Lodz University of Technology is the leader of an EU project from the LIFE Programme to support activities for nature and climate protection and energy transition. The project, coordinated by Professor Volodymyr Mosorov of the Institute of Applied Computer Science at Lodz University of Technology, will be carried out by several European universities, with the support of a Dutch technology company and a Greek research organisation dedicated to promoting disruptive social and business innovations. The budget for the joint tasks is close to €1.5 million.
Professor Volodymyr Mosorov, photo: Lodz University of Technology
The title of the project and its subject matter fit in very well with the environmental issues that are topical for all people: Comprehensive awareness raising and social behaviour change for a mercury-free city.
The project has a pro-social character and envisages the involvement of city authorities in changing citizens’ awareness of the dangers of environmental contamination by toxic compounds, says Prof Mosorov of the Faculty of Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Control Engineering. – The overall objective of the project is to reduce environmental contamination by mercury contained in household consumer goods, by providing information support, organising a broad information and education campaign, and activities related to changing social behaviour. The project’s consortia are concerned with finding solutions together.
As reported by Professor Mosorov, the project will pilot comprehensive activities in four cities with similar characteristics: Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine – a country that has not yet signed the Minamata Convention on the Protection of Citizens from Mercury Pollution, as well as Lodz and Krakow. Three others – Larissa (Greece), Evora (Portugal) and Camerino (Italy) – will be the control cities and first replicators of the project results.
The project will develop a LIFE e-HUB, an electronic platform connecting all partners, as well as an educational one based on the Moodle platform. An international e-Conference “Mercury-free city: the danger in our homes” is planned, as well as a number of pro-social activities. Above all, a multi-stakeholder roadmap for a mercury-free city will be created. The plans include: International Mercury-Free City Marathons; an Academy for Mercury-Free Living; Summer Schools for municipalities, NGOs and educational institutions, as well as mutual learning exercises aimed at mercury-free city communities.
The partners of the project coordinated by Lodz University of Technology are: AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Lviv Polytechnic Nationale University (Ukraine), Universidade de Evora (Portugal), Universita Degli Studi di Camerino (Italy), Ivano-Frankivsk Academy Ivan Zolotoustoho (Ukraine), as well as the technology company Virtual Angle BV (Netherlands) and the organisation Innovation Hive – Kypseli Kainotomias (Greece).
The project will start at the beginning of the new academic year, on 1 October. It will run for three years and will end on 30 September 2025. The total cost of the funding from the European Union is €1,394,530, of which Lodz University of Technology will receive €338,120; this amount includes funds granted from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.
Source: Lodz University of Technology
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