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Sustainable Urban Environment - URGENT MOOC-like course

URGENT MOOC Course on Sustainable Urban Environment - Introduction

Audience

  • Students of URGENT Partner Universities
  • External Students interested in furthering their knowledge on NbS
  • Participants of Scientific Workshops

Course Objective

 

 

 

  • Understand Urban Sustainability – Develop a foundational understanding of urban sustainability concepts and principles.
  • Analyze Urban Challenges – Identify and analyze contemporary challenges faced by urban environments in the context of sustainability.
  • Design Sustainable Solutions – Apply sustainable urban planning and design strategies to address real-world problems.

Promote Resilience – Evaluate and propose measures to enhance urban resilience to environmental and social changes.

  • Foster Equity – Explore and recommend strategies to reduce social and environmental inequalities in urban areas.
  • Envision Sustainable Futures – Create a comprehensive vision for a sustainable urban future, integrating knowledge and skills from the course.

Learning Outcomes

  • Sustainability Foundation – Gain a strong foundational knowledge of urban sustainability principles and concepts.
  • Problem Solving – Develop the ability to analyze complex urban challenges and propose innovative solutions.
  • Practical Application – Apply sustainable urban planning and design strategies to real-world scenarios.
  • Resilience Planning – Develop the skills to assess and enhance urban resilience to environmental and social changes.
  • Equity Promotion – Propose measures to reduce social and environmental inequalities in urban environments.

Course Structure

  • Intended duration of 16 weeks
  • Twelve interactive modules and One three-week Final Individual Project Assignment
  • Weekly Quizzes, Case Study Analysis, Design Planning Projects, Comprehensive Research Proposal

Module 1 – Remote Sensing and GIS

Online Link

  • Fundamentals of GIS
  • Applications in Urban Planning
  • Integrating Remote Sensing

Module 7 – Issues related to Sustainability

Online Link

  • Neighbourhood Assessment for Sustainability in select countries
  • Introduction to GBI

Module 2 – Urban Land Use Classification

Online Link

  • Image Processing
  • Classification Methods
  • Applications in Urban Planning

Module 8 – Planning for high density Urban areas

Online Link

  • Density in Urban Areas
  • Jaipur Case Study

Module 3 – Mapping Urban Green Spaces

Online Link

  • Importance of Green spaces
  • GIS analysis
  • Promoting Urban Greening

Module 9 – Green Infrastructure

Online Link

  • Landscape Design
  • Planting Design Concepts
  • Case Study on Green Land Cover

Module 4 – Ecology of Urban Forests

Online Link

  • Urban Forestry and Ecology
  • Biometric assessments
  • Drone Technology Applications

Module 10 – Disasters and Ecosystem Services

Online Link

  • Disasters and Urban Risks
  • Urban Ecosystem Services for Risk reduction and Placemaking

Module 5 – Urban Forest Management

Online Link

  • Population and Community Ecology
  • Sustainable Yield & Rotation  

Module 11 – Urban Heat Mitigation

Online Link

  • Urban Heat Islands & Remote Sensing for Monitoring
  • GIS – based Analysis

Module 6 – Cultural Heritage Preservation

Online Link

  • Case Studies
  • Heritage Awareness
  • Preserving Culture

Module 12 – Climate Resilience & Adaptation

Online Link

  • Climate Change and Warming
  • Climate Resilience & Mitigation
  • Vulnerability Assessments

Module 13 – Final Project Development

  • Students work on their final projects under the guidance of instructors and mentors
  • Projects may involve detailed plans, policy proposals, or research papers related to sustainable urban environments

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