The IAQM is pleased to invite you to our launch event for our new guidance on how odour should be considered in the planning process. The launch of the guidance represents the culmination of an 18 month process by IAQM members to prepare the document and consult with its membership on its content. We are holding an afternoon event with three speakers talking about very different aspects of how odours affect our environment as well as full details of the IAQM guidance itself. The programme for the event is:

2.00  Coffee & Networking

2.30  Welcome and Introduction - Roger Barrowcliffe (IAQM Chair)

2.40  Introduction to the IAQM Guidance on Assessment of Odour for Planning – Dr Michael Bull, Dr Jon Pullen (IAQM)
This presentation will describe why the guidance is needed, how it was prepared and give a general overview of the content concentrating on how we anticipate it will be used in the planning process. Michael Bull led the group preparing the document and was the editor for the document. Jon Pullen is one of the main contributors to the guidance. Both are experienced environmental scientists who specialise in the assessment of odours and have many years of experience of odour assessment.

3.10  Noise for the Nose - the prevalence of olfactory marketing and why smell doesn’t always equal sell - Prask Sutton (Chief Innovation Officer at 76msma)
Once upon a time, scent marketing was restricted to the likes of ‘new car smell’ and theme parks, but over the past two decades, it has found its way into practically every market segment imaginable.  The notion that “smell sells” is often evangelised by those selling and buying into the concept, but the opinions of the consumer are not always considered.  Our lives have become saturated in scent, but at what cost to the bottom line of businesses and the quality of life of the general public?  This talk will consider how brands can learn lessons from the idea of odour neutrality – the so called “non-scents” approach being taken in several towns and cities across North America – and avoid the inevitable backlash from olfactory overkill.

Prask Sutton is Chief Innovation Officer at 76msma, an innovations agency catering primarily to the marketing and advertising sector.  He has worked in the industry for almost two decades and been involved in multisensory marketing and advertising for nearly fifteen.

3.40  Fragrant Cities – Bridging the gap between Environmental Odour Practices and more positive roles for smell in city life - Dr Victoria Henshaw (Dept. of Town and Regional Planning, University of Sheffield)
Environmental odour, as we know, can be a great source of annoyance, displeasure and discomfort. Yet the service and leisure sectors are currently experiencing something of an ‘olfactory turn’ with smells being used increasingly frequently in enhancing customer experiences of commercial environments and brand identity, with related odours spilling out into city streets. This talk will draw from research involving smellwalks with built environment professionals in British, European and North American cities to explore the smells that people currently detect in cities, what they think about them and to argue for more positive roles for smell in the city. The talk will ask how we might we go about bridging the gap between environmental odour practices and the creation of more sensory urban environments, and will include a small selection of city smell samples and scratch-and-sniff books to activate your olfactory receptors and test your smell genetics.

Victoria Henshaw is Lecturer in Urban Design and Planning at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses upon experiences, perceptions and the design of cities and buildings according to the senses and in particular, the sense of smell. Victoria leads smellwalks with people in cities around the world, is currently working on a Global Smell Map, writes a regular blog on ‘Smell and the City’ and is author of the recently published book ‘Urban Smellscapes: Understanding and Designing City Smell Environments’.

Spaces are limited and only those attendees who have booked will be admitted. Booking is free and can be done by contacting Ruth Bowyer, 020 7730 5516.  Priority will be given to IAQM members.