Rethinking Planning Education using Massive Open Online Courses:the Case of Rethink the City

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) are becoming a popular educational tool in different disciplines. Urban planning education is no exception and new MOOCs are being released every year. Despite this, it is still not clear how this new learning experience is being developed, delivered, and impacting upon planning education. This article sheds light on this issue using the case of the Rethink the City MOOC organised by the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment of TU Delft. The course received the AESOP Excellence on Teaching award in 2017 and serves as an example of how planning education is facing the change towards online education. The article briefly introduces the course and develops on the challenges and results of it. Based on the course team experience of preparing and delivering the course, the article contributes to thedebate about online education and supports fellow academics involved with the creation of new MOOCs.Land DevelopmentUrban StudiesReal Estate ManagementHousing ManagementSpatial Planning and Strateg

A Manifesto for the Just City

“On Monday 29 MARCH at 18:00 (CET/Amsterdam), TU Delft launched the Book "A Manifesto for the Just City", with texts by a number of guests and 43 manifestos written by students from 25 universities from all over the world.A “Manifesto for the Just City” comes in the wake of the realisation that socio-spatial justice is a crucial dimension for sustainability transitions. Growing inequality and the erosion of the public sphere undermine the social and political structures required to fight climate change, pandemics and other systemic shocks. With this book, we have sought to encourage students to formulate their own visions for the Just City and for a just transition.This book is result of an Urban Thinkers Campus organised between 9 and 30 November 2020. The Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) model is an initiative of UN-Habitat’s World Urban Campaign, conceived in 2014 as an open space for critical exchange between stakeholders and partners. It aims to promote debate and action on sustainable and inclusive urbanization upholding the principles and guidelines contained in the New Urban Agenda, launched at Habitat-III in 2016 in Quito, Ecuador”

Nickel adsorption by soils in relation to pH, organic matter, and iron oxides Adsorção de níquel em solos em função de pH, matéria orgânica e óxidos de ferro

There is little information on nickel adsorption by Brazilian soils. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of pH, organic matter, and iron oxides on nickel adsorption by three soils: a clayey Anionic "Rhodic" Acrudox, a sandy clay loam Anionic "Xanthic" Acrudox, and a clayey Rhodic Hapludalf. Soil samples were collected from the 0-0.2 m layer and treated to eliminate organic matter and iron oxides. The nickel adsorption was evaluated in the original samples and in those treated to remove organic matter and to remove both, organic matter and iron oxides, using 2 g soil + 20 mL of 0.01 mol L-1 CaCl2 solution containing 5 mg L-1 Ni, pH varying from 3.5 to 7.5. The nickel adsorption decreased with the elimination of organic matter. For the samples without organic matter and iron oxides, adsorption decreased only in the Anionic "Rhodic" Acrudox. The pH was the main factor involved in nickel adsorption variation, and for soil samples without organic matter and iron oxides, the maximum adsorption occurred at higher pH values.<br>Há poucas informações disponíveis na literatura quanto à adsorção de níquel em solos do Brasil. O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar a influência do pH, da matéria orgânica, e dos óxidos de ferro na adsorção de níquel em amostras da camada superficial (0 a 0,20 m) de um Latossolo Vermelho acriférrico típico (LVwf), textura argilosa, um Latossolo Amarelo ácrico típico (LAw), textura argilo-arenosa e um Nitossolo Vermelho eutroférrico (NVef), textura muito argilosa. Foram utilizadas amostras de solo natural, de solo sem matéria orgânica (MO), e de solo sem matéria orgânica e sem óxidos de ferro, para fazer envelopes de adsorção (2,0 g de solo + 20 mL de solução contendo 5 mg L-1 de Ni em CaCl2 0,01 mol L-1, variando o pH de 3,5 a 7,5). A adsorção de níquel diminuiu com a eliminação da MO; a eliminação de MO e de óxidos de Fe só provocou diminuição na média de adsorção no LVwf; o pH foi o principal fator de variação na adsorção de níquel e, com a eliminação da MO e dos óxidos de Fe, os picos de adsorção foram atingidos a valores mais elevados de pH