Renovate universities' educational offerings on climate adaptation in partnership with communities and stakeholders

The topic of climate change is highly relevant to university education, yet current educational methodologies lack action-oriented, practical approaches. The Erasmus+ Cli-CC.HE Project aims to establish a partnership among the university sector, citizens, local stakeholders, practitioners, and public administration to develop a new educational methodology focused on climate adaptation and population well-being in cities. The methodology is based on three main aspects: direct confrontation with the experience of the population and local stakeholders; training of students and citizens and local stakeholders to become informed and active interlocutors of adaptation proposals affecting their territory; and application of unconventional educational tools that facilitate sharing of knowledge and elaboration of design solutions for adaptation. The methodology was developed based on the insights gained from university workshops conducted with the Project partner universities and local workshops held in each of the four cities involved in the project. This paper focuses on the experience gained in the San Benedetto del Tronto (Italy) workshop, which brought together a significant community of students, citizens, and local stakeholders to develop climate-proof urban regeneration proposals that prioritise the health and well-being of inhabitants.