More details about UPSURGE technical Work Packages
WP2 – NBS assessment
Extensive research on previous and current NBS implemented targeting air quality and climate neutrality will be carried out at project’s start, with main objectives:
- Select technologies focused on air and climate regulation, upon consultation of existing NBS catalogues.
- Define the methodology for assessing the NBS performance during the project execution in demo cities.
- Determine key performance indicators (KPIs) for the evaluation of NBS impact.
- Select the plant species for enhancing and standardizing NBS performance.
WP3 – Environmental verification with multimodal sensing
To tackle pollution from different sources and by different pollutants, UPSURGE will develop a multi-component pollution measuring approach as a reference holistic sensing network comprised of several complementary approaches that will be implemented in 5 demonstration cities (Maribor, Breda, Budapest, Belfast and Katowice).
WP3 will tackle the following particular objectives:
- Create a reference environmental sensing approach, able to encompass all relevant environmental aspects targeted and improved by implementing NBS.
- Combine a unique set of technology and nature-based sensing to achieve maximum accuracy of environmental data.
- Include into environmental verification other pollution factors usually not considered by established sensing systems (e.g. airborne heavy metals, pesticides etc.).
- Experimentally test the sensing approach comprised of different elements in 5 different NBS demonstration location in order to determine its and their viability and performance.
WP4 – Digitalization and connectivity with citizens and stakeholders
Work package 4 aims at establishing a multi-level digital ecosystem that will enable to evaluate and react to the challenges and effects of urban NBS, as well as acting as an honest broker to organize the two-side participatory process with citizens and with cities.
The objectives of WP4 are:
- Improve qualitative and quantitative knowledge of pollution at adequate levels of spatial and temporal detail.
- Enable the visualization and access of open data generated by UPSURGE and connect it with other local, national and international available complementary datasets as an innovative, pervasive and versatile way of monitoring air quality integrated with ordinary institutional monitoring on a blockchain-based platform ecosystem.
- Create a digital support ecosystem for the decision-making process on different NBS implementation for public, private, institutional or individual investors.
- Include throughout the process from development to validation, citizens and communities to tailor-created solutions best fitting for them and to encourage most appropriate behavioral changes.
- Safeguard citizens’ health and wellbeing by notifying them on critical environmental data, suggesting corresponding behavioral modifications to improve their health and contribute to pollution reduction, and enabling them to affect policy changes.
WP5 – NBS demonstrations
The main objective of this work package is to demonstrate, simulate and verify different fit-for-problem NBS and their effects in different urban environments. WP5 has the following particular objectives:
- Demonstrate the transferability, acceptance and benefits of different NBS by implementing real life demonstrations of 5 different NBS solutions in 5 different locations.
- Create a model for NBS implementation in vastly different EU environments by simulating 5 different NBS for 13 partners’ cities.
- Validate results by comparatively analyzing NBS that have been previously implemented in partners’ cities and the same NBS implemented in UPSURGE in other cities.
WP6 – Regenerative assessment enabling regenerative transition
The objective of work package 6 is to comprehensively assess the regenerative potential of implemented NBS measures in demonstration cities.
Its main objectives are:
- Evaluate environmental impacts directly related to NBS implemented in 5 demo cities based on the data provided from all the elements in the sensing system.
- Monitor complementary, NBS demos’ effects on active CO₂ uptake and ecosystem services.
- Develop measures and tools for the urban regenerative transition to be deployed through the European Regenerative Urban Lighthouse later on.
WP7 – European Regenerative Urban Lighthouse
Within this work package, the European Regenerative Urban Lighthouse will be established presenting the embodiment of the project’s experiences and verified knowledge with the purpose of assisting cities and other investors step-by-step in their transition into a more regenerative future. Its objectives are:
- Create a consultancy service (Regenerative Urban Lighthouse) helping cities and other investors with the implementation of NBS, considering all relevant aspects (e.g. social, financial, trade-offs etc.).
- Facilitate targeted NBS selection by investors for their specific problems and objectives through the knowledge gained in UPSURGE and other projects, collected in the Urban Regenerative Development Clearinghouse as the Lighthouse’s knowledge centre.
- Positively impact the NBS industry by proposing innovative public-private-partnerships, connecting investors and providers and, generally, by promoting the multiple benefits brought by NBS.
- Use clustering activities to further promote UPSURGE results and attract new cities and other investors into the Urban Regenerative Lighthouse through the NBS Clustering Network.
WP8 – Quintuple-Helix based verification, communication and dissemination
This work package consists of two levels of implementation:
Level 1 focuses on the participatory implementation of the innovative Place Labs concept that will conjoin all relevant actors and aspects fulfilling the five helices of the Quintuple-Helix verification approach. This level’s objectives are:
- Set-up 5 UPSURGE Place Labs as co-creation stakeholders’ ecosystems to co-design, explore and validate environmental, social and spatial dimensions of NBS approaches for urban regenerative transition with corresponding follow-ups to assess their effectiveness and satisfaction.
- Establish Competence Groups.
- Assess the effects caused by regenerative urban redevelopment on civil society.
- Foster the take-up of NBS for the regenerative transition of cities based on stakeholders’ awareness.
Level 2 focus is to ensure effective, clear, concise, wide-reaching project-level communication and dissemination of UPSURGE results and solutions, with the following objectives:
- Maximize the impact of research, development and demonstration results to ensure that the results are used effectively through exploitation and dissemination.
- Raise awareness and build up a strong interest.