Trees form a critical component of green infrastructure (GI) and provide a wide range of ecosystem services to urban dwellers. However, these valuable services are at risk of being compromised through limited species diversity, inappropriate species selection, impoverished growth environments, and high tree mortality rates in urban areas. Provision of many of these ecosystem services relies on healthy trees and their value often scales with tree size, necessitating tree development to maturity and continued health: trees must thrive, not simply survive. Despite the centrality of appropriate species selection to the successful delivery of GI schemes, there remains scant guidance for the many actors involved in their establishment. The outcome of this guidance deficit is that urban planners, landscape architects and local authority officers rely heavily on a narrow range of 'traditional' species. This constrains urban forest biodiversity, encourages a plant nursery sector that is only incentivised to supply a narrow range of species and diminishes the resilience of our urban forests to future threats. Providing tree species selection guidance, underpinned by science and available to all communities tasked with delivering GI projects, has the capacity to transform the long term security of associated ecosystem services. Identifying a range of species that are suitable for different GI scenarios will give those specifying plantings the confidence to try new species, broaden the expectation of diverse plant material from nurseries and act to increase the resilience of vital green infrastructure schemes. Therefore the primary objective of this project is to develop a decision support tool and guidance for built environment professionals to aid species selection of trees used in urban environments. To ensure that the final outcomes of the project meet the stakeholder requirements, an initial focus group will invite Trees in Design Action Group (TDAG) members to establish the needs of the sector and identify current practice. This will include current species recommendations for contrasting urban planting scenarios (e.g. paved sites, parks, green bridges, rain gardens and streets). TDAG members represent the widest possible range of stakeholders in this sector, including but not limited to urban planners, landscape architects, local authorities, educators and private companies. Further, as TDAG membership is free, there are no boundaries to engagement with this process. Once stakeholder needs have been confirmed (by April 2016), the academic project partners will strategically evaluate nominated plant material. This will be made available by two of the largest nurseries supplying material to the UK's urban forest (eg. Barcham Trees) as well as several botanical gardens (eg. Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew). Since physiological drought tolerance is a requirement of many urban sites, the leaf turgor loss point will be quantified in approximately 100 species, to supplement existing published ecological data such as shade and flood tolerance. Synthesis of the data collected and developing a draft tree selection guidance will be the task of a KE Fellow who will be seconded to TDAG (October 2016 to June 2017). Knowledge exchange will be further supported by a series of seminars across the UK to seek feedback on the findings (August to November 2017) and assess likely project recommendations. The final project outcome will be a written guidance document (and online audio-visual lectures) that will be freely available via the TDAG website to all TDAG members and any other interested parties. This document / website will be updated yearly to reflect the availability of new information, as part of the core aims of TDAG.

"Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to Public Health in the UK" [DEFRA, 2017]. Air pollution in the West Midlands affects some 2.8 million people, reducing average life expectancy by up to 6 months, and is responsible for economic costs estimated at £860m per year. Air quality is therefore a key priority for local and regional government, and increasingly the general public, with further emphasis arising from the "Diesel-gate" emissions scandal, and ongoing High Court challenges to the Government's Air Quality strategy. Historically, local air quality policy has been the responsibility of the individual Local Authorities. However, air pollution does not respect political boundaries, and the 2016 formation of the West Midlands Combined Authority will lead to an integrated approach to air pollution, under the Second Devolution Deal for the West Midlands (2017). In parallel, the NHS Sustainability Transformation Trust is bringing an integrated approach to health and social care provision - with air quality a core priority. This gives rise to a unique and timely opportunity to translate environmental science research expertise into regional policy and interventions to reduce air pollution. The University of Birmingham group has critical mass, international research expertise and NERC track record in air pollution, and its health and economic impacts. We have a history of links with regional partners, ranging from commissioned work and joint research projects to informal collaborations. Accordingly, we have developed the West Midlands Air Quality Improvement Programme (WMAQIP), through a co-design process alongside regional stakeholders including the WMCA / Mayor of the West Midlands, Local Authorities, private companies, industry sector bodies and third sector organisations, to deliver: -Situational awareness (understanding of air pollution levels and sources), e.g. applied to refinement of the Birmingham Clean Air Zone and design of future interventions in Coventry, avoiding over £5m annual costs plus benefits to visitors / commuters working in the cities. -Predictive Capability to evaluate AQ policy options, in comparison with business as usual predictions, for pollution levels, health and economic impacts - identifying interventions to achieve Birmingham City Council's goal of halving AQ-related mortality by 2030 (750 deaths/yr and £170m annual costs avoided); avoiding additional healthcare costs of £600m required under business-as-usual scenarios, and informing allocation of recurrent and one-off intra-city transport investment of £250m. -Application of the resulting capability to specific policy scenarios - including infrastructure design around the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games to deliver improved air quality, understanding the air quality consequences of future vehicle fleet evolution to electric vehicles, and optimising air quality co-benefits from green infrastructure for HS2 development. WMAQIP directly addresses the UK Industrial Strategy grand challenge of Clean Growth, which commits the Government to "create a future where our cities benefit from cleaner air", and the Infrastructure foundation of productivity, which identifies a determination to "tackle air pollution and support affected areas, given the significant negative impact it has on public health, the economy and the environment." WMAQIP combines NERC research expertise with direct inputs from a range of partner organisations. The programme will deliver policy impact from application of environmental science applied to specific policy priorities through a cohort of Impact Fellows, physically embedded within stakeholder organisations to provide knowledge transfer and training, and hence lasting impact. Programme legacy will be maximised by formalising capabilities as tools which may be applied elsewhere, and actions to promote their dissemination.