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UKCRIC

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UKCRIC, UCL, Chadwick Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT

[email protected]
https://www.ukcric.com/

UKCRIC’s mission is to use our integrated research capability to underpin the renewal, sustainment and improvement of infrastructure and cities in the UK and elsewhere. By engaging academia, government, industry and end users, we de-risk, help to prioritise, and provide evidence, analysis and innovation for infrastructure and urban investments for a safer, more resilient and more sustainable future.

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UKCRIC

Vision

Our vision is to connect policy and practice with internationally leading, systems-based transdisciplinary research for the transformation of infrastructure and urban systems to enable safe, resilient and sustainable living, and to generate wellbeing and prosperity for all.

Scientific Missions

We are driven by four Scientific Missions, each developing and delivering interconnected, integrated and transdisciplinary research programmes and projects for the benefit of society.

Infrastructure and urban systems for one planet living. Accelerating sustainability through substantial advances in responsible consumption, resource efficiency and sustainable growth, helping the UK meet its carbon targets.

Transformational infrastructure and urban systems for a changing world. Pioneering methods in infrastructure and urban systems design to meet the challenges of climate change, changing patterns of use, societal expectations and emergent technologies.

Ownership, governance and business models for infrastructure and urban systems. Developing innovative models for coping with greater system interdependencies, changing patterns of use and new, disruptive technologies while at the same time delivering social justice and affordability.

Infrastructure and urban systems as drivers of equity, inclusion and social justice. Providing the underpinning, transdisciplinary research platforms for forging healthy, happy and productive lives for all through urban design, planning, policy and infrastructure.

Objectives

  1. Provide thought leadership and shape the research landscape through our scientific missions and research agendas
  2. Facilitate access to and increase the use of UKCRIC’s facilities
  3. Provide coordinated doctoral, post-doctoral and early career researcher support and training
  4. Connect research to policy and practice for the benefit of society
  5. Underpin a self-sustaining research community and a financially self-sustaining Institute

Sections
Featured
Operational national infrastructure systems: maintain, repair, refurbish, renew versus cost, value and investment Partner content
Operational national infrastructure systems: maintain, repair, refurbish, renew versus cost, value and investment
Economy
By UKCRIC
Professors William Powrie, Chris Rogers and Liz Varga on behalf of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC) address the challenge of keeping our infrastructure systems operational by distinguishing between the consequences of maintenance, repair, refurbishment and renewal, and between the cost, value and investment involved.
Articles
Why a theory and practice of change for healthy low-carbon transport is needed Partner content
Transport
By UKCRIC
Why a theory and practice of change for healthy low-carbon transport is needed
The University of Birmingham’s Dr Joanne Leach, Emma Ferranti and Professors Afroditi Stathi, Simon Blainey and Chris Rogers, co-leads on the Healthy Low-carbon Transport Hub, explore how theories of change are used to support transport decision making and why a theory and practice of change that incorporates health and health inequalities is needed.
E-bikes and the public health puzzle: a path to healthier cities or urban chaos? Partner content
Transport
By UKCRIC
E-bikes and the public health puzzle: a path to healthier cities or urban chaos?
Nicola Christie, Professor of Transport Safety at University College London, William Powrie, Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Southampton, and Nisreen Alwan, Professor of Public Health at the University of Southampton, are project co-leads on the Healthy Low-carbon Transport Hub. Here, they explore the challenges and improvements required to maximise the health benefits of e-bikes.
Driving improved national infrastructure through better data sharing Partner content
Technology
By UKCRIC
Driving improved national infrastructure through better data sharing
Data is at the heart of all infrastructure research. It underpins every decision made by central government, local government, private sector and others involved in the nation’s infrastructure. And that infrastructure is the bedrock of our daily lives – from the moment we wake in the morning and turn on our taps, put the kettle on to boil, heat our homes, and on our commute to work or school onwards.
Healthy Low-carbon Transport Hub to realise the health benefits of the transition to net zero Partner content
Environment
By UKCRIC
Healthy Low-carbon Transport Hub to realise the health benefits of the transition to net zero
Our society must move confidently and methodically to realise the enormous potential health benefits of net zero transport measures, while avoiding strategies with negative health impacts. This is a major challenge.
Preparing for an Unknown Future: The Net Zero Skills Challenge Partner content
Environment
By UKCRIC
Preparing for an Unknown Future: The Net Zero Skills Challenge
Many of the sectors, industries, and jobs that will support the Net Zero transition do not yet exist. When we are so unsure of what our future skills needs will be, how can we prepare a skilled workforce ready to create the infrastructure of tomorrow? PoliticsHome sat down with experts from UKCRIC to learn more about the Net Zero skills challenge
Re-thinking our coastal towns and cities Partner content
Communities
By UKCRIC
Re-thinking our coastal towns and cities
Living in coastal areas should be an attractive proposition, bringing fresh air and easy access to nature and areas of natural beauty. Coastal towns and cities are also vital contributors to economic resilience, sustainability and growth. Some are destinations in their own right; others act as vital international gateways for people, goods and energy. In a major contribution to the nation’s Net Zero 2050 targets, coastal areas generate more renewable energy than the national average.
Research must be part of the mix if NISTA and the 10-year infrastructure strategy are to be successful Partner content
Economy
By UKCRIC
Research must be part of the mix if NISTA and the 10-year infrastructure strategy are to be successful
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves affirmed in Labour’s 2024 budget commitments to producing a 10-year Infrastructure Strategy and to the formation of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA). The Infrastructure Strategy is cross-government and aligns with spending cycles. NISTA combines the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and the Infrastructure Projects Authority (IPA) to “fix the foundations of our infrastructure system by bringing infrastructure strategy and delivery together addressing the systemic delivery challenges that have stunted growth for decades”1.
Place-based solutions for low carbon heating infrastructure in the UK Partner content
Energy
By UKCRIC
Place-based solutions for low carbon heating infrastructure in the UK
Decarbonising heating is essential to meeting the UK’s climate goals, but it presents unique challenges. With heating responsible for significant carbon emissions, strategic investments in technologies like heat pumps and district heating are needed to ensure a sustainable future while minimizing infrastructure costs.
Transformation in Urban Underground Infrastructure Partner content
Transport
By UKCRIC
Transformation in Urban Underground Infrastructure
In September 2023 a pivotal two-day transatlantic workshop explored the state of the art in urban underground infrastructure research. The workshop was funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF), and brought together internationally-leading infrastructure scholars and experts from the UK and USA to consider the big questions and identify major gaps in knowledge and the enabling technology. The resulting report is an important milestone in defining the opportunities for transformation in urban underground infrastructure.
Expert Roundtable: Shaping the Nation’s Transport Future Through a Whole-Systems Approach Partner content
Transport
By UKCRIC
Expert Roundtable: Shaping the Nation’s Transport Future Through a Whole-Systems Approach
Transport is the lifeblood that sustains economies and connects communities to jobs and leisure. But with changing needs and fresh challenges, how can we ensure that the nation’s transport infrastructure is fit for tomorrow? PoliticsHome sat down with experts from UKCRIC to find out.
Latest press releases
Lower Thames Crossing asks leading UK universities to ‘kick the tyres’ of carbon forecasts
By UKCRIC
Leading international experts explore strategies in new infrastructure delivery methods
By UKCRIC
EPSRC funding for low-carbon cements and concretes
By UKCRIC
International Women in Engineering Day 2022
By UKCRIC
Supporting the professional development of doctoral researches in UKCRIC institutions
By UKCRIC
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