Cap4city event discussed smart and sustainable cities
hotos: Giordano Toldo
If you have heard the term “smart cities” you must have an idea of the impacts of this concept on the way we relate to the space we live in. The goal of Cap4city is to develop governance capacity in smart and sustainable cities. With investments from the Erasmus fund, the project operates with 12 Higher Education Institutions from different countries.
To bring these discussions to a higher level, PUCRS opened its doors to the event Building Governance Capabilities in Smart and Sustainable Cities: sharing teaching and research experiences, from Jul 6-7, featuring 10 international guest speakers, from 8 different countries. Participants shared the experiences developed under Cap4City with the goal of transforming cities with education.
The program included the presentation of cases, panels, methodologies and perspectives to address the inclusion of this topic in college curricula. According to Lucy Temple, researcher at Danube University Krems, Austria, and project coordinator, Cap4city has been very active since 2018.
“Cap4city aims to help cities build capacity with an eye to sustainability, and provide all the resources they will need to implement and create a curriculum that universities can use around the world.”
Events like this are important for the promotion of connections and actions that enhance people’s quality of life in cities. According to Dr. Vanessa Daniel, this is a fundamental factor.
“Any arena where we can discuss and bring different ideas about the topic is important and helps to open up for several factors. Here, we have actors from the most diverse areas, some with more progressive views, others with a more critical attitude, and these people need to join forces to think about this phenomenon.”
Cap4city’s research legacy is multifaceted. This is shown, for instance, in the offer of a free program with 31 courses, with technical topics, such as management, public management and governance. The classes will be taught by international guests and will be subtitled in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The project also aims to create a free library for anyone who wants to know more about smart cities.
“The idea is that teachers can use it in their classes, and even in New High ”, According to Dr. Edimara Mezzomo Luciano, Cap4City coordinator at PUCRS, at the Business School.
The project went beyond the campus and, in the course Integration Project I, undergraduate students in the Business Administration program applied the methodology in their visit to the Marist Center of Ilha Grande dos Marinheiros, to identify problems and think up solutions. Similar actions we replicated in Picada Café and Ivoti. “This type of project makes students realize the world, with social issues and the choices of government officials. They give attention to a part of the city that is still unattended ”, Edimara says.
