Innovative Measurement Tool towards Urban Environmental Awareness Erasmus Project

Project Title

Innovative Measurement Tool towards Urban Environmental Awareness

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Social dialogue; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

In European cities the threats of climate change become crucial for city development and human safety. Even though, cities are becoming more and more experienced with new approach to local adaptation planning, there are still clear barriers such as: 1) limited availability of up-to-date data about local conditions, 2) lack of awareness and civic attitude of ignorance towards climate change and its impact on wellbeing and local conditions in our streets and neighborhoods, lack of public interest, and finally 3) lack of interdisciplinary approaches and public actions to solve local problems and the inability to select the optimal solutions from the set of alternative actions.

These barriers can be removed by introducing a new holistic, interdisciplinary approach based on a combination of technical and engineering skills, art & design and social sciences, supported with IT solutions and storytelling. The IMPETUS project – a new solution, was the succession of long term cooperation of project partners who did projects and workshops together, have a constant cooperation with different bodies engaged in climate change issues and their specific experience and knowledge in the field of climate change.

The IMPETUS project is based on holistic approach (technical, social, art, visual) supported by IT solutions to enable vulnerability assessment, to support the decision making process, enhance public participation and improve adaptation planning. The methodology will be used both for education and research purposes.

The aim of this project is to: 1. Create awareness about climate change related vulnerabilities and challenges at local level among target groups; 2. Integrate the challenges of climate change in the curricula of different faculties and disciplines of EU HEI’s to increase awareness as well as to equip students & staff with innovative methodology combining social, technical and visual ones for acquiring data about climate vulnerabilities; 3. Develop a sustainable relationship and continue an active international cooperation between the partners.

The project is dedicated to following target groups: 1) students, researchers, teaching staff of Water management, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Urban planning, Transport planning, Architecture, Arts and communication and Social sciences; 2) civil servants and decision makers; 3) experts, specialists, practitioners involved in any wide range adaptation or mitigation activities; 4) citizens of the urban areas.

The project is also supported by the international group of Associated Partners who will cooperate as an advisory board with Project Partners, but also expect the projects results to implement them into their activities and will support dissemination of the project results.

The IMPETUS will unite two methods of collecting and analysis of data: an engineering Climatecafe.nl and a visual Sketch&Draw.com. It is based on an online database (improved ClimateScan.nl), which will be an open one, related to a map, used for collecting, analysis, visualization of data. The input will cover engineering, visual and social data such as water and air pollution, floods, heat stress, ideasketches, storytelling, human wellbeing ect. Measurement procedures will be elaborated to unify the measures and to make datasets comparable. Games and apps will be added to support promotion of innovative pedagogies and methods for teaching, learning and assessment and to encourage educators and learners to use digital technologies in creative, collaborative and efficient way. For academic staff teaching guidelines will be submitted to show flexible way of using methodology and tools for teaching students of different disciplines. Finally, the manual in English, with description of the IMPETUS methodology, all project outputs and guidelines for target groups will be elaborated.

The academic staff and students will participate in 4 international intensive courses held in partners countries to test the single results as well as the whole methodology, verify teachnig guidelines and readibility of the manual and gain new skills and knowledge.
The final project results will be presented on 6 local seminaries (Mutiplier events) held at each partners country and available to target groups online by the project webpage.
All aprtenrs will implement elements or the whole IMPETUS to syllabus or modules or subjects.

IMPETUS implementation will enable to:
– improve HEIs curricula and gaining by students new soft skills and multidisciplinary knowledge about climate changes and its local impact, to boost opportunities for young people at labor market (target group 1);
– increase awareness among citizens by making them interested and active (target groups 2 and 4);
– produce better diagnosis of local conditions, comparable datasets, gaining knowledge from other case studies (target groups 2,3,4);
– exchange of specific scientific knowlededge and business experience (target groups 1,3)

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 448805 Eur

Project Coordinator

POLITECHNIKA GDANSKA & Country: PL

Project Partners

• UNIVERSIDADE DE COIMBRA
• UNIVERSITAET KLAGENFURT
• HANZEHOGESCHOOL GRONINGEN STICHTING
• STICHTING HOGESCHOOL ROTTERDAM
• Fachhochschule Graubünden