Summer school 2025

Summary Trinational Summer School"Urban Micropollutants – Diagnostics, Challenges, and Solutions for 21st-Century Cities"

July 7–10, 2025
University of Strasbourg, France

About the Event

From Monday, July 7 to Thursday, July 10, 2025, the University of Strasbourg (UniStra) will host a Summer School dedicated to urban micropollutants. These contaminants, resulting from human activities such as transportation, construction, agriculture, industry, and everyday product use, present major environmental challenges for urban areas. This interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary program, designed for PhD students, aims to deepen understanding of micropollutant sources, impacts, and socio-environmental strategies to reduce their use, occurrence, and spread in urban environments.

Participants will examine diagnostic approaches for both legacy pollutants and emerging contaminants across various environmental compartments. They will explore socio-ecological transition pathways toward cleaner, more sustainable cities, identifying key challenges and alternatives to current practices. One session will focus on governance and regulation, offering insights into urban pollution management policies. The program also addresses monitoring and modeling tools for effective surveillance and forecasting.

Activities include expert lectures, field visits led by researchers, and collaborative group work, encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue and collective problem-solving. The Summer School will conclude with presentations to local stakeholders engaged in micropollutant management, providing participants with a unique opportunity to contribute to real-world urban sustainability issues.

The event is organized in collaboration with Eucor – The European Campus (including UniStra and UFR), ENGEES, CNRS, the University of Landau, the INTERREG “Reactive City” project, ITI SWITCH, and Ökoinstitut Freiburg.

How can we improve the detection and management of micropollutants in 21st-century urban environments?

A group of around twenty early-career researchers—including PhD candidates, postdoctoral fellows, and master’s students—gathered from July 7 to 10, 2025, to take part in the Urban Micropollutants Summer School, organized by the ITI SWITCH in Strasbourg.

This intensive and immersive week offered participants the opportunity to explore the many facets of this complex environmental issue, situated at the intersection of several disciplines including hydrology, chemistry, ecotoxicology, urban planning, and sociology.

The program featured expert lectures, case studies, field visits across the Strasbourg metropolitan area, and collaborative workshops that culminated in concrete proposals for improving urban micropollutant management.

Congratulations to all participants for the quality and relevance of their work!
Special thanks to the speakers and partner institutions involved—particularly the Eurométropole of Strasbourg, EUCOR – The European Campus, the Interreg ReactiveCity project, and all contributing organizers.