URBAN_X is a CSA project, and therefore, its main activities involve mainly capacity building and networking rather than research. However, the capacity building activities include internships (mobilities) of researchers and early-stage researchers (ESRs) from RECETOX at the advanced partners' institutes. Researchers and ESR will train for three months at the advanced partners and then use the newly gained knowledge at RECETOX.
RECETOX has access to large longitudinal datasets of air monitoring, census, epidemiological, and biomonitoring studies in urban areas but lacks the expertise to exploit these datasets' full potential. With the help of the strategic partners, who are global leaders in exposome studies, these data will be analyzed to link environmental exposures and health outcomes using advanced statistical and machine learning methods to investigate the impact of the urban exposome on the health of urban populations. The partnership with leading European research institutions will enhance RECETOX's innovation capacity and research performance and improve Europe’s collaborative potential.
Socioeconomic and broader societal impacts and implications are beyond the project's current scope, as they are associated with policy changes on local and national levels. Nonetheless, the project will provide policy-makers tools for better decision-making and planning in the long term. As the knowledge to analyze and understand the data develops, relevant information based on scientific evidence will guide the decision and policy-makers, leading to improvements in the urban inhabitants' health and quality of life resulting from policies addressing green spaces, air quality, and light and noise pollution. It is well established that low socioeconomic status is associated with several health conditions. Thus an improvement in the urban population’s health as a whole, consequent to sound environmental policy, will positively impact the socioeconomically-disadvantaged population. Furthermore, the implications of such policies will undoubtedly contribute to the health and quality of life of the whole society, regardless of socioeconomic status.
