Thursday, 05 December 2024
Funding from the Royal Society will support a 3-year collaborative project between the University of Nottingham, UK, and Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
This initiative aims to advance sustainable road construction methods in South Africa, focusing on improving mobility and furthering inclusive economic growth in rural communities.
In South Africa, nearly 80 per cent of the road network consists of rural and low-volume roads. These roads face significant challenges, including limited materials for construction, low funding, and less maintenance compared to highways.
The project, led by Dr Anand Sreeram (UoN) and Dr. Elaine Goosen (Stellenbosch) will look at how some of these issues could be addressed by utilising locally sourced waste materials for road construction, creating a sustainable circular economy targeted at creating opportunities for small businesses and skills development in rural areas.
Developed countries, such as the UK, have successfully implemented circular economy frameworks in construction, utilising digital tools to manage material flows and overcome key market barriers, enhancing transparency and long-term value.
This research aims to bring these techniques to South African rural road applications. The project will combine the expertise of UK and South African partners in pavement engineering, waste recycling, digitisation, and circular economy to develop new methods.
The standardisation of such technology is expected to enhance rural mobility and economic participation in rural communities by allowing new businesses to enter the material supply and construction value chains.
This will ultimately help reduce poverty, enhance the quality of life for residents in these regions and provide a model that can be adopted in other developing countries.
The main objective of the project is to enable the development of rural infrastructure using technological innovation to overcome local barriers and enable social mobility.
“We are very excited to start this initiative as it is not often that we get to work on projects that can have such direct impact on improving the lives of people.”
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More information is available from Dr Anand Sreeram on Anand.Sreeram@nottingham.ac.uk
Faith Pring - Media Relations Manager
Email: faith.pring@nottingham.ac.uk
Phone: 0115 748 4411
Location: University of Nottingham, University Park
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About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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