As the world is becoming more urbanized and cities of the future need to be people-centred, robust evidence-based knowledge on the underlying biological and psychological processes, by which Urban Planning & Design influence brain circuits and human behaviour, will be critical for policy making on urban health. Emotions are key drivers of our decisions; similarly, our choices are the conduit for our well-being and health. Thus, research focusing on the signals triggered in our neurobiological architecture, responsible for emotions and decisions, while humans interact with the urban environment will shed light on how to improve population health, physical and/or mental. The eMOTIONAL Cities project was designed to fully characterise the intensity and complexity of urban health challenges and inequalities. By exploring the mechanisms and their dynamic, it complements conventional descriptive perspectives focused on exposure-outcome associations. It adopts a systems approach, based on natural experiments and actual problems of case-study cities (Copenhagen, Lisbon, London; and Lansing/Detroit in the USA). Building on theoretical foundations, novel eMOTIONAL city mapping will be generated by combining spatial analysis on social/health data with neuroscience experiments. Our research relies on mixed (qualitative/quantitative) methods and uses multidisciplinary instruments from Urban Planning & Design (GIS for land use, transport, climate and health), Neuroscience (fMRI, EEG) and Data Science & Technology (AI, Big Data and VR/AR reality). The analysis also addresses gender aspects and contemplates a clinical study to show that urban design can impact a vulnerable elderly population at risk of developing dementia. Finally, a novel machine-learning scenario discovery framework will allow testing and impact assessment (for cost-effectiveness, barriers and facilitators) of urban policy strategies to turn EU cities into smart, sustainable and inclusive environments. The eMOTIONAL Cities is a part of the European Cluster on Urban Health.

Devising and implementing GEPs in higher education institutions or research centers is a formal requirement to enhance actions that favor real and effective equality between women and men. While this is a reality, its effectiveness is bound to a series of factors, like the suitability of the agents involved in its setting-up, the strategic alliances built, and the awareness raised on the potential resistances –both tangible and intangible- that are to be faced in its implementation and prevent real structural changes in these organisations. Every GEP should be understood as a process that is born out of the will to grow and become stronger so that equality between women and men can be promoted and legitimised. One way to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of a GEP is to collect and incorporate the expertise, knowledge and experience of previous projects. For this reason, our project aims to implement 6 equality plans in 6 organizations (5 Universities and 1 Research Funding Organization) applying the criteria established and tested by GEAR-tools. The goal is to advance in the application and evaluation of equality measures in universities with the support of non-university entities that favor their promotion, impulse, evaluation and development. The GEPs will pursue the recognition and promotion of the research career of women, the incorporation of women in decision-making positions, and the promotion of a culture of equality in organizations. To this end, the focus will be on the deconstruction of sexual roles in order to unveil often unconscious gender biases that operate in processes of decision-making, selection and promotion of people and in the attribution of value and recognition.

The SMARTDEST project tackles the societal challenge of social inclusion and sustainability in European cities by developing innovative solutions in the face of the conflicts and externalities that are emerging as a result of new forms of ‘mobile dwelling’. These encompass the rising cost of living, housing shortages, congestion of public services, the dislocation and marginalisation of low-income workers, and the transformation of place identities; all factors that point at avenues of exclusion of the most vulnerable sectors of resident communities. Faced with this, SMARTDEST’s overarching aim is to contribute towards urban policy agendas which take tourism and its social effects seriously. Its ambition is to fill a knowledge gap about the effects of tourism mobilities on urban inclusion and cohesion, and about the contextual, political and technological factors that determine fundamental variations in such effects; and to explore, design and test the validity of potential innovative pathways to mitigate social exclusion. The project thus includes 4 research packages that respectively (1) analyse tourism mobilities and mobile dwelling as transformative force-fields for places; (2) excavate social exclusion issues and coping practices through the engagement with affected communities in case study cities; (3) develop CityLabs as sites for the design of people-based and place-based solutions (both in the digital and non-digital realm) which demonstrate value for the broad ‘destination ecosystem’ of case study cities, and scale up as innovative systems of governance; (4) transfer the insights gained by the project at local level and extend their impacts through a dialogue with policy entities, concern communities, innovators and scientists throughout the EU policy space. The project is implemented by a consortium of 12 partners from 7 EU countries and 1 associated country, covering a broad range of academic skills; and engages with 8 case study cities.