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ASTRAEA

ASTRAEA is a Climate Equity Index (CEI) tool for urban equity and resilience. Using 30 indicators, it guides funding and protects vulnerable communities. It addresses urban heat, climate impacts, and promotes equitable green investments, in Athens.

ASTRAEA (Adaptive System for Transformational Resilience and Analytical Equity Assessment), an innovative digital tool, functions as a Climate Equity Index (CEI) to improve urban equity and sustainability, as well as resilience. By pinpointing city areas with limited opportunity access, it utilizes 30 carefully chosen indicators based on international best practices research. These indicators assess various city-wide equity aspects, offering an in-depth understanding of disparities and guiding focus areas, including strategic measures, fund distribution, and implementation efforts.At the heart of ASTRAEA's utility is its support in decision-making for both public and private organizations. The tool's detailed, data-driven insights bolster the city's efforts to safeguard vulnerable communities. It steers policymakers and stakeholders toward crafting and applying resource-focused policies. ASTRAEA strives to enhance public facilities and services e.g. boosting accessibility and mobility for the elderly, disabled, low-income, and other marginalized groups, addressing issues like urban heat, optimal resources utilization etc. Furthermore, ASTRAEA is instrumental in evaluating and recommending actions to counteract climate change’s effects on human health, social inequities, critical infrastructure, environmental, and economic imbalances. It offers a framework for city planning to enhance preparedness and resilience adaptation strategies, emphasizing the mitigation of risks and lack and vulnerabilities of specific communities. A key feature of this tool is its directive for city staff to focus on 'Communities of Concern' when investing in green, climate-neutral, and smart initiatives, thereby ensuring a fair and equitable distribution of benefits and overcoming historic obstacles that have led to disparities.The climate equity index (CEI) of ASTRAEA calculated here is a composite score that aims to represent the relative status of different neighborhoods in terms of climate equity. A higher CEI score indicates better climate equity, considering factors like green space, transportation, existing infrastructure and socio-economic factors. Lower scores signal areas needing targeted interventions. It's a relative measure, not absolute, facilitating comparisons between neighborhoods. Context matters, and weight adjustments can emphasize specific sustainability and equity aspects. Additionally, ASTRAEA integrates the use of participatory tools, including questionnaires, to gather feedback and engage with citizens effectively. These questionnaires are available for both decision-makers and citizens, enhancing stakeholder engagement. Initially applied in the city of Athens, ASTRAEA is designed to be scalable, replicable and adaptable, allowing for potential duplication in other cities. The approach is against multi-hazard scenarios, ensuring comprehensive coverage and responsiveness to a variety of climate-related challenges.
The CEI is built upon rigorous research and literatureanalysis. It draws from a wealth of methodologies andbest practices in the field, ensuring itscomprehensiveness and alignment with current climateequity knowledge. The CEI's development andenhancement are continuously guided by academicresearch, expert input, and global case studies, makingit a well-informed tool for evaluating and tacklingclimate equity concerns.
The advantage of the ASTRAEA tool is fully aligned withthe city of Athens' commitment to becoming a climate-neutral and smart city by 2030, as part of the EU CitiesMission "100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030 -by and for the citizens". ASTRAEA empowers citizensby providing them with accessible and transparentinformation about various aspects of urban resilience,including environmental, health, housing, mobility, andsocioeconomic factors. This not only enhances citizenawareness but also encourages their active participationin shaping the city's future. Furthermore, ASTRAEA'sdigital visualization capabilities make complex datamore understandable and engaging for citizens,fostering a sense of ownership and involvement in thecity's sustainable development. By offering insights intocritical areas like climate equity and resilience, the toolenables citizens to contribute to the city's goals andhold authorities accountable. Ultimately, ASTRAEAstrengthens Athens' commitment to citizen-centricurban management, promoting collaboration andcollective action towards a climate-neutral and smartcity.

- Creating a comprehensive digital tool, this model concentrates on climate change mitigation and inclusion.
- Implementing hazard and vulnerability mapping and early warning systems to analyze and rectify disparities in opportunity access for city residents.
- Visualization transforms open climate data into accessible, actionable insights, enhancing understanding, communication, decision-making, social engagement, and effective monitoring of climate change impacts.
- Offering a comprehensive assessment tool of climate equity across different areas.
- Integrating and sharing both local and global knowledge in climate adaptation and resilience planning, addressing imbalances that specifically affect communities of concern.
- Capitalizes on existing and forthcoming data (1st semester 2024) from Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), Municipal Emissions Reduction Plan (MERPs), Resilience Plan, and Climate City Contract (CCC) data from the EU Cities Mission for holistic climate solutions, ensuring a comprehensive and current approach to climate action in Athens.
- Conduct community surveys and establish knowledge-sharing platforms to evaluate and mitigate the impacts of climate change on public health and economic sectors.
- Formulating community-based adaptation local plans, steering investments towards sustainable and resilient projects in targeted communities.
- Facilitating participatory action research and social learning to boost the city's capacity to safeguard vulnerable populations, enhance decision-making in climate adaptation and mitigation, and enhance resilience.
- Maintaining longitudinal data sets to prioritize resource allocation in communities with limited opportunities.
- Dynamic and flexible maintenance process and easy integration of new data and methodologies
- Enhancing data availability on climate adaptation, preparing the city against various climate challenges, and offering the model's replication potential for other cities seeking climate fairness.
- Providing high-resolution, dynamic mapping and analysis at the district level, enabling targeted planning and interventions based on specific district needs and characteristics.
- Allowing for the integration of additional indicators as needed, making the tool adaptable to various urban challenges and policy requirements.
- Fostering sustainable urban development through technology and design, aiming for inclusive, beautiful, eco-friendly urban spaces under the New European Bauhaus initiative.
- Empowering citizens in achieving “100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 - by and for the citizens” EU Mission through direct engagement in innovative solutions and inclusive, effective urban transformation.

TRL6. Prototype system verified
Our selection of TRL 6 for our innovation is grounded in its foundation upon a robust and proven methodology, namely the San Diego Climate Equity Index. This index is currently operational in San Diego, effectively mitigating inequalities and fostering equal opportunities for all citizens. By measuring environmental and social indicators impacting district resilience, it ensures a comprehensive approach. Leveraging the firsthand experience of one of our founders in San Diego, we have adeptly integrated and adapted the well-established methodology to suit Athens’s district municipalities. This effort has culminated in the creation of a functional prototype of our interactive Climate Equity Map, rigorously tested using the publicly available data of Athens. While we have achieved success in this regard, we acknowledge that our innovation’s readiness can further improve with more granular data collectionand refinement. This will allow us to provide even more precise results, enhancing our innovation’s impact in promoting sustainability and equity in Athens.

See more information about this level and the TRL and SRL levels.

The system’s main components have been individually tested, and an initial integration has been completed.

Credits
CREDITS
Co-founder & COO - Fenya Sourla
Collaborators
COLLABORATORS
No collaborator

How does it work?

ASTRAEA is a digital tool advancing urban management in Athens by enhancing decision-making. It visualizes and prioritizes actions for human health and economic impacts, especially in vulnerable communities. Named after the Greek “Goddess of Innocence and Purity,” ASTRAEA symbolizes fairness and justice in urban planning. It analyzes environmental, infrastructural, and socio-economic factors to promote informed, sustainable decisions. Athens collects data on environment, infrastructure, health, housing, mobility, and socioeconomics to address crucial areas. The tool aligns with EU goals for climate neutrality and sustainable urban development, supporting a smarter, interconnected city. A demo of ASTRAEA, available online, showcases key indexes and will expand with more indicators to provide a comprehensive urban resilience assessment.

Dataphoria and Ergoncell, both dynamic and innovative entities, have joined forces to contribute their expertise to the ASTRAEA project. Dataphoria is a team of tech-savvy individuals with a deep understanding of technology, sustainability, and engineering science. They specialized in advanced analytics and have developed proprietary algorithms for managing, analyzing, and visualizing sustainability data. This expertise positions them perfectly to advance ASTRAEA’s goals.Ergoncell, on the other hand, offers a wide range of IT-consulting, including research and experimental development, legal services, IT project management, and cities’ strategies.They bring a deep knowledge of the EU Cities Mission and the holistic approach to climate neutrality and digital services, which are essential for aligning ASTRAEA with the mission’s objectives. Their diverse skill set is essential for addressing the multifaceted challenges of the ASTRAEA project.Together, Dataphoria and Ergoncell collaborate seamlessly to enhance digital tools and methodologies required for sustainable, resilient, and equitable cities. This partnership underscores our shared commitment to ASTRAEA’s vision and our dedication to delivering innovative solutions that empower Athens in its journey toward climate neutrality and a smarter, citizen-focused city of Athens.

Though the available open data for the development of the proposed indexes is limited, nevertheless the data integration is fully developed. Data Integrity necessitates high-quality data from reliable and trustworthy sources to ensure accurate assessments. Simultaneously, Data Update Frequency is essential, as regular data updates are required to maintain the accuracy and reliability of CEI and enable the tracking of indicators over time. It also depends on the chosen methodology, including the normalization approach and the weighting system.

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