Posters virtual: Wed, 30 Apr, 14:00–15:45 | vPoster spot 1
The city of Follonica is an energy community and the high school is involved in the "Pecora River Agreement", a local project whose aim is to redevelop the river ecosystem.
Outdoor education is a method that encourages students to be active participants and become citizens aware of the importance of environmental protection.
Students have projected a study (using IBSE method) of the polluted area around the river. The city's history is studied, using local library, showing its importance in climate, the changes in the water regime, and the shape of the river during the XX century.
The environmental situation is measured through chemical and physical parameters of the water, soil texture, quality indicators of soil (analysis of soil fauna), and water (Extended Biotic Index).
The digital products are: a website, some reports, and an interactive map of the river.
School has communicated the situation to the local authorities as a part of the Agreement, moreover, students make proposals: plants on the riverbank, activities to sensitize the local community, and monitoring through an ecological index for the future of the city
How to cite: Severi, A.: Outdoor education for rehabilitation of a river, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-20776, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-20776, 2025.
In the TAPSI project (Localised climate service for Finland, https://www.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/tapsi), new services are being developed to deliver more regionally specific climate information and climate risk indicators, aiming to support climate change adaptation and awareness across Finland.
As part of the TAPSI project, urban measurement networks are being planned and established in four Finnish cities: Tampere, Helsinki, Rovaniemi, and Oulu. Since November 2024, air temperature and relative humidity have been continuously measured at 30 monitoring stations across Helsinki (area ~200 km²), with sensors positioned at a height of 3 meters. These measurements provide an opportunity to explore urban microclimates, enabling students and researchers to investigate the interactions between local urban structures and atmospheric conditions. Combined with other existing measurements, the application of Geographic Information System (GIS) methods, and the integration of environmental and regional datasets, these data enable more precise analyses. Such analyses can, for instance, be used to provide residential area-specific warnings about the dangers of heatwaves.
During spring 2025, within the Carbon Busters project (https://www.metropolia.fi/fi/tutkimus-kehitys-ja-innovaatiot/hankkeet/carbon-busters), this urban climate dataset of Helsinki is going to be utilized to educate students of the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences on the specifics of urban climatology. The dataset facilitates two key areas of inquiry. First, it enables the analysis of spatial temperature variations between densely built-up areas and greener, park-like regions. By correlating these observations with prevailing synoptic weather conditions, students can gain insights into the factors driving regional temperature differences. This includes making the environmental impacts on urban temperature visible, particularly highlighting the roles of green spaces and water bodies in influencing local temperatures and raising awareness of their benefits. Second, we employ kriging interpolation techniques to generate high-resolution (100 m x 100 m) gridded temperature maps from the station measurements. This approach not only enhances our understanding of spatial temperature distribution but also serves as a valuable tool for visualizing and communicating urban climate dynamics to diverse audiences.
Through our efforts, we aim to bridge the gap between scientific data and educational practice, empowering students to engage with authentic datasets and fostering critical thinking about urban climate issues.
This work is part of the following projects: Carbon Busters funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council (project number R-00246), TAPSI (Localised climate service for Finland) funded by LocalTapiola (https://www.lahitapiola.fi/en/), and ACCC (Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center, Flagship Grant No. 337552) funded by the Research Council of Finland.
How to cite: Korhonen, N., Laapas, M., Kühn, T., Pirinen, P., Luomaranta, A., Kuntsi-Reunanen, E., Vajda, A., and Gregow, H.: Utilizing Urban Microclimate Data in Education and Research , EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-17453, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-17453, 2025.
In order to effectively mitigate, adapt to and benefit from climate change, society needs climate expertise. To enhance professional climate action competencies and to educate students in climate-informed decision making a new master-level course, "Living with changing climate" was developed. This course was created by a multidisciplinary team of experts from the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (UH-INAR), the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and the Department of Educational Sciences at the University of Helsinki, as part of the ClimComp-project funded by the Research Council of Finland.
Designed for an online learning platform, the course is part of the Climate University curriculum. Climate University (www.climateuniversity.fi), a network of higher education institutions in Finland that provides climate and sustainability education in collaboration with schools and working life. The "Living with changing climate" course covers the causes and complexity of climate change, its impacts and adaptation needs, future scenarios and their links to mitigation efforts, and acquaints students with open-source weather and climate data, applications and their use, and the principles of climate services. Additionally, students apply the knowledge gained in project work on a real-life example, enabling them to collaborate with stakeholders. The course was piloted during spring 2023 among a group of students with diverse background. Based on the feedback received, the course material was improved and published in the curriculum in autumn 2023. The design and development process of the course, including the challenges encountered, and lessons learned are presented.
How to cite: Mäkelä, A., Gregow, H., Vajda, A., Korhonen, N., Lavonen, J., Lauri, K., Makkonen, R., Merikanto, J., Räisänen, P., Siponen, J., Vesterinen, V.-M., Ylivinkka, I., Riuttanen, L., Böhnisch, A., and Kuntsi-Reunanen, E.: Climate competencies for real-life action: developing a master level course "Living with changing climate", EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-18727, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-18727, 2025.
Human perception is strongly influenced by communication. In the context of natural hazards, perception plays a crucial role in the resilience of affected populations. This is particularly true for people's perceptions of phenomena related to climate change (CC). Given this, it is essential to effectively calibrate communication, especially digital communication, which has significantly transformed how information is shared. Moreover, digital communication is the primary channel for younger generations, often labeled “digital natives.” However, the preferences of young people regarding digital communication tools have not been sufficiently explored.
In this study, in the framework of the Italian NRRP Tech4You Project, we examine the digital communication tools preferred by students from an Italian scientific high school. A questionnaire was administered to 74 students, asking them to select from various digital communication tools related to CC topics. Additionally, an open-ended question encouraged the students to explain their choices briefly. The communication preferences were analyzed via SPSS statistical software, whereas the comments were analyzed via the qualitative data analysis software AtlasTi.
The results highlight a preference for communication that is concise, simple, and similar to the content young people usually engage in. With respect to the proposed content, videos and images are preferred over explicating texts. These findings, which shed light on students' preferences for internet digital tools related to CC, offer valuable insights for better calibrating digital communication in the field of climate change adaptation (CCA), which involves young citizens.
This study provides a good basis for enhancing young people's access to information through digital communication, which could significantly improve their social resilience to CC-related events. This improvement is crucial, as the information of today's youth contributes to building more resilient adult citizens in the future.
How to cite: Carone, M. T. and Antronico, L.: Climate change and digital communication: teens’ preferences, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-6859, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-6859, 2025.
The West African countries share a myriad of challenges, including environmental degradation, desertification, enhanced rainfall variability, unprecedented heat waves, floodings and declining agricultural productivity. The accelerated climate change along with other global change stressors like population growth and rapid urbanization contributes to land degradation, chronic poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition.
To address these challenges, the Climate Services for Risk Reduction in Africa (CS4RRA) was initiated by France and Germany through their ministries of higher education and research (MESR and BMBF respectively), with West African regional and national institutions such as ACMAD, AGRHYMET/CILSS, WASCAL, African Centres of Excellence, Universities, National Governmental Services in West Africa with the aim to enhance climate resilience through Knowledge, Innovation, and Capacity Building (KIC). This initiative is built on the achievements of previous EU and AU programmes (H2020, JPI Climate/SINCERE, Copernicus CCS, ERA4CS, Climate-KIC, etc.). Four hybrid webinars (in-person and online), rooted in West African countries, were held to identify gaps and critical issues in climate services for risk reduction in Africa.
To capitalize on such Webinars Forum, CS4RRA culminated in an international Stocktaking Conference for West Africa, on 5 - 6 November 2024. Building on conclusions and recommendations from the webinars and aiming to address gaps in knowledge, innovation, and capacity development, this conference convened policymakers and representatives of governments, academia, donors, international agencies, and various stakeholders of the climate service value chain together in Africa. The main objective was to agree on the identified necessary research and innovation efforts and to address the corresponding funding gaps. This conference examined potential areas for multilateral cooperation to support research and innovation on climate services for risk management, resilience, and adaptation in West Africa and beyond.
How to cite: Monfray, P., Ogunjobi, K., Sanfo, S., Roehrig, J., Fink, A., Kane, C., Sama, M., Sultan, B., Agboka, K., Alabi, T. A., Cherif, M., Gaye, A. T., Amponsah, W., and Dindane, A.: Climate Services for Risk Reduction in Africa (CS4RRA): a multilateral initiative between Europe and Africa, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-20205, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-20205, 2025.
Universities are critical in addressing scientific, environmental, social, and political challenges of climate change. But solving the many problems associated with this grand challenge requires: (1) an interdisciplinary approach connecting university experts from various knowledge domains and organizations; (2) synergy with stakeholders for developing and deploying actionable solutions to adapting to the climate crisis; and (3) communicating research deliverables to the public to inform the adoption of climate-friendly behavior.
Here, we examine the Climate Transformation Programme (CTP) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) as a case study in interdisciplinary research, evidence-based policymaking, and stakeholder engagement for climate action in Southeast Asia. The CTP framework integrates expertise from science, technology, social sciences, and the arts and translates it into actionable items for decision-makers through a three-fold stakeholder engagement approach. This strategy includes engagement with government agencies, industry partners, and community groups.
To highlight the importance of an interdisciplinary approach within CTP, Kim et al. (2023) combined whole-genome sequencing with reconstructions of landscape change of Southeast Asia[1]. We showed that rapid sea-level rise drove early settlers in Southeast Asia to migrate during the prehistoric period. Our work was the first reported instance to provide proof that sea-level rise changed the genetic makeup of human populations in Southeast Asia – a legacy that continues to impact current populations, affecting the genetic diversity of the region today.
Through the CTP corporate partners network, researchers establish mutually beneficial alliances with businesses committed to developing long-term resilience to the climate crisis. To support the adoption of context-appropriate and feedback-driven climate solutions, partnerships with governmental and international organizations should be fostered. For example, Yim et al. (2024) estimated the global health impacts of air pollution over the past 40 years and its association with climate variability[2]. We revealed that 135 million premature deaths were attributable to PM2.5 air pollution during this period, with climate variability exacerbating health risks. This research was recognized at the 2024 World Health Organization (WHO) annual meeting and is employed in partnership with Prudential Insurance Company to assess health impact on individuals of Southeast Asia.
Effective climate communication is key to mobilizing the public to adopt pro-climate behaviors. Using plastic waste as an example, Xiong et al. (2024) investigated if virtual reality (VR) is a viable tool that could overcome several challenges facing climate communication[3]. Our finding indicates policymakers could adopt VR technologies to increase public members’ interest in learning about climate issues. In designing pro-climate behavioral interventions, policymakers should focus on facilitating individuals’ autonomous motivation by giving them a sense of control.
[1] Kim, H.L., Li, T., Kalsi, N. et al. (2023) Prehistoric human migration between Sundaland and South Asia was driven by sea-level rise. Commun Biol 6, 150. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04510-0
[2] Yim, S. H. L., Li, Y., et al. (2024). Global health impacts of ambient fine particulate pollution associated with climate variability. Environment International, 186, 108587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.108587
[3] Xiong, S. R., Ho, S. S., et al. (2024). Virtual Environment, Real Impacts: A Self-determination Perspective on the use of Virtual Reality for Pro-environmental Behavior Interventions. Environmental Communication, 18(5), 628–647. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2024.2361270
How to cite: Tsyrulneva, I., Kim, H. L., Yim, S. H. L., Ho, S. S., and Horton, B. P.: Integrating disciplines and stakeholders to address climate change challenges, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-7680, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-7680, 2025.
Generative AI is radically affecting the teaching landscape in Earth Sciences, which includes evertyhting from essays to coding. Staff have a variety of approaches, ranging from enthusiastic early adopters to 'head-in-the-sand' 'if I don't look at it it won't exist' wishful thinkers. How can we best help everyone learn about the pitfalls and advantages, so they are informed enough to use it correctly if they wish to? This abstract will cover reflections from teaching staff along their journey to integrating generative AI into teaching practice and describe workshops held to integrate staff with different levels of experience. The goal was to give beginners a supported first taste with signposted development resources, and share ideas and methods and resources for the more advanced users.
How to cite: Petrie, E.: Reflecting on the journey towards integrating Generative AI into understanding and practice, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-20328, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-20328, 2025.
Etna's eastern flank is crossed by numerous seismogenic faults, which cause surface faulting, resulting in the destruction of buildings and exposing the local population to risk. Rebuilding damaged buildings in earthquake-prone areas raises ethical and economic concerns. A seismic event measuring Mw4.9 occurred on 26 December 2018, causing significant damage to over 3,000 buildings within an area of 205 km² populated by approximately 140,000 individuals residing on the Etna's eastern flank. The earthquake resulted in a ground rupture exceeding ten kilometres, encompassing several urban areas. Consequently, it was imperative to conduct a preliminary geostructural study to ascertain the most vulnerable tectonic zones and upgrade targeted buildings. The study identified the homogeneous microzones in seismic prospection, namely the Zones of Attention (ZAACF), Susceptibility (ZSACF) and Respect (ZRACF) of the faults activated during the 2018 earthquake. Buildings in the ZRACF were not permitted to be repaired because they were at serious risk of future damage, and owners were offered financial compensation to rebuild in seismically safer areas. Initially, some people demonstrated reluctance to accept the proposed relocation. Empathy and clear explanations regarding the rationale for the relocation were provided, and the provision of comprehensive support to people facing significant psychological challenges was identified as being necessary. This approach is currently being implemented in the reconstruction of other seismic areas in Italy, and it has the potential to become a common and sustainable model for the reconstruction of areas affected by natural disasters.
How to cite: Neri, M., Neri, E., and Leonardi, A.: Geoethical principles applied to the reconstruction planning of natural disasters: the Etna 2018 earthquake case study, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-9411, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-9411, 2025.
