ENLIGHT joint courses

Interdisciplinary Study of the Climate Neutral City

In this course we want to hand the building blocks necessary to consider a complex problem, such as a climate neutral city, and to provide a defined contribution.

About the course

Content

The EU increasingly works with missions for the large societal goals we want to achieve. An example of such a goal is the ambition to have 100 climate neutral cities by 2030.

In this course we will use the city of Ghent as an example and study first the key drivers for this climate neutrality: why would we want this? What is a climate neutral city actually?

Subsequently we will investigate interventions that can help in terms of energy consumption, water footprint, air quality... based on the drivers the goals are set, with the technology the approach is set hence what remains at the end of the program is to integrate the legal, economic and societal drivers in one proposal for a climate neutral city.

Learning Outcomes

In this module you will:

  • Apply insights from different academic disciplines on problems related to climate adaptation and effective mitigation in the City of Ghent;
  • Explain and discuss diverse technologies and interventions at urban/city level to improve performance from a sustainability perspective;
  • Explain and discuss legal, economic and societal drivers and bottlenecks towards climate positive interventions;
  • Create a coherent proposal for a city-wide approach with an interdisciplinary and international team;
  • Present a proposal to stakeholders invested in energy transition within the City of Ghent;
  • Reflect on personal growth

In the development of this programme all nine ENLIGHT partner universities are involved. Five students from each of the nine partner universities can participate.

Coordinators

Prof. Jo De Vrieze (Ghent University)

Programme

The 5 ECTS module will be piloted with a small group of students in the Spring of 2022: 45 participating students, 5 from every ENLIGHT partner university, will be divided into interdisciplinary groups.

The blended programme is organized with weekly lectures and group work with a highlight and strong focus in our on campus week:

  • Week 1: 17/02 Kick-off meeting - 16.05-18.15 Online
  • Week 2: 24/02 – Theme 1 - 16.05-18.15 Online
  • Week 3: 3/03 – Theme 2 - 16.05-18.15 Online
  • Week 4: 10/03- Theme 3 - 16.05-18.15 Online
  • Week 5: 17/03 – Theme 4 - 16.05-18.15 Online
  • Week 6: 24/03 – Theme 5 - 16.05-18.15 Online
  • Week 7: 31/03 – Theme 6 - 16.05-18.15 Online
  • Week 8: 4/04 - Immersive week around the challenges On campus @ Ghent University
  • Week 9 -12: Wrap-up and assessment Online
 

  • Courses – Focus area: Climate Change
  • Study Field: Science and Technology
  • Type: blended intensive programme (Erasmus+ funding)
  • Host: Ghent University
  • Course dates: Start on 17 Feb 2022
  • Additional course dates: On campus week in Ghent: April 4-8, 2022
  • Apply by: Registration closed
  • ECTS: 5