UWTSD field work

discover.

field work With UWTSD Swansea

The School of Architecture, Built and Natural environment www.uwtsd.ac.uk

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO THE SCHOOL UWTSD ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIETY FIELD WORK IN LAND RECLAMATION

P3 P4-5 P6-7

FIELD WORK IN WASTE FIELD WORK IN BUILDING FIELD WORK IN CONSERVATION FIELD WORK IN SPECIES POPULATIONS FIELD WORK IN INTERTIDAL INVESTIGATIONS FIELD WORK IN ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS BUILDING BRIGHTER FUTURES

P8-10 P11-13 P14-15 P16-17 P18-19 P20-21 P22-23

2 | Out In The Field

UWTSD School of Built and Natural Environment Our activities have been recognised through numerous accolades in competitions such as the Green Gown Awards, NIACE/Cyfanfyd Global Learning Awards, South-West Wales Integrated Transport Consortium Travel Awards and the Sustainable Swansea Awards The School of Built and Natural Environment offers a unique opportunity to gain practical experience through real-life projects, locally, nationally and internationally. In recent years, students have undertaken a range of environmental projects in Wales, England, Southern Ireland, Hungary, Turkey and the Azores.

We believe fieldwork is a vital component of learning offering a ‘handson’ approach to studying environmental sciences.

Our students will therefore get involved in hands-on field work around the following fields:

h Coastal Marine h Fresh Water Experiments h Land Reclamation h Physical Landscapes h Rocky Shore h Surveys h Sustainable development h Waste and Resource Management The built environment doesn’t just focus on buildings, it also incorporates roads, bridges, tunnels and railways, as well as houses, offices, super markets and leisure centres. The built environment is much more than new construction because it also includes conservation, repairing, refurbishing, renovating and restoring buildings that already exist.

2014 SOCIETY OF THE YEAR WINNERS STUDENT UNION AWARDS

ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIETY MEMBERS

President: Elanor Alun Vice President and Volunteer Officer: Chris Beynon Social Officer: Summer Goss and Lizzy Perry Treasurer: Luke Charters

AIMS

h To promote positive environmental change within Swansea, Carmarthen and Lampeter h To provide students with experiences and hands-on volunteering opportunities h To raise awareness of environmental issues, campaigns, and success stories h To award our volunteers with recognised certificates for volunteering h To hold social events, meet-ups and activities!

CONTACTS

TSD Swansea Environment Society Elanor: ceridwen_the_witch@hotmail.com Chris: cbeynon.133455@students.smu.ac.uk

4 | Out In The Field

PAST AND ONGOING ACTIVITIES

Members have clocked up 304 volunteering hours, gaining valuable experience, networking with various organisations and solidifying great friendships.

h ARC – Llyn Lech Owain h Beachwatch National Survey h Big Butterfly Count h Community Farm Work h Down to Earth – Timberframe Construction h Kilvey, Bramble Clean h Kilvey, Christmas Tree Scheme h Kilvey, Pond Clearance h Kilvey, Quarry – Brush Clearence h Kilvey, Swansea Council and Buglife h Marram grass planting with Judith Oakley h Monthly Bee Walk h RSPB Volunteer Day – Coppicing h Skomer Island – The Wildlife Trust of South

and West Wales h St Madoc Centre – Building a pen for pigs for Education Purposes h Sustrans Biodiversity Audit h Swansea Bay h Swansea Bay Fence Laying with the City and County h Wales & West Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteer Day

FIELD WORK IN LAND RECLAMATION: THE ‘COED MIKE’ PROJECT The National Coal Board restored the area to common grazing land, rather than the original, pre-industrial woodland.

For many centuries, the Welsh Industrial Landscape has been dominated by coal mining. Deep underground coal seams have been mined to power what was to become known as The Industrial Revolution. As this cycle of industrial activity closes, this generation has to face the aftermath of landscape dereliction and associated environmental impact.

The School of the Built and Natural Environment, for the past six years, have been conducting research on Land Reclamation. Industrial wastes in the form of coal spoils dominate parts of the Welsh

6 | Out In The Field

countryside. These spoils will eventually be re-colonised by nature. Our research efforts are focused on helping nature speed up this process.

Varteg Hill (Blaenavon) is the chosen site where a series of trials have been conducted in order to determine various tree species’ ability to tolerate high levels of phytotoxic pollutants such as cadmium, arsenic and aluminium.

LAND REMEDIATION AT OLD OPENCAST COAL MINE SPOILS Staff and students from UWTSD have been visiting the site since 2008. Their designated plot, Coed Mike, consists of approximately 400 trees of different species which they manage and measure annually.

“The aim is to reinstate indigenous oak woodland. Oak trees are typically slowgrowing and dislike being exposed to the elements. A number of different

trees have been planted to assess how they establish themselves on the contaminated land. The idea being that these nursery trees will nurture and improve soils for the slower growing oaks. Eventually these trees will give way to the oaks, thereby returning the landscape to its previous form.”

Mike Cullis, Head of School of Built and Natural Environment

Our project’s aim is to bring despoiled land into a more sustainable functioning system which would benefit the local community:

h Providing more aesthetically pleasing landscapes in which to walk or undertake recreational activities

h Improving air quality in the longer term

h Playing a role in climate stabilisation

h Improving water drainage/runoff issues

RESEARCH PROJECTS

h Land Reclamation h Phyto-remediation h Habitat Management h Ancient Woodland Indicator h Species Identification h Industrial Waste disposal h Environmental Impact Assessment h Environmental Pollution Monitoring h Soil Remediation Out In The Field | 7

FIELD WORK IN WASTE MANAGEMENT

UWTSD field trips are geared towards assessment. The visits help UWTSD students understand the challenges set in assignments and exams. Our students are therefore encouraged to seek out questions and research processes during the visits: Derwen Aggregates: The management of inert waste: www.derwengroup.co.uk Nantycaws Landfill and Waste Recycling: Aftercare and restoration: www.cwmenvironmental.co.uk/ commercial/landfill/nantycaws

8 | Out In The Field

Swansea Waste Treatment and Recycling: Closed loop recycling waste materials are collected, cleaned, sorted, graded and recycled back into the industry they originated from: www. glasstechrecycling.co.uk TATA Steel: How recycled steel is used in the manufacture of all new steel: www.tatasteeleurope.com

WASTE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH PROJECTS “When most people think about the waste industry they think of recycling… a lot of people don’t realise just how technical a lot of facilities can be or how important the education side is.

Years ago it was low technology – now it is as intricate as it comes.”

Claire Poole, Chartered Institution of Waste Management (CIWM), 2014

How Recycling can be good for business: A case for retailing small and mediumsized enterprises in Swansea

What impact would the addition of recycling and waste collections to business tax have on commercial waste levels? A case study for Swansea

Is improving the rates of recycling within micro and small businesses dependent only on the use of strict enforcement and penalties? A case study for Tenby

Closing the loop on plastics: A case study from the cosmetics industry for the development of best practice

An Appraisal of Current and Future Markets for Secondary Recovered Fuel (SRF) Produced from Waste Resource Management Facilities

A Study to Determine the Effect of Legislation to Enforce the Use of Single Use Carrier Bags on Small Medium Enterprises: A Study in Abergavenny, Wales

“The Waste Resource Management module provided opportunities to undertake my thesis in the area of resource efficiency and small enterprises, where I had first-hand experience of persevering to try and ‘green’ my company’s practices.”

MSc Graduate

WASTE IS BIG BUSINESS!

Companies are realising the importance of minimising waste for cost and reputable reasons. If a country is to generate greater economic returns at lower costs to the environment then it must find ways to extract more value from the resources that it takes from nature, while cutting the burden of emissions and waste.

Waste Management is a Highly Technical and Professional Industry Environmental Manager Starting Wage: £18,000 - £30,000 With Experience: £30,000 - £50,000 Environmental Consultant Starting Wage: £18,000-£30,000 With Experience: £35,000-£50,000 Recycling Officer Starting Wage: £19,000 to £25,000 With Experience: £28,000 to £42,000 Energy from Waste Engineer Starting Wage: £20,000 to £30,000 With Experience: £35,000-£80,000 Waste Management Officer Starting Wage: £21,900-£25,000 With Experience: £28,000-£45,000 Landfill Gas Engineer Starting Wage: £25,000+ With Experience: £40,000 - £50,000 © www.prospects.ac.uk

10 | Out In The Field

“The increasing professionalism of the waste industry is starting to be reflected in salaries and the growing number of people becoming Chartered Environmentalists.”

Kayla Mandel, Environmental Careers, 2014

FIELD WORK IN BUILDING REGENERATION AND DEMOLITION Coastal Housing is an industrial and provident society, existing only for the benefit of the community. It is run by a voluntary Board of Management which includes tenant members.

As demolition commenced on site, students were given a real-life insight into the £8m land regeneration scheme to aid them in their studies so that they can apply practical experience to their relevant courses.

“We are consistently looking to develop our relationships within the education sector and we already have an excellent relationship with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, which we are pleased to be strengthening further.

This visit to our Castle Quarter development is just one of the projects we are running in conjunction with local organisations and we are receiving excellent feedback from all concerned.”

Clare Watkins, Head of Coastal’s supply chain targeted recruitment and training programme

Out In The Field | 11

THE CASTLE QUARTER

“We are obviously learning a great deal of theory through the course but it’s so beneficial to supplement this with real-life case studies of schemes being undertaken by large players within the regeneration sector. Everyone really enjoyed the visit and learning about the various mechanics and technology required in such work – it certainly helps us translate theory into practice.”

12 | Out In The Field

Mairead McGoldrick, BSc(Hons) Project and Construction Management

SWANSEA CITY CENTRE

Coastal Housing Group has invested in regenerating the land off Castle Lane, conveniently located in Swansea city centre.

This development is set against the dramatic backdrop of Swansea’s historic castle remains. The Castle Quarter Development will consist of 26 affordable rented apartments, with a further four duplex units overlooking the castle which are available for private sale.

The ground floor of the development will consist of a small number of commercial units, including a kiosk located on The Strand.

The Castle Quarter development is a unique project in the city centre. The project involves the demolition of properties on The Strand level before the construction phase begins.

During the visit, representatives from Coastal’s demolition contractor, LG Murphy, talked of the issues and methods of demolition when working on a complex site such as Castle Quarter, while Coastal addressed the importance of community consultation and inclusion.

BSc(Hons) Project and Construction Management

Out In The Field | 13

FIELD WORK IN CONSERVATION

EUROPEAN BROWN BEAR

h enable them to make judgements from

The BSc(Hons) Environmental Conservation programme provides students with a programme of study directed towards environmental conservation that will:

WSPA has funded the construction of a bear sanctuary in the Carpathian Mountains where rescued animals will be able to live out their lives free from pain and suffering. The sanctuary will be accessible to all who wish to learn more about the behaviour of these animals having being released from their captive environments, and help us understand conservation management more fully.

h equip them with the knowledge

and skills essential for assessment of anthropogenic environmental impact;

h offer them the opportunity to study

environmental issues, their causes and possible solutions; and,

ethical and other perspectives (scientific, legal, economic, social, political).

The School of the Built and Natural Environment has helped the project by involving staff and students from the BSc and MSc Environmental Conservation programme who have studied the behaviour of these animals, having been released from captivity.

The aim of the study is primarily to collect available data for a research project to establish the behaviour of the European Brown Bear on its rescue from captivity and semi-reintroduction to the wild.

This will form the basis for further work in conservation management

by University staff and students and will further reinforce research development in the School.

14 | Out In The Field

URSUS ARCTOS ARCTOS

The experience gained from the project will, in addition to the research benefits, add much value to environmental conservation students’ learning, enhance their employability and help demonstrate the commitment of staff in engaging with the ‘real world’ and hence bring reality into the classroom.

“Students develop environmental research and observation skills in Years 1 and 2. They are taught to identify the problem, outline the challenge and look for solutions. One student who benefited from this project was Ruth Harries who spent a month observing the behaviour of these bears for her dissertation.”

Mike Cullis, Head of School of Built and Natural Environment Out In The Field | 15

FIELD WORK TO MONITOR PORPOISE POPULATION The Harbour porpoise is the most frequently sighted cetacean around the Welsh coast.

Essentially a small dolphin, they can be seen throughout the year close to shore around Swansea Bay and Gower. Sadly this species is at risk from boat collisions, entanglement in fishing gear, attacks from bottlenose dolphins and loss of habitat. As a result their numbers are declining and therefore it is imperative we monitor the local population. Staff and students have been researching porpoise behaviour and distribution for the past 12 years.

This research has also led to several additional projects considering the potential impacts of marine renewable technologies on marine mammals. Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon is one such project. Consultation during the initial stages of the planning process focused on utilising baseline data that had been collected by the University while attempting to assess potential impacts that such a development might have on marine mammals in the vicinity. Ultimately, determining potential conflict between marine mammals and marine renewable energy devices will be fundamental to the development of these industries in Welsh and UK waters.

16 | Out In The Field

PHOCOENA PHOCOENA

BSc(Hons) Sustainable Maritime Environments

Out In The Field | 17

FIELD WORK IN INTERTIDAL / ROCKY SHORE INVESTIGATIONS Additional research and teaching areas include analysis of climatic impacts on rocky shore assemblages and marine food webs. Students are taught the basic fieldwork techniques of conducting shoreline transects, identifying species and determining species’ adaptations according to the zone in which that organism is found (splash, littoral etc).

There is a growing recognition that the number of non-native invasive species is increasing rapidly and the marine environment is particularly vulnerable.

Globalisation and transportation of goods and services increases the potential risk of spread and makes tackling the problem extremely challenging. Several non-native invasive species have been recorded around the Welsh coastline and, as a result, students are also involved in recording and reporting any that are observed.

Japanese wireweed Sargassum muticum for example has been recorded at Bracelet Bay and other Gower beaches in recent years.

Students have measured the abundance and distribution of intertidal species on local beaches for a number of years. Some organisms are useful indicators of temperature change and can be seen as an early warning system.

18 | Out In The Field

Illustration by Claire Moore BA(Hons) General Illustration

ROCKY SHORE FOOD WEB Out In The Field | 19

FIELD WORK IN ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS

In post-industrial society changing demographics and socio-economic trends have put serious pressure on the globe’s natural environments. To address the problems society needs robust measurement tools to acquire accurate information from which appropriate sustainable policies can be developed.

Organisations recognise the importance of using ecological footprint tools to facilitate decision making, set measurable targets and respond to public demand.

Hence, UWTSD students and staff have used ecological footprint tools in class and for research.

Some of this work has informed National Assembly Government policy, while some students have gained employment associated with the skills and knowledge developed in this field.

“The research project provided me with the skills and knowledge to develop my career. I now work for a water company which assesses customer’s ecological footprints to develop strategies to help reduce consumption. It’s fantastic to be doing something I love and that is making a difference to individuals and the planet!”

Abi Lewis, former MSc student.

20 | Out In The Field

RESEARCH, TEACHING AND EMPLOYMENT

“Ecological foot printing is a fantastic set of tools that employers are increasingly using to develop their sustainability strategies. Hence, our students are well placed to take advantage of the associated employment opportunities.�

Chris House, School of Built and Natural Environment Out In The Field | 21

BUILDING BRIGHTER FUTURES

The School of Built and Natural Environment at University of Wales Trinity Saint David is launching new degrees in Architectural Technology and Building Surveying, based in Swansea, with opportunities for full and part-time entry this September that could be right for you.

Would you like a career where you can make your mark on the world?

Do buildings fascinate you? Do you want to make a positive contribution to the built and natural environment?

Specialising in the application of technology and architecture, building design and construction, in this career you could be:

h Preparing design proposals using CAD and design methods;

h Contributing to detailed design

processes, coordinating information for large and complex building projects;

h Preparing sustainable specifications for construction work;

h Preparing drawings, plans and

documents for statutory approvals;

h Contributing to design-stage risk

BSc(Hons) Architectural Technology

assessments; and,

Architectural technologists combine a passion for design with the specialist skills and technical knowledge behind innovative, sustainable development.

of contract management.

22 | Out In The Field

h Demonstrating a good understanding

NEW EXCITING COURSES

BSc(Hons) Building Surveying

Building surveyors have keen interests in property and real estate, and are able to offer consultancy, technical solutions in the design and management of new buildings, refurbishment of existing ones (including existing traditional and historic structures), building surveys, property care, valuations, estate management and maintenance.

This varied role can include office, site and field-based working. You could be a key member in the property professional world, working locally, nationally or globally whether self-employed or engaged in a government organisation or multi-national companies. The role will often entail:

h Surveying properties, identifying

structural faults and making appropriate recommendations;

h Assessing damage for insurance

purposes, for example, following a fire or flood;

h Advising clients on issues such as boundary disputes;

h Acting as a client’s representative or

standing as an expert witness during legal proceedings;

h Checking properties to ensure they

meet building regulations, fire safety and accessibility standards; and

h Dealing with planning applications and improvement or conservation grants.

Out In The Field | 23

Further information For further information, please contact School of Built and Natural Environments bne@sm.uwtsd.ac.uk TSDSwanseaconservationsociety

www.uwtsd.ac.uk