Dr Alina Congreve
Areas of Expertise
Climate change, Higher Education, Professional development
Experienced built environment and climate change professional with 18 years experience working in higher education, public policy and innovation.
Specialities Placemaking and spatial planning City scale action on climate change Low and zero carbon buildings Ecosystem services and natural capital Design and delivery of adult and higher education programmes I have undertaken a broad range of applied research projects working for think tanks, professional bodies and membership organisations.
These have involved high level research skills in qualitative interviewing, policy reviews, workshop facilitation and statistical analysis. Several projects have developed my PhD research on new housing development, looking at the positive role cities can play in supporting the design and delivery of sustainable new homes.
Other research projects explored new fields including: consumer residential preferences; new towns; resource efficiency in construction; climate action planning, and ecosystem services. These projects combine deep technical knowledge of sustainability with strong communication skills to engage non-technical audiences.
Alongside policy-focused research, I have lead on the design and delivery of postgraduate and adult education programmes. At the University of Hertfordshire, I initiated and lead the new MSc in sustainable planning. The course has a strong focus on sustainable energy, placemaking, sustainable communities and development viability.