The university's activities for Sustainable Development and Goal 11 presented in the reports for 2021-2022 and 2020-2021 "Lodz University of Technology on the path of sustainable development".
TUL educational offer includes many fields of study that educate future Bachelors and Masters of Science who are aware of the challenges of rapid urbanisation, planners who effectively manage urban resources. Among the proposals are
- Architecture,
- Bioeconomy and Sustainable Bioeconomy,
- Biotechnology,
- Civil Engineering,
- Chemistry of Building Materials,
- Energy Systems in the Built Environment,
- Environmental Engineering,
- Environmental Engineering in Civil Engineering,
- Urban Revitalisation,
- Spatial Planning,
- Transport.
Thanks to the initiative of TUL students and employees who prepared two projects as part of the Participatory Budget, a new place full of greenery and good energy has appeared on the city map. In this way, two university campuses were connected by a beautiful walking path. A lane for cyclists, bicycle racks and traffic restrictions for cars were created. Green enclaves with benches and food gardens encourage Lodz residents to visit the area.
Thanks to this initiative, the Stare Polesie housing estate has been enriched with a friendly space full of greenery, and Stefanowskiego Street has become a showcase of the district, just like the historic villas in Skorupki Street and the beautiful Klepacz
Park, which are part of TUL campus.
In 2010 International Faculty of Engineering (IFE) of Lodz University of Technology met the needs of foreign students, wanting to make it easier for them to function and stay in Poland. To this end, the IFE donated bicycles purchased by Lodz University
of Technology to the student organisation ESNEYE. Thanks to this initiative, exchange students can commute freely to university, explore the city and, at the same time, lead and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Two educational trails: "Energy processing" and "Microworld - Macroworld" have received scientific patronage of Lodz University of Technology. Both trails belong to the permanent exhibition of the Science and Technology Centre EC1.
The "Energy Processing" trail refers to the history and character of the former Lodz Power Plant complex. It leads through the interiors of the historical buildings of the switching station, engine room, boiler room and cooling tower. The trail ends in the control room, where you can take part in a strategy game related to energy management and conservation.
"Microworld - Macroworld" trail includes multimedia, interactive presentations, providing content concerning micro and nanosystems, atomic and subatomic physics and chemistry, including molecular chemistry.
Lodz University of Technology actively participates and co-organizes events promoting the idea of sustainable industrial cities as part of the sixth edition of the Partner Cities Forum "Smart and Liveable Cities" organised at TUL.
Representatives of the City of Lodz and its partner cities shared their experiences and examples in implementing a holistic approach to urban planning, revitalisation, climate adaptation and smart city solutions.
In turn, the challenges faced by modern industrial agglomerations competing internationally were discussed during the International Congress "Regeneration of Industrial Cities". The issues of cultural and industrial heritage, the system of innovative industrial city, and urban modernisation were among the discussed topics. It was emphasised that a modern industrial city, which in the specific life cycle of manufactured products considers the spatial effects of global processes of production, exchange, consumption, and recycling is a city that produces useful products and services without burdening other societies and other countries with negative externalities.
The Congress was an opportunity for a comprehensive debate on the problems of urban regeneration and the role of the business community in this process, the importance of cultural and industrial heritage as a revitalisation resource. Polish experience confronted with the experience of the West in the conditions of restructuring manufacturing activity and the needs of reindustrialisation made it possible to indicate new mechanisms and conditions allowing for a quicker response to the needs of the environment.
In the middle of the 19th century, Lodz factory owners took steps to establish Polytechnic Institute in Lodz. They made property contribution by transferring their buildings and land for this purpose. Unfortunately, as a result of a strong objection from the occupational authorities of the Russian Tsar, this enterprise did not succeed.
However, one hundred years later, Lodz University of Technology was founded and situated in this very area, on the premises of the above mentioned industrial and estate buildings.
The university authorities converted and adapted industrial property and residential villas to make them useful for the university needs. There are fourteen historical buildings on TUL campus, and the university authorities make sure they remain in the best possible condition and are a permanent element of the campus landscape, where modernity blends with the tradition of post-industrial Lodz.
TUL Rector's Office is located in Reinhold Richter Villa, whose construction was completed in 1904. The villa represents
a range of styles: Gothic, Mannerism and Art-Nouveau. Numerous Antique and Renaissance elements decorate the interior.
The Dean's Office of the Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering is located in the Neo-Renaissance Oskar
Schweikert Villa, built in 1888.
Since 2017, the park located in the centre of Lodz is owned by Lodz University of Technology, therefore it has been included in one of the University's campuses. The area of the park is 3.3 ha. It remains a generally accessible public space, which is willingly used by the inhabitants of Lodz. The park contains numerous trees, nature monuments and shrubs, and Scilla Siberica bloom beautifully in early spring.
The obtained co-financing made it possible to conduct tree care activities and maintain the proper health and aesthetic condition of trees in the park. Maintenance cuts and planting were conducted, many new species of trees and shrubs appeared. These activities positively influenced the natural values and aesthetics of the park listed in the register of historic
monuments.
The noise issue in urban areas is one of the environmental hazards and is regarded as pollution. The concentration of noise in urban areas is most often related to economic activities, which generate industrial noise, or to transport, which is responsible for traffic noise. Given the prevalence and density of roads, it is traffic noise that has the greatest impact and significantly affects the natural environment and people's quality of life.
Researchers at the Faculty of Organisation and Management, TUL found an answer to these problems. The aim of one of their studies is to monitor, control and manage noise in urban space using health indicators in order to designate "quiet areas".
Currently, acoustic maps drawn up in the EU countries are used only to designate areas exposed to excessive industrial or communication noise and to determine the M index, which characterises the extent to which the acceptable noise level is
exceeded and the number of inhabitants in the area. However, from 2022 the EU law will require the development of strategic acoustic maps to forecast changes in the acoustic climate in a given area.
It will therefore become important to manage the acoustic environment, considering indicators describing health effects, such as extreme noise annoyance (HA) or extreme sleep disturbance (HSD).
The research conducted at the Faculty includes benchmarking of cities using methods of health indicators in acoustic
maps, conducting acoustic surveys in reference points, and preparing IT tools in developing and visualising acoustic maps.
The project will also develop urban space management strategies to minimise noise from various sources.
Another research problem dealt with by researchers at the Faculty of Organisation and Management, TUL is the development of intelligent materials minimising communication noise, which would allow for appropriate design of acoustic protections along transport routes. The research includes
- analysis of materials with absorption characteristics and resonance (with properties to reduce noise generated by transport infrastructure),
- assessment of the possibility to capture pollutants from the air,
- development of absorption-resonance structures to absorb acoustic energy.
The work will develop noise-absorbing material that will be evaluated in a laboratory environment with the possibility of
testing it in real conditions. The research will be used to develop new systems/materials.
The dynamically progressing process of urban development entails many problems concerning both environmental degradation, climate change and the need to provide comfortable living conditions for inhabitants. Excessive heat and impaired air exchange have become characteristic features of the climate of modern cities.
The research conducted at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environmental Engineering is aimed at developing
a methodology of assessing the influence of selected building structures on aerodynamic and thermal conditions, establishing
relations between building type and microclimate conditions, defining local zones for Lodz, and developing cartographic methods, based on GIS, in the form of urban climate maps for selected areas of Lodz.
As part of the ongoing research, work has been undertaken to use GIS to determine the ground roughness parameters,
which allow to delineate potential ventilation corridors for specific areas of Lodz, and a method has been developed using laser light beams to measure the turbulent air flow caused both by the impact of buildings and ground thermal conditions. In response to climate warming and the phenomenon of Urban Heat Island (UHI) resulting from an increase in average air temperature, an increase in the number of boiling days, and an increase in air pollution, the Faculty has also undertaken research to determine the particularities of Lodz Larger Urban Zone, taking into account diverse urban forms.
The aim of the research is to provide information on the quality of the urban environment and to identify areas requiring the introduction of adaptation strategies. The next step is to analyse the effectiveness and select optimal adaptation solutions.
The implemented solutions will translate into beneficial changes in environmental parameters, including temperature reduction, improved air quality, space aesthetics, and improved human thermal comfort. Cooperation at the university-city level will contribute to planning activities that increase the city's resilience to current and future extreme phenomena.
With the funds from the "Idea Box" budget, AIRLY air quality measuring sensors were purchased and installed on TUL campuses. Each user is able to track the measurements thanks to a mobile app for Android and iOS systems, and through an online platform. The purchase of the monitoring system was part of the "Smart Campus" project that has been underway at TUL for several years, and the data collected is used in scientific research. The sensors have supplemented the publicly available map https://airly.org/map/en/ thanks to which Lodz residents have access to information on the city's air quality.
June 2022 marked the 11th World Urban Forum (WUF11), one of the most important events on urban planning, which brought together 20,000 participants from more than 170 countries. The main patron and organizer of the event is UN-Habitat, i.e., the United Nations Human Settlements Program. The Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environmental Engineering at TUL, in cooperation with the Society of Polish Urban Planners, organized a panel on urban resilience to climate change: Urban form, Ethics, Aesthetic, and Heritage: an exploration of new urbanities for a resilient future.
A consortium of three universities: Lodz University of Technology, the University of Lodz and Krakow University of Technology, organized the 29th ISUF 2022 Congress - International Seminar on Urban Form. The theme for the debates and meetings at the congress was spatial redevelopment and revitalization - a multidisciplinary perspective. Some of the debates were held in the Alchemium building of TUL.
The International Seminar on Urban Form is an international organization of architects, urban designers and geographers interested in issues related to urban morphology. Each year, the congress brings together several hundred researchers from around the world. This year's proposed topics addressed issues of urban structure transformation and revitalization from a multidisciplinary perspective.
In the mid-19th century, Lodz factory owners took steps to establish a Polytechnic Institute in Lodz. They donated land and buildings for this purpose. When Lodz University of Technology was founded a century later, its headquarters were established precisely on the sites of former factories, while industrial buildings, villas and residences were adapted to the university's needs. There are 14 historic buildings on the TUL campus, and the university's authorities make sure that they remain in the best possible condition and are a permanent feature of the landscape on the campus, where modernity is intertwined with the tradition of post-factory Lodz. The Rectorate of Lodz University of Technology is situated in the Reinhold Richter Villa, whose construction was completed in 1904. The villa is a combination of different styles: gothic, mannerist and art nouveau. Inside the building there are many decorative elements in the style of antiquity and Renaissance. The Dean's Office of the Faculty of Process Engineering and Environmental Protection is housed in Oskar Schweikert's neo-Renaissance villa built in 1888, while the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Technical Physics, Computer Science and Applied Mathematics has its seat in a residential building built in the 2nd half of the 19th century and purchased in 1893 by Friedrich Wilhelm Schweikert.
Since 2017, the park, located in the center of Lodz, has been owned by TUL, so it has been incorporated into one of the University's campuses. The area of the park is 3.3 hectares. It remains a generally accessible public space, which is eagerly used by Lodz residents. Numerous trees, natural monuments and shrubs grow in the park, and Siberian squills bloom beautifully in early spring. In the park, trees are well maintained, new plants are systematically added, new species of trees and shrubs appear. All this has a positive impact on the natural qualities and aesthetics of the park, which is listed in the register of monuments. During the 20th edition of the Feast of Trees, the oak called "Fabrykant" (Factory Owner) growing in Bp. Klepacz Park took first place in the Tree of the Year Contest, with as many as 5559 online votes. Every spring, the tree attracts crowds of strollers to the park, especially when "Fabrykant" is submerged
in a sea of blue flowers - Glory of the Snow and Siberian squills. The trunk of the "Fabricant" measures 4.52 meters in circumference, while the span of the crown is more than 30 meters in diameter. In February 2023 "Fabrykant" will represent Poland in the international poll for the European Tree of the Year.
The problem of noise in urban spaces is one of environmental hazards and is treated as pollution. The concentration of noise in urban areas is most often related to economic activity which generates industrial noise, or to transport, which is responsible for traffic noise. Due to the prevalence and density of roads, it is traffic noise that has the greatest impact and significantly affects the state of the natural environment and people's quality of life. Researchers from the Faculty of Organization and Management of TUL have a solution to this problem. The aim of one of their studies is to monitor, control and manage noise in urban spaces using health indicators to designate quiet areas. Research conducted at the Faculty includes benchmarking of cities using health indicator methods in acoustic maps, performing acoustic surveys at reference points, or preparing IT tools in the development and visualization of acoustic maps. The research also encompasses developing a strategy for managing urban space to minimize noise from various sources.
The dynamic process of urban development entails many problems related to environmental degradation, climate change and the need to provide comfortable living conditions for residents. Research conducted at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environmental Engineering aims to develop a methodology for assessing the impact of selected housing structures on aerodynamic and thermal conditions, establish relationships between the type of buildings and microclimate conditions, define local zones for Lodz, and develop GIS-based cartographic methods in the form of urban climate maps for selected areas of Lodz. In response to climate warming and the phenomenon of the Urban Heat Island, being a consequence of the increase in average air temperature, in the number of hot days and in air pollution, the Faculty has also undertaken research to determine the peculiarities of the Greater Metropolitan Zone of Lodz, taking into account its diverse urban forms. The aim of the research is to provide information on the quality of the urban environment and to select areas requiring adaptation strategies. The next step is effectiveness analysis and selection of optimal adaptation solutions. Implemented solutions will lead to beneficial changes in environmental parameters, including lowering temperature, improving air quality and space aesthetics, and enhancing human thermal comfort. Cooperation at the university-city institutions level will contribute to undertaking planning activities that increase the city's resilience to current and anticipated future extreme events.
TUL offers many majors educating future engineers and masters who are aware of challenges associated with rapid urbanization of areas as well as planners who effectively manage urban resources. Among them, it is worth mentioning Architecture, Bioeconomy and Sustainable Bioeconomy, Biotechnology, Civil Engineering, Chemistry of Building Materials, Energy Systems in the Built Environment, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Engineering in Civil Construction, Urban Revitalization, Urban Planning, and Transport.
The International Faculty of Engineering (IFE) at Lodz University of Technology has taken care of the needs of foreign students. Wanting to make it easier for them to function and stay in Poland, the IFE donated bicycles purchased by TUL to the ESNEYE student organization. Thanks to this initiative, exchange students can freely commute to the university, explore the city, and at the same time lead and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Researchers and students at TUL are awarded for their individual and group achievements in support of regional development, and for their impact on the ecosystem. In the 2021/22 academic year, the Minister of Development and Technology awarded two works in a competition for papers in the fields of architecture and civil engineering, planning, area development and housing, including the master's thesis A maximis ad minima. Revitalization of a small city on the example of Wieluń, the author of which took up the subject of protecting and shaping the city's cultural landscape. Implementation recommendations, which can support municipal authorities and planners in the process of preparing and developing a planning document, give this work special value. The paper was written at the Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning