On April 18th, Wrocław University of Science and Technology held the third installment of the “Cities of Ideas” debate series. Participants discussed pressing urban issues such as light pollution, noise, smog, lack of access to green areas, urban heat islands, and positive and negative examples of spatial planning. The debate hosted esteemed Academia Europaea member, Professor Joanna Rymaszewska, head of the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the Faculty of Medicine of Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. Professor Joanna Rymaszewska is a specialist psychiatrist, passionate about brain health and researches methods of neurostimulation in psychiatric disorders and holistic approach the body. Every year, she organizes the Psychiatry – Interdisciplinary Dialogues conference in Wrocław. The remaining guests were Dr. Eng. Arch. Maciej Szarejko, urban planner from the Faculty of Architecture at Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Prof. Paweł Sienkiewicz from the Poznań University of Life Sciences and Krzysztof Smolnicki – President of the EcoDevelopment Foundation, leader of the Lower Silesian Smog Alarm.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the issue of health back into public discourse as one of the key topics. Meanwhile, in cities, citizens suffer from diseases closely related to how our metropolises are structured. Some of them are associated with pollution, which causes, among other things, lung diseases. Others are civilization-related diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, linked, for example, to lack of physical activity and stress. All of these subjects were discussed during the debate, during which the hosts, in addition to highlighting the issues, were endeavoring to identify available solutions.
The event is a part of the “Cities of Ideas” debate series and is organised as collaboration between the prominent Polish newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza” and Wrocław University of Science and Technology.
Admission was free, but registration was required via the event’s website.
