The project aims to enhance the connection between teaching, research, and the practice of architecture and urban design by developing international academic partnerships and fostering scholarly and pedagogical excellence. It also aimed to improve mobility and integrate formal and informal methods of teaching and learning in architecture, especially in the areas of climate action and sustainability. The project facilitated knowledge transfer in sustainable bio-climatic urban revitalization and green public spaces by organizing study visits, research exchanges, and collaborative development of a GUIDE (vol.1) on environment and climate change. The GUIDE (vol.1) was subsequently applied in a 10-Day Summer School conducted with students and mentors from five countries, during which participants formulated conceptual solutions informed by the guide’s content. Awareness-raising, visibility, and dissemination activities during the project contributed toward achieving a sustained impact long after the project’s completion. It is anticipated that the knowledge and practices developed during the project will meaningfully influence environmental education and urban planning in the region.
The effect of climate change on the activation and preservation of green spaces within cities prompted the project’s undertakings. The lack of attractiveness, functionality, and safety of certain spatial areas leads to both developmental encroachment and underutilization in many urban zones. Organizational and financial limitations are also prevalent in enabling local citizens to take advantage of such revitalized spaces. This project focuses on the Skopje Aqueduct with the intent of creating a more positive interaction between space and people. Fundamental goals included public site reactivation alongside environmental sustainability, preservation of the cultural heritage, biodiversity and raising civic engagement toward ecological spaces within the city. Through active learning approaches involving site-specific environmental assessments, students were equipped with skills necessary to build sustainable urban areas. Alongside, the gaps created by the lack of formal architectural and urban planning teaching in bio-climatic design, sustainability, and environmental education were addressed.The result was achieving enhanced functionality of public spaces, interaction among citizens, and promotion of greener, sustainable cities.