Project description
Exploring sustainability through artificial intelligence
Technology has the potential to resolve sustainability threats, but it can also give rise to new challenges. Funded by the European Research Council, the scAInce project aims to transform our understanding of how artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies impact urban systems. The project encourages us to contemplate whether new technological advancements have contributed and ultimately will contribute to enhanced sustainability in our cities. The project delves into the relationship between urban sustainability and the adoption of AI technologies. It will assess governmentally and privately-funded AI solutions on their merit to create sustainable urban environments and examine the potential for sustainability in future cities using a virtual open-science city model.
Objective
Innovations have largely been the driver of human development; with the current Anthropocene peaking humanity’s influence on the livability of our planet. Technology is believed to be, once again, the solution to severe environmental, economic, and social crises, even though its implementation has a mixed track-record of finding solutions just to create new and sometimes more severe problems [8]. We ask whether more sustainable cities are smarter? Therefore, we will develop the urban scAInce theory transforming our understanding of how artificial intelligence and its associated technologies has, can, and will alter urban systems questioning whether the technology transformation leads to more sustainable living in our cities. We will achieve this goal by: (1) historically correlating urban sustainability outcomes with smart city technology adoption (2) evaluating privately-driven AI solutions on their impact to create more sustainable cities through a pre/post study (3) evaluating whether future cities will be sustainable by inaugurating a virtual open science city that allows its residents living across the world to jointly change their virtual environment, and (4) estimating the sustainability gap of 41000 cities through analyzed archetype cities.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
64289 DARMSTADT
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.