We face a grand challenge to ensure that Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) is resilient for a changing world. The long-term capability of UGI to deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goals is, to a large degree, dependent on the resilience of the natural capital used in their infrastructure. One of the most important forms of natural capital used in UGI is manufactured soil: a blended mix of organic and inorganic materials which are sourced and combined off-site, and subsequently transported for placement in an UGI design.
  • Dates12 December 2022 to 31 March 2023
  • SponsorNERC
  • Funded拢50,000

Manufactured soils deliver core UGI functions such as filtering water, supporting plant growth, hosting urban biodiversity, cycling nutrients, and sequestering carbon. However, the long-term capability of manufactured soils to respond and recover to a changing world is unknown. Principles of resilience do not feature in the British compliance standards (e.g., BS3882) used to assess the suitability of manufactured soils. In addition, the performance of manufactured soils and their resilience to change over the long-term is seldom, if ever, monitored.

This project will establish a new research and innovation programme which aims to enhance the environmental resilience of manufactured soils. Interdisciplinary thought-leadership across research and industry will be assembled to examine the extent to which the principles of resilience are embedded in decisions about how soils are manufactured for UGI.