ENGAGE! Engaging Science for
Resilient and Liveable Cities
Tartu (Estonia), August 7-18, 2023
Concept | Faculty | Program | Application | Financial | Contacts
The concept and program overview
The ENGAGE! summer school will be a vibrant mixture of interactive sessions, field trips, and group work. Its unique setting, designed to give participants hands-on project and research experience with the management and planning of urban green and blue infrastructure, will provide a particular focus on the production and dissemination of socially engaging science supporting resilient and liveable urban environments.
The School will start with an introductory 2-day period (period 1 – scoping phase) during which the students will receive an overview of the state of the art and urban sustainability challenges from across the world (with a focus on Europe) and by sectors and stakeholder perspectives. This period will also introduce the challenges related to the low- level of engagement of relevant research with the society, including urban residents and social groups, policy makers, as well as praxis communities directly dealing with urban management and planning.
The next 4-day period (period 2 – research training phase) will be filled with research methodology and skill training workshops, including alternative (choice) sessions run in parallel. These workshop will cover a broad range of skills, including (but not limited to) field and remote sensing data collection techniques, GIS, modelling and assessment tools, as well as science-policy-society interfacing and communication. During the period 2 students will also need to decide on the project group to join in order to explore real life issues and contribute to their understanding and solution. This will be supported by presentations of case studies and field excursions.
During the following 5-day period (period 3 – project phase) project groups will be expected to run research and to develop and present proposals for a practical solution for a real-life problem, or detailed paper proposals reflecting on their project experience and learning outcomes of the ENGAGE! School. In doing so they will be supported by tutors appointed to each group, and by all the School faculty that will be available for consultations. All the projects will compulsory include a stakeholder communication component in order to explore how more engaging research would make cities a better place to live.
The final day of the School will be the presentation and discussion of project results, and the graduation. Successful students will be awarded a ENGAGE! Certificate of Completion at the end of the course and transferred 3 ECTS. Participants and faculty will be encouraged to re-develop the final reports into academic papers or project applications.
The ENGAGE! summer school will be a valuable learning experience for everyone, but having a great time is also a summer essential. All 30 participants will be students or young experts, therefore we would like everyone to have a memorable time with us in Estonia!
Prof. Ochir Altansukh, National University of Mongolia (Mongolia)
Prof. Christine Fürst, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany)
Mr. Arjan de Groot, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany)
Prof. P.K. Joshi, Jawaharlal Nehru University (India)
Mr. Attila Katona, Central European University (Hungary)
Dr. Viktar Kireyeu, Erda RTE (The Netherlands)
Dr. Ain Kull, University of Tartu (Estonia)
Prof. Valdo Kuusemets, Estonian University of Life Sciences (Estonia)
Dr. Daniele La Rosa, University of Catania (Italy)
Prof. Kalle Olli, Estonian University of Life Sciences (Estonia)
Dr. Riccardo Privitera, University of Catania (Italy)
Prof. Kalev Sepp, Estonian University of Life Sciences (Estonia)
Dr. Anton Shkaruba, Estonian University of Life Sciences (Estonia)
Dr. Marcin Spyra, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany)
- Pre-School (July 10-August 7, 2023): pre-course reading and case study materials (made available through a dedicated e-learning site from July 10, 2023), development and collection of course participants profiles with short visions for the course (to be compiled to the course participant directory) and an introductory webinar for pre-course preparatory assignment
- In-School (August 7-18, 2023):
- (1) scoping phase (period 1, August 6-8)
- August 6: Arrival to Tartu, registration, meet & greet
- August 7-8: Introduction to the School, faculty and participants; overviews of socially engaging science challenges and the state of art in urban sustainability
- (2) methodology training phase (period 2, August 9-12)
- August 9: overview of case studies; a field trip
- August 10-11: parallel sessions on research methodology
- August 12: clustering into case study groups and discussing research plans
- (3) field research phase (period 3, August 13-17)
- (4) reporting, graduation, departures (period 4, August 18-19):
- August 18: reporting and graduation
- August 19: departures
- Post-School (September 1-September 30, 2023):
- the group leaders send the final version of group reports (paper or solution proposals) to be included to the edited on-line volume and case study database.
Details about the application procedure and available travel grants will be available from http://conference.emu.ee/summerschools/engage. The application deadline for those who applies for any form of financial assistance and/or needs visa in order to enter Estonia is March 1, 2023. The deadline for all other categories of participants (including the applicants for DAAD scholarships) is April 15, 2023. The application form is located HERE.
Accommodation and meals shall be covered by participants; we are working on affordable solutions for the school; local transport will be arranged and covered by the university. All the relevant information will be available soon from the summer school www; some practical info is available from https://www.emu.ee/en/studies/practical-information/, and information about Tartu can be found on https://visittartu.com/. The tuition fee for applicants from OECD countries is EUR 650 (this does not include meals and accommodation) and waived for the rest of the world. Based on individual merits and personal situation we will consider full or partial fee waivers for the participants from OECD countries as well.
The Shool’s website will be launched soon. All the inquiries on the matters not covered by the website should be sent to Dr. Anton Shkaruba, anton.shkaruba@emu.ee, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 5 Tartu 51006, Estonia
