Disseminating SUNN lessons

The SUNN network may have come to its end with the launch of its findings in February this year but the conclusions and lessons learnt continue to be shared around the U.K.

Members from the SUNN network came to York on 20 June 2012 to see the impressive progress made at Derwenthorpe. The new village is designed to use much less energy, thanks to a ‘heat engine’, and the homes are selling for a premium.

Nicholas Falk has presented findings from SUNN at a number of well attended disemination events. The first was the annual conference of the Birmingham Architecture Centre MADE on 26th June which provided a chance of meeting up with designers in the Midlands. Birmingham City has adopted a policy of promoting sustainable urban neighbourhoods on a major scale.

On 12 July 2012 Nicholas was invited to discuss the conclusions at the Department of Communities and Local Government, which is working on a new policy for large or strategic housing sites. There was particular interest in the lessons from the Netherlands, including the funding of advance infrastructure and the role that custom built housing can play in making housing more affordable. A copy of the presentation can be viewed on this page. The third and final dissemination talk where Nicholas will discuss SUNN will be at the Urban Design Group’s Annual Conference in Oxford on October 20th.

Lessons from SUNN will continue to be discussed at a conference on Garden Cities in Northampton, one of the Growth Areas, on 18 December 2012.