Application for an ERASMUS+ grant (SUM+ Project "Sustainable Urban Metabolisms"

Description

SUMs is an academic project aimed at the cooperation between four European Universities (Aalto University (FI)), Polytechnic University of Valencia (ES), University of Reading (UK) and the Estonian University of Life Sciences (EE)) for innovation and the exchange of good practices through the constitution of a Strategic Partnership for higher education (budget 381,345€)
The SUMs project will promote the progressive, multidisciplinary and aggregative creation and dissemination of knowledge on Sustainable Urban Metabolisms (SUMs), a highly transversal and interdisciplinary concept with a vast potential in sustainable urban planning and with an incipient role in the academic and professional spheres
The metabolic approach to urban phenomena is based on the understanding of the city as a complex system that collects and transforms raw materials, energy, and water, to ensure its economic, socio-cultural and environmental functioning. Such an approach is key to explaining the interactions between cities and their surroundings. Therefore, a better understanding of the urban metabolism, and in particular, an approximation from the sustainability point of view, would provide an exceptional tool to analyze, improve, manage and plan our cities holistically, concentrating efforts and resources on those aspects that are more relevant or critical for increasing their resilience and environmental, social and economic sustainability
SUMs will be a teaching-based, planning-oriented, research-informed investigation into sustainable design and planning practices. In particular, the target groups will include the academic participants (students, researchers and teachers), the collaborative SUMs Cities (Turku (FI), Valencia (ES) and Reading (UK)) and a wider range of scientific and professional communities

Period	15 Mar 2017
Held at	EU: Framework programs, Belgium
Degree of Recognition	International