Projects
Current projects
Erasmus Mundus Joint Degree Programme - GEM
Current countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Estonia
Description: GEM is a two-year MSc in Geo-information Science and Earth Observation for Environmental Modelling and Management. The aim of the GEM programme is to deliver top-class graduates from the EU and around the world, with the skills and networks to better manage socio-ecological systems for sustainable and equitable growth. It is a prestigious programme that offers around 15 Erasmus Mundus Scholarships per intake
Current partners: UCLouvain, Lund University, Tartu University
Sponsor: The Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union
Description: GEM is a two-year MSc in Geo-information Science and Earth Observation for Environmental Modelling and Management. The aim of the GEM programme is to deliver top-class graduates from the EU and around the world, with the skills and networks to better manage socio-ecological systems for sustainable and equitable growth. It is a prestigious programme that offers around 15 Erasmus Mundus Scholarships per intake
Current partners: UCLouvain, Lund University, Tartu University
Sponsor: The Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union
ITC-LIFE
Finished projects
PERSIST
The focus of Project PERSIST is to analyse the role of Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) in the era of I4.0 (machine-to-machine communication). This underlying subject is developing in a fast pace and higher education needs to prepare for the role of new content and new forms of education. New competencies will be required and the need for new, interactive, student-centred teaching approaches is subsequent. The project members see the opportunity to benefit from the technology changes to support future education. A tailored education system will help to develop future competencies.
Entrepreneurship, Technology, Management
BREUCOM
Building Resilient Urban Communities
Increased frequency of natural hazards and sea level rise are expected impacts of climate change in India. Marginalized urban settlements are often vulnerable to disaster due to their location in hazardous areas and the use of non-durable building materials, already today their inhabitants are therefore strongly affected by climate change. But amidst strives to meet climate targets, the poor’s needs are mostly overlooked.
In this context, there is an urgent need for paradigmatic shift in the education of graduate students in spatial planning and design as well as training of urban professionals from different backgrounds in order to confront upcoming challenges related to climate change impacts on urban informal settlements.
The BReUCom project conceives and pilots postgraduate short term Professional Development Programs (PDPs) targeted at real world problems.
BReUCom will:
produce Open Educational Resources by developing 10 comparative case studies & 10 descriptions of new courses for graduate students in existing programs, following MIT’s OpenCourseWare modelpilot 5 new courses on urban resilience in existing curricula for graduate studentsdevelop 20 new Professional Development Programs (PDP) modules on urban resilience for urban professionals from different backgrounds and working experiences, pilot 10 modules including internships with NGOs in India and Europe
BReUCom is implemented by a consortium led by Danube University Krems (Austria) and includes the following partners
School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, IndiaSchool of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, IndiaNational Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, IndiaSociety for Promotion of Area Resource Centres, Mumbai, IndiaCentre for Urban and Regional Excellence, Delhi, IndiaKamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies, Mumbai, IndiaDanube University, Krems, Austria (coordinator)ITC, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Professional Development Programs (PDPs) www.breucom.org
Urban professionals from different backgrounds and different previous educational attainments display differing needs for in depth knowledge, specialization and training in the sphere of urban resilience to climate change. Professional Development Programs for these groups are therefore developed within the framework of BReUCom.
The concept of lifelong and extra occupational learning is relatively new in India. It needs to be conditioned and formatted for Indian professionals in the context of urban resilience studies via the development and pilot implementation of PDPs.
Syllabi of these Professional Development Programs related to urban resilience, which contain up to date and locally relevant knowledge are documented in extensive descriptions following MIT’s OpenCourseWare model. Each of these descriptions contains the same structural elements (summary, syllabus, readings, lecture notes, assignments) and therefore renders a clear cut picture of each program in a standardized manner. They can serve as a model for implementation of similar programs around the globe.
All PDPs run bei BReUCom partner institutions are announced on a dedicated portal and personalized training schemes (comprising of different PDP modules) can be conceived for each participant by the project team in an individual assessment process. For more information visit www.breucom.org
BReUCom NEWSLETTERS
Increased frequency of natural hazards and sea level rise are expected impacts of climate change in India. Marginalized urban settlements are often vulnerable to disaster due to their location in hazardous areas and the use of non-durable building materials, already today their inhabitants are therefore strongly affected by climate change. But amidst strives to meet climate targets, the poor’s needs are mostly overlooked.
In this context, there is an urgent need for paradigmatic shift in the education of graduate students in spatial planning and design as well as training of urban professionals from different backgrounds in order to confront upcoming challenges related to climate change impacts on urban informal settlements.
The BReUCom project conceives and pilots postgraduate short term Professional Development Programs (PDPs) targeted at real world problems.
BReUCom will:
produce Open Educational Resources by developing 10 comparative case studies & 10 descriptions of new courses for graduate students in existing programs, following MIT’s OpenCourseWare modelpilot 5 new courses on urban resilience in existing curricula for graduate studentsdevelop 20 new Professional Development Programs (PDP) modules on urban resilience for urban professionals from different backgrounds and working experiences, pilot 10 modules including internships with NGOs in India and Europe
BReUCom is implemented by a consortium led by Danube University Krems (Austria) and includes the following partners
School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, IndiaSchool of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, IndiaNational Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, IndiaSociety for Promotion of Area Resource Centres, Mumbai, IndiaCentre for Urban and Regional Excellence, Delhi, IndiaKamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies, Mumbai, IndiaDanube University, Krems, Austria (coordinator)ITC, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Professional Development Programs (PDPs) www.breucom.org
Urban professionals from different backgrounds and different previous educational attainments display differing needs for in depth knowledge, specialization and training in the sphere of urban resilience to climate change. Professional Development Programs for these groups are therefore developed within the framework of BReUCom.
The concept of lifelong and extra occupational learning is relatively new in India. It needs to be conditioned and formatted for Indian professionals in the context of urban resilience studies via the development and pilot implementation of PDPs.
Syllabi of these Professional Development Programs related to urban resilience, which contain up to date and locally relevant knowledge are documented in extensive descriptions following MIT’s OpenCourseWare model. Each of these descriptions contains the same structural elements (summary, syllabus, readings, lecture notes, assignments) and therefore renders a clear cut picture of each program in a standardized manner. They can serve as a model for implementation of similar programs around the globe.
All PDPs run bei BReUCom partner institutions are announced on a dedicated portal and personalized training schemes (comprising of different PDP modules) can be conceived for each participant by the project team in an individual assessment process. For more information visit www.breucom.org
BReUCom NEWSLETTERS
ITC-PLAN | Urban Futures
Innovation on Remote Sensing Education and Learning (IRSEL)
The objective is to develop a Learning Management System for remote sensing education for two Asian countries: China and Thailand. The Asian partners have experience in the discipline, and they are contributing to the content development as full partners. The developed training material supports education at BSc and MSc levels either as part of regular courses or as independent short courses.
The specific objectives are the following:
To ensure researchers and academic staff in RS and geospatial sciences for studies integrated into world-wide sustainability academia (research) community;To strengthen and integrate RS and geospatial science into Multi-Inter-Trans-Cross- Disciplinary sustainability studies and research of Socio-Ecological Systems;To enhance the role of Asian institutions in socio-ecological systems studies and researches for the benefit of the Asian region;To promote internationalisation on the relevant knowledge areas;To enhance international cooperation between EU and Asian universities and research institutions
The LMS hosts 20 newly developed modules on remote sensing. Ten of them are addressing basic techniques; the other ones are addressing advanced application topics. Building the material into the curricula of the four participating universities will, by the time, enhance the practical use of remote sensing on a wide range of applications serving the labour market and society.
The LMS serves the practical applicability of remote sensing data for a wide range of disciplines, including environmental protection, agriculture, forestry, fishery, physical sciences, engineering, transport services and security services. The LMS aims to foster the uptake of remote sensing applications to boost the benefits that space technology brings to society and economy. The project objective is in line with the EU space strategy.
A consortium of eight partners implements IRSEL:
Óbuda University, Hungary (ÓU)University of Natural Resources and Life Science, Austria (BOKU)Jagellonian University, Poland (JU)University of Twente, the Netherlands (ITC)Fujian Normal University, China (FNU)Yunnan Normal University, China (YNNU)Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (AIT)Khon Kaen University, Thailand (KKU)
ITC participates in many aspects of the project. We develop two application modules:
Module 15: Application of Remote Sensing in Water Management
Module 16: Ocean/Sea and Coastal Monitoring
Furthermore, we implemented the prototype of the LMS on our server, and ITC is the leader of WP7 on “Quality assurance and evaluation”.
The specific objectives are the following:
To ensure researchers and academic staff in RS and geospatial sciences for studies integrated into world-wide sustainability academia (research) community;To strengthen and integrate RS and geospatial science into Multi-Inter-Trans-Cross- Disciplinary sustainability studies and research of Socio-Ecological Systems;To enhance the role of Asian institutions in socio-ecological systems studies and researches for the benefit of the Asian region;To promote internationalisation on the relevant knowledge areas;To enhance international cooperation between EU and Asian universities and research institutions
The LMS hosts 20 newly developed modules on remote sensing. Ten of them are addressing basic techniques; the other ones are addressing advanced application topics. Building the material into the curricula of the four participating universities will, by the time, enhance the practical use of remote sensing on a wide range of applications serving the labour market and society.
The LMS serves the practical applicability of remote sensing data for a wide range of disciplines, including environmental protection, agriculture, forestry, fishery, physical sciences, engineering, transport services and security services. The LMS aims to foster the uptake of remote sensing applications to boost the benefits that space technology brings to society and economy. The project objective is in line with the EU space strategy.
A consortium of eight partners implements IRSEL:
Óbuda University, Hungary (ÓU)University of Natural Resources and Life Science, Austria (BOKU)Jagellonian University, Poland (JU)University of Twente, the Netherlands (ITC)Fujian Normal University, China (FNU)Yunnan Normal University, China (YNNU)Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (AIT)Khon Kaen University, Thailand (KKU)
ITC participates in many aspects of the project. We develop two application modules:
Module 15: Application of Remote Sensing in Water Management
Module 16: Ocean/Sea and Coastal Monitoring
Furthermore, we implemented the prototype of the LMS on our server, and ITC is the leader of WP7 on “Quality assurance and evaluation”.
ITC-LIFE | Resource Security
SES
Social Inclusion and Energy Management for Informal Urban Settlements
SES helps Ethiopian cities to solve problems related to housing poor urban communities by supporting these communities rather than evicting them from their informal settlements. In offering alternatives for sustainable management and prosperous development of low-income living quarters, SES contributes to preventing further migration by creating livable residential areas forrms the most crucial basis for upward social mobility of the affected poor urban communities.
The objectives include:
improved capacity of HEIs to jointly develop and publish indigenous case studies and course descriptions with stakeholders and other HEIsinterdisciplinary research, which helps to overcome disciplinary silos in addressing issues of urban developmenttransdisciplinary research for the involvement of local communities and public administrationcourses teaching students at Bachelor and Master level to do time-based spatial, socio-economic analysis of current informal settlements, potentials for green energy supply and management tools to guarantee its implementation and applications, governmental housing interventions and their impacts on several case study neighbourhoods in Ethiopian partner HEIs’ respective home cities (Addis Ababa, Mekelle and Gondar).non-university courses teaching professionals about inclusive urban community development * improved capacity of HEIs to interact with public authorities, social communities and NGOs
SES helps Ethiopian cities to solve problems related to housing poor urban communities by supporting these communities rather than evicting them from their informal settlements. In offering alternatives for sustainable management and prosperous development of low-income living quarters, SES contributes to preventing further migration by creating livable residential areas forrms the most crucial basis for upward social mobility of the affected poor urban communities.
The objectives include:
improved capacity of HEIs to jointly develop and publish indigenous case studies and course descriptions with stakeholders and other HEIsinterdisciplinary research, which helps to overcome disciplinary silos in addressing issues of urban developmenttransdisciplinary research for the involvement of local communities and public administrationcourses teaching students at Bachelor and Master level to do time-based spatial, socio-economic analysis of current informal settlements, potentials for green energy supply and management tools to guarantee its implementation and applications, governmental housing interventions and their impacts on several case study neighbourhoods in Ethiopian partner HEIs’ respective home cities (Addis Ababa, Mekelle and Gondar).non-university courses teaching professionals about inclusive urban community development * improved capacity of HEIs to interact with public authorities, social communities and NGOs
ITC-PLAN | Urban Futures
BINUCOM
Building Inclusive Urban Communities
Rapid urbanization is expected to lead to a housing shortage in Indian cities of about 30 million by 2022, which creates appalling conditions for urban poor. A substantial part of the population is already living in informal settlements with lack of tenure, threat of eviction and poor infrastructure. The government of India has addressed this problem by defining a policy of “Housing for All” by 2022 as its goal. This situation creates a huge demand for architects and urban planners, who can deal with the complex challenges of sustainable social housing and the development of inclusive urban communities.
This is an important global issue that is also addressed in several of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The BINUCOM project aims at strengthening the cooperation of Indian universities to jointly develop and publish Open Education Resources, and increase the relevance of architecture and planning by introducing new and multidisciplinary topics such as social inclusion, sustainable housing, participatory mapping and environmental risk assessment. In general, the project will raise the profile of the universities to respond to local needs, improve the employability of their graduates and contribute to better networking between local actors.
Indian partners in the project are the universities of Ahmedabad (CEPT), Coimbatore (KARPAGAM), Mumbai (KRVIA) and Vijayawada (SPAV). The project is implemented by a consortium led by Danube University Krems (Austria), further consisting of Lund University (Sweden) and ITC.
Rapid urbanization is expected to lead to a housing shortage in Indian cities of about 30 million by 2022, which creates appalling conditions for urban poor. A substantial part of the population is already living in informal settlements with lack of tenure, threat of eviction and poor infrastructure. The government of India has addressed this problem by defining a policy of “Housing for All” by 2022 as its goal. This situation creates a huge demand for architects and urban planners, who can deal with the complex challenges of sustainable social housing and the development of inclusive urban communities.
This is an important global issue that is also addressed in several of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The BINUCOM project aims at strengthening the cooperation of Indian universities to jointly develop and publish Open Education Resources, and increase the relevance of architecture and planning by introducing new and multidisciplinary topics such as social inclusion, sustainable housing, participatory mapping and environmental risk assessment. In general, the project will raise the profile of the universities to respond to local needs, improve the employability of their graduates and contribute to better networking between local actors.
Indian partners in the project are the universities of Ahmedabad (CEPT), Coimbatore (KARPAGAM), Mumbai (KRVIA) and Vijayawada (SPAV). The project is implemented by a consortium led by Danube University Krems (Austria), further consisting of Lund University (Sweden) and ITC.
ITC-PLAN | Urban Futures
CARE: Empowering Climate Resilience
By focusing on urban resilience, CARE addresses one of the most urgent topics in EU and Latin America (LA). Most LA countries are dealing with climate risk management issues, but they lack a holistic and common approach to resilience. International cooperation seems then the best-fit environment where to develop joint learning tools, go in depth on peculiar research and deliver support to policy makers. An urban resilience framework calls for a process that brings together diverse departments and sectors to identify appropriate measures, responses and recovery. It needs transversal competences, e-skills, creativity and flexibility.
CARE aims to challenge those issues by promoting HEI staff’s and students’ interdisciplinary skills by developing innovative educational approaches to planning. Furthermore, it aims to bring the challenge within the core of urban municipalities by directly and indirectly training professionals and officers to shape resilient policies. To attain this goals, CARE proposes an alternation of desk activities and workshops aimed at the collective production, development, sharing, testing and dissemination of Open Educational Resources (OERs), based on the use of collaborative Conceptual Maps. Being publicly available on the CARE e-learning platform in English and Spanish, they are expected to empower programme courses in HEIs (CARE Cmaps) and provide targeted training for professionals, public officers, policy makers (Open Training Modules).
CARE outputs will challenge the complex and interconnecting issues related to urban resilience. It will operate to transfer resilience conceptual issues into operational capabilities in local government, civil society and professional communities. Finally CARE aims at establishing a network among LA, Europe and outside, to improve their educational capacities on urban resilience, as well as to transfer CARE results and findings to an operational policy perspective at different territorial levels.
CARE aims to challenge those issues by promoting HEI staff’s and students’ interdisciplinary skills by developing innovative educational approaches to planning. Furthermore, it aims to bring the challenge within the core of urban municipalities by directly and indirectly training professionals and officers to shape resilient policies. To attain this goals, CARE proposes an alternation of desk activities and workshops aimed at the collective production, development, sharing, testing and dissemination of Open Educational Resources (OERs), based on the use of collaborative Conceptual Maps. Being publicly available on the CARE e-learning platform in English and Spanish, they are expected to empower programme courses in HEIs (CARE Cmaps) and provide targeted training for professionals, public officers, policy makers (Open Training Modules).
CARE outputs will challenge the complex and interconnecting issues related to urban resilience. It will operate to transfer resilience conceptual issues into operational capabilities in local government, civil society and professional communities. Finally CARE aims at establishing a network among LA, Europe and outside, to improve their educational capacities on urban resilience, as well as to transfer CARE results and findings to an operational policy perspective at different territorial levels.
ITC-PLAN | Climate | Urban Futures