Month: November 2021

Science and innovation ‘critical to climate change solutions’

Science and Innovation Day at COP26 will see the announcement of new initiatives backed by global coalitions of nations, businesses and scientists. These will support the implementation of the goals announced during the World Leaders Summit and other country commitments announced during the first week of the conference.

Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance will underline the critical role of science and innovation in enabling every country to access the tools it needs to immediately reduce emissions in line with Paris temperature targets, and to adapt to the effects of climate change that we are already seeing.

These initiatives include:

  • new commitments to accelerate innovation and low carbon transitions in industry and cities
  • new global Adaptation Research Alliance to increase the resilience of vulnerable communities on the frontline of climate change
  • independent experts to track progress against the Breakthrough Agenda announced by world leaders on 2 November, advising on action and collaboration
  • global scientific research community to produce annual climate risk assessment to ensure the dangers are fully understood by world leaders

Mission Innovation, a coalition of 23 governments (covering 95% of global public investment in clean technology, research and development) will announce 4 new ‘innovation missions’ in which countries will work together to accelerate the development of clean technologies for cities, industry, carbon dioxide removal, and the production of renewable fuels, chemicals, and materials.

Mission Innovation’s ‘innovation missions’ now cover sectors responsible for more than 50% of global emissions.

The Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA) – a global first – launches today. This network of over 90 organisations across 30 economies will see governments, research institutions and communities collaborate to increase the resilience of vulnerable communities on the frontline of climate change.

A new landmark programme putting the ARA’s work into practice is the Climate Adaptation and Resilience research programme (CLARE), jointly funded by the UK and Canada.

Today the UK announces a further £48 million towards CLARE, bringing the total UK aid funding to £100 million, alongside £10 million from Canada to support the development of actionable solutions in communities most vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events. £40 million of the UK’s contribution will be focused on Africa, and in total the programme is set to benefit at least 5 million people around the world.

To support implementation of the Breakthrough Agenda announced by World Leaders on 2 November, a new ‘Global Checkpoint Process’ will seek to sustain and strengthen international cooperation in each of the emitting sectors.

Independent experts led by the International Energy Agency (IEA), together with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the UN High Level Climate Action Champions will produce an annual report to track progress and advise on action. Informed by this advice, countries will discuss how they can work together to make faster progress.

A group of leading international scientific organisations will make a new commitment to improve the way we assess and communicate climate risk to inform the decisions of world leaders.

The coalition, including, amongst others, the World Meteorological Organisation and the World Climate Research Programme, will work to ensure that research and reports for policymakers set out clearly for world leaders the full scale of the dangers we will face if global temperature increase is not held below 1.5 degrees.

Other announcements on Science and Innovation Day include:

Under the Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative (IDDI) the UK, India, Germany, Canada and UAE will work together to create new markets for low carbon steel and concrete. The IDDI launched today a campaign where member governments, including the UK, commit to the disclosure of embodied carbon of major public construction by no later than 2025, they also pledged to achieve net zero in major public construction steel and concrete by 2050, and to work towards an emission reduction for 2030 to be announced next year.

Building on the success of the Futures We Want collaboration, the UK COP26 Presidency, in partnership with Italy, is establishing a new global partnership to leverage the power of science and innovation to address key challenges blocking the path to a climate-resilient, net-zero future.

This new partnership will bring together countries from across the world to pool scientific expertise and develop new ways to bring citizen voices into policy making, by running a series of region-led projects to tackle specific net-zero challenges.

47 countries (including Malawi, Spain, Morocco and the US) have committed to building health systems which are able to withstand the impacts of climate change and which are low carbon and sustainable. These include 42 countries, representing over a third of global health care emissions, which have committed to develop a sustainable, low-carbon health system. 12 of these 42 countries have set a deadline of 2050 or earlier, by which their health system will reach Net Zero.

Patrick Vallance UK Chief Scientific Adviser said: “The facts are clear: we must limit warming to 1.5C. Thanks to science, that is feasible – the technologies are already available.

Investment in research and development will deliver new clean technologies, while policies to create markets will ensure they are deployed. At the same time, science will help us adapt to the impacts of climate change we’re already seeing around the world and transform our economies.

“Through research and innovation, we will adjust essential systems and ensure continued safety, security and prosperity.”

Patrick Child, Chair of Mission Innovation and Deputy Director-General for Research and Innovation at European Commission said: “Clean energy solutions must be cost-effective at scale and available everywhere if we are going to reach net zero.

“We must invest in innovation now to scale up these vital technologies and avoid a climate disaster. International collaboration sits at the heart of this, and Mission Innovation provides a vital platform for world governments to drive action and investment in the technologies which will save our planet.

Jesse De Maria Kinney, Head of Secretariat for Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA) said: “Climate adaptation requires evidence-based solutions that are tailored to local contexts.

“The formal launch of the ARA highlights a growing global movement supporting this approach among funders, researchers, policymakers and communities and our collective commitment to driving a paradigm shift in the adaptation community where solutions are co-produced, action oriented and lead to positive changes in people’s lives.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, COP26 Champion on Adaptation and Resilience said: “Action-focused research is crucial to effective, inclusive and sustainable climate adaptation, particularly to protect the most vulnerable communities from the impacts of climate change.

“We will ensure women’s voices shape these conversations, and women’s leadership and expertise are championed to deliver gender-sensitive adaptation solutions. Both the Adaptation Research Alliance and the UK’s support for the Climate Adaptation and Resilience research programme will improve the effectiveness of adaptation, putting people at the heart of climate research to build the resilience of those living on the frontline of the climate crisis.”

Science Minister George Freeman, Science Minister said: “Real change to combat climate change cannot happen without new scientific ideas, innovation and research, and it is clear that no country or company acting in isolation can deliver the change that is needed at the pace that is needed.

“As an innovation nation, we want to lead the global effort to have every country, organisation and business contribute to this agenda by encouraging new ideas and products. That is why, for example, we have launched new commitments to enhance international innovation cooperation and ensure we meet our climate goals.

“The scale of the challenge we face is daunting, but there is room for optimism, and I look forward to working together to unleash a new wave of innovation to build a cleaner, better, and more prosperous world.”

Cop26-themed ‘Eco-Diwali’ celebrated at Edinburgh’s Queen Elizabeth House

The third Diwali in the series of Diwalis started by the Scotland Chapter of Hindu Forum Britain was celebrated in the UK Government Hub in Edinburgh on 1st November 2021 (writes Ms RICHA SINHA).

The first Diwali was celebrated by the Hindu Forum Britain in the Scottish Parliament in 2019 and the second one was a Virtual Diwali Hosted Online due to Covid-19.

With a view to supporting COP26, , which started on the same day on 1st Nov 2021, HFB Scotland Chapter celebrated Eco-Diwali, highlighting through Diwali event, the salience that Hindu ethos places on respecting and protecting the environment.

The Eco-Diwali was celebrated at Queen Elizabeth house, sponsored by Ministers of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.

As the UK secretary of state for Scotland was busy with Cop26 conference the event was hosted by Hon Lord Offord of Garvel, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State.

The event was attended by numerous faith Leaders and Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Mr Angus Robertson and MSPs including Alex Cole-Hamilton and Pam Gosal.

The programme commenced with the Ceremonial Eco Lamp Lighting ceremony by the Guests

Mr Puneet Dwivedi, Vice president HFB with the help of his Team of Volunteers organized the most colourful celebrations and with sacred chants, traditional Indian dances, followed by speeches by dignitaries.

There were slide shows highlight community works by the temples in Scotland, spotlighting the environmental action being undertaken by the Hindu temples and organisations. 

Puneet Dwivedi welcomed guests byhighlighting the contribution of Scottish Hindu Community during COVID crisis be it amazing frontline workers like doctors and nurses to the temples who opened the kitchen to feed the vulnerable and support the key workers.

He explained how Hindu philosophy consists of eco-friendly principles and practices and has been passed down through generations.

Puneet also highlighted small and sustainable steps taken by Hindu community to protect mother earth e.g. HFB officially launched its Hindu Environmental Task Force (HETF) on 18th September to raise awareness and to support its member organisations to become increasingly more environmental; ISKCON Scotland launched the Cow care project, where Cows and Bulls will be cared for till their natural death.

This project serve as an example of sustainable agriculture by working with bulls, and most temples in Scotland signed the Environmental Charter.

Lord Offord gave the beautiful message of hope with the vaccine of light driving away the disease of darkness.

He was happy to greet his colleagues from Holyrood and pledged towards one common goal which was betterment of people of every political stride and every religion.

He had visited Mumbai recently and recollected his time when tattoo met Bollywood with dancers mixing up and  thanked Hindu Forum Britain for bringing the event to Queen Elizabeth House and wished them well in future endeavours.

Cabinet Secretary Mr Angus Robertson started by passing his best wishes from Nicola sturgeon and mentioned how he attended every single Diwali Reception when in Westminster.

He added that the Hindu traditions have deep reverence to the natural world and reminds us our actions have consequences. He Congratulated Hindu Forum Britain’s Hindu environmental task forces and said that the government was indebted for the work done by the Hindu community who have so many in the vital front line services.

Sister Jayanti From BrahmaKumari made reference to Goddess of wealth Lakshmi, and said the word comes from ‘Lakshan’ which means virtues and reminded us of the wealth of virtues.

As much as we clean home we should clean our Inner beings and environment of pollution so wealth of virtues can come to our lives to create a better world. She ended her speech with ‘Om Shanti’ which means lets there be world peace.

Lord Wallace, moderator of the Church of Scotland spoke of the Vigil that took place in George Square and common hope and congratulated all faith organisations to come together to spread the message of hope.

Maulana Imam Syed Razazvi thanked HFB president Mrs Trupti Patel and Hindu community and reiterated that we are friends and we can always rely on each other.

The program was interspersed by elegant and graceful Indian classical Dance performances by Theiya Arts, where the performers (Ms Himadri Madan, Ms Nandini Manjunath, Ms Karen Watts & Ms Tharanga Wickramsinghe) presented an Indian and Sri Lankan classical forms dedicated to mother earth and our environment: this dance form has evolved from the natural world around us, as a way to embody nature and our environment and incorporate it into our being and storytelling.

HFB president Ms Trupti Patel,  sent video message as she couldn’t attend the event. In her video message she highlighted the connection between celtic people and vedic people and how Scottish Hindu Community can work together by taking steps to preserve our environment.

Mr Mithilesh Vaddiparthi, who holds a guinness world records in singing sung the beautiful devotional song   “Vaishnav Jan To..” and ended his singing with traditional rendition and the foot tapping “Jai ho “

MSP Alex-Cole Hamilton, who has become quite the favourite of the Hindu Diaspora in Edinburgh, with his past heartfelt speeches lured the audience with his Indian greeting of ‘Namaste’ ‘Om Shanti ‘ and Jai Shri Ram. He highlighted that Diwali is also time to triumph of light over ignorance over climate change.

Pam Gosal in her speech mentioned how the first 2 Indian Scottish Ministers joining the Scottish Parliament and the First Hindu Minister in Sandesh Gulhane has added to the Diversity in Parliament.

Finally  HFB Scotland Chapter Diwali brochures were launched by the Minsiters, Cabinet Secreteary, MSP & Armed forces officials

The vote of Thanks was given by Richa Sinha who spoke about what it means for her to be a Scottish Hindu and thanked the leadership in creating an atmosphere where she could take pride in her Scottish Hindu Identity and contribute to the diversity of this great nation.

Hindu Forum Britain are proud to carry out the 3rd consecutive Diwali Celebration and hope the tradition will continue in the years to come and bring the Diverse Scottish Hindu community together with all faiths working together for the betterment of the nation.

This Diwali reception by Hindus in Scotland hosted by HFB Scotland is the only event that encompasses and invites members and peers from all political parties to share the colourful and wondrous Diwali celebration with Hindu community leaders, religious leaders and leading figures from businesses across Britain.

The spirit of hope, friendship, religious tolerance peace and harmony that Deepavali embodies is really quite profound and resonates with people of all faiths.

UK boost to advance gender equality in climate action

COP President Alok Sharma will announce how £165 million of UK funding will progress gender equality while tackling climate change

  • Two new programmes to boost women’s climate leadership and support those most vulnerable to climate change.
  • Ministers and representatives from private sector and civil society from across the world will meet at Gender Day at COP26 to announce new commitments which address the links between climate action and gender equality.

At its COP26 Gender Day today (Tuesday 9 November), the UK will announce £165 million to tackle climate change while addressing the inequalities that make women and girls more vulnerable to climate change and empowering them to take climate action.

Around the world, the UN has found that women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than men, in part because they constitute a large majority of the world’s poor and often depend on small-scale farming for a livelihood, which is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Women and children can comprise 80% of those displaced by climate-related disaster. But addressing gender inequality has also been proven to advance efforts to tackle climate change.

£165 million in UK funding will drive forward these aims:

  • up to £45 million to help empower local communities and grassroots women’s groups in Asia and the Pacific to challenge gender inequalities and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
  • £120 million to build resilience, prevent pollution, protect biodiversity, strengthen renewable energy and better manage waste, while also supporting women’s leadership, access to finance, education and skills in Bangladesh.

The chair of the flagship Gender Day event, UK International Champion on Adaptation and Resilience for the COP26 Presidency, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said: “It is women, girls and those who are already most marginalised, that will be most severely impacted by climate change. But they also have a critical role to play to address the climate crisis.

“The UK is committed to addressing this dual challenge head on, committing new funding to empower communities and women’s groups to take locally-led adaptation action, to build local, national and global resilience. I urge more countries to make commitments to implement the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan and deliver the goals of the Feminist Action for Climate Justice.”

Through its COP26 Presidency, the UK has been urging countries around the world to put gender equality at the heart of climate action, and will today convene ministers and other actors to discuss new action to tackle gender and climate change. A number of countries and stakeholders will also announce bold new gender and climate commitments today.

The UK will jointly launch a toolkit on gender-smart climate finance. Co-led by CDC, the UK’s Development Finance Institution, the toolkit will improve understanding on the opportunities of gender-sensitive climate investment by providing guidance to the finance community on how to deliver climate outcomes while promoting gender equality and women’s economic opportunities.

Fatou Jeng, Founder, Clean Earth Gambia and Co-Lead YOUNGO Women and Gender working group, said: “Gender inequality creates additional burdens and barriers for women and girls during times of conflict and climate-related crisis which increases their risks of hunger, food insecurity and violence. But women play fundamental roles in local food systems and are carers and activists, which make them uniquely placed to drive longer term climate resilience.

“Women should be involved in the policy making, project planning and implementation of climate adaptation projects, and gender equality should be a key portion in climate financing. If gender equality is not taken as a serious issue in our climate decision-making, climate financing and climate adaptation processes, it will undermine opportunities for women in vulnerable communities to drive effective climate change adaptation and mitigation approaches that meet their needs.”

COP26 President Alok Sharma and Anne-Marie Trevelyan will host the UK’s Presidency Gender Day event accompanied by Little Amal, the 3.5 metre puppet travelling 8,000km in support of refugees, and Brianna Fruean, a Samoan Climate Change activist.

The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, will speak along with youth advocate Fatou Jeng, UN Women Deputy Executive Director Asa Regner and Indigenous activist Tarcila Rivera Zea, for a discussion on how to enable gender equality through climate actions. The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, will also address the event.

Minister for Europe and the Americas, Wendy Morton, will also announce the UK’s new commitment to develop a FCDO girls’ education and climate policy to help secure concerted global action on climate change in the education sector, to prevent climate change disrupting girls’ education and empowering girls to take climate action.

This follows COP26 Youth and Public Empowerment Day last week, where the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education Helen Grant announced support for girls’ education in the face of climate change. This includes an £85,000 research grant to support the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. The Centre will produce better information on the education needs of refugee children to enable a more effective international response.

Pharmacies delivering swift patient care

More than 2 million consultations with NHS Pharmacy First

An innovative NHS community pharmacy service has helped see patients quickly and relieve pressure on A&E units and GP surgeries by sparing the NHS 200,000 avoidable appointments for the treatment of urinary tract and skin infections in the last year.

The NHS Pharmacy First network of more than 1,200 community pharmacies are the first port of call for minor ailments and common clinical conditions. The NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service has carried out over 2 million consultations since the launch of the service in July 2020.

The service provides free access to a consultation with an appropriately qualified member of the pharmacy team who provides advice on self-care, referral to another part of the NHS if they feel it is necessary and, if appropriate, will provide treatment. 

The community pharmacist can also treat certain conditions such as urinary tract infections, shingles and impetigo without the need for a prescription or to see a doctor. This is part of a co-ordinated series of measures to improve patient care and help reduce demand on A&E.

Pharmacists in the network have taken more than 200,000 appointments in the last year which would otherwise have gone to GP surgeries or hospital A&E departments.

Since its launch at the height of the pandemic, only 4% of patients needed to be referred on to another healthcare professional, such as a GP or hospital unit. The majority were handled by the pharmacy team, advice on self-care or with treatment.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “Community pharmacists are playing a fantastic role in ensuring that millions of people have their minor ailment needs addressed quickly, without needing to go to a GP or hospital. They are a prime example of getting the right care in the right place at the right time.

“This is particularly helpful as our NHS faces one of the most difficult winters in its history, with the NHS Pharmacy First service helping to relieve some of the current pressures faced by emergency departments. As community pharmacy staff continue to give care and advice during the busy winter period, please continue to be kind and patient.

“The Scottish Government introduced the NHS Pharmacy First service, backed by £10 million of investment. As part of the NHS Recovery Plan we will look to expand the range of common clinical conditions that can be treated by community pharmacists, avoiding unnecessary GP and out of hours appointments.

“We have also committed to establishing a community pharmacy hospital discharge and medicines reconciliation service to help speed up the process for people being discharged from hospital. New digital solutions such as ePrescribing and eDispensing will make prescribing paperless and free up capacity for healthcare professionals to see more patients, while making it easier for the public to access their medicines quickly and safely.”

NHS Pharmacy First Scotland launched on 29 July 2020, and is designed to encourage everyone to visit their community pharmacy as the first port of call for all minor illnesses and specific common clinical conditions.

Peter Vardy to partner with Zoom EV to aid buyers switching to EV

Peter Vardy, has become the first Scottish automotive dealership group to enter a partnership with electric vehicle specialist, Zoom EV, to provide customers with a bundle of services and benefits that simplifies their switch to electric vehicles (EV).

Peter Vardy Group, established in 2006, is a family-run business with 15 dealerships at sites across Scotland, which include 8 dedicated used car supermarkets trading under the Peter Vardy CARZ brand.

Customers who buy a plug-in hybrid or fully electric car from a CARZ store, will gain access to a suite of discounts as part of Peter Vardy’s EV Benefits Bundle, as well as support from Zoom EV’s expert team.

Benefits include discounted access to industry leading public charging networks, smart home charging units, EV home energy tariffs and accident management services.

Ed Carpenter, Director of Electric Vehicles at Peter Vardy said: “We are delighted to partner with Zoom EV to further progress our ambition of becoming Scotland’s go-to dealer group for purchasing new and pre-owned electric vehicles.

“We understand that transitioning from a conventional car to an EV can be a daunting experience for some motorists and our teams are often faced with questions around charging an electric car.

“With Zoom EV’s support, the Peter Vardy EV Benefits Bundle will mitigate these concerns, providing our customers with bespoke services to make their EV ownership experience enjoyable and hassle-free.

“As the climate crisis continues to become more apparent, we are proud to be encouraging EV use in the UK and excited to be on this electric journey with Zoom EV.”

Greg Fairbotham, CEO at Zoom EV, said: “We know from our work in the auto-dealer sector that supporting the transition process is critical in customers’ decisions to go electric.

“We are committed to making the switch as easy as possible by ensuring easy access to the essential services needed to own an electric vehicle, whilst also saving customers money. Our concierge-style service gives customers reassurance and a helping hand as they transition to electric.

“Peter Vardy is proactively driving the adoption of electric vehicles across Scotland, and the EV Benefits Bundle is a fantastic way to encourage drivers to make the decision to go electric. We are excited to be working with them.”

For more information contact Peter Vardy Group on 0333 456 0505 or Zoom EV at membersupport@zoom-ev.com.

William Hill reveals odds on Christmas Number One and White Christmas

  • William Hill offered the very first odds market on both the Christmas Number One and White Christmas over 40 years ago.
  • Tight-lipped LadBaby and Christmas collaborators Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran are 7-4 joint favourites to secure the 70th festive chart-topper.
  • Abba, who today released new album Voyage, which included a Christmas track, have been cut to 8-1 to finish top of the tree in the singles chart.
  • Birmingham Airport is 7-2 favourite, among 11 major UK airports, for a White Christmas, closely followed by Edinburgh and Newcastle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9QLn7gM-hY

William Hill has launched both its festive markets with betting for the 70th Christmas Number One and a White Christmas NOW OPEN.

The bookmaker, which instituted betting on the festive chart-topper over 40 years ago, currently has YouTuber LadBaby and the pending Sir Elton John & Ed Sheeran festive collaboration track, as joint 7-4 favourites to win this year’s race to number one spot.

Meanwhile, Birmingham leads the way as the most likely recipient of festive flurries, with odds of 7-2 that a single snowflake is observed in the 24-hour period of December 25. Edinburgh and Newcastle are joint second favourites at 4-1, while Belfast is 9-2, as odds at 11 major UK airports were revealed for another growing tradition.

Chart superstar Sheeran has teamed up with friend and mentor Sir Elton John to create three new Christmas songs, the first of which will be released at the beginning of December, and is called Merry Christmas. 

Sheeran, 30, who released his fourth solo studio album = last week, recently revealed the accompanying music video for their Christmas contender will parody former number ones. William Hill continues to see money coming in for the pair and, as a result, have tightened their odds further from 3-1 to 7-4.

Powerhouse songstress Adele, who recently secured a third UK number one with her first new music in six years, shattered all manner of streaming records with Easy On Me. Her album 30, due to be released on November 19, is expected to be the biggest-selling record over the Christmas period. The Tottenham-born 33-year-old is 11/4 to continue her domination and claim the biggest selling festive single.

Abba, who have just released their first studio album in 40 years in what was billed as the reunion of the century, have been cut from 10-1 to 8-1 with the third track on the album revealed to be twinkly Christmas tune, Little Things.

LadBaby, real name Mark Boyle, has kept his cards close to his chest as to whether he will stake a claim for a historic fourth consecutive number one. Achieving such a feat – William Hill is offering odds of 7-4 (joint favourites) – would see Boyle draw level with The Beatles, who have four Christmas Number Ones to their name. 

Among other serious contenders are Gary Barlow and Sheridan Smith. The pair have already recorded How Christmas Is Supposed To Be, after initially duetting on Instagram for Gary’s Crooner Sessions, and are a 12-1 shot, while recently reunited boy band The Wanted have their hearts set on securing the top festive single at 18-1.

The 70th Christmas Number One will be announced at 17:45 on Friday December 24, while the White Christmas market will settle as the clock strikes 00:00 on Sunday December 26.

To view the Christmas Number One market, please visit:

https://sports.williamhill.com/betting/en-gb/tv-specials/OB_EV21915074/uk-christmas-number-one-2021

To view the White Christmas market, please visit: 

https://sports.williamhill.com/betting/en-gb/tv-specials/OB_EV21589670/snow-on-christmas-day

Team ESTEEM: news from Dubai

The prototype construction phase started on October 24th with the Welcome Ceremony in Dubai, where all the teams participating were introduce to everyone. It was a great experience and something we have been waiting since 2019.

The assembly started on October 25th in which we had to take all the materials, equipment, CLT panels and more from the containers. 

In case you missed our ship journey to Dubai, we had 5 containers, that arrived in London Gateway on September 10th, 2021, and then all containers got transferred to the NAGOYA EXPRESS, which arrived in Dubai on Sunday 12th, of September 2021. 

Alex MacLaren, faculty leader, said: “I have been delighted by the support afforded us by the university and am excited to develop other experiences like this in future years; as a learning experience, but also as an urgent mandate to transform the ‘norm’ in our construction practices. So, who knows- next stop, Solar Decathlon Europe in 2023?”

The calendar you see below will be our journey everyday while in Dubai.

We will be building the house from October 25th to November 8th, which give us a total of 15 days to construct the ESTEEM house.

After that we will have the Opening ceremony where the public is welcome to see our house and interact with all the technologies and innovations we added to the design. 

The exhibition time runs from November 11th to November 25th at Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, Dubai.

However, we will have virtual tours for anyone that is not in Dubai, you can book it with our Eventbrite link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-tours-at-team-esteem-house-dubai-tickets-202875916327

Immagine che contiene tavolo Descrizione generata automaticamente

Martin Juricek, Architecture Leader, said: “Our build in wardrobe was completed and the kitchen fit out is well underway as well. We started fitting plasterboard onto walls in the bedroom.

“We focused on underfloor insulation, cladding and plant room equipment fit out. We run into a lot of issues and as it kept delaying our work we had to have a break where we discussed new more efficient ways of going forward. Overall, it was another difficult day on site but it got us further on the way of construction”

Alakbar Zeynalzade, AudioVisual Leader, added: “Working at the construction site is hard work in the heat of Dubai, especially near midday. Regardless, it’s meaningful work and I enjoy my time there.

“My role is to take pictures and videos whilst I’m there, but I also take part in the construction too. It’s fun solving problems on the site as they arise, e.g. missing piece of equipment so we have to be creative and work around it”

Ahmed Usaamah Ifthikhar; Construction Leader, explained: “The work we did on site helped insulate and cover some of the gaps from the inside and outside. It was useful in understanding how it works.

“We witnessed the wall panels get positioned into place and once this was done, we tightened the bolts. Every day on site helped me learn and understand more about how our building will function and how it will perform in terms of heat gain wise”

Pranav Chachara; Web Developer, said: “While this was a first time experience for me, I had a blast on site.

“Getting hands on with helping out around the house is super fun. I’ve also finally achieved my dream of being Bob the Builder!”

Zuhair Ahmed, Health and Safety Leader, agred: “We faced many challenges such as the inavailability of the labours on afternoon, while we managed to have good progress by ourselves looking forward to complete our house perfectly and win. Count down started and any minute would be valued.” 

As you all might know; at Team ESTEEM, we like to innovate.  Therefore, we have created our ESTEEM house in Minecraft. I know! It is amazing.

We work for almost 3 months planning, building, and refining our design which has allowed us to bring you the ESTEEM House in Minecraft. With the help of Apex Hosting, we are hosting this world for anyone to explore at mc.esteem.house.

We have also hide some little easter eggs for you to find along the way. You can find more information with this link ESTEEM Minecraft House! We wanted to show to everyone our house and give the opportunity for kids to see how engineering can be fun as well. 

Have you heard of Augmented Reality (AR)? Yes? With the help of VRCraftworks, we have created a world where you can come visit the house virtually, interact with the materials and have a meeting with other people. Did I mentioned you can share your screen as well? 

Our house was built by a team of innovative and inspired students and staff, and to showcase their hard work we developed augmented reality interactions placed around the house.

By scanning one of our many QR codes, users will be shown a beautiful 3D image on their smartphone, alongside text describing in detail the planning and decisions our team made in order to create a modern home.

And for those who won’t be able to view the house in person, our virtual reality model of the house will be available on Oculus devices for an immersive off-site tour of the house.

With the help of VRCraftworks, we have created a world where you can come visit the house virtually, interact with the materials  and have a meeting with other people. Did I mentioned you can share your screen as well?

Use this link:

https://hub.link/vnLgAPW

and you will be able to experience it yourself, TeamESTEEM members jump in and out of the world all the time so you might be able to speak to us as well! 

We are working harder than ever as we approach the end of the construction phase.
In order to make the most of our time, we’re installing multiple parts of the house at once. Nearly all of our cassettes (insulation panels) have been attached to the house and we’re working with our sponsors to get the systems and electricals installed.

We need to be exact in the way that we connect our house up as DEWA will be monitoring and measuring our usage and generation which will impact our score! All of the parts of our 3D printed concrete Windcatcher have arrived and we are so excited to see it all together soon!

We are posting everyday about our progress on social media, please follow this link to see the #ESTEEMHouse: 

https://linktr.ee/teamESTEEMHouse

Stagecoach announces free travel for veterans and military personnel on Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday

  • Free travel for military and ex-military personnel on 11thand 14th November
  • Commitment will continue annually
  • New employee led Veterans Network key to Stagecoach commitment

    Stagecoach has confirmed its ongoing commitment to the armed forces by announcing that it will be offering free travel for veterans and military personnel on its bus and tram services right across the UK on Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday.

The commitment to free travel, which will be ongoing every year, comes on the back of Stagecoach’s newly launched employee led Veterans Network.

The network was launched to allow Stagecoach colleagues to come together as one voice to make change, raise awareness, help influence business decisions and introduce new ways of working to make the company even stronger.

The Veteran Network is also currently engaging with the armed forces on a recruitment campaign directly targeting those who are leaving the military to find job opportunities at Stagecoach.

As a cause that is close to the hearts of its employees and customers, Stagecoach has been a long-time supporter of the Poppy Appeal, and in addition to free travel on 11th and 14th November, Stagecoach will be operating a number of Poppy Buses across its network, including Merseyside & South Lancashire, Cumbria & North Lancashire, Portsmouth and Aldershot.

Poppies will also be displayed on the front of a number of buses across the country with some of the destination blinds showing the messaging “We will remember them”.

Employees across Stagecoach will also be asked to honour the minutes’ silence.

Stagecoach has also been a member of the Armed Force Covenant since March 2015, recognising the value of serving personnel, regular and reservists, veterans and military families to both the country and businesses across the country.

With Remembrance services planned at memorials across UK, it is hoped that people wishing to pay their respects will take up the offer to travel for free to the service of their choice.

This commitment from Stagecoach allows for the business to unite and offer the same great experience to all military and ex-military customers and it will continue each year on 11th November and the following Sunday* as well as Armed Forces Weekend.

Simon Tramalloni, Operations Manager in Preston & Chorley is co-lead for the Stagecoach Veterans Network. He previously served in the Armed Forces serving in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Africa and the Middle East.

He said: “Stagecoach has a strong commitment to supporting the armed forces and our veterans, and it’s great that we are able to offer free bus and tram travel across the whole country as we mark Remembrance Day.

“We have thousands of ex forces personnel working across our business and having the new Veterans Network is allowing us to build on the work that Stagecoach has led over many years and identify how else we can support those veterans already working for us and those that may want to come and join the company.

“Remembrance Day and the Poppy Appeal are causes close to the hearts of many of our employees and customers and we are very pleased to be making this commitment that will hopefully help people to attend memorials across the UK.”

Climate Action Towns project: Empowering communities

Seven towns have been chosen to help tackle the impact of climate change and secure a just transition to net zero.

The Climate Action Towns programme will empower communities to come together and engage in collective climate action, taking account of the unique challenges and opportunities each town faces. That might include looking at what action can be taken on switching to more sustainable food or renewable energy.

Communities in the seven towns will be offered support to find ways of making changes at a local level that will help tackle the crisis, giving them a voice and engaging those that may not have previously engaged in climate action.

The programme will be delivered by design agency Architecture and Design Scotland, with funding of £146,000 from the Scottish Government.

The seven towns chosen are:

  • Alness, Highlands
  • Annan, Dumfries & Galloway
  • Blackburn, West Lothian
  • Campbeltown, Argyll & Bute
  • Holytown, North Lanarkshire
  • Invergordon, Highlands
  • Stevenston, North Ayrshire

The project will be driven by collaboration between local people and agencies, and their collective vision of what their Climate Action Town looks like. The outcome of the work with the towns will be used to outline learning for climate action on a town scale that can then be applied across Scotland and beyond.

The announcement came during the Scottish Government’s Just Transition themed weekend during COP26.

The start of the process to collaborate and co-design the Scottish Government’s refreshed Energy Strategy was outlined on Friday. It was also announced that Scotland’s first Just Transition Plan, to be published in spring 2022, will be focussed on the energy sector.

The Scottish Government will provide £100,000 to establish a Just Transition Alliance within the Under2 Coalition, a network of more than 200 devolved and local governments driving climate action across the world, so that members can access the resources, support and information necessary to deliver a just transition in cities and towns across the world.

Just Transition Minister Richard Lochhead said: “It is clear that we must decarbonise industry and society in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, but we must do so in a way that is fair for everyone and leaves no one behind.

“Scotland was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution, so we see it as only right that Scotland is at the forefront of this green revolution.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make changes in a way that will be good for our people, our communities, our economy and our planet – we must seize it.

“Tackling the climate crisis requires all of us, at every level, to get involved. We can all make a difference. The Climate Action Towns project aims to support and empower communities to have a say on how their local areas should change as part of a fair and just transition to net zero.

“I look forward to seeing how the towns that are taking part rise to the challenge and find ways that will not only make a difference locally but to Scotland and indeed the world.”

Architecture and Design Scotland Chief Executive Jim MacDonald said: “The climate emergency demands urgent action from us all. For Scotland to adapt to the impacts of climate change, we are all going to need to work together to adapt the ways we live, work, play and move in our cities, towns and villages.

“Considering that half of Scotland’s population live in towns, it is vital towns are a key focus in the fight against climate change.”