Case studies

Mapping SDGs in Newham

Dr Meera Tiwari, Dr Susannah Pickering Saqqa

RAs: Abigail Lennox, Asma Ahmad

The SDGs are universal global goals that apply to all countries rich and poor, through a broad framework that can be made to fit specific country contexts and are to be achieved at the local, national and global levels. Evidence from the 2019 Voluntary National Review process indicates that the UK has struggled to capture progress at the local and national levels in many of the goals (UKSSD 2019).

Specifically, in the London Boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets recent research has shown that progress towards SDG 3 (Good health and wellbeing) and SDG 12 (Responsible production and consumption) is slow, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and made more significant by UK Government commitments at COP26 (The Guardian, 2021).

This mapping and localising the SDGs project tests the findings of our 2019 research against SDG 3 and SDG 12 in Tower Hamlets and Newham. A team of two trained Research Assistants and 6 upskilled UEL students conducted fieldwork with local partners in these boroughs.

Project goals

The project:

Increased awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) amidst grassroots community organisations in Newham and Tower Hamlets.
Created a set of new indicators to capture the human and cultural capital that are enabling the progress in the 'leave no one behind' ambition of the SDGs.
Indicated the need for a team of trained confident student ambassadors to support and mentor grassroots organisations into framing their work within the SDGs.

Funded by UEL London Scholars and ELISA (2018, 2022)

BRICKFIELD NEWHAM

Brickfield Newham was a multi-disciplinary community research project that drew local attention to historical brickfield sites of the borough, their labour histories and their role in shaping our present urban and domestic infrastructures.

Brickfield Newham was an invitation to couple the humble brick and its pervasive presence in our environment to the soil under our feet and to reconsider how our lived urban experiences are underpinned by this mundane but overlooked object. The project was a collaboration between University of East London, Brickfield (Cornwall), and the V&A museum (VARI and V&A East) encompassing the disciplines of design, performance, history, traditional crafts and urban space.

Communities, university students, artists and scholars worked together through brickmaking, design and performance workshops; the building and firing of a traditionally built kiln; the presentation of performances engendering discussions on the contemporary built environment; and conversations with local planners, architects, journalists and ceramic historians.

The social and physical nature of the project immersed participants in tactile, environmental and dialogic activities alleviating some of the stresses posed by the isolations of the pandemic. It was created by Lynne McCarthy (UEL), Georgia Haseldine (V&A) and Rosanna Martin (Brickfield).