URBAN M2O aims to create solutions to generate the crucial information that is needed to develop and implement risk-based urban water quality management plans at the city scale. Such plans will contribute to achieving sustainable urban water systems with zero pollution impact on human health and the environment. URBAN M2O will achieve this objective by: 1) Developing and benchmarking AI-enhanced, resource-effective monitoring water quality technologies; 2) Developing fit-for-purpose water quality models and harmonized data management systems; 3) Demonstrating open-access urban water digital twins assimilating monitoring data to identify hotspots and prioritize pollution control actions under current and future climate scenarios; 4) Providing tailored guidance to end users and stakeholders for the effective development of urban water quality monitoring and management plans. Industrial partners will enhance their monitoring techniques with AI methods, benchmarking them against state-of-the-art monitoring approaches for trace organic chemicals, microbial contaminants, and microplastics in all urban water systems, namely drinking water, surface water, bathing water, wastewater effluents, groundwater, urban run-off, and sewer overflows. Monitoring and modelling solutions will be demonstrated in three real and operational case studies, selected to represent different challenges faced by urban water infrastructure. The URBAN M2O solutions will be tailored to stakeholders and end-users’ needs, addressing current and future requirements and challenges, and different resources and data availability. URBAN M2O will enable urban water managers and regulators to make informed decisions, prioritizing actions to enhance urban water quality, and protect human health, the environment, and biodiversity at the European scale.

<< Background >>Children and young people with equal talents must be given equal opportunities in education and their social future. National and international studies show that there is a huge social, cultural and economic inequality between different people and groups. Socially vulnerable children were further disadvantaged by the closure of schools during the covid-19 pandemic. Children cannot benefit equally from education. Students at schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods are at a huge disadvantage compared to peers in other neighbourhoods. As a result, talent remains unexploited. With our project HERE WE CREATE THE FUTURE! we want to send a clear signal and make a contribution to solving this inequality of opportunity. A child's background should never determine what opportunities he or she will have!<< Objectives >>Our main long term goal is to establish weekend school education throughout Europe. To achieve this, we will form an international platform for weekend school education. Within the project lifespan we will set up new weekend schools in all our partner regions as key and founding members of our European community. Our project is built around the vision that children enjoy learning. This goes beyond doing your best at school and homework. Meeting interesting people from society and business gives the child a broader view of its possibilities. WeekendSchool education provides these encounters through a non-formal working method which focuses on and develops the child's talent. This happens based on the conviction that both children and professionals inspire each other. We show pupils a broad picture of the world and challenge them to push their limits, look further, dare more and do more. We offer a network of interesting local and regional professionals who inspire children to keep learning for a promising future. Based on themes, the pupils are educated by guest teachers from a variety of professional fields. During these guest lectures, the pupils become acquainted with the teacher's field of expertise and carry out their own activities related to the profession: pupils get an idea of 'what the world has to offer'. WeekendSchool education focuses on motivated children between aged 10-20 who have fewer opportunities and chances to get in touch with subjects such as science, culture, technology and society. They immerse themselves in a fascinating world where they are educated by guest teachers. Whether it is the surgeon, the architect, the journalist, the carpenter or the judge, they are all passionate professionals who let them see, hear and especially experience what is involved in their profession. Weekendschool offers structural chances to increase ossibilities and chances, offers a network for pupils and offers the greatest chance of preventing early school leaving.The aim of weekend school education is to strengthen the pupils' motivated attitude to life. Broad knowledge about themselves and society, combined with the habit of moving in different circumstances, contributes to the ability to make independently motivated choices for the future. Pupils gain knowledge about professions, they can indicate preferences for professions and they have insight into how talents are linked to professions. Furthermore, we expect them to have gained (more) self-confidence and to experience social connectedness.<< Implementation >>All our activities are dedicated to Equal opportunities for young people in Europe. By starting Weekend Schools in our partner countries, but especially by establishing a sustainable Community Platform where everyone in Europe can find the tools to contribute themselves to the elimination of inequality of opportunities for young people. TRAINING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES The Teacher/Trainer Activity in the first year of the project lays the groundwork for the rest of the project implementation, enabling the participants in our project to implement the set up of new weekend schools whichare planned for the remainder of the project The pupil activities contribute not only to the opportunity to learn from other young people in Europe about various personal and international topics (our second core objective) but are invaluable for the production of amongst others the Language Games Portfolio (Result 3). During the project materials will be developed, tested and refined and expanded to create a definitive version and implemented on the International Weekendschool Platform (Result 4). The Learning Activities are also vital in building connections between regional associated partners and our project partners, aiding in the development of our Project Results but also working on our core objective of strengthening the collaboration between schools and other organisations such as from the world of work. COOPERATION, PROMOTION AND SHARING ACTIVITIES Across our partnership we have secured 28 Associated Partners before the project start, who have all signed a Letter of Support and are keen to get actively involved.Complementaty to that, the promotion and sharing activities of the project, including multiplier events, will allow the project results to be shared also far beyond the project consortium and therefore contribute to achieving project objectives on a higher level. The International Launch in 2024 will be a particularly valuable moment to reach out across Europe and demonstrate the value of our weekend school programme. PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORINGActive project management aimed at creating shared ownership, complemented by dedicated impact monitoring activities carried out by all partners, will ensure that the project stays on track, delivers quality results and achieves its objectives.<< Results >>Our main OUTCOMES and concrete PROJECT RESULTS are: 1) During the project, a weekend school has been established in the region of each partner. The partners have investigated the possibilities for sustainable maintenance of weekend school education. 2) We give our pupils the opportunity to learn from other young people in Europe about their situations, the way they deal with opportunities they are given, the way they deal with European themes and fundamental rights and how the young people themselves can contribute to the European objectives. We do this by organising exchanges, both physical and online. 3) All partners will use their own national and international networks as key founding members of the international weekend school education community to promote the possibility of weekend school education in wider Europe. 4) An INTERNATIONAL WEEKEND SCHOOL PLATFORM & COMMUNITY (RESULT 4) is established with all the information needed by interested parties in Europe to start a weekend school themselves. With adedicated WEEKEND SCHOOL SET UP HANDBOOK (R1), a handy SELF QUICK SCAN TOOL (R2), a wide ranging LANGUAGE GAMES PORTFOLIO (R3), do's and dont's, workshops, and video presentations to provide them with thepractical tools to do so in new settings across Europe.