Shared actions are proposed between universities, companies, administration and citizens to adapt to climate change.

The University of Barcelona promotes a social innovation laboratory together with the public administration (the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Barcelona City Council and the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona), companies and citizens. It is a participatory and co-creative process that aims to improve the resilience of society, specifically in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, in the face of extreme weather events caused by climate change, such as torrential rains or heat waves. This Living Lab is promoted by UB professor Carme Llasat, director of the Group for the Analysis of Adverse Meteorological Situations (GAMA), who was recently awarded the Sant Jordi Cross.

Climate change has many impacts, among them the rise in temperature and the increase of extreme weather events, such as recurrent heat waves. In this sense, the participants in the laboratory propose citizen science initiatives, such as defining safe routes to climate shelters or raising public awareness of the impact of the use of air conditioning. Another effect of climate change is torrential rains and the resulting floods, phenomena in relation to which actions have been proposed, such as identifying through a mobile application the negative effects caused by heavy rains or inducing behavioral changes to favor prevention and self-protection in heavy rainfall episodes, as well as informing the population living in flood-prone areas. In addition, all proposals comply with the DNSH (Do Not Significant Harm) principle, i.e. the measures to be implemented will not significantly harm the environmental objectives.

Living Lab UB

“This lab is very important, because we sit around the same table several actors, and it is not only the University who proposes them. It is a co-creative process that will help to raise awareness in society,” says Carme Llasat, the driving force behind the meeting. These proposals come after one of the hottest summers in recent years and in a September that is expected to be dry and with still high temperatures.

The UB Living Lab, the University of Barcelona’s Social Innovation Lab, offers innovative solutions through a user-centered methodology, thanks to the active participation of all the social agents involved: companies, clients or users, Administration and UB researchers.

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