Urban Climate Change Research Network for Higher Education: Climate-Resilient Design, Planning and Governance of Cities

UCCRN_edu is launched by world-leading HEIs members of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN, www.uccrn.org), an international consortium dedicated to foster multidisciplinary knowledge...

UCCRN_edu aims at overcoming existing gaps in education on climate-resilient urban planning, design and governance by establishing synergies with leading research and teaching institutions, as well as EU and international networks with relevant expertise in policy and governance dialogue with local governments and communities to streamline climate action in cities. The Partnership aims at developing an educational alliance to consolidate approaches, methods and tools developed by UCCRN_edu community in previous and ongoing research, innovation, knowledge-sharing and capacity building activities. These are translated in a series of open access educational materials, designed to train the next generation of urban climate leaders, able to navigate the complexity of the interconnected knowledge domains to foster urban climate action as hybrid and multidisciplinary new professionals, real factors of change in research, design and policymaking. The final goal is to equip both learners and trainers with the required skills to plan, design and govern climate-resilient cities, integrating urban adaptation and mitigation, and developing a holistic vision to identify and implement systemic transformation pathways across sectors.

The main activities include: - 7 Intensive study programmes for HE students shaped as co-design workshops with urban stakeholders and communities; - Students and Staff blended mobility across 3 Academic courses (level 6-8) implemented for 2 consecutive years (22/23, 23/24)), fostering multidisciplinary education for urban climate resilience;- 4 Short-term joint staff training events focused on innovative educational approach and tools; - - 10 Multiplier events to maximise impact and outreach at a global scale and the potential future employment of students in multiple sectors worldwide; - 6 Project Results with high dissemination and reuse potential, to support the UCCRN_edu learning process and the replicability of its educational approach; UCCRN- EDU Learning, Teaching and Training activities systematically integrated the multi-disciplinary knowledge background from partner institutions, mixing theoretical lectures, design experimentations, collaborative practices with local stakeholders and communities, dedicated training and internship involving Associated partners and external participants. A set of e-learning tools and Open Educational Resources have been designed as a comprehensive set of components to be exploited in a variety of contexts. The approach is based on two pillars: 1) to build sound research-based learning methods in which the specific areas of expertise of the 9 participating HEIs represent essential complementary factors; 2) to synthesize and made operational the acquired concepts as sound strategies and technical solutions to shape possible urban transformation pathways, co-designed with local stakeholders and communities through a close interaction and knowledge exchange in response to relevant identified urban challenges. UCCRN_edu is designed to facilitate the validation of transdisciplinary knowledge, skills and competences through a flexible credits’ recognition scheme, to foster the mainstreaming of climate resilience curricula internationally, , which have been also certified through the assignment of an Open Badge issued by UNINA (https://bestr.it/badge/show/4040?ln=en). The program has seen the participation of students with different backgrounds (climate science; geography; engineering, architecture and planning; social studies; ICTs), which acquired critical soft skills and key elements from the diverse disciplines through flexible and internationally recognized curricula, designed to meet individual priorities and develop key competences in various relevant sectors connected to climate action for cities. The educational methodology aimed at combining a strong theoretical background with practical skills and team-building capacities to effectively communicate with the variety of actors involved in urban transformation processes. The approach is based on two pillars: 1) to build sound research-based learning methods in which the specific areas of expertise of the 9 participating HEIs represent essential complementary factors; 2) to synthesize and made operational the acquired concepts as sound strategies and technical solutions to shape possible urban transformation pathways, co-designed with local stakeholders and communities through a close interaction and knowledge exchange in response to relevant identified urban challenges.

UCCRN_edu Project Results have been designed to support the desired outcome of innovating educational approaches in the field of climate-resilient design, planning and governance, and of building the foundation for a consolidated cooperation among participating HEIs. The successful implementation of project results also proof the role of UCCRN_edu as a relevant educational, research and experimentation environment which can successfully contribute to develop by 2025 a European Education Area around the topic of Climate-Resilient Urban Design, Planning and Governance. UCCRN_edu project results can be grouped in 4 main categories: 1. Educational resources R1 UCCRN_edu collaborative E-learning platform (E-learning platform) R5. Climate-Resilient Urban Planning, Design and Governance Handbook (Methodological framework for implementation) R6. UCCRN_edu MOOC (Massive Open On-line Course) 2. Dissemination, impact and outreach R2. Climate-Resilient Urban Planning, Design and Governance Guidance – Synthesis report for dissemination (Academic / scientific publication, w/Cambridge University Press) Students output 1. UCCRN_edu UDCW reports Students output 2. UCCRN- EDU Case Study Docking Station Students output 3. UCCRN_edu Blog posts 3. Operational tools for Climate-Resilient Urban Design, Planning and Governance R3. Climate-Resilient City board/card game (Educational game) R4. Climate- Resilient Urban Planning, Design and Governance Toolkit (Toolkit) Key expected outcomes include the reuse of the Project Results by a wide range of public and private institutions; the placement of students in research and job careers promoted by UCCRN_educommunity, including public institutions and private companies engaged during the project. These outcomes have been measured and monitored through specific KPIs aimed at maximising outreach and re-usability of project results. R1. UCCRN_edu collaborative E-learning platform, including 52 lectures and more than 150 key references, publicly available at https://www.uccrn.education/elearning; R2. A high level scientific publication involving 34 authors nad including the theoretical and operational framework supporting Climate-Resilient Urban Planning, Design & Governance process, published with Cambridge University Press as part of the UCCRN Third Assessment Report on Climate Change in Cities with the title "Planning, Urban Design and Architecture for Climate Action", and publicly available a thttps://www.cambridge.org/core/publications/elements/elements-in-climate-change-and-cities; R3. A Climate-Resilient City board/card educational game entitled "ClimeCraft" publicly available for download as a kit via the UCCRN_edu Project Results webpage and the official UCCRN_edu webpage (https://www.uccrn.education); R4. The Climate-Resilient Urban Planning, Design and Governance Toolkit, including user-friendly simulation tools supporting evidence-based scenario modelling for climate resilient planning and urban design, publicly available for download as a kit via the UCCRN_edu Project Results webpage and the official UCCRN_edu webpage (https://www.uccrn.education); R5. Climate-Resilient Urban Planning, Design and Governance Handbook (Methodological framework for implementation); R6. UCCRN_edu MOOC (Massive Open On-line Course)