GSD academic awarded £214K grant to aid development of gender-inclusive, climate-friendly and affordable housing
A project co-supervised by a member of our teaching faculty has received significant funding from Innovate UK as part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).
Dr Jonathan Clarke, who leads on our Sustainable Cities and Living with Water undergraduate modules, received the grant as part of a partnership with Professor Juanita Elias (International Political Economy, University of Warwick) and Reall – a registered charity and not-for-profit company, whose mission is to build affordable housing in urban Africa and Asia.
Dr Clarke will be bringing his professional expertise as a planner, urban designer, and architecture consultant to the project, which is expected to last for two years and will develop guidance to embed gender and climate justice into the delivery of affordable housing in the Global South, including more sustainable funding models and government policies.
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) are a UK government-funded initiative that connect universities with businesses and third sector organisations to drive innovation and create real-world impact. This new partnership offers an exciting opportunity to put global sustainable development research into action and make a significant social impact on communities across Africa and Asia.
Dr Jonathan Clarke commented:
“Reall have been pioneers of investment and innovation in affordable housing in urban Africa and Asia for the last 30 years; as someone with a passion for housing and sustainable built environment, this is a dream collaboration! The project will use emerging academic research on gender and climate adaptation, to drive new models to delivering affordable housing across the global south, based upon best practice in sustainability, resilience and gender-inclusivity.
Together, myself, Professor Elias and Reall will develop new capabilities for measuring impact, developing collective research and feeding into new, practice-based teaching.”