Project title: Multidisciplinary Network on Renewal of Urban Brownfields

Project number: HU-1905-02-2526

Starting Date:  01/09/2025

End Date: 31/08/2026

Partners:

Ybl Miklós Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Obuda University, Budapest, Hungary – (Coordinator)

Faculty of Architecture and Design, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Târgu Mureș, Romania

Faculty of Architecture, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Land Surveying, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland

Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad, Serbia

Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania

Local Institutional coordinator:  Assoc. Prof. Arch. Mara POPESCU, PhD

Website:  https://www.ceepus.info/nw/1905-2526

Project description:

1. Objectives

In the context of the CEEPUS programmes, a key element in the regeneration of brownfield sites is to analyse how the modern urban planning and urban design principles of Walkable City, 15 Minutes District, Smart City, Positive Energy District, etc., which are already integral parts of university education programmes, can be applied and exploited.

As many countries in Europe and beyond have developed policies to promote high-quality of so called Baukultur, reflecting the increasing demand for a state-of-art “architectural policy” via “landscape” to “shaped environment”. The main policy objective of all these policies is high quality building culture (Baukultur policy), which should focus on the renewal of degraded urban areas and the importance of preserving their value.

The reuse and integration of brownfield sites into the surrounding urban fabric requires a high degree of creativity and innovation, which can significantly support university education, whether in the context of normal semester projects, master thesis, doctoral training or research programmes. Since the problem of brownfield sites and degraded urban areas in general is almost ubiquitous, particular emphasis should be placed on the exchange of international experience, on the exposure of students to innovative solutions and thus on the emergence of new ideas and creative urban concepts.

The new CEEPUS Network is being launched makes possible this multidisciplinary and multinational approach. The Network targets not only to incorporate student and teacher mobility to enhance the various educational and scientific cooperations, but also to create an information platform that will facilitate the development of a database of good practice and set-up new networks on this field.

2. Main activities

The Network is going to offer the usual activities to the participants. In the first semester the programme is focusing on teachers and student mobilities and a cooperation meeting for preparing joint excursions. In case of successful network submission, we intend to organise Short Term (3-5 day) Excursions, Student Exchange for full semester as well as Short Term Student Exchange (1-2 month) particularly for PhD students within the CEEPUS network. In the longer-term Summer Schools are also planned to be organised by the partner institutions, however this form of mobility will be the subject of future application. 

The backbone of the programme is the joint student and faculty workshop sessions organised in the autumn and spring semesters, complemented by annual coordinator meetings, faculty and student mobility. The host institution for the workshops is the institution that defines the professional content of the year, rotating among the participating partners following successful renewal of the proposal.

Some workshops use the short-term study trip format of 3-4 days, typically in conjunction with a research or professional event at the host institution. In addition to participating in the event, they provide an opportunity to get to know the city by visiting best practice sites related to the theme of the project – brownfield revitalisation – or by identifying problem areas. Another form of workshop is the intensive course of more than 5 days, which provides an international creative week of meetings and learning opportunities

Besides the usual mobilities mentioned above, the mobility expected to attract the most students and teachers in the network will be the Summer Schools. We intend to organise it every year within the network and will apply for it separately, in accordance with CEEPUS rules. 

Since 2018, under the name of “I’5 Industrial Heritage Workshop” Summer Survey Camps and Summer Schools have been organised in different brownfield sites for architecture students at the Óbuda University. The task is to survey existing disused industrial sites and buildings and to develop a sustainable proposal for their re-use. We intend to extend this tradition in the framework of the CEEPUS programme by i) inviting students from the partner university in addition to the Hungarian students, and ii) by providing the opportunity to involve other disciplines related to the task, such as landscape architect students, urban planning and design students, or engineering students dealing with the contamination of the area. 

This provides an excellent opportunity for cooperation between different universities and different disciplines. The Summer School are mutually recognised as credit courses at the partner universities, and it can be a basis for further semester project in the regular curriculum. The Summer Schools are intended to include symposium, lectures and workshops. 

• students can complete a full semester programme at the partner university;
• short term exchanges programme up to 1-2 weeks for doctoral students;
• inviting guest speakers and lecturers from partner universities during the Intensive Week, and for other semester programmes;
• to develop joint research programmes.

3. Results

To develop and improve a multidisciplinary educational approach to prepare site analysis and design proposals of urban brownfield sites by

• highlighting the urban planning and sustainability need for brownfield renewal programmes;
•  introducing to the student the complexity and the importance of the topic and the benefits of working in a multidisciplinary team;
• providing an international forum for architectural, urban and interior design achievements related to brownfield redevelopments;
• to lay the foundations for a future brownfield inventory.