Future cities

The Future Cities research and enterprise theme is a university-wide initiative that aims to bring together researchers, practitioners and civic leaders worldwide with a vital interest in cities.

We build on the expertise of over 100 scholars drawn from our faculties and seek to generate applied research and foster deeper partnership with communities, industry and cities.

About Future Cities

The Future Cities initiative will work to identify cross-cutting research topics and develop and test solutions to challenges our cities face. Our goal is to seed and generate cross-disciplinary scholarly inquiry through a forward-focused research agenda which will spark dialogue, spur innovation and change.

Scholars from our four faculties have expertise in the following research areas related to cities:

  • Urban Living, Economies and Governance
  • Urban Design and Landscape
  • Urban Infrastructure (Mobility, Energy, Waste & Business Ecosystem)
  • Secure Cities (Security, Surveillance & Crime)
  • Healthy Cities (Mental Health & Social Care)

If you wish to find out more information about our recent publications you can search the university's publication database online: Greenwich Academic Literature Archive (GALA) .

Partnerships

The Future Cities research and enterprise theme is a dynamic and cross-disciplinary initiative for urban study and change which will spark and test innovative solutions for creating wealth, transforming education, promoting well-being, strengthening infrastructure, and cultivating the arts in our cities. Collaboration is key to research success on cities. We are keen to work with local, regional and international partners on cities research.

The University of Greenwich aims to create new strategic partnerships that can benefit both parties involved, become a hub for the discovery of new ideas and the development of new solutions for the many issues our societies are facing.

If you have a project idea that you think can benefit from the university's expertise, or if you are interested in developing a partnership with us, please get in touch and we would be very happy to organise an open session for you to discuss your project ideas with our relevant scholars and see what we can achieve together with you. You can email Canmei Tao, Future Cities Theme Co-ordinator via c.tao@gre.ac.uk or please phone us on 020 8331 7867

Alternatively, you are welcome to submit your project ideas via the contact us form.

Funding Opportunities

We have included below some relevant funding opportunities that support innovative projects on cities.  Most of the funding opportunities support collaborative projects for universities to work with businesses and local stakeholders. If you are interested in any of the funding opportunities below and would like to find out how we can work together, please don't hesitate to get in touch to explore collaborative potentials with us.

1. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP Funding) – can apply anytime

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme helps businesses to innovate and grow. It does this by linking them with a university and a graduate to work on a specific project for business growth. Each KTP is a three-way partnership between a business, an academic institution and a graduate. The academic institution employs the recently-qualified graduate who works full time at the company. The graduate, known as the 'associate', brings new skills and knowledge to the business.

£25m Management-focused KTP funding for Productivity

As part of the package of measures to boost productivity and management practices in UK SMEs, £25m of funding was announced to deliver an additional 200 management-focused KTP projects. This is for partnerships starting in 2019/2020, 2020/2021, and 2021/2022. KTP funding supports businesses working with Universities to access the University expertise.

Events

Here you can find a list of events related to the Future Cities theme that were organised by different departments/research centres at the University of Greenwich. We will include upcoming events from time to time. We encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter by emailing c.tao@gre.ac.uk to be updated of any upcoming events.

Relevant Previous Events:

  • 1st FENS Workshop "Financial Economics and Network Science"

The aim of this workshop is to bring together practitioners of Finance, Time Series Econometrics and Network Science to foster interdisciplinary collaborations and novel approaches to the study of financial systems.

Organised by: Department of International Business and Economics

  • 3D printing of Patient Specific Healthcare

The lecture will present the current trends and advances including bio-printing of tissues and organs, customised implants and models for surgical operations and finally printing of pharmaceutical dosage forms (e.g. tablets, pills).

Organised by: Pharmaceutical, Chemical & Environmental Sciences

  • Centre for Business Network Analysis Summer School 2017

Hosting the 5th edition of a summer school entirely dedicated to research design, data collection, and statistical methods for Social Network Analysis (SNA) of individuals and organisations.

Organised by: Centre for Business Network Analysis

  • Sociological Imaginations – University of Greenwich Symposium

The symposium will address the following themes: Social policy, critical pedagogy, diversity, Nexus theory-methods and practice. A range of invited guests will be presenting at this event and members of the University will present posters on their areas of research.

Thursday 22nd June 2017

Organised by: Applied Sociology Research Group

  • Cutting Medway's carbon footprint: Greenwich student heads research

"We want to see how we can use technology to educate and motivate staff, so that everyone can play their part. This is relatively new area of research that could be replicated across the globe". The project will be leading a comprehensive evaluation of energy consumption across Medway Maritime Hospital. While the focus of the project is on electricity, the technology can be replicated later to achieve savings in the hospital's gas and water consumption, too.

Organised by: Department of Engineering Science

  • Can sport save the environment?

"There are parallels between sport and sustainable development". The latest in the university's popular Big Picture seminar series which give high-profile speakers a chance to share their expert insights with staff, students and the public. Subjects include entrepreneurship, leadership and management, the economy and the media.

Organised by: Faculty of Business

 

  • The future of local government: Seminar at University of Greenwich

This seminar will look to examine the impact of local government reforms on public services and explore democratic alternatives. It is aimed at anyone interested in the future of local government.

Organised by: Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU)

  • New skills for a skilled economy: the post-Brexit outlook

This seminar will cover the crisis in skills formation in the UK economy and the potential impact of Brexit. It features three expert speakers who will speak about the current skills shortages facing the UK labour market, the Government policies aimed to remedy them and the situation post-Brexit.

Organised by: Work and Employment Research Unit

  • Future Cities Conference Series

A two-day event that brings together multidisciplinary teams of experts that examine critical aspects of contemporary urbanism. A public series of presentations followed by a professional, moderated workshop that brings international partners together around critical issues to develop project proposals for future collaboration.

Organised by: Advanced Virtual and Technological Architecture Research (AVATAR) Laboratory