Building Smart, Sustainable and Green City (SSG) Capacity through a Systems-Led Civic and International Partnership Platform

Description of impact

Since 2013, Dr Vahid Javidroozi’s research on smart city systems, digital transformation, systems thinking and sustainable urban governance has been translated into Smart Cities collaborative research and then to Smart Cities Working Group, and later in 2021 into the Smart, Sustainable and Green cities (SSG) Research Alliance at Birmingham City University, now known as SSG STEAM Hub. The SSG has become a platform for converting research into real-world engagement, partnership formation, capacity building, funded collaboration, and civic and international impact.
The impact has developed through a clear causal chain:
research on smart city systems and digital transformation
→ formation of the SSG Research Alliance
→ internal and external workshops, CPDs and public engagement
→ civic partnerships in East Birmingham, Tyseley/Hay Mills and the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter
→ British Council-funded international engagement
→ SSG-Bridge UK–India collaboration
→ India and UK symposia, ECR/student projects, paper submissions and feasibility work
→ senior-level BCU–India/LPU collaboration, MoU, joint PhD/TNE pathways and future funding pipeline.
This is not a single-project impact. It is a platform impact: the SSG research programme created the intellectual, organisational and partnership infrastructure through which multiple external organisations, civic bodies, universities, students, ECRs and international partners have been engaged, enabled and mobilised.
Underpinning research
The underpinning research advances a systems-based approach to smart, sustainable and green city development. It challenges narrow technology-led understandings of smart cities and instead frames cities as complex systems-of-systems involving people, processes, data, technologies, governance structures, infrastructure, communities and institutions.
The research draws on Dr Javidroozi’s work on business process change, enterprise systems, digital transformation, smart city development and systems thinking. It argues that urban transformation requires more than isolated digital tools or sustainability interventions; it requires integrated governance, cross-sector collaboration, participatory design, and alignment between technological innovation and social, environmental and economic outcomes.
Key research insights include:
1. Smart cities should be understood as socio-technical systems rather than technology deployments.
2. Sustainable and green urban transformation requires integration across sectors such as energy, transport, buildings, environment, public services, communities and economic development.
3. Universities can act as anchor institutions and systems integrators, convening civic, industrial, academic and community partners around complex place-based challenges.
4. Participatory and creative methods, including LEGO Serious Play and co-design workshops, can help diverse stakeholders develop shared understanding of complex urban futures.
5. Digital transformation for net zero cities must balance people, processes, technologies and data, rather than prioritising technology alone.
These research principles shaped the SSG Alliance, its CPDs, public engagement activities, funded projects and international collaborations. The SSG Alliance became the mechanism through which the research moved from academic frameworks into civic and international practice.
What led to what: causal impact pathway
The first stage was the establishment of the SSG Research Alliance in 2018. This provided a cross-disciplinary platform for academics across computing, engineering, built environment, sustainability, digital transformation and urban studies to collaborate around smart, sustainable and green city challenges.
The second stage was internal and external capacity building. Through workshops, Innovation Festival activities and CPDs, the research was translated into accessible frameworks for staff, students, civic partners and external stakeholders. The CPDs created a pathway for research capability building, including support for staff with limited publication experience, leading to collaborative outputs and further research development.
The third stage was regional civic engagement. SSG activities created visibility and trust with local partners, including Birmingham City Council, Tyseley Energy Park, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, community organisations, schools and regional innovation actors. The East Birmingham and Tyseley/Hay Mills work used SSG thinking to explore how smart, sustainable and green principles could support regeneration, net zero, green infrastructure, community empowerment and inclusive placemaking.
The Innovation Festival workshop on East Birmingham acted as a major catalyst. It brought together academic, civic, community, educational and commercial stakeholders and used LEGO Serious Play to develop shared understanding of smart, sustainable and green regeneration challenges. This helped move the SSG agenda from abstract research into place-based co-design.
The fourth stage was strategic city-region positioning through the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter. SSG provided a systems lens for understanding the Knowledge Quarter not simply as an economic development initiative, but as an innovation district that must connect research, sustainability, digital transformation, inclusion, skills, enterprise and place-based value. SSG-related engagement with BKQ has contributed to strategy-to-action discussions, future student involvement, PhD development and partnership building across BCU, civic bodies and external actors.
The fifth stage was international recognition. The SSG platform and its research agenda contributed to Dr Javidroozi’s British Council-funded invitation to the Resilient Planet conference in India. His contributions on systems-led smart, sustainable and green cities were ranked strongly and helped position BCU as a credible partner in UK–India collaboration on urban resilience.
The sixth stage was funded international collaboration. The British Council Resilient Planet opportunity directly led to the successful SSG-Bridge award: Enhancing Urban Resilience and Sustainability through UK–India Collaboration. SSG-Bridge formalised collaboration between BCU, Lovely Professional University, MBCIE and other Indian partners, focusing on smart, sustainable and green cities, urban resilience, feasibility studies, ECR development, international knowledge exchange and collaborative research.
The seventh stage was delivery and scaling through symposia and projects. The India symposium in September 2025 brought together researchers, policymakers, industry representatives and community stakeholders. It included keynote contributions, comparative Birmingham–Ludhiana learning, policy and civic perspectives, and a LEGO Serious Play workshop led by Dr Javidroozi. The symposium created ECR teams and research themes that continued beyond the event.
The UK SSG-Bridge Symposium on 23–24 June 2026 at Birmingham City University acted as the capstone event. It brought together BCU senior leaders, Indian delegates, academics, civic stakeholders, industry participants, students and ECRs. It showcased student and ECR projects, supported the conversion of project work into paper submissions, and created a foundation for future funding applications.
The eighth stage was senior strategic consolidation. On 25 June 2026, senior BCU colleagues and Indian delegates met to discuss the next phase of collaboration. This moved the impact beyond events and outputs into institutional partnership infrastructure: MoU development/signing, joint PhD supervision, TNE opportunities, Establishing International Centre of Smart, Sustainable and Green Cities at LPU, India, future funding applications and longer-term collaboration. Dr Javidroozi’s honorary adjunct professorship from LPU further evidences recognition of his leadership and the strategic value of the SSG collaboration.
Nature of impact
The impact is visible across five dimensions.
1. Civic and place-based impact
SSG has strengthened BCU’s civic role by creating a research-informed platform for engaging with East Birmingham, Tyseley/Hay Mills, Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, local schools, community organisations, environmental partners and innovation actors. It has enabled stakeholders to explore smart, sustainable and green regeneration through participatory and systems-based approaches.
2. International partnership and capacity-building impact
SSG-Bridge created a structured UK–India collaboration platform focused on urban resilience and sustainability. It developed ECR capability, supported collaborative research teams, enabled cross-country knowledge exchange, and created the basis for future joint PhDs, TNE activity and funded research.
3. Student and ECR development impact
SSG-Bridge and related SSG activities created opportunities for students and ECRs to work on real-world smart, sustainable and green city challenges. Their projects have been developed into paper submissions and future collaborative research outputs. This extends impact into capacity, opportunity, professional development and international collaboration.
4. Institutional and strategic impact
The SSG platform has helped BCU demonstrate leadership in smart, sustainable and green cities, aligned with STEAM, civic engagement, internationalisation, research development and partnership-building agendas. It has contributed to strategic conversations with LPU, BKQ, Cisco, Howells, National Highways and other partners.
5. Future funding and innovation pipeline impact
SSG has generated a pipeline of funding applications and collaboration opportunities. These include UK–India follow-on projects, BKQ-related PhD and strategy work, Howells/digital twin collaboration, Cisco/KTP development, National Highways projects, East Birmingham/Tyseley funding opportunities, and future ECR-led publications and bids.
Reach and significance
The reach of this impact is local, regional and international.
Locally and regionally, SSG has engaged Birmingham-based civic, community, education, environmental and industry stakeholders. It has contributed to place-based discussions in East Birmingham, Tyseley/Hay Mills and the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter.
Internationally, SSG-Bridge has connected BCU with Indian academic, civic and industry partners, particularly LPU and MBCIE, and has supported UK–India knowledge exchange around smart, sustainable and green cities.
The significance lies in the fact that SSG has changed capacity, opportunity and partnership infrastructure. It has not simply disseminated research; it has created new collaborative teams, funded activity, public engagement, international symposia, ECR development, paper submissions, senior institutional agreements and future collaboration pathways.
Beneficiary-level impact: what changed because SSG existed?
The SSG STEAM Hub, changed SSG-Bridge from a short-term funded collaboration into a wider partnership platform connecting universities, civic stakeholders, industry, early career researchers, students, communities and policy-facing organisations across the UK and India. Without SSG, the activities could have remained fragmented: a British Council project, a university partnership, a small number of workshops, individual papers and separate institutional conversations. Because SSG already existed as a cross-disciplinary and systems-led platform, these activities were brought together under a coherent strategic agenda: using research, education, innovation and civic collaboration to support smart, sustainable and green urban futures.
Change for Birmingham City University
For BCU, SSG created an institutional platform through which dispersed expertise in smart cities, sustainability, digital transformation, systems thinking, infrastructure, governance, enterprise and community engagement could be connected and presented as a coordinated university offer.
SSG helped BCU move from individual collaborations to a recognised platform for interdisciplinary research, civic engagement, international partnership, student development, enterprise and impact generation. It strengthened BCU’s capacity to coordinate complex partnerships involving universities, city stakeholders, industry partners, communities, students and early career researchers.
Through SSG-Bridge, BCU’s relationship with Lovely Professional University and Indian partners developed from a general institutional relationship into a focused strategic collaboration around smart, sustainable and green cities. This created a basis for MoU renewal, joint PhD supervision, staff and student engagement, possible TNE development, future collaborative bids and discussion of an LPU SSG Sister Centre of Excellence linked to the BCU SSG Hub.
SSG also strengthened BCU’s civic role by connecting international learning with local priorities in Birmingham, including Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, Birmingham City Council, East Birmingham, Tyseley/Hay Mills, community-facing organisations, schools and industry partners. This positioned BCU not only as a producer of research, but as a civic convenor able to translate research into partnership, dialogue and place-based innovation.
The recognition of the SSG Research Alliance as the SSG STEAM Hub created continuity beyond the SSG-Bridge award. It gives BCU a visible institutional vehicle for future work on smart, sustainable and green cities, including international collaboration, city partnerships, industry engagement, student projects, doctoral development, research bids and policy-facing activity.
In short, SSG helped BCU move from scattered expertise to a coordinated institutional platform for smart, sustainable and green cities.
Change for Lovely Professional University (LPU)
For LPU, SSG created a pathway from being a project partner to becoming a long-term strategic collaborator with BCU around smart, sustainable and green cities.
Through SSG-Bridge, LPU gained a structured international collaboration platform linked to BCU’s SSG Hub rather than a one-off academic exchange. The partnership enabled LPU to engage with UK academic, civic, city and industry networks; co-deliver India and UK symposium activities; support early career researcher development; conducting live student projects, contribute to joint paper development; and explore future research, education and institutional collaboration.
A major change is that LPU is now part of a more formal and sustainable partnership trajectory with BCU, including MoU renewal, the SSG Sister Centre of Excellence, joint PhD pathways, staff and student engagement, and future collaborative bids. The honorary adjunct professorship awarded to Dr Vahid Javidroozi by LPU further evidences the deepening of this relationship and creates a continuing academic bridge between the two institutions.
In short, SSG helped LPU move from participation in a funded project to being part of a developing international SSG partnership ecosystem.
Change for MBCIE
For MBCIE, SSG created a clearer role within an international innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem focused on sustainable urban transformation.
Through SSG-Bridge, MBCIE became part of a wider UK–India collaboration connecting entrepreneurship, industry engagement, research, city challenges and community-facing innovation. The project helped position MBCIE as a bridge between academic expertise, local enterprise, civic stakeholders and industry needs in India.
Because SSG provided the strategic framework, MBCIE’s role was connected to a broader agenda around smart, sustainable and green cities rather than only entrepreneurship in isolation. This strengthened opportunities for future feasibility work, industry-linked projects, innovation programmes, early career researcher engagement and applied research connected to real urban challenges.
In short, SSG helped MBCIE become part of a broader international, city-focused innovation platform.
Change for early career researchers
For early career researchers, SSG-Bridge created a structured development pathway connecting training, mentoring, international exposure, collaborative research and publication opportunities.
ECRs were not only invited to attend events. They were actively supported through mentorship, workshops, research discussions, symposium presentations and paper development. Their projects were shaped, reviewed and strengthened through the SSG-Bridge process, with the intention of converting symposium work into publishable outputs and future research opportunities.
The change for ECRs was therefore significant: they moved from isolated research activity into an international research community. They gained access to UK and India networks, senior academic feedback, interdisciplinary perspectives, symposium visibility, authorship development and potential future pathways into PhD supervision, joint publications and collaborative funding.
In short, SSG changed ECR involvement from attendance into capacity-building, visibility and career development.
Change for Birmingham Knowledge Quarter
For Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, SSG created a route to connect a major Birmingham place-based regeneration agenda with an international smart, sustainable and green cities conversation.
Through SSG-Bridge, BKQ was connected to colleagues from Ludhiana and India around shared urban challenges, including sustainable development, innovation districts, governance, community engagement, digital transformation and place-based delivery. This created an opportunity for mutual learning between Birmingham and Ludhiana.
SSG also helped position BKQ not only as a local regeneration initiative, but as a potential living lab for smart, sustainable and green urban innovation. It created a stronger connection between BKQ, BCU academic expertise, international partners and wider city stakeholders. The discussions around BKQ also linked to future opportunities for digital governance, innovation ecosystem development, skills, community engagement and applied research.
In short, SSG helped BKQ become part of a broader research-informed and internationally connected urban innovation agenda.
Change for Birmingham City Council and city stakeholders
For Birmingham City Council and wider city stakeholders, SSG provided an academic and partnership platform through which local urban priorities could be connected to international knowledge exchange and research-led innovation.
The SSG-Bridge project helped bring city challenges into dialogue with academic research, industry experience, civic priorities and international examples from India. This created opportunities for shared learning around smart cities, sustainability, Net Zero, resilience, community engagement and urban transformation.
Rather than treating city problems as purely technical or policy issues, SSG framed them as systems challenges requiring collaboration across sectors. This helped create a more integrated conversation between the university, city partners, regeneration actors, community-facing organisations and international stakeholders.
In short, SSG helped city stakeholders access a cross-disciplinary research and innovation platform that can support future place-based collaboration, policy engagement, pilot projects and funding opportunities.
Change for schools, students and educational communities
For schools, students and educational communities, SSG created routes for engagement with real-world sustainability, digital transformation and future city challenges.
The SSG agenda helped connect research and education to practical urban problems. Through the wider SSG-Bridge ecosystem, students and early-stage researchers were exposed to international collaboration, applied research questions, interdisciplinary working and the importance of connecting technology with people, place, sustainability and communities.
At university level, SSG created opportunities for students and researchers to engage with live challenges around smart, sustainable and green cities. At wider community and school-facing levels, the SSG approach provides a foundation for future engagement with young people, schools and local communities around climate action, urban resilience, energy, mobility, wellbeing and sustainable futures.
In short, SSG helped turn smart city research into an educational and capacity-building opportunity rather than keeping it only within academic or technical spaces.
Change for communities
For communities, SSG helped shift the conversation from technology-led smart cities to people-centred, place-based and community-aware urban transformation.
A key message from the SSG-Bridge symposium and workshops was that technology alone will not create sustainable cities. People, governance, communities, infrastructure, policy, education, enterprise and research must come together. This framing is important because it prevents smart city work from becoming purely technical or top-down.
Through SSG, community voices and community-facing organisations were brought into discussions about sustainability, resilience, inclusion, urban futures and local impact. Communities were not treated only as passive beneficiaries of research; they were positioned as part of the wider system that needs to shape urban change.
In short, SSG helped make community relevance, social value and place-based impact central to the smart, sustainable and green cities agenda.
Change for industry partners
For industry partners, including Hero Cycles and other innovation-facing organisations, SSG created a route to engage with academic expertise, city stakeholders and international collaboration around sustainability and future urban systems.
Industry partners were able to connect practical challenges and innovation interests with research expertise, systems thinking, sustainability, Net Zero, digital transformation and urban policy discussions. This moved the conversation beyond individual products or organisational priorities towards wider questions of sustainable mobility, responsible innovation, place-based impact and future city systems.
SSG also created opportunities for industry partners to engage with universities, city partners, early career researchers and civic stakeholders in one shared space. This opens routes to future feasibility studies, applied research, student projects, innovation pilots, knowledge exchange and funding applications.
In short, SSG helped industry partners become part of a broader research, innovation and impact ecosystem around smart, sustainable and green cities.
Proposed impact statement
Dr Javidroozi’s SSG research has moved beyond academic debate to create a functioning civic and international collaboration platform for smart, sustainable and green urban transformation. Through SSG, research on systems thinking, digital transformation and sustainable cities has enabled external partners to co-design place-based solutions, supported ECRs and students to develop research outputs from real-world challenges, strengthened BCU’s role in Birmingham’s innovation ecosystem, and generated a UK–India partnership infrastructure with continuing outputs, MoU development, joint PhD supervision, TNE opportunities and future funding pipelines.

Impact date	2021
Category of impact	Societal impacts, Environmental impacts, Technological impacts, Economic impacts, Policy
Impact level	Benefit