Batey

Matthew

Batey

Ad-Hoc Expert

Generic Skills

B.1. Understanding of integrated and sustainable urban development:

An understanding of sustainable urban development started with a Masters (Environmental Science, Policy and Planning, University of Bath, UK) dissertation in the role of ecohome design for social housing projects, in particular the key requirements for residents to be fully engaged in the technologies used - e.g. rainwater collection, solar panels - in order for the users to adopt the technologies successfully into a more sustainable lifestyle. This concept and understanding I developed further in 4 years at London-based solar PV startup, focusing on optimising human interaction and engagement with new technologies and further still in Sustainability expert role for large architectural projects in Belgium and France at Boydens Engineering, working with some of the worlds pre-eminent architects, such as OMA. A sense that urban and building design still did not sufficiently account for variations in human behaviour affecting the success of urban sustainability strategies, I broadened my focus into neighbourhoods, researching flexible building use strategies within neighbourhoods, including the role of social media and urban games to improve the efficiency of buildings through shared use, ownership and occupancy strategies. This research included EU projects IREEN and ICT4E2B, along with IEA Task 24 reviewing and sharing findings of international urban energy and behaviour change programmes.

B.2. Understanding of exchange and learning processes at transnational level:

I've been involved in several EU transnational projects under FP7 and Horizon2020 and also IEA Task 24, which was an international networking project for the sharing of concepts in energy-saving and efficiency at residential, neighbourhood, city and national scales, including comparative assessment of findings, shortcomings and failures enabling sharing and exchange of experiences transnationally. The leading of workshops, information sessions and knowledge transfer processes, in particular relation to the spread of environmental best practices, is a core part of current work as a an auditor under schemes such as BREEAM-in-Use. These processes focus on educating building owners, managers and users on how they can improve the environmental performance of their properties through changes in day-to-day operations, rather than major renovation work. The approach is structured to engage users and management teams by recognising achievements and the value of their work before introducing new possibilities in an accessible step-by-step method. The experience I’ve had running these processes across Europe (in Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Austria and Slovakia) provides an excellent basis to structure the transnational knowledge exchange process required under a Lead Auditor role.

B.3. Proficiency in English:

English is my mother-tongue. Schooling, Batchelor, Master and Postgraduate education and 10 years of work experience completed in an English-spreaking environment (United Kingdom).

Expertise for the design and delivery of transnational exchange and learning activities:

Thematic expertise:

Theme / Policy:

Environmental Issues

Summary Thematic expertise:

My role as a BREEAM assessor, both for new urban construction projects and existing sites, especially large-scale retail, housing and offices, which I have actively pursued for 5 years since 2014, covers investigation of a wide range of environmental issues related to use of buildings, including energy, water and waste management, minimisation of local pollution (emissions, transport use, noise and littering) and global climate impacts, health impacts and biodiversity. As a voluntary industry benchmarking scheme, the assessments are seen as one step ahead of policy as a tool to lead innovation and development of best practices for reducing environmental impacts, encouraging their adoption and spread, simultaneously to inform policy development and to prepare the ground for uptake into policy and regulations. As an assessor the role is to support the client's learning process through use of the tool. This work is supported by knowledge gained during a Masters in Environmental Science, Policy and Planning, investigating a broad range of perspectives on the transition to sustainability, plus 10 years in sustainable design and construction. Further, I have drawn on this experience to investigate environmental impacts through circular approaches to material use both in construction and in several consumer goods sectors (food, textiles and packaging) as an expert consultant to strategy consultants Sustainability Consult, Brussels-based, but supporting a global client portfolio.