ENLIGHTENme
Innovative policies for improving citizens’ health and wellbeing addressing indoor and outdoor lighting
Project code: GA 945238
Programme: Horizon 2020
Call: H2020-SC1-BHC-29-2020
A major albeit underestimated by-product of urbanisation is the exponential increase of human exposure to artificial light. Outdoor illumination, artificial sky glow, domestic lighting, light-emitting screens, etc. entrain the circadian clock.
Despite scientific evidence on the pathogenic role of the disruption of circadian rhythms in making people vulnerable to NCDs, affecting sleep, metabolism, immune function and many aspects of behaviour and mood, EU cities are mostly focusing on improving lighting services’ efficiency, reducing costs and emissions, but failing to consider lighting impacts on health and well-being.
Through an open-online Urban Lighting and Health Atlas, ENLIGHTENme will collect and systematise existing data and good practices on urban lighting and will perform an accurate study on the correlations among health, well-being, lighting and socio-economic factors in three pilot cities – Amsterdam, Bologna and Tartu – where a target district will be selected due to its exposure to artificial light and to reflect social inequalities. Through the establishment of urban lighting labs within the district, the public and stakeholders will co-create innovative urban lighting plans and define the implementation of a smart outdoor lighting system and indoor lighting changes in a pilot area within the district. There, a population-based study on the elderly – addressed as a vulnerable group particularly prone to circadian misalignment – will allow assessing lighting-dependent risks on mental and health conditions, and surveys involving the overall district population and users will make it possible to assess the impacts of urban lighting on quality of life and well-being.
The results will allow developing a dedicated decision support system and guidelines and recommendations on the impact of lighting on health and well-being, proposing innovative lighting policies, measures, technologies and interventions aimed at improving public health and well-being in cities. ENLIGHTENme is a part of the European Cluster on Urban Health.
Project duration
03.2021 – 2.2025
Department scientific supervisor
Coordinator
Alma Mater – Università di Bologna (Simona TONDELLI)
Partnership
AZIENDA UNITÀ SANITARIA LOCALE DI BOLOGNA
COMUNE DI BOLOGNA
TARTU LINN
TARTU ULIKOOL
GEMEENTE AMSTERDAM
STICHTING VU
GATE 21
OENGINEERING SRL
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
UPPSALA UNIVERSITET
FUNDACION TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION
EURICE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AND PROJECT OFFICE GMBH
ICLEI EUROPEAN SECRETARIAT GMBH
HEALTH CITY INSTITUTE
ASSOCIATION LUCI LIGHTING URBAN COMMUNITY INTERNATIONAL
ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
UNIVERSITY OF SURREY
OUTSIDE IN (CAMBRIDGE) LTD
CHRONO@WORK BV
NERI SPA
FONDAZIONE PER L'INNOVAZIONE URBANA
Budget
Budget totale: Eur 4.999.08,75
Budget DA: 510.312,50
Teachers and researchers involved in the project
Giulia MARZANI (Dottoranda)
Valerio CARELLI (DIBINEM)
Chiara LA MORGIA (DIBINEM)
Martina ROMAGNOLI (DIBINEM)
Elisa BALDIN (DIBINEM)
Giulia Amore (DIBINEM)
Project ERC sectors
SH2_7 Environmental and climate change, societal impact and policy
SH2_10 Land use and regional planning
SH3_9 Health, ageing and society
LS2_6 Genomics (e.g. comparative genomics, functional genomics)
LS5_6 Neural bases of behaviour (e.g. sleep, consciousness, addiction)