Project objectives:
The TURAS Project bringing together decision makers in local authorities with SMEs and academics to respond to the efforts of city communities. Eleven local
authorities or local development agencies are involved as project partners and they will orient research and development from the outset towards the most
significant sustainability and resilience challenges facing their cities. Nine leading academic research institutions and eight SMEs will work with these
public sector bodies helping them to reduce their urban ecological footprint through proposing new visions, strategies, spatial scenarios and guidance
tools to help cities address these challenges. Over the five year duration of the project, the feasibility of these new approaches will be examined and results
compared between participating cities, A final set of strategies and tools will be then be produced for demonstration, dissemination and exploitation in
other European cities.
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Project
Summary:
Over half of the global population live in urban areas and with this
figure forecast to rise, the demand for increasingly scarce natural
resources continues to escalate. The “TURAS” initiative brings urban
communities and businesses together with local authorities and
researchers to collaborate on developing practical new solutions for
more sustainable and resilient urban areas.
11 European cities (Brussels, Dublin, London, Rome, Sofia, Ljubljana,
Nottingham, Seville, Rotterdam, Stuttgart, and Aalborg) are involved
in the initial pilot studies of TURAS addressing issues such as climate
change adaptation and mitigation, natural resource shortage, urban
sprawl, green infrastructure, short-circuit economies and community
participation in areas such as temporary usage of derelict sites and
buildings.
The results emerging from these pilot studies will be measured
and compared between participating urban areas before a final
set of strategies and tools will be developed for exploitation by
other European cities. Ultimately the Project will illustrate to urban
communities, businesses, planners and managers how transition
strategies may be created and implemented as we strive to move to
more sustainable urban living.
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Professor Paul Bardos