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New partnership: Urban Climate Change Research Network for Higher Education

New partnership: Urban Climate Change Research Network for Higher Education

A new partnership that includes IHE Delft and eight European partners aims to consolidate approaches, methods and tools to tackle the effects of climate change in cities through research, innovation, knowledge sharing and capacity development.

The Urban Climate Change Research Network for Higher Education (UCCRN-EDU), launched in March in Naples, Italy, is an initiative of the international consortium Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) which works to foster cross-sectoral action on urban climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The new network will help future urban climate leaders develop the skills they need to research and design solutions, as well as to develop policies for climate-change resilient cities, said Chris Zevenbergen, IHE Delft Professor of Flood Resilience and Urban Systems.

“The next generation of urban climate leaders need to be able to navigate the complexity of interconnected fields – they need to use multidisciplinary ways to make cities more resilient and sustainable,” he said, adding that the network’s courses, workshops and trainings would support the development of such skills.  

The partnership combines expertise in fields needed to tackle urban climate challenge: climate science and urban microclimate; urban policy, legislation and governance; water and energy; multi-scale climate-resilient planning and design; nature-based solutions, biodiversity and ecosystems; hazard/impact modelling and IT tools; multi-stakeholders/community engagement and co-design.

It will offer:

  • Three academic courses that foster multidisciplinary education and blended learning modes;
  • Seven intensive interactive workshops for IHE Delft students shaped as workshops co-designed with urban stakeholders and communities;
  • Two short-term joint staff training events focused on innovative educational approaches and tools;
  • Eight multiplier events to maximise the outreach at a global scale and the potential future employment of students in relevant sectors worldwide.

Ten members of the international UCCRN consortium and five leading international networks (ICLEI, C40, Cite-ID, URNet and Climate Chance) are associated partners to the new network, created as part of a three-year project financed by the EU Erasmus+ Program.