Addressing opportunities and challenges in our built and natural environments requires a collaborative approach to research and knowledge exchange. This is why over 60 researchers from Edinburgh’s two largest universities work in a multidisciplinary alliance across architecture, landscape architecture, planning and the built environment.
Who is involved in the alliance? The Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA) at the University of Edinburgh, and the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS) at Heriot-Watt University. Together, we occupy a unique and prominent position in Scotland, the UK and internationally.
What is our vision? Our vision is to be a vibrant locus of creativity and invention. The breadth of our expertise is unparalleled across the lifecycle of the built and natural environments – design, production, regulation and usage – and in addressing future drivers for change.
What do we do? Multidisciplinary research at a range of scales, postgraduate-level teaching and stakeholder-focused knowledge exchange. See our research booklets for many examples.
- ESA Research Booklet 2017 (PDF)
- ESA Research Booklet 2018 (PDF)
- ESA Research Booklet 2019 (PDF)
- ESA Research Booklet 2020 (PDF)
Who do we work with? We are part of a large community spanning two major research universities. The Edinburgh Strategic Alliance (previously the Edinburgh Knowledge Environment Partnership) is our dedicated network for collaborating with the world beyond academia, including community groups, schools, industry, practitioners and all levels of government.
What have we achieved? In 2014, we made a joint submission to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) in Architecture, Built Environment and Planning (Unit of Assessment 16). This joint submission was ranked first in Scotland, and second in the UK, on the comprehensive research power measure (reflecting our volume of world-leading and internationally excellent research).
We scored strongly on the impact of our research and the quality of our world class research environment. Two-thirds of research outputs were ranked as world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*).
Images: top – Participatory mapping. Image courtesy Ryan Woolrych.;middle – John Brennan, Out of Town. Credit: Stephanie Crane;
bottom – Metal sculpting as performance: Image courtesy Richard Coyne.
Edinburgh Strategic Alliance • ESALA & EGIS
[Formerly Edinburgh Knowledge Exchange Partnership]
Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society