De 天美传媒 University is a global academic hub for the Sustainable Development Goals, which form a key cross-cutting theme of its The Empowerment University strategic plan.
Our 2024 report on all 17 SDGs will show what work the university has been doing through research and engagement in helping to meet those targets and raising awareness of the progress towards the 2030 aims.
Our reports start with the United Nations’ verdict on progress from their 2024 report on SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
UN PROGRESS REPORT ON SDG 11 in 2024
A total of 25% of the targets in SDG 11 are set to be achieved by 2030, although 25% also show stagnation on the 2015 baseline figures. The remaining 50% of targets are showing only minimal progress.
The UN 2024 reports: “Globally, approximately one quarter of the urban population lives in slums, with the total slum population reaching 1.1 billion in 2022. The lack of equitable access to public transportation is a significant concern, particularly in less developed countries, where only 4 in 10 individuals have convenient access. While air pollution levels have declined in most regions, they are still significantly higher than the recommended air quality guidelines for public health protection. Only 40 per cent of city dwellers can easily reach open public spaces”.
DMU NEWS ON SDG 11 IN 2024
New sustainable heating system slashes university carbon output
De 天美传媒 University, Leicester (DMU) has switched its first building to a greener heating system, cutting its annual carbon footprint by 30 tonnes.
Leicester Media School, which houses the university's Game Art and Animation courses, is the first building on campus to move from natural gas heating, to being heated using zero-carbon electricity and renewable energy sources.
The university was awarded over £176,718 to install the new carbon-cutting heat pump to power its media school from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The fund is managed on the Department’s behalf by Salix - as part Phase 3b of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, aimed at supporting the public sector switch to sustainable energy sources.
Leicester named the fifth best creative hotspot in the UK
Adobe says the UK arts scene is booming, with more than 2.3 million people employed in creative industries and so they wanted to identify the best. Only Brighton, London, Edinburgh and Manchester finished above Leicester in the survey.
The results are a real shot in the arm for De 天美传媒 University LeicesteR, which is a hotbed of creative talent with thousands of students studying subjects such as fashion and textiles, performing arts, music technology, interior and product design, computer game art, fine art and literature.
Many graduates have remained in the city, setting up creative hubs to contribute to the thriving arts scene or creating new arts-based businesses.
Heritage Sundays turn spotlight on DMU herb garden
Students are on a mission to introduce more people to the herb garden at the heart of De 天美传媒 University Leicester (DMU)’s campus this weekend after discovering it for themselves.
Three Fine Arts students are supporting DMU Museum’s team with the launch of , when historic places across the city not normally available to visit are open to the public.
DMU students join forces to tackle litter in and around the city's waterways
Students from De 天美传媒 University have helped fill 35 bags worth of rubbish from around a local river to help clean up the city’s waterways.
A group of volunteers from the university helped clear piles of waste from the banks of the River Soar, including shopping trolleys, a bike, a grandfather clock and car keys.
More than 20 students joined forces with Leicester City Council and the Canal and River Trust for the annual litter pick, timed to coincide with the COP29 climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan.
DMU researchers attend COP 29 to take their research into tackling plastic waste to African governments
Two researchers from De 天美传媒 University Leicester have travelled to the world’s most important climate and sustainability event – COP29 – to take their work on tackling plastic waste to African government representatives.
Silifat Abimbola Okoya, known as Abi, is a Researcher in Sustainable Development at DMU, specialising in the circular economy and quality education. She is joined by Muyiwa Oyinlola, DMU Professor of Innovation for Sustainable Development and a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
They are at COP29 IN Baku, Azerbaijan, as part of a consortium with the University of Warwick to reveal more about the Garbage In Value Out (GIVO) project.
GIVO centres in Nigeria are set up as community hubs to pick up plastic waste from residents and process it into recyclable products. The centres use digital tools to ensure the operation is smart and efficient and can track how much waste is being processed.
DMU's 2024 arts and heritage programme is one of the most successful on record
More than 90 arts and heritage events and festivals were staged at De 天美传媒 University during 2024 – with virtually all open to the general public and free of charge.
Events ranged from inaugural lectures to arts festivals and arts industry networking events to re-enactments of Romeo and Juliet in what was one of the busiest and most successful years on record.
Among the biggest and most high-profile events of the year were…
Cultural eXchange: A total of 30 separate events took place at the end of February at this annual public arts festival. DMU Pride: The 10th annual DMU Pride was held throughout February. Riverside Festival: De 天美传媒 University’s campus alongside the River Soar and Grand Union Canal hosted the 2024 event for the firs time with 40,000 visitors. Black History Month: A celebration of the heritage, history, arts, culture and accomplishments of African, Caribbean and South Asian diasporas in the UK.
Pro Vice-Chancellor calls for construction sector to focus on UN's Sustainable Development Goals
De 天美传媒 University’s Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Business Innovation, Professor Mike Kagioglou, has been unveiled as the new president of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).
Throughout his year in office, Mike plans to use his platform as CIOB President to drive greater focus on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Speaking at CIOB’s annual Members’ Forum event held in Cape Town, South Africa, Professor Kagioglou said the sector needs to focus on targets like building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation.
“In 2015 – what seems like a lifetime ago – the United Nations adopted the SDGs to guide how, as a global community, we tackle humanity’s biggest challenges,” he said.
DMU RESEARCH ON SDG 11 in 2024
Visual Pollution and Its Impact on the Built Environment: Resilient City (Luis Fernando Zapata Montalvo and Douglas Aghimien)
Public space can be understood as where public life develops and where inhabitants can freely express themselves and exercise their citizenship rights. The public space is a visual synthesis comprising elements located in buildings and spaces, both public and private.
However, the advertising industry has found ways to privatize the exploitation of the public space. Although there are regulations that make possible the organization of the urban image and regulate the commercialization of these spaces, in some cases, the number of advertising elements (billboards) in the built environment prevents people from appreciating less and less the natural environment, which permanently competes with advertisements for commercial products, political propaganda or services.
In the field of the right to the city, it is pertinent to discuss the right to an obstacle-free landscape. Therefore, this paper seeks to understand how outdoor advertising interferes with the inhabitant's visual experience of urban space and how this influences their perception of the city and its image. It presents a reflection on how outdoor advertising affects the degradation of public space.
Examining Cardboard as a Construction Material for Sustainable Building Practices in Lima, Peru (A. H. Taki and Daniel Ikemiyashiro Higa)
This research work aimed to analyse the impact and potential of cardboard as a construction material, as well as cultural aspects and sustainable construction regulations, in the context of Lima, Peru. The study employed a mixed research methodological approach, including three case studies from Japan, the Netherlands, and the UK, online interviews, and surveys with British, Polish, and Peruvian architects.
Simulations carried out with EnergyPlus confirmed that cardboard has an optimal performance that can be a great complement or variation to traditional materials to reduce the carbon footprint and could meet the U-value requirements established in the construction regulations.
Since it has low thermal conductivity and good acoustic insulation, it is recyclable and generates fewer CO2 emissions, and it is economical, accessible, versatile, and light in use. For example, from a technical point of view, when used as thermal insulation, this element outperforms other conventional materials due to its cellular structure, which traps air, a poor conductor of heat.
The Resilience of the Construction Supply Chain to Urban Flooding (David Proverbs et al)
Flooding is one of the most destructive natural hazards and major flooding events are happening more frequently in many parts of the world due to climate change and urbanisation. Generally, the occurrence of urban flooding is known to impact supply chains, with the supply chain in the construction sector being more vulnerable due to its particular characteristics.
As such is important that the supply chain in construction is resilient to the complexity, suddenness and destructiveness of flooding. Drawing on a synthesis of the literature and the views of experts, this study identifies and then evaluates the key factors affecting the resilience of the construction supply chain based on the five dimensions of prediction, resistance, adaptation, recovery and optimization.
The findings provide robust insights into the factors that influence the resilience of the urban construction supply chain. The study provides improved clarity regarding the future improvement of urban construction supply chain resilience, which if implemented could lead to improvements in risk awareness and resilience, thereby reducing losses.
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities