The Open Space of the European medium-sized city is recognized as a psychological, sociological and aesthetic High Quality Space. For this reason it can be assumed as a resource to conserve and develop consciously and as model to value the livability of the urban anthropic environment inside a Global Strategy of Sustainable Development. The ARCHEA project relays on a constructive cooperation and integration between five Universities, research institutes and organizations all providing strong expertise in the field of urban studies, urban space quality evaluation and Distance Learning. Indeed the project proposes to develop, test and implement an Higher Education programme structured in a flexible blended learning path on study, quality evaluation and the design of the Open Space of the European medium-sized city, which mixes e-learning courses (OER-MOOC) and practical activities planned for the phisical mobility (Intensive Programmes for Learners, i.e. Architectural Design Workshops). The ARCHEA aims to support: 1. implementation of reforms in line with 2011 EU Modernization Agenda’s priority areas; 2. develpment of an European Area of Skills and Qualifications; 3. enhancement of digital integration in learning, teaching, training and youth work at various levels; 4. ensuring education and research are mutually reinforcing and strengthening the role of institutions in their local and regional environments. Although a number of 60 students will be supported by the project for the phisical mobility, a higher number of students will benefit the courses on e-learning platform as these courses will be recognized and validated as ECTS. Furthermore, since the main outputs the project foresees are teaching materials that will be available as “open learning objects” in an e-learning platform, a wide number of persons besides students, such as private and public operators in the field of urban planning and design, will be potential beneficiary. The ARCHEA project is organized in three different stages: stage one will be focus on the implementation and organization of the OER-MOOC; stage two application of the MOOC teaching/learning content to real case studies represented by selected areas within European medium-sized cities; stage three evaluation on the results of the pilot course and dissemination. The proposal Intellectual Outputs are: IO1 – RE-DRAWING OF THE OPEN SPACE OF THE EUROPEAN MEDIUM-SIZED CITY IO2 – ARCHEA OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES - MOOC IO3 - MANUAL OF BEST PRACTICES FOR A BLENDED FLEXIBLE TRAINING ACTIVITY IN ARCHITECTURE HEI IO4 – SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH The ARCHEA project includes the organization of two Intensive Study Programmes as part of the flexible blended pilot programme taking the form of Architectural Design Workshops focused on developing skills and deepen knowledge on topics treated in the e-learning courses. This activities involve the use of ICT and digital tools (digital pens&electronic tables) that allow to transmit streaming the experience of the workshops on the ARCHEA platform. In relation to the goals, the ARCHEA proposal will take advantage of the collaboration of an interdisciplinary and international group of researchers experienced in projects devoted to study, quality evaluation and design of the Open Space of the European city. The interdisciplinary co-operation across EU boundaries throughout a strategic partnership involving High Education Institutions and urban development stakeholders may meaningfully contribute to define the structural features of the urban space and further to improving its quality and livability with regard to some of the critical issues that have emerged in recent years. Moreover, the proximity between research and education can help to prepare young architects who are more ready to take up new challenges regarding the project of the contemporary city and to enter the European labor market.
The open space of the medium-sized European city is recognized as a psychological, sociological and aesthetic high-quality space. For this reason, it can be considered a resource to consciously conserve and develop and as model for valuing the livability of the urban anthropic environment within a global strategy of sustainable development. The ARCHEA project relies on the constructive cooperation and integration of five universities, research institutes and organizations, all providing strong expertise in the field of urban studies and space quality evaluation, urban design and teaching/learning activities. During the program, the ARCHEA project developed, tested and implemented a higher-education program structured into a flexible, blended learning path on the study and design of the open space of the medium-sized European city, which combined e-learning courses (OER-MOOC) and practical, in-person activities (Intensive Programs for Learners such as Architectural Design Workshops). The ARCHEA project followed the guidelines of the new EU Modernization Agenda for Higher Education (2017) whose objectives include, in addition to the obvious goal of growing the participants’ abilities and high-quality skills in their relative field of study, an increase in the open education and innovative practices in the digital age and above all, the goal of a project which combines teaching and research, meaning that teaching and research “are mutually reinforcing.” The conceptual core of the so-called “ARCHEA method” follows a further indication of the EU Agenda: the transition from STEM to STE(A)M, i.e., integrating interest in the scientific disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math with the "A" of Art. This novelty involves the passage from exclusive interest in a purely technical-scientific model to a system that establishes a dual condition, in which intuition and creativity can balance the predominance of the deterministic component. The result of this reasoning was a fundamentally binary base framework, which included an Urban Theory Design course delivered online via the platform Moodle (IO2) on one hand, and the practical-creative experience of the international Architectural Design Workshops on the other (C2, C3); hence the experience of distance learning on one hand, and students’ in-person participation with the development of face-to-face activities on the other. In this binary framework divided between theory and practice, science and art, a third element was added - critical redrawing (IO1) - which shifts the ARCHEA method towards the greater complexity of a tertiary structure. The intellectual outputs produced are: IO1 – Re-drawing the open space of the medium-sized European city IO2 – ARCHEA online course - MOOC IO3 - Manual of best practices for a blended flexible training activity in architecture HEI IO4 – Scientific research During the design workshops, remote interaction and critical review methods were experimented through the use of new technologies (digital pens & electronic tables). The outbreak of the pandemic forced this process to then experiment with virtual architecture exhibitions that involved both the cities under study - Bologna and Aachen - and other case studies and which were streamed on different dissemination channels (social media, websites). More than 60 students and 20 teachers from the schools of the partnership participated in the architecture workshops, as well as scholars from other national and international universities, numerous stakeholders (professionals belonging to the order of architects) and policy makers. The municipalities of Bologna and Aachen were involved in the choice of study areas and in the seminars. The collaboration with “FAmagazine. Research and projects on architecture and the city”, media partner of the project, contributed to the dissemination of the events and results of ARCHEA to more than 2,500 people in the academic world and in national and international architecture. The IO4 Scientific research, published in Open Access mode with an academic publishing house at the top of the world ranking, has allowed the diffusion of the research overseas. In addition, the book “Mapping Urban Spaces. Designing the European City” has already been adopted as a reference book in several study courses. The interdisciplinary cooperation across EU borders throughout a strategic partnership involving high education institutions and urban development stakeholders can contribute to defining the structural features of the urban space, and furthermore to improving its quality and livability with regard to some of the critical issues that have emerged in recent years.