Local specificities, global communalities: while local conditions and the impacts of climate change vary considerably across regions globally, the mechanisms of capitalized housing markets, technocratic city planning, and societal power imbalances, as well as climate injustices, share broader commonalities. Future urban professionals – those working in and for cities and their residents, be it as executives of local authorities or with civil society organisations - need to understand and analyse these mechanisms across different regions.

INUCAPT provides ample opportunities to develop cross-border cooperation among European programme countries and partner countries in Asia and Africa. Given the Global South’s long-standing experience and expertise with difficult housing situations stemming from comparable socio-economic root causes, a broad exchange of knowledge in this area is highly commendable, “Learning” in INUCAPT implies harnessing the potential of South–North and South–South exchange over the eminent issue of affordable and sustainable housing. These innovative elements allow students to learn about skills, methods, and formats for community engagement intensively in “real life projects”, thereby apprehending crucial capacities and participatory reflection to bring about real-world changes for urban transformation on the ground.

INUCAPT works along the lines of UN-Habitat’s definition of regions (Africa, Asia and the Pacific Region, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Arab States Region, Europe and North America), out of which three are integrated in the study path with degree awarding partners in Europe, India, and Kenya. These partners join forces in INUCAPT based on their long-standing expertise in sustainable urban planning, climate change adaptation, and precarious housing conditions within and beyond their respective geographical contexts. Other world regions are covered in detail by an extremely well-staffed set of visiting scholars. This broader perspective, beyond the North-South divide, enables INUCAPT graduates to work on specific local housing conditions in a well-informed manner.

INUCAPT integrates sustainability science, environmental and climate change studies, socioeconomics, policy applications, industry links, and lifelong learning to address complex global challenges at local levels. It offers students a set of unique features:

Deep-dive into the hands-on work: INUCAPT includes a mandatory, extensive (8-10-week) internship with its associated NGO partners, municipalities, local or regional councils, and local authorities. It offers students a significant timeslot within their study programme to deep-dive into the hands-on work of associated partner NGOs in Europe, India, and Kenya: NGO partners work with underprivileged groups of society struggling with precarious housing conditions. During their internship with these partners, students assist with research and design on affordable housing, participate in feasibility studies through desk reviews, attend technical meetings, engage in urban planning and design, and support slum residents in collecting data on their settlements to strengthen their position in negotiations with local authorities, among other activities. Through supervised field engagement with communities and institutions, students will develop competencies in participatory methods, transdisciplinary collaboration, and context- and gender-sensitive urban climate action.

Students can also do internships with local authorities in Nairobi, Kenya, and in Bhubaneswar, India. Partner XIM in Bhubaneswar maintains long-standing collaborations with local urban bodies. Students working with these authorities engage in policy- and governance-focused field assignments, including projects on localizing the SDGs, studying women’s economic participation, and analyzing inclusive urban growth and smart-city governance. Partner UT maintains long-standing collaborations with municipalities and companies that offer internships in the Netherlands. The internships take place between the first and second year of study, rather than the more conventional “add-on” at the end of other programmes. It gives students the opportunity to gain a thorough understanding of the working conditions of urban professionals, including their methods and challenges. Students may also build on experiences gained during the internship to conduct scientific investigation in their master's thesis.

“Dialogical Spaces” as INUCAPT’s backbone: a novel format entitled “Dialogical Spaces” serves as the programme’s backbone forum for continuing exchange between students, researchers, and associated NGO partners throughout the entire duration of the programme, regardless of the specific study path chosen by students. In this open-science-aligned forum, students learn about NGOs' daily work and share their ideas and diverse perspectives on case studies presented by the NGOs. “Dialogical Spaces” support and guide students in selecting their internship providers and choosing a topic for their Master's thesis. At the same time, INUCAPT modules are open for associated NGOs, ULBs, and other relevant stakeholders.

©

Walter Skokanitsch

The INUCAPT programme offers 3 distinct study paths designed to address three different domains of inclusive adaptation to climate change in cities. In the first year, all students follow courses on urban ecological planning and the specific requirements of sustainably alleviating precarious housing conditions. For the second year, they then concentrate on one of the three distinct domains of Urban Management, Climate adaptation in cities, and Liveable Cities, applying their skills through practical research and a master's thesis. This study path structure ensures that students are equipped with both the specialised and transferable skills needed to succeed in a diverse range of careers.

Societies in cities of Global South and North: The urbanized world of the 21st century needs socially committed engineers and planners who won’t shy away from complex challenges but feel the urge to contribute to solutions that make urban societies more sustainable and resilient. Remedying the dire effects of social inequality is paramount to safeguarding social cohesion and peaceful cohabitation in increasingly polarised societies.

Skill gap: many local, regional, and national authorities in both the Global North and South lack the capacity to engage with marginalised and disadvantaged groups in a trust-based manner to develop suitable approaches (or adapt emerging ones) for resilience and sustainability. As of now, they cannot turn to their local Higher Education Institutions for training in participatory and transdisciplinary processes that could help them address the needs of poor urban communities. Governments and authorities tend to focus on monodisciplinary, technology-based solutions that fail to sustainably improve residents’ living conditions or make them more resilient to climate-induced shocks. Remedying these dire effects of social inequality is of utmost importance to safeguard social cohesion and peaceful cohabitation in increasingly polarized societies. INUCAPT contributes to inclusive urban development, gender equality, and interdisciplinary cooperation (urban planning and design, human geography, public and business administration, sociology and social work, public health and awareness building, real estate management and cooperatives, environmental sciences and sustainability, civil engineering and public service provision, etc.).

Demonstrating sustainable housing solutions for societal transition. In many cities in the Global South, residents are evicted from slums threatened by rising sea levels. Often, they are displaced to the outskirts of cities, where they don’t find jobs. By such adaptation measures, their poverty is worsened. Instead, well-moderated, participatory processes with residents, local authorities, utility providers, etc., can identify options, such as in situ upgrading, that better meet residents' needs. In Europe, on the other hand, energy-poor households suffer from cold, badly insulated homes. However, if these homes are renovated to improve indoor thermal comfort and reduce heating-related emissions, poor residents cannot afford the higher rents after renovation and thus have to move to other, cheap accommodation in yet again poorly insulated buildings. Engaging with residents beforehand, acknowledging and harnessing their expertise in matters concerning their daily lives, can help secure targeted financial support for those affected by energy poverty and renovate existing building stocks in socially inclusive ways.

INUCAPT Graduates acquire a unique set of technical & professional skills tailored to the job market. These include sustainability and climate change-related knowledge, as well as an in-depth understanding of housing markets and dynamics. Graduates also develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to manage complexity and ambiguity. Additionally, students gain experience in transdisciplinary teamwork with participatory methods, co-creating solutions with diverse societal actors, and maintaining an independent, ethical, and adaptive professional mindset.

INUCAPT is a four-semester (two-year) Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Program (EMJM). EMJM scholarship holders are exempted from participation fees. For self-funded students, charges apply as indicated.

Compulsory Modules

• Urban Ecological Planning, from Theory to Practice - 30 ECTS
  Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
• Precarious Housing & Climate Change Adaptation - 30 ECTS
  University for Continuing Education Krems (UWK), Krems, Austria

Elective Modules (Specialization)

• Sustainable Urban Management and Governance - 60 ECTS
  XIM-University (XIM), Bhubaneshwar, India
• Urbanism and Climate Change Adaptation - 60 ECTS
  University of Nairobi (UoN), Nairobi, Kenya
• Spatial Knowledge for Climate Transitions and Liveable Cities - 60 ECTS 
  University Twente (UT), Enschede, The Netherlands