Sustainable communities

Sustainability is not only about the lifestyles and behaviours of individual consumers or the activities of particular businesses.

Many of the solutions to sustainability challenges are only likely to be provided through collective solutions and through co-operative efforts within communities and between businesses, government, communities and consumers. The BRASS Research Centre played a leading role in research into how more sustainable communities might be developed, particularly from the perspective of developing skills and leadership within communities that can deliver more sustainable lifestyles.

As part of a project for the ESRC and the Department of Communities and Local Government, an innovative virtual sustainable community tool was developed, which is now available under the Community Engagement section of this website.

Research under this theme now focuses on sustainable communities across multiple sectors, including energy and transport, and seeing this as the micro layer of analysis in a spatial understanding of adaptations and transitions within city-regions. Methodologies and approaches such as learning histories and action research are now being used and further developed in partnership with communities across Cardiff and the region.