All six ESR projects developed in SOLOCLIM have produced novel knowledge and prototypical solutions to improve the urban climate. All work went beyond the current state of the art because it had to be original and innovative to be accepted in peer-reviewed publications, for conferences and/ or nominated for design awards and important exhibitions of novel design work (e.g. Dutch Design Week). The exact description of the projects and their outcomes can be found in the Technical Report No.2 Part B.
SOLOCLIM provided chances to have impact in various ways: on the ESRs career development, the institutions involved, societal and professional impact and impact on the European Research Area.
The active collaboration between the academia and industry sector, promoted a coherent understanding of the commercial as well as the academic requirements of urban (micro)climate adaptation solutions and generate an entrepreneurial and commercial mindset with a focus on innovation. The ESRs learnt to hold presentations, and organize symposia as a team. The cross-disciplinary and cross-sector research and training programmes equipped the ESRs for careers in a range of urban (micro)climate adaptation solutions and urban climate fields, allowing them to demonstrate the broad knowledge base required to fully understand academia and industry needs. One ESR has already found an employment with an NGO where he can deploy the cross-sector skills and for the other ESRs this training will greatly enhance the future employability.
In the first place, SOLOCLIM offered opportunities to build a strong transdisciplinary network that has been cherished by all beneficiaries and in which an atmosphere of mutual trust has occurred. The industry will easily connect to the academic partners when they need to consult for scientific knowledge to support the development of their products. Vice versa, the academic partners will connect to the industry when they need to consult stakeholders to test their theoretical findings against a practical background.
During the SOLOCLIM events the academic and professional community got well-involved in workshops, presentations and panel discussions. In the second half of the project, SOLOCLIM organised events in Germany and Italy, reaching an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral audience from industry, academia, and local governance institutions.
Apart from that, the plethora of publications and presentations from ESRs at practice oriented and scientific conferences, as well as SOLOCLIM social media presence ushered the societal and professional impact and academia-practice knowledge transfer.
There is a clear opportunity for Europe to take the lead in the development of the next generation of urban (micro)climate adaptation solutions and systems and, in particular, to speed their implementation through integration with sustainable urban planning and other fields to provide high-capacity building and innovative planning and design strategies. SOLOCLIM has contributed to this field of expertise by training new experts and by developing new training modules that are accessible to a European researcher audience. The stimulation of a variety of skills shaped valuable potential professional profiles that prepared the ESRs for careers as researchers in academia, at technological institutes or in R&D departments of industries. They became specialist in the field of design of urban climate adaptation systems, a topic that gains ever more importance due to climate change and the necessity to adapt urban environments. With this expertise and their newly gained transdisciplinary research and design skills they are an asset to enrich the European job market.
