Climate and the City Summer School
2024 was the warmest year on record! In a context of an ever warming climate, adapting to the effects of climate change is becoming urgently important – especially in cities, as hot summer days pose a particular problem in densely populated urban areas. Thus innovative solutions for urban climate adaptation are needed.
In this hands-on Climate and the City summer school, you will collaborate with an interdisciplinary team to develop real-world solutions and business ideas for more resilient and livable urban spaces. From small scale adaptation measures such as green facades and water management to social innovations, you will explore practical interventions that make a difference – leveraging an inter-and transdisciplinary approach to drive innovation.
Take action on climate change, build your skills, and expand your network. Apply now and be part of the solution!
After the Climate and the City Summer School you will have
– Gain in-depth knowledge of urban climate adaptation – on approaches, solutions, scaling – from top experts in the field of environmental engineering, economics, urban design/planning, health and social/behavioural sciences.
– Gathered valuable insights from startups and industry leaders.
– The experience of working in interdisciplinary student teams, since this course is designed for students from diverse backgrounds, including business, architecture, engineering, communication, health and environmental sciences.
– Learnt creative ideation and entrepreneurial skills to develop innovative ideas for new products and services.
Pitch to experts: Present your innovative idea to an expert audience and receive practical feedback from them.
– Possibly discovered a potential topic for your bachelor’s or master’s thesis
Requirements
The Climate and the City Summer School is open for BSc, MSc and PhD students from all departments and disciplines at ZHAW, EELISA Partner universities and other institutions of higher education.The number of participants is limited to 24. All applications will be evaluated after the application deadline. You will be informed by calendar week 20 whether you can take part in the Summer School. After the acceptance to the Summer School, students will receive course materials and further information.
Important: Please check with your study program lead if the Summer School of 3 ECTS can be credited.All attendees are required to dedicate their full attention to the program for its duration. Please make sure to pause other obligations to ensure a fully engaging experience.
Documents required for the application
– CV in English, including English level and BSc GPA and
– A motivation letter in the form of an email
Fee
For ZHAW students the summer school is free of charge, for non-ZHAW students: CHF 300 (partial fee waivers for EELISA students).
WHEN
1 to 6 of September, 2025
WHERE
Onsite at ZHAW, Winterthur Campus
APPLICATION DEADLINE
16 May
This Summer School is part of the EELISA Seasonal Schools. Learn more about these on the EELISA Seasonal School’s webpage.