Abstract:

The project aims to raise awareness of personal responsibility and self-control as a way of solving efficiency and acoustic problems in cities and also to develop proposals for improving the urban environment. These proposals might include ideas related to the revitalisation of the city from an urban, social and economic sustainability perspective.

There is a tendency in society to think that noise and efficiency problems can be solved exclusively through greater isolation-insulation (social and thermal-acoustic), generating an aggressive city model. In contrast to this aggressive model, noise and efficiency problems can be tackled through a collaborative approach and personal responsibility. A case in point is the Saconia neighbourhood in Madrid (or the City of Poets). The brick blocks, with their characteristic flush windows, their saw-shaped profiles and their passageways, nowadays present noise problems.

This project aims to reverse the situation and incorporate people as a fundamental part of the process of using the building. This approach complements and develops the technical training that students receive, taking them out of their comfort zone to reinforce their learning, complementing the theoretical aspects with eminently practical issues. This is based on the analysis of the dwellings and their façades in question. Data will be collected using methodological sheets, surveys of the users of the dwellings, photographs, thermal and acoustic measurements, etc.

On the one hand, the project aims to raise awareness of responsibility and personal initiative and self-control as a way of solving problems in cities, and, at the same time, providing solutions to improve the urban environment. On the other hand, it also aims to promote the training in values and learning of the university students who will participate in the project.

As a result of the analyses, surveys, data collection, etc., carried out by the students, a guide of recommendations has been published which includes good practices so that it can be used by anyone interested and help users to have a better coexistence, knowledge of the problems and possible solutions.

Keywords:

Raising awareness, service-learning, friendly city, Educational Innovation at University, education innovation.