Turning iron into greenery

This post, somewhat strangely, was influenced by a recent episode of BBC Gardeners World....

This was not about some nice cottage garden in Wiltshire, or the grand expanse outside a stately home, but rather an old factory. In Germany.

Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord is in North Rhine Westphalia. Judging by the photos of it now, it is hard to believe that in early 1985, this place was still a working ironworks.

One of the old bunkers converted into a garden (Wikimedia Commons)

In April 1985, the Thyssen ironworks closed down, and it lay dormant for several years. But then in 1991, Peter Latz and partners won a contract to design a new landscaped park on the site. Unlike others, Latz decided to keep and fully incorporate the old buildings on this 180ha site, preserving as much as he possibly could. 

He even went as far as designing in the retention of all the polluted soils. Rather than excavating and replacing them, they were filled with plants that could achieve phytoremediation, that is, using plants called hyperaccumulators to clean the soil! Such plants include many from the mustard and cabbage family; the bioaccelerate, degrade or render harmless, many contaminants including heavy metals and organic pollutants.

The ironworks structures were turned into features of the park, and the site was divided into separate areas which were then joined together by a thread of pathways and waterways, using the old railway and sewage systems for guidance. The park opened in 1994, and now regularly gets around a million visitors a year. The Guardian newspaper, here in the UK, added it to its list of the ten most beautiful urban oases in the world.

The frames of the old ironworks buildings stand out, but have been softened as nature regains old ground (Wikimedia Commons)

Some of the ingenious design features include;

• Old ore bunkers turned into intimate spaces, such as alpine gardens.
• An old gas tank used as a massive pool for scuba divers.
• The old concrete walls retained for use by rock climbers.
• The middle of the steel mill is now the grand central piazza.
• The Casthouse has a high-ropes course set-up.
• The blast furnace has had a viewing tower added to it.
• For the kids - a massive tube slide goes through two of the bunkers; and there is also a children's farm and multiple play areas.

The site has around 700 plant species contained there, and it is now a popular site for artists, dog walkers, cyclists, architecture students and more.

This is a great story about, in essence, recycling and reusing, but just on a grand scale. The sustainable impact of such a place is huge - no mass displacement of waste or polluted soil, not much virgin material added, hectares of new woodland and gardens, all wrapped up in something that has become a vital community resource.

But such an urban park is not the first, nor is it the only one - although it may be one of the more impressive ones.

And now, London is set to become the first so-called National Park City. The National Park City Foundation is a registered charity that has worked with the Salzburg Global Seminar and World Urban Parks to formulate a Universal Charter of National Park Cities - which aims to provide a framework and key principles to work by. The Charter says a National Park City is;

"A place, a vision and a city-wide community that is acting together to make life better for people, wildlife and nature. A defining feature is the widespread commitment to act so people, culture and nature work together to provide a better foundation for life.
It is a timely cultural choice, a commitment to a sense of place and way of life that sustains people and nature in cities and beyond.
People and cities around the world can draw from the goals, principles and aspirations of this Universal Charter for National Park Cities."

London launched this status with a festival last month, with 300 events across the city to help people with a 'free celebration of the great outdoors.' Dr Cecily Maller says of this initiative in London;

"In the past, cities have been considered impoverished forms of nature compared to places such as national parks, but this is changing."

This change is necessary, as the UN predicts that almost two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities by 2050. Other urban rewilding comes with 'wildlife gardening'; that is, removing some of the weed plants that choke native species, adding in water features, adding / retaining trees, and re-introducing more native species. This can create 'safe spots' for wildlife to survive in, such as the brush turkeys that returned to Brisbane in the 1970s, because residents planted the rainforest plants that they like. Maller adds;

"Research has shown that cities provide important habitats for a wide range of species, including those that might be endangered or under threat. We undervalue the richness of nature in urban areas by positioning nature and humanity as inherently separate." 

Research:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landschaftspark_Duisburg-Nord 

https://www.landschaftspark.de/en/

https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/parks-green-spaces-and-biodiversity/london-national-park-city

http://www.nationalparkcity.london/national-park-city-foundation

https://npc-universal-charter.netlify.com/

Transform Magazine: 'Into the wild' -May 2019

The need to change is now!

So, sitting in my study at the end of a day spent in London when it was at least 32­°C and not all that much lower several hours later, brings my mind back to some of the stuff I was looking at when I first thought about this blog.

Back at the end of last year, the UK Met Office released its first set of climate predictions in almost 10 years; the UK Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18). These look at four potential climate scenarios in the UK, and how they would pan out over the coming decades. 

This report is useful for planning purposes, and has become even more pertinent given the government legislating for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, to try and do our part in keeping global temperature rises down to around 1.5°C. Also, there has been the rise in prominence of things like Extinction Rebellion, climate emergencies and student activism through people such as Greta Thunberg.

As some background, the report shows some interesting observations for where we find ourselves at the moment, including;

• Average temperature over the decade up to 2017 was 0.3°C warmer than 1981-2010 average, and 0.8°C warmer than 1961-1990
• 9 of the 10 warmest years in the UK have happened since 2002
• In 1961-1990, the average hottest day was 26°C. 
• In the last decade the average was 0.8°C warmer
• Average rainfall, especially in Scotland, has increased over the last two decades.
• There has been a 4% increase in Scotland against the 1981-2010 average
• 2008-2017 – UK summers were an average 17% wetter than 1981-2010, and 20% wetter than 1961-1990
• Mean sea level on the UK coast has risen 16cm (6.3 in) since the start of the 20^th century 

UKCP18 maps out 4 nattily titled Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) to demonstrate the potential effects. We are starting to use this in our business as a means to demonstrate to senior management that there are likely to be quite severe risks (and maybe some opportunities) that need to be faced even when trying to do 'business as usual' - and the more prepared and flexible a business is, the more chance it has of staying in the game (and therefore be sustainable).

As a business, we have taken RCP2.6 - which assumes that loads of stuff is achieved, and we tackle much of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) problem, and RCP8.0 - which assumes almost nothing is done to tackle GHG's at all, completely out of the equation.

Instead we focus on the moderate projections of RCP4.5 and 6.0 (i.e. some actions will be taken, but probably not enough to meet the 1.5 - 2°C scenarios).

1. Moderate projections show that by mid-century, average summer temperatures will increase by around 2-3°C (and possibly 4°C in southern England), and by around 1-3°C in the winter.
2. Moderate projections show that by mid-century, average summer rainfall will decrease by around 10% in northern Scotland and up to 40% along the southern English coast, while increasing by up to 40% in parts of northern Scotland, and 10-30% elsewhere, in the winter.

So what?
There are still a frightening number of people who cannot connect the dots between scientific evidence, the changing weather patterns they have been witnessing over the last few decades, and the potential impacts these changes have, and may more frequently have in the future, on our lives. 

Even worse, there are those that see all of this, and choose to ignore it. There are more than a few politicians who fall into one or other of these camps, naming no orange-skinned, toupee wearing names in particular.

Even though we hear that many of the more catastrophic impacts will be felt elsewhere in the world (so no need to panic, eh) - it always seems to be the poorest people that bear the brunt of this - with increased likelihoods of tropical storms, severe flooding and prolonged drought periods. 

Here in the UK there will almost certainly still be some harsh impacts. Failure to take heed of these will cost us a lot of money (and probably quite a bit more than the cost of properly preparing ourselves), and ultimately, it may cost many lives as well!

How might it look to us?

• Increased flood events - remember the devastation of the flooding in the SW in 2014, or Storm Desmond the following year? Those kind of one in a hundred and one in a decade storms, are becoming much more frequent.
• More high winds - that equals more power lines down, building damage etc. (and then too dangerous conditions for anyone to fix them)
• Prolonged dry periods - will put pressure on water resources, will cause areas to become more prone to wildfires, and dry out soil leading to erosion and compacted ground (which in turn, increased the negative effects of flooding)
• Higher storm surges - leading to increased coastal erosion and damage
• Water scarcity = water rationing
• All of the above = disruption to movement of goods and services; so harder for our food and medicines to get to where they need to be, harder for emergency services to respond, harder for key staff to get into work to fix some of the problems that occur

If you look at the centre boxes to the left - you can get an idea of how summer precipitation may look by the latter part of the century, using the moderate projections.

It is showing a more than reasonable likelihood of rainfall decreasing by at least 10-20%, with areas of the south and south-west getting up towards 30-40% decreases.

While I have said to ignore the more extreme RCP8.5 scenario, you can very clearly see the potential result of doing little or nothing over the next few decades. Those dark brown splodges over the southern half of England indicate rainfall decreasing up to 80%!

And no one should be laughing, because even the places that get off 'lightly' will see rainfall decrease by around 40-50%.

There isn't much to laugh about when looking at the temperature either.

Again, look at the moderate projections for our summer temperatures by late this century. Most of the southern half of England is looking at possible mean temperature rises of maybe 4 or 5°C.

You may say, 'so what?' 
But that could mean your typical August day being 30° instead of 25°C - and a very hot day being 37°C instead of 32° (and I use that example, because it was at least 32° today)!

And like before, look at the possible implications for taking no action on climate change. The top right box (the most extreme of the probabilities) is almost off-the-chart dark red - showing potential mean temperature rises of 8°C or more across all of England, Wales and southern Scotland!










The accusation, and with a degree of truth, that has previously been made of climate scientists, is that there messages are always all 'doom and gloom', and that they aren't very good at discussing the subject in terms that people can, or want, to relate to.

This is fair - and five or ten years ago, we should have been talking less about apocalypses and catastrophes - and more about how the changes we need to make will also make for a world that is much more pleasant to live in (less air pollution, more trees, more green spaces etc.). 

And while that is all still largely a true reflection of what we could have if we get it right - because, to some degree, we didn't get the message across very well and it has been largely ignored - we are now really teetering on the edge of the precipice. 

Research:
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/collaboration/ukcp

Jeans to get designed for the better

The fashion industry is finally starting to come to the sustainability party! 

While it has long been seen as the bad boy of environmental good practice, there are signs that things are starting to change. The latest reflection of this, are the Jeans Redesign Guidelines, developed by the Ellen MacCarthur Foundation, through their Make Fashion Circular initiative.

These guidelines represent effort by fashion brands and manufacturers to transform how they produce jeans - which has long been one of the most toxic of all the clothing processes. The guidelines aim to tackle waste, pollution and harmful practices, and build on the C2C Gold Certificate that was a joint initiative between C&A and Fashion For Good.

They feature a minimum set of requirements covering durability, material health, recyclability and traceability, all based on the principles of circular economy (championed by the Ellen MacCarthur Foundation). Jeans made by using these guidelines will last longer, be easier to recycle, made in a way that is better for the environment, and for the better health of the garment workers.

Confirmed brands already involved include;

Arvind Limited, Bestseller, C&A, GAP, H&M, Hirdaramani, Lee Jeans, Mud Jeans, Outerknown and Tommy Hilfiger.

Clothing recycling specialist who have confirmed support include;

Recover, Circular Systems, HKRITA, Infinited Fiber Company, Tylon Biosciences LLC, Wolkat and Worn Again.

Francois Souchet from Make Fashion Circular, says;

"The way we produce jeans is causing huge problems with waste and pollution, but it doesn't have to be this way. By working together we can create jeans that last longer, that can be remade into new jeans at the end of their use, and are made in ways which are better for the environment and the people that make them."

The new guidelines include;

• Jeans must be able to stand up to at least 30 domestic washes
• They must have garment labels with clear information on product care
• They should be produced using cellulose fibres from regenerative, organic or transitional farming methods
• The cellulose fibres must make up at least 98% of the garment (by weight)
• Metal rivets should be designed out, or kept to an absolute minimum
• They must be made free from hazardous chemicals and conventional electroplating
• Stonefinishing, Potassium Permanganate and sandblasting are all prohibited

There should also be traceability - with information included relating to each element of these guideline requirements. Brands will then be eligible to use the Jeans Redesign Logo, but all organisations will be reassessed annually, based on their compliance with reporting requirements.

The first pairs of jeans to bear this logo are due on sale in 2020.

Research:
https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/news/make-fashion-circular-launches-the-jeans-redesign
https://circom.co.uk/jeans-redesign-ellen-macarthur-foundation-launches-new-circular-economy-guidelines/
https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/make-fashion-circular-launches-jeans-redesign/2019071744295