UNIPI Team Leader: Prof. Francesco Paolo Di Iacovo, Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie

Access to health and wellbeing may be difficult for people due to their gender, disabilities or minority status, and especially if they live in a peripheral small town or city. To solve this problem, modern approaches are needed to integrate communities and achieve inclusive health and well-being. With this in mind, the EU-funded IN-HABIT project aims to design integrative actions that will be shaped according to the needs of local vulnerable groups in four cities: Cordoba (Spain), Riga (Latvia), Lucca (Italy), and Nitra (Slovakia). They will be based on culture, food, art and bonds with nature and animals combined with technological and digital means. IN-HABIT will be supported by the city of Bogotá’s (Columbia) former experiences.

Four peripheral small and medium size cities (SMSCs) - Cordoba (Spain), Riga (Latvia), Lucca (Italy) and Nitra (Slovakia) – will take the leadership to test visionary and integrated solutions to foster Inclusive Health and Wellbeing (IHW) in SMSCs with a focus on gender and diversity. IN-HABIT visionary approach consists on the innovative mobilization of existing undervalued resources (culture, food, human-animal bonds and environment) to increase IHW. The integrated approach is based on the combination of technological, digital, nature based, cultural, and social innovations in selected urban public spaces.These solutions will be co-designed, co-deployed and co-managed with and by local stakeholders.

The effects on mental health, wellbeing and healthier lifestyles of these solutions will be evaluated and a sound scalable evidence-base and monitoring framework delivered. A systemic urban planning framework will be developed based on innovative gender and diversity approaches to boost IHW that will represent a unique reference for SMSCs.

IN-HABIT will base its actions on underserved areas and vulnerable target groups existing in each city (such as, children, elders, women, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities), and on the integration of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ visionary solutions articulated around heritage and culture (as a nexus for inclusive societies), food (nurturing daily healthier lifestyles), animals (human-animal bonds as new relational urban goods) and art and environment (to connect places and people). Bogotá city will share know-how and replicate experiences. These actions have attracted the interest to be replicated by other twin-cities and networks of cities, that have shown their interest in establishing synergies with IN-HABIT and replicating actions. IN-HABIT is an ambitious but achievable project in the 5 years lifetime proposed.

Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD DE CORDOBA, Spain

Participants

• AYUNTAMIENTO DE CORDOBA, Spain
• ASOCIACION VECINAL UNION Y ESPERANZA DE LAS PALMERAS, Spain
• NODIBINAJUMS BALTIC STUDIES CENTRE, Latvia
• RIGAS PLANOSANAS REGIONS, Latvia
• SABIEDRIBA AR IEROBEZOTU ATBILDIBUBC MANUFAKTURA, Latvia
• UNIVERSITA DI PISA, Italy
• COMUNE DI LUCCA, Italy
• LUCCA CREA SRL, Italy
• SLOVENSKA POLNOHOSPODARSKA UNIVERZITA V NITRE, Slovakia
• MESTO NITRA, Slovakia
• TRIPTYCH, Slovakia
• THE UNIVERSITY OF READING, United Kingdom
• ISIMPACT, Italy
• COLINI-TRIPODI GBR, Germany
• BRIDGE FOR BILLIONS SL, Spain
• DESIGN FOR CHANGE ESPANA, Spain
• BOOK ON A TREE LTD, United Kingdom
• BELGISCH LABORATORIUM VAN DE ELEKTRICITEITSINDUSTRIE LABORELEC CVBA, Belgium
• WELLNESS TELECOM SL, Spain
• PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD JAVERIANA, Colombia

Start date 1 September 2020
End date 31 August 2025
Project cost € 11 577 918,75
Project funding € 10 621 931,25
UNIPI quota € 650 562,50
Call title H2020-SC5-2019-2
Funding scheme IA - Innovation action
UNIPI role Partner