Solutions for Outdoor Climate Adaptation (SOLOCLIM) is a European Industrial Doctorate (EID) project in the programme Innovative Training Networks (ITN) and part of Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions funded by the European Commission within the Horizon 2020 programme. The aim of SOLOCLIM is to develop a doctoral training programme that enables young researchers to generate solutions for urban outdoor environments.
Projections show that urbanisation could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050 and the cumulative effect of all the negative urban climate impacts of urbanisation such as the occurrence of urban heat islands as well as distinctive wind patterns in cities create discomfort and health risks. As climate change will exacerbate these urban and microclimatic problems citizens need to be protected. As cities create their own climates, the solutions to these problems are to be found in the (re-)design of cities.
Some solutions are known such as the use of vegetation, but there are still many remaining questions about the impact of vertical green as well as the proper distribution of green in cities to have an optimal effect. Moreover, upcoming systems using water vapour as a coolant as well as flexible systems that respond to microclimate have not been studied yet. SOLOCLIM will develop such solutions on different scale levels from small scale around buildings to a larger neighbourhood/city scale and test their effects. The industry in architecture, urban and landscape design is in need of these innovative solutions as climate adaptation in cities is one of the largest challenges for the future. All plans and designs that the industry develops have to respond to the urban (micro)climate challenges. Apart from the availability of solutions the industry also needs the expertise. This expertise involves design and research skills related to urban (micro)climate.
SOLOCLIM trains experts in this field and offers training for advanced climate responsive design that will be offered to the PhD students as well as some parts to a broader community and beyond the duration of the project.
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The Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning Group at Wageningen University address present and future environmental challenges by means of planning and design. These challenges include climate mitigation and adaptation, sustainable water management, ecological networks, urbanisation, and the energy transition. Our specific competence is to analyse complex and dynamic landscape systems at various scale levels and to propose inspiring and meaningful planning and design solutions. We consider it essential to base solutions on a thorough understanding of the nature of the landscape, so we have a strong emphasis on the analysis of landscape dynamics. Accordingly, we educate and train a growing number of Bachelor, Master and PhD students to become knowledgeable, reflective, and creative landscape architects and planners. We are embedded in the Department of Environmental Sciences of Wageningen University, which provides fundamental research and academic education in our living environment. We are a member of the Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research (WIMEK). The Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning Group is extending activities in research and design for urban climate adaptation.
Visit the website of the Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning Group of the Wageningen University & Research.
The Kent School of Architecture and Planning is one of the most successful schools of architecture in the UK. The School combines contemporary research with an educational framework for the academic and professional world. Students benefit from one of the most advanced learning environments in the UK. As well as a creative studio culture, students gain experience in using the latest facilities and equipment, which prepares them for work in the industry or further study. The Kent School of Architecture and Planning have developed and maintain strong links with local businesses, regional communities and built environment professionals. This has led to its students and graduates working alongside each other on projects directly affecting the local region, while many students work at professionally respected architectural practices across the world.The Kent School of Architecture and Planning is equipped with the latest resources including modern design studios, a dedicated model workshop featuring laser-cutting facilities and 3D printing, and a computer studio with the latest technology. Enthusiastic academic staff have many years of teaching experience at degree level and particular strengths in historical, environmental, technical and digital aspects of the subject. The academic study is complemented by a mentoring scheme with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Kent School of Architecture and Planning has an international reputation for the quality of its research. The research staff are active at academic and professional conferences, both nationally and internationally, and appear and publish in local and national media.
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Politecnico di Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers. The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with the business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer. Research has always been linked to didactic and it is a priority commitment that has allowed Politecnico di Milano to achieve high-quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system. The alliance with the industrial world, in many cases favoured by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belongs, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development. The Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU) is a thematic and interdisciplinary research structure of the Politecnico di Milano, established in January 2013. The Department carries out research, design experimentation and training activities in the field of architectural and urban design, spatial planning and territorial governance, urban policies, preservation and intervention on the built and natural heritage, historical and critical interpretation of architecture and the city.
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Arcadis is the leading global Design & Consultancy firm for natural and built assets. Arcadis is a leading global design and consulting firm in the field of the natural and built environment. We deliver exceptional and sustainable outcomes through the application of design, consultancy, and engineering.
“Improving the quality of life” - It is our passion to improve the quality of life. When combined with our goals and values these statements provide the framework for our decision making and the development of our business strategy. Our values are People First, Integrity, Client Focus, Collaboration, and Sustainability. Applying our deep market sector insights and collective design, consultancy, engineering, project and management services we work in partnership with our clients to deliver exceptional and sustainable outcomes throughout the lifecycle of their natural and built assets. We are 27,000 people, active in over 70 countries that generate €3.3 billion in revenues. We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve the quality of life in rapidly growing cities around the world. From climate change and rising sea levels to rapid urbanization and pressure on natural resources, our world is a more complex place. Arcadis helps you navigate this complexity by understanding the bigger picture. Whether it’s maximizing space in cities, making wasteland habitable or simply taking what you do further, we deliver exceptional and sustainable outcomes safely and consistently. Connecting your vision to our know-how, our people work collaboratively to create value through natural and built assets that work in harmony with their surroundings – from shopping centres in Shanghai or clean water in São Paulo to new rail systems in Doha and reducing air pollution in Los Angeles. Our global capabilities and diverse experience mean we apply collective wisdom to every challenge – big and small. In this way, our experience protecting the Dutch coast for generations is being applied to secure New York’s flood defences today. So, whatever your challenge, our teams bring the necessary perspective to provide the answers, now and in the future.
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Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) is an international design and innovation practise based in Turin, Italy, with branches in New York and London. Drawing on Carlo Ratti’s research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the office is currently involved in many projects across the globe, embracing every scale of intervention - from furniture to urban planning. The work of the practice merges high-profile design with cutting-edge digital technologies, so as to contribute to the creation of an architecture “that senses and responds”.Among recent projects, there are the Future Food District thematic area at Milan World Expo 2015, the redesign of the Agnelli Foundation HQ in Turin, the master plan for Milan’s Science, Knowledge and Innovation Park, the requalification of the Patrick Henry military village for IBA Heidelberg, the Italian Pavilion for Expo 2020, and the winning project for Reinventing Cities in Milan. Product design projects range from experimental furniture for Cassina to light installations for Artemide, to responsive seating systems with Vitra.In all these circumstances, the studio investigated the ways in which new technologies, including digital sensors and portable devices, are changing both the built environment and everyday life. Carlo Ratti Associati is the only design firm whose works have been featured three times in TIME Magazine’s “Best Inventions of the Year” list – respectively with the Digital Water Pavilion in 2007, the Copenhagen Wheel in 2014 and Scribit in 2019. In the last years, the office has been involved in the launch of Makr Shakr, a startup producing the world’s first robotic bar system.
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ZinCo are pioneers and innovators in terms of extensive and intensive roof greening. Headquartered in Germany and established as one of the leading manufacturers of roof greening materials, we look at a long history regarding Green Infrastructure on buildings (+30 years). Research projects and innovative systems developed by ZinCo inspire architects and demanding clients to plan both private and large public buildings in a holistic and sustainable way. The ZinCo engineering team offers support from the planning stages right up to detailed solutions. Market partners across the world are trained and instructed, both as part of the continued technical development of already existing system components and regarding new product developments. Innovation is an integral part of the corporate culture at ZinCo, which is why we collaborate regularly on various research projects. In terms of urban climate adaptation, we developed the so-called urban climate roof which was i-NOVO Award-Winner in the “ECO”-class 2017, outperforming 20 competitors in this field. Besides the greened roofs we own a research façade with ongoing research on vegetated façades for more than 10 years.
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Foster + Partners is a global studio for sustainable architecture, urbanism and design, founded by Norman Foster in 1967. Since then, he, and the team around him have established an international practice with a worldwide reputation. With offices across the globe, we work as a single studio that is both ethnically and culturally diverse. Foster + Partners understands that the best design comes from a completely integrated approach from conception to completion. We have a strong creative team, in which structural and environmental engineers work alongside the architects from the beginning of the design process. By doing so, we believe that they can learn from one another and combine their knowledge to devise wholly integrated design solutions. The design teams are supported by numerous in-house disciplines, ensuring that we have the knowledge base to create buildings that are environmentally sustainable and uplifting to use. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we undertake. We audit all projects against global standards while developing bespoke strategies that drive our environmental agenda. To build sustainably requires us to design holistically, and our unique integrated design approach enables us to develop innovative strategies that have a firm focus on the future of the environment. From within the practice, structural and environmental engineers, together with many other specialist design teams, work alongside the architects to develop fully integrated design solutions. Every project starts with fresh thinking, leading to a solution that is tailor-made to both site and user. Design is typically undertaken by a small, close-knit team; the team that starts a project sees it through to completion, thus providing continuity throughout. We always consider the built environment as a totality and to apply a truly integrated approach to responsible design.
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EU SUPPORT
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 861119.