VERGE’s Free Virtual Event: See the Future of Next-Gen Buildings and Cities‏

The future belongs to those who understand how to harness data to achieve radical new efficiencies in sustainability. And that future happens at VERGE Virtual. Join Joel Makower, along with presenters and panelists from The White House, C40, City of New York, USGBC, and many more for our first VERGE Virtual event of 2014. This free event will explore how the growth of smart buildings and smart cities is enabling new services and revenue opportunities, along with new models for business engagement.

During this free event, you’ll see:

• Illuminating keynotes on the people and technologies fueling innovation in smart buildings and smart cities.
• In-depth case-studies covering next-gen infrastructure,future buildings & cities, driving climate action through data innovation, and America’s urban future.
• Practical sessions to help you understand critical trends, and walk away with actionable information.

Even if you can’t attend, sign up anyway to get full access to the archive presentation following the event.

REGISTER NOW HERE >

Australia China Council grants – Calls for Expressions of Interest

NSW Premier Mike Baird launches China Australia Millennial Project (CAMP) in Shanghai. 

 

“I encourage young people from across China and NSW to get involved in this exciting new initiative,” Mr Baird said.

 

“A new initiative will bring together 100 young innovators from China and match them with 100 bright young minds from Australia for a five-day innovation workshop as part of CAMP,” he said.

“This initiative reflects the essence behind the Vivid Ideas program, which promotes ideas, discussion and debate.
“Successful applicants will be asked to work together to consider challenges common to both countries before being given an opportunity to pitch their ideas to compete for grants, venture capital, and consideration in the Premier’s Innovation Initiative” Mr Baird said.

CAMP was recently recognised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Australia China Council (ACC) with a seed grant. ACC awarded funding to 33 projects in the new strategic priority areas of Education, Economic Diplomacy, Arts and Culture and Australian Studies in China.

“The China Australia Millennial Project is supported, among many other government and private sponsors, by the Australia-China Council as a new platform with significant potential to enable future champions of bilateral engagement to meet, build relationships and make practical contributions to Australia-China relations and broad global challenges”.
 
The Australia-China Council was established by the Australian Government to promote people-to-people connectivity between Australia and China. 

Calls for expressions of interest from Chinese and Australian innovators aged 18 – 35 are now open at www.australiachina.org. Express interest today or share this with those who might be keen to.

 

Invitation: Seminar on GUPES – Global Universities Partnership on Environment for Sustainability

What is GUPES?
GUPES is the Global Universities Partnership on Environment for Sustainability!

Presenter: Mahesh Pradhan, UNEP, Environmental Education and Training Unit

Organised by: The Institute of Environmental Studies in partnership with the CRC for Low Carbon Living and UNSW Sustainability

When: THURSDAY 27th August 2014. Time: 3.00pm – 4.00 pm

Where: Room 413, Level 4, Electrical Engineering Building G17, UNSW Kensington main campus

All are welcome. SEE Map

For more information see HERE

Please forward this invitation to all potentially interested parties.
Hope to see you there and to hear your ideas in the discussion
For further information email:  ies@unsw.edu.au

 

AECOM’s annual Urban SOS student competition – Registrations Open now !

In its fifth Urban SOS student competition, AECOM seeks integrated design proposals that rehabilitate disused industrial and infrastructure sites in cities worldwide. Submissions should integrate urban, architectural, landscape, engineering, and environmental design to support the development of new industries, establish new centers of production, and strengthen the pre-existing urban fabric. Sites can be of any scale in any city worldwide.

Applicants must be currently enrolled as an undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate student at a university or college program in the design, architecture, landscape, urbanism, engineering, economic, geography, or environmental fields. Students may enter as individuals or in teams of up to four.

We will select three finalists and send them to New York City to present their schemes before an internationally renowned jury at the Center for Architecture. The jury will select a winning team and distribute a US$15,000 pot of prize money at their discretion. AECOM will donate US$25,000 in cash and/or in-kind technical assistance to advance implementation of the winning proposal.

Download the brief and competition rules and apply online.

REGISTER BEFORE: June 1st

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: July 11th

FINALIST CHARRETTE IN NYC: September 4th

aecom.com/urbansos

Follow the competition
Urban SOS on Facebook
twitter.com/AECOMUrbanSOS
#UrbanSOS

2014 International Student Conference on Environment and Sustainability

Tongji University is pleased to invite talented full-time university students to attend the “2014 International Students Conference on Environment and Sustainability,” which will be held at Tongji University, Shanghai, China, from June 5 to June 10, 2014.

Supported by the UNEP and Tongji University, the “International Students Conference on Environment and Sustainability (ISCES)” had been successfully held in the last three years. Around 950 students from more than 50 countries took part in the conference, exchanged understanding and ideas on topics relevant to environment and sustainable development and issued “Global Youth Tongji Declaration.” These conferences made great contributions to the spread of concepts and practices of environment and sustainability among university students.

Participants: Full time university students (including undergraduate and post-graduate students).

Deadlines: the applicants should register online before April 30 (http://unep-iesd.tongji.edu.cn/index.php?classid=875), fill in the resume form (in English) and upload their posters to the website above before April 25. We will announce the selected participants by May 15 and issue invitation letters afterwards.

No registration fee will be charged and Organizers will cover the local accommodation, and transportation during the conference in Shanghai. Field trips will also be provided by the organizer. A limited number of scholarships (round-trip flight tickets) will be offered to competitive participants. For more information, please check the official website of ISCES 2014: http://unep-iesd.tongji.edu.cn/index.php?classid=875 ，or contact:

Organizing Committee of 2014 International Student Conference on Environment and Sustainability

Address: Rm.903, Zonghe Building, No. 1239, Siping Road, Shanghai, China, 200092
Tel: 86-21-6598 1837 Fax: +86-21-65987790
Email: isces_en@163.com

Further Information here: 2014 International Student Conference on Environment and Sustainability Invitation Letter-1

Student Assistantship – Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia

The Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) is currently upgrading its website and one of the upgraded elements is to incorporate a Knowledge Hub of references suitable for practitioners. There is currently a short term need for assistance to help with the uploading/linking of documents in the Knowledge Hub, an opportunity that would be suitable for a potential inquisitive student. While being somewhat basic task, the student would certainly get exposure to the IS rating tool and some great references as part of this experience.
It is needed someone available to help for 2-3 days over the next two weeks.

If you are interested, please send an email to Rick Walters, Technical Director at ISCA: rwalters@isca.org.au
http://www.isca.org.au

Better Buildings Partnership – Internship Opportunities

Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) is offering internship opportunities in specific projects to give students from the Master in Sustainable Development – UNSW ownership and focus on practical work-streams in the following areas:

– Waste from Fitout – The BBP recognises a large amount of waste currently goes to landfill from churn of tenancy fitouts. We have commissioned research on the most wasteful materials and what potential futures they could have (reusing, recycling or upcycling) before landfill, and are conducting trials on matching social enterprise with market-creators in this space. We are keen to have a student passionate about materials, interior design, and with a bit of an engineering/architecture twist to champion this stream. In the next year we are looking to run a design competition for finding the best and most market-ready opportunities for high-impact materials and continuing trials to prove best practice.

– Data and Trends – The BBP captures raw consumption data (emissions, energy, waste, water) and building attributes (age, size, ratings, value, etc) for over 2.5 million sqm of space in the Sydney CBD. This data is used for trending and analysis, league tables and targeted research on the value of buildings and performance. We would like a data-hungry student who knows systems like Microsoft Excel very well and can identify and understand trends in large tracts of data.

– Operational Waste – BBP members spend large amounts on waste leaving their buildings for recycling and landfill, with very limited controls and best practice observed by contractors and building managers. A large piece of work will be completing outlining best contracts, grading of waste practices and conversions from densities to weights for reporting purposes. Alongside finalization of this work, we will begin to embed the learning and outputs into industry practice (training courses, presentations, written articles, case studies) and would like someone keen on learning how to influence industry with new tools.

Anyone looking for work experience and interested in volunteering some time with exposure to a highly commercial, council, and industry setting please contact Ben Thomas (an alumnus himself of Sustainable Development program) noting what project you are keen to champion and what piques your interest about it. Please attach a copy of your CV.

Contact: Ben Thomas
bthomas@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
http://www.sydneybetterbuildings.com.au

Summer School for Outstanding Postgraduate and Senior Undergraduate Students 2014

The Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) and the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), invite outstanding postgraduate and senior undergraduate students from leading universities around the world in disciplines related to construction and environment to join our Summer School tentatively from 6 (Wednesday) to 15 August 2014 (Friday) in Hong Kong.

Who can apply

1.Full-time postgraduate students pursuing a Master’s degree programme.
2.Fresh graduates of Bachelor degree programmes at the time of the Summer School.
3.Senior undergraduate students who are in the final stage of their studies at the time of the Summer School (e.g. have at least completed 3 years of a 4-year Bachelor degree programme).
4.The applicants should have a strong interest in a research/academic career, excellent communication skills as well good leadership potential.
5.The academic performance of successful applicants is expected to be within the top 10% of students from leading universities (e.g. Chinese mainland universities of the 985 project).
6.For applicants who are not a native speaker of English and from non-English speaking universities, they are expected to meet the following requirements:

a) An overall score of at least 6.5 (with score for the writing component at 6.0 or above) in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS); or
b) At least 575 or above in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) for the paper-based test, at least 232 in the computer-based test, or at least 90 in the internet-based test.
c) Alternatively, consideration will be given to acceptable scores in other internationally-recognized public examinations, such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).

How to submit applications

Please complete the online application form: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/events/FCE&RI_SS/form and attach the following documents:

(1) Recommendation of Academic Referee (Please use the template attached to this post);
(2) a Curriculum Vitae;
(3) Academic transcripts/academic results reports (showing the GPA or average score of each academic year);
(4) a one-page personal statement describing the applicant’s research/career aspirations and
(5) Degree and English examination certificates (if any).

Details of the Summer School
Seminars on research frontiers in construction and environment plus other activities (e.g. laboratory and site visits, gatherings, etc.) will be organized by the FCE and RISUD. The seminars will be delivered in English.
Students who are interested in furthering their studies in disciplines related to construction and environment at PolyU can also take advantage of this opportunity to explore potential research topics at PolyU.

Financial support
The Summer School is free of charge. Further details can be found at: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/events/FCE&RI_SS
Free accommodation (shared room) will be provided to all admitted students. Economy class return air tickets or train tickets will also be provided on a reimbursement basis. The reimbursement ceiling for students from within and outside the Pearl-river delta region will be HK$1,000 and HK$4,000 respectively.

Enquiry
For enquiry, please email summer.school@polyu.edu.hk or fax 852-2362 2574 or telephone 852-3400 3894.

Application deadline
Interested students are welcome to submit an application online (http://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/events/FCE&RI_SS/form) on or before 21 March 2014. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

We look forward to welcoming you to Hong Kong in the near future!

Faculty of Construction and Environment, and
Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

PDFs & FORMS:
FCE&RI SS Recommendation of Academic Referee(s)
FCE&RI SS FAQ
FCE&RI SS Advertisement

Urban Ideas Competition 2014 – Toronto

This is an open, international ideas competition whose purpose is to gather ideas to stimulate discussion and to get the community-at-large to start thinking about the future of Toronto and its relationship to its waterfront. There is no commitment to build the ideas.

Furthermore, entry is open to any potential participant, and not limited to design professionals; submissions by multi-disciplinary groups or teams are encouraged as well.

Total prize value is $5,000 for winning submissions (there will be a first, second, and third prize). Prominent judges will be involved; moreover, ideas will create significant exposure here in Toronto with all entries being displayed in high visibility locations throughout the downtown core.

Further details and submissions:
http://toronto.uli.org/about-us/
http://toronto.uli.org/urban-ideas-competition/

Master and PhD Programs of UNEP-TONGJI IESD 2014

Up to now, UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD) has 160 international Master students and 39 Ph.D students from over 40 countries in English taught Master and PhD programs. Abundant internship resources including plentiful international organizations are yearly offered to excellent students as well. Over the years, most of IESD graduates have obtained positions in the ministries of environment or energy in their home countries, international organizations like UNEP, UNDP and other NGOs.

In 2014, IESD will keep running the following programs:

+ Master Program in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development
+ Master Program in Environmental Engineering
+ Doctoral Program in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development

If you consider yourself as a suitable candidate to join these programs do not hesitate to contact IESD. Do not forget that in order to promote and encourage excellence in higher education in developing countries, Tongji University will provide limited scholarships.

The deadline for application is 10th June 2014. Please kindly find more information in the attachments or through http://unep-iesd.tongji.edu.cn/.

Apply online: http://study-info.tongji.edu.cn/
Tuition fee: 39,000 RMB/year

Contact Person:
Jessica JIA/Emma LIU
Office: +86-21-6598 3548/1837 Fax: +86-21-6598 7790
Email: unep_tongji@tongji.edu.cn
Address: 509, Mingjing Building, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, P.R.China

FURTHER INFORMATION (.pdf documents):
Chinese Government ScholarshipApplication Guide 2014

IESD Masters and PhD ProgramsApplication Guide-2014

IESD Visiting ProgramsApplication Guide 2014

Shanghai Government ScholarshipApplication Guide 2014