ENAC Seminar Series by Prof. G. Manoli
Event details
| Date | 17.09.2021 |
| Hour | 14:00 › 15:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. Gabriele Manoli |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
14:00 – 15:00 – Prof. Gabriele Manoli
Lecturer (Assistant Professor), University College London, UK
Cultivating green cities
Green urbanism, eco-cities and innovative green infrastructures are being promoted and adopted worldwide to improve urban well-being. However, all these efforts are often guided by aesthetic, conceptual, and qualitative principles rather than a quantitative understanding of the underlying biophysical processes, scales, and feedbacks. Here I will review the subject of representing soil-plant-atmosphere interactions in hydrological and ecosystem models and discuss current challenges and opportunities for the description of vegetation in urban settings. Results on the magnitude and seasonality of urban heat islands and the ability of vegetation to improve urban microclimate will be presented. These findings show that reconnecting cities (and people) to Nature is key to design greener and healthier urban environments, but a multidisciplinary approach that bridges the gap between many subdisciplines (from physics, to ecology, architecture, and economy) is required. In particular, given the complexity of the urbanization process and the multiple space and time scales involved, there is a need for reduced-order descriptions of cities that account for coupled socio-ecological dynamics and facilitate a comprehensive integration of science into policy and practice.
Short bio:
Gabriele Manoli is a lecturer in Environmental Engineering at University College London (UK) where he leads the Urban Ecohydrology Lab since 2019. He is also a Branco Weiss Fellow and a member of UCL Urban Lab steering committee. His research focuses on the complex mechanisms regulating water, carbon, and energy exchanges at the land surface considering both natural and urban ecosystems. Specific research areas include urban climate, soil-plant processes, land-atmosphere interactions, coupled human-natural dynamics, and sustainable urban design (with particular attention to urban green spaces and health). Given the complexity of such problems, his research crosses the boundaries between multiple disciplines, from hydrology and ecology to urban planning, public health, and complex system science.
Lecturer (Assistant Professor), University College London, UK
Cultivating green cities
Green urbanism, eco-cities and innovative green infrastructures are being promoted and adopted worldwide to improve urban well-being. However, all these efforts are often guided by aesthetic, conceptual, and qualitative principles rather than a quantitative understanding of the underlying biophysical processes, scales, and feedbacks. Here I will review the subject of representing soil-plant-atmosphere interactions in hydrological and ecosystem models and discuss current challenges and opportunities for the description of vegetation in urban settings. Results on the magnitude and seasonality of urban heat islands and the ability of vegetation to improve urban microclimate will be presented. These findings show that reconnecting cities (and people) to Nature is key to design greener and healthier urban environments, but a multidisciplinary approach that bridges the gap between many subdisciplines (from physics, to ecology, architecture, and economy) is required. In particular, given the complexity of the urbanization process and the multiple space and time scales involved, there is a need for reduced-order descriptions of cities that account for coupled socio-ecological dynamics and facilitate a comprehensive integration of science into policy and practice.
Short bio:
Gabriele Manoli is a lecturer in Environmental Engineering at University College London (UK) where he leads the Urban Ecohydrology Lab since 2019. He is also a Branco Weiss Fellow and a member of UCL Urban Lab steering committee. His research focuses on the complex mechanisms regulating water, carbon, and energy exchanges at the land surface considering both natural and urban ecosystems. Specific research areas include urban climate, soil-plant processes, land-atmosphere interactions, coupled human-natural dynamics, and sustainable urban design (with particular attention to urban green spaces and health). Given the complexity of such problems, his research crosses the boundaries between multiple disciplines, from hydrology and ecology to urban planning, public health, and complex system science.
Practical information
- General public
- Invitation required
- This event is internal
Organizer
- ENAC
Contact
- Cristina Perez