Putting the DSH to the test: First external users given access to pioneering environmental toolkit
This week, the NERC Digital Gathering 2025 at Cranfield University played host to an exciting milestone: the first public-facing user testing session for the NERC Digital Solutions Hub (DSH). Delegates at the conference were invited to take part in a hands-on workshop led by Dr Maura Halstead, and Professor Richard Kingston, Director of the NERC Digital Solutions Hub, who introduced the online toolkit and its pioneering potential to revolutionise planning and policy through improved environmental data access. The DSH has been developed by academics and technical experts from The University of Manchester and has been informed by over two years of user research.
The workshop
Participants were given exclusive access to the Climate Ready Nation (CRN) use case – the first of two main use cases within the Hub which will enable users to explore the Hub’s potential applications. The CRN use case empowers users to search for, visualise and analyse NERC’s environmental data along with other social, economic and health data to inform planning and policy decisions. From aiding the user to identify optimal locations for building 1.5 million new homes, or applying the same methods to other decision making problems – such as evaluating current and projected flood risk zones – the use case offers users the opportunity to simplify complex datasets into actionable insights. Users can select a locality, visualise key data layers, run environmental analyses and export them seamlessly for further analysis — accelerating planning and policy development.
The workshop also showcased the Hub’s AI-powered search and discovery tool, a standout feature that was highlighted as being highly desired by users during the user research. Leveraging large language models (LLMs) and retrieval augmented generation (RAG) technologies, this feature allows users to search for datasets using natural language—making it easier than ever to uncover hard-to-find resources and even discover datasets they didn’t know existed.
“I’ve been looking for environmental data sets but they’re all from different sources so it takes time to find them. It’s great to have one central tool where I can access a wide range of environmental data sets so easily.”
User-testing workshop participant, October 2025
What’s to come?
Over the next few months there will be further opportunity to explore the Healthy Nation use case. This use case links NERC’s environmental data to Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) – 12-digit unique identifiers assigned to every addressable location in Great Britain, from buildings to objects like bus shelters. By mapping data such as noise and air pollution at the neighbourhood level, the Healthy Nation use case enables smarter planning and supports improved health and environmental outcomes across the UK.
This inaugural real-world user testing session at the NERC Digital Gathering 2025 marks just a taste of what is to come, as the DSH team prepares to share their innovations with communities and organisations across the country. We are working with Open Data Manchester once again in running a series of user testing events over the winter – make sure that you are signed up to our mailing list for further updates on how to sign up for these sessions. The Hub is set to officially launch next year as an open-access online toolkit available to all.
Discover more about the DSH: who it’s for, how it will add value to policy and planning, and the types of powerful data sets it brings together.
