International SEEDS Conference 

Experts from around the world came together for the International Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society 2022 Conference, this year hosted by the University of the West England, Bristol. The discussion was vibrant as world leading scholars, industry experts and researchers shared their ideas on how to transform to a more just and sustainable economy.

The adoption of practices and technology for the Net Zero transition was high on the agenda, with many already making substantial moves forwards – significantly advancing practice. Following UN’S Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) all 17 themes were discussed embracing all aspects of sustainability.  
Over 100 quality papers were presented at the conference under an extensive range of categories including: BIM, Software and Digital Innovation; Sustainable Construction; Project Management; Innovation in Architecture; Social Value; Disaster Management; Buildings and Performance and Zero Carbon. 

In-Person Event

This year the event followed a hybrid format. The first two days of the conference were held in person at the University of the West of England, Bristol and was commendably chaired by Dr Colin Booth-

“After two-years of us running the conference entirely online, it was wonderful for us to be joined together in-person again. For me, it was a real delight to welcome the SEEDS community to Bristol.”

Guests were also grateful to return to an in-person event commenting, 

“Thank you for a beautifully organized "live" part of the conference and for amazing Gala Dinner” 

“It was nice to be back face-to-face after Covid”

The Awards Ceremony held at the beautiful Tortworth Court on the 1st September, was accompanied by a delicious 3-course gala dinner and disco.

groups of people sat round circle tables with table cloths on looking at a stage

Online Event

The final day of the conference was held online via MS Teams. This part of the event was just as successful and provided a great platform for experts to dial in from across the world to share their research.

Dr Colin Booth agreed that “with the insights and learning of the last two-years, it was great to be able to run a hybrid event that allowed us to offer an additional third day, entirely online, for those delegates (mainly international) who, for whatever reason, were unable to join us in-person this year”.

The papers were pre-recorded and presented, then discussed further during a live Q & A with the authors. We hope to get these recorded discussions shared with soon.

A separate awards ceremony was held for the online papers, the winners can be found below.

RISE Awards

The RISE Awards also returned this year with the submission of over 40 posters. These highly regarded awards seek to recognise, celebrate and showcase exemplar case studies from the Built Environment sharing emerging best practice in Research, Innovation, Sustainability and Enterprise for new and innovative products, technologies, processes, projects and schemes

The event took place at Tortworth Court Bristol alongside the SEEDS Conference, providing a great opportunity for academia and industry to come together and network, sharing valuable insights from their practice. 

A portfolio of the posters submitted with links to the individuals and companies that created them.

clear glass trophy with engraved RISE awards 2022 writing and logos

Photography and Social Media

Events Photography Bristol captured the in-person conference and gala dinner awards ceremony beautifully. These photos covered the joint SEEDS Conference and

RISE Awards ceremony and can be accessed via the respective Facebook Pages below. This is the first year we have created a page for the SEEDS Conference and

RISE Awards as it now feels beneficial as these communities continue to grow. Please head over and like these pages to receive updates regarding future events.

RISE Awards Facebook page and event photography

SEEDS 2022 Conference and Event Photography

SEEDS Conference and RISE Awards Winners

The quality of papers that were presented at the conference this year was extremely high and agreed by conference co-chair, Professor Chris Gorse-  
“Returning from the pandemic it was clear that researchers wanted to show how their work had advanced over the last few years. Some of the work presented was truly exceptional demonstrating what can be achieved when great minds come together.

It was great to see how the different project teams had moved from theory to advances in science and practice. The passion of the early career researchers was met with welcoming support from the professors and advanced practitioners at the conference. If this is an indication of the commitment and quality of work that we are likely to see in the future then it gives us hope against the threat of climate change.”

Join us in congratulating the winners:

SEEDS 2023- University of Suffolk

Taking on what we have learnt from this year’s conference and the success of the hybrid delivery model, SEEDS 2023 is planned to take on a similar format. We are excited to be hosting the next SEEDS Conference at the University of Suffolk and will be chaired by Professor Darryl Newport- 

‘It was so great to get back to business as usual and seeing people face to face. The SEEDS 2022 conference at UWE was a great experience. We are looking forward to hosting the conference and festivities at the University of Suffolk at our Ipswich campus in 2023. News on timings will follow shortly.’

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to such an amazing conference including all of our speakers, keynote speakers, chairs and moderators. 

We are currently making coordinating the conference proceedings and hope to have these published soon.

School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing

The School of Built Environment & Engineering represents an inclusive and enthusiastic community of staff, students and professional partners who recognise that what they do, design and develop will have a lasting impact on the fabric of society.