Published: 11 February 2025
A network of engineers, policymakers, industry stakeholders and social scientists, including City St George's, University of London, will take on one of the UK’s most overlooked environmental challenges: noise pollution.
From the constant hum of road traffic to the thousands of flights in and out of UK airports, noise awareness in our modern world often fades into the background – but it carries significant consequences for both human health and wildlife.
Over the next 10–15 years, Noise Network Plus will focus on promoting conscious design processes to create quieter products, buildings and transportation systems, with the aim of reducing noise pollution and building a healthier environment.
Stepping-up mitigation efforts
Professor Charlotte Clark from City St George's Population Health Research Institute is a key expert in the group who will work to tackle the problem, thanks to a £1.8m grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
"This is a rare and timely opportunity to form multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teams to develop engineering solutions addressing the problem of noise effects on health. We know that noise effects health, but we know little about how to mitigate the problem. The missions developed in the Noise Network Plus have the potential to step up mitigation efforts that will translate into major, long-term public health gains.”
- Professor Charlotte Clark, Professor of Environmental Epidemiology at City St George's -
Neglected pollutant
The initiative is led by the University of Surrey. Professor Mark Plumbley, project lead and Professor of Signal Processing at the University of Surrey’s Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing, said:
“Noise is a frequently neglected pollutant, but it has a big impact on health, society and the environment. For example, road noise can lead to sleep disturbance and heart disease, costing £7-10 billion each year in England alone. Once noise is out there, it is really hard to remove. We need to re-think how we design noise from the start.”
Noise Network Plus is one of six research projects to receive a share of £10 million from the EPSRC. Together they form part of its wider community engagement initiative to address ‘Tomorrow’s Engineering Research Challenges’, launched today (11th February), which focuses on tackling the most pressing issues facing the engineering sector.
A collaboration between the University of Surrey, City St George's, University of London, the University of Bath, and the University of Salford, Noise Network Plus aims to build unprecedented research capabilities to tackle the complex challenge of reducing noise and its impacts on people, the environment and the economy. Bringing together diverse teams and stakeholders, the initiative will promote inclusive dialogue and co-design innovative solutions.
The launch of Noise Network Plus will take place on 18th March at Prince Philip House, London, the home of the Royal Academy of Engineering. The event will bring together a cross-section of people from engineering and other disciplines including researchers, industry, professional institutions, policymakers, charities, and other stakeholders, to identify the challenges that need to be addressed, and plan how the Network can work to address these challenges.
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