our Climate Resilience and Equity programme.

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