Interdisciplinary Solutions Research Articles

Экфрасис в пьесе О. Богаева «PICASSO. Несколько картин из личной коллекции»: к постановке проблемы

The article considers a matter of current issue: studying ekphrasis within one piece of literature. The problem of a controversial approach to the definition of ekphrasis underpins the article. The prospective interdisciplinary solution of this problem is connected with the interpretation of the image of the artist Picasso by the playwright O. Bogaev. The intermedial component, the key image of Minotaur, and individual references to paintings are taken into account.

The LTER-Greece Environmental Observatory Network: Design and Initial Achievements

Five years after its establishment (2016), the LTER-Greece network outlines its vision, aims, objectives and its achievements through a series of case studies. The network consists of eight observatories, focusing on innovative research topics, aiming to be both cooperative and complementary, while currently being in the process of expanding. LTER-Greece acknowledges the complexity of ecosystems and the fact that effective management of natural resources may only be achieved by addressing every sector of a nexus system in order to understand inter-dependencies, thus accounting for solutions that promote resilience. Hence, LTER-Greece focuses on the holistic study of the water-environment-ecosystem-food-energy-society nexus, in order to face environmental and socio-ecological challenges at local and global scales, particularly climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, natural disasters and unsustainable water and land management. Framed around five research pillars, monitoring and research targets nine research hypotheses related to climate change, environmental management, socio-ecology and economics, biodiversity and environmental process dynamics. As environmental monitoring and related research and conservation in Greece face critical shortcomings, LTER-Greece envisages confronting these gaps and contributing with interdisciplinary solutions to the current and upcoming complex environmental challenges.

ПСИХОЕМОЦІЙНА НАПРУЖЕНІСТЬ ЯК ДЕТЕРМІНАНТА ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ ДЕФОРМАЦІЇ ПРАЦІВНИКІВ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ ПОЛІЦІЇ УКРАЇНИ

The article states that in the context of the formation of a modern legal system, democratization of law-enforcement institutions, proclamation of a course of maximum efficiency of the rights and freedoms of citizens protection, one of the leading priorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is the procedure of the creation of a highly professional staff capable of effectively solving law enforcement tasks. Transformation of public administration, profound changes in the personnel structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, changes in the essence, goals and functional orientation of law enforcement activities require an expansion of the scope of research on the problems of professionalization in this area. Activity is an integral part of a person's lifestyle, an important factor in its formation and development as a member of society and an individual. Professional tasks execution, along with the maximum concentration on the positive results, can lead to side effects. One of them is professional deformation, which objectively represents not a fatal, but a really probable expense, the so-called shadow side of the profession. Subjectively, it is a tribute that a person unwillingly pays for excessive specialization, unquenchable passion for activities, the maximum level of demands to herself. Professional deformation can occur as a result of any activity. But most often, according to the different research, it affects representatives of such professions that involve activities of the type "man-man": teachers, actors, service workers, lawyers. This problem is highly important for law enforcement agencies because their representatives are dealing with intense deformation influence. Professional deformation as one of the complex and multisided problems of law enforcement requires a comprehensive, interdisciplinary solution of legal, managerial, psychological and other tasks. The professionalism of law enforcement personnel lags behind the growing demands of reality, so today, under the influence of a complex operational environment and criminalization of state life, the research under such problem of professionalization of personnel as the professional deformation of the employee and related problems of organization and management in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is becoming increasingly important.

An integrated model for interdisciplinary graduate education: Computation and mathematics for biological networks.

The current challenges at the forefront of data-enabled science and engineering require interdisciplinary solutions. Yet most traditional doctoral programs are not structured to support successful interdisciplinary research. Here we describe the design of and students’ experiences in the COMBINE (Computation and Mathematics for Biological Networks) interdisciplinary graduate program at the University of Maryland. COMBINE focuses on the development and application of network science methods to biological systems for students from three primary domains: life sciences, computational/engineering sciences, and mathematical/physical sciences. The program integrates three established models (T-shaped, pi-shaped and shield-shaped) for interdisciplinary training. The program components largely fall into three categories: (1) core coursework that provides content expertise, communication, and technical skills, (2) discipline-bridging elective courses in the two COMBINE domains that complement the student’s home domain, (3) broadening activities such as workshops, symposiums, and formal peer-mentoring groups. Beyond these components, the program builds community through both formal and informal networking and social events. In addition to the interactions with other program participants, students engage with faculty in several ways beyond the conventional adviser framework, such as the requirement to select a second out-of-field advisor, listening to guest speakers, and networking with faculty through workshops. We collected data through post-program surveys, interviews and focus groups with students, alumni and faculty advisors. Overall, COMBINE students and alumni reported feeling that the program components supported their growth in the three program objectives of Network Science & Interdisciplinarity, Communication, and Career Preparation, but also recommended ways to improve the program. The value of the program can be seen not only through the student reports, but also through the students’ research products in network science which include multiple publications and presentations. We believe that COMBINE offers an effective model for integrated interdisciplinary training that can be readily applied in other fields.

Experimental facility for reduced scale model testing of hydraulic machines hybridized with a battery energy storage system

With a continuously growing share of non-dispatchable renewable energy sources in the power mix, flexibility in hydropower provision is becoming fundamental. The major role played by hydropower in frequency regulation in the last years has underlined the possible drawbacks of fast regulation impacting the hydraulic system health. Two of the most promising solutions to address this problem are the hybridisation of hydropower with battery energy storage systems and the variable speed technology. Batteries have already proved to be able to provide multiple services to the power system, and their coupling with hydropower is a possible interdisciplinary solution to increase flexibility provision in power systems. In this respect, one of the main challenges to address is the control of the hybrid system. While research is heading towards this direction, it becomes necessary to have experiment facilities able to test and validate the upcoming solutions. Testing platforms are nowadays decoupling the hydraulic and the electric components, testing them separately, therefore, they are not suitable for the validation of the control strategy under real grid conditions. The scope of this paper is to present an experimental facility where different joint control techniques can be tested on reduced scale models of hydraulic machines hybridized with a battery energy storage system. The presented test-rig combines all the fundamental components, both on the hydraulic and on the electrical side, within the same testing facility. The platform is an adaptation of the already existing laboratory of hydraulic machines at EPFL in Switzerland.

Ekstremalnist yak chynnyk profesiinoho vyhoriannia pratsivnykiv Natsionalnoi politsii Ukrainy

The article states that in the context of the formation of a modern legal system, democratization of law-enforcement institutions, proclamation of a course of maximum efficiency of the rights and freedoms of citizens protection, determines manifestation of the procedure of creation of a highly professional staff capable of effectively solving law enforcement tasks as the one of the leading priorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.Transformation of public administration, profound changes in the personnel structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, change in the essence, goals and functional orientation of law enforcement activities require an expansion of the scope of research on the problems of professionalization in this area. Activity is an integral part of a person’s lifestyle, an important factor in their formation and development as a member of society and the individual. Professional tasks execution, along with the maximum concentration on the positive results, can lead to side effects. One of them is professional deformation, which objectively represents not a fatal, but a really probable expense, so-called shadow side of the profession. Subjectively, it is a tribute that a person unwillingly pays for excessive specialization, unquenchable passion for activities, the maximum level of demands to himself or herself. Professional deformation can occur as a result of any activity. But most often, according to the different researches, it affects representatives of such professions that involve activities type «person-person»: teachers, actors, service workers, lawyers. This problem is highly important for law enforcement agencies because their representatives are dealing with intense deformation influence. Professional deformation as one of the complex and multisided problems of law enforcement requires a comprehensive, interdisciplinary solution of legal, managerial, psychological and other tasks. The professionalism of law enforcement personnel lags behind the growing demands of reality, so today, under the influence of a complex operational environment and criminalization of state life, the research under such problem of professionalization of personnel as the professional deformation of the employee and related problems of organization and management in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is becoming increasingly important.

Low Temperature rheological characterization of single-step silica nanofluids: An additive in refrigeration and gas hydrate drilling applications

Silica nanofluids are novel interdisciplinary solutions that have found several industrial applications on account of their superior rheological, chemical, and mass/heat transfer properties. However, their use in low-temperature applications (primarily drilling through gas hydrate reserves) is constrained due to the lack of understanding of their rheological behavior under low-temperature and high-pressure conditions. Hence, in this study, the viscosity, and the stability of novel single-step silica nanofluids of varying composition (0.1–1 wt%, synthesized via the Stober sol-gel method) were investigated under 2–30 °C. Following a comprehensive analysis, it was observed that while increasing the concentration of silica NPs in the aqueous solution and reducing the temperature caused a slight increase in the viscosity of the solution, increasing pressure (till 50 bar) was found to have no appreciable effect on the viscosity of the solution. The silica nanofluids showed a characteristically vicious nature (higher values of G″ than G′). The nanofluids were also able to maintain their dispersion stability and did not show any sedimentation after repeated heating and cooling between 2 and 30 °C. Finally, the silica nanofluids were used as additives in water-based drilling fluids for drilling through gas hydrate reservoirs which are prone to having high gas influxes. The presence of silica NPs was able to stabilize the absorbed gas bubbles, reducing the likelihood of them affecting the mud returns and causing a runaway gas blowout, though the duration of gas bubble retention reduced significantly at a higher temperature. The observations of the study indicate the superior viability of formulated single-step silica nanofluids for low-temperature applications like refrigeration and gas hydrate drilling mud additives. • Nanofluid exhibited stable viscoelastic response at low temperature and high pressure. • Reducing temperature increased nanofluid viscosity but pressure had no appreciable effect. • Nanofluid exhibited dispersion stability after 300 heating-cooling cycles. • Nanofluid inclusion in drilling mud controlled rate of gas invasion for wellbore stability. • Proposal of using silica nanofluids in refrigeration and gas hydrate drilling applications.

Quantification of long-term accumulation of inhaled ultrafine particles via human olfactory-brain pathway due to environmental emissions – a pilot study

Olfactory pathway as a viable route for brain uptake of environmental pollutants has been hypothesized in past decade. In such a hypothesis, subclinical low-dose exposure and chronic brain accumulation of exogenous airborne agents are critical to define neurodegenerations, however the information is extremely lacking. Advances in granular measurement of air pollutants, real-time personal exposure monitoring and big data analytics have opened-up an unprecedented opportunity to enable researchers conduct longitudinal investigation and potentially link the external environment condition to risks of human developing neurodegenerative diseases in a foreseeable future. Detailed case studies are provided in this work that illustrate the quantification of human brain accumulation of ultrafine particles (UFPs) from exposure, surface deposition, and pathway penetration via the transport route of nasal olfactory in prolonged timespans. The study links the individual components along the olfactory pathway, showcases the available research capacity, and pinpoints the critical areas of research need in environmental, toxicological and epidemiological studies, significant to a joint effort to bring together an interdisciplinary solution to uncover the insight of time course and dose dependency between environmental exposure and risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases in a foreseeable future. It should be noted that current study assumes that nanoparticle penetration along the olfactory pathway is unidirectional and follows the rate observed in the rodent study. Tissue responses in determining the penetration and retention corresponding to size and composition of the inhaled nanoparticles are not considered.

Add Business and Stir

Abstract This essay makes a case for teaching an interdisciplinary undergraduate course at the intersection of religion, ecology, and business. At a basic level, this approach gets students with diverse intellectual orientations and career interests in the same room; letting business and environmental studies majors work together on these questions fosters a variation on interfaith engagement. More deeply, it creates space for them to develop critical self-awareness about their own ethical commitments. The fact that no single instructor can be an expert in all three fields should not prevent us from stepping boldly into uncharted territory. The degradation of the earth is an interdisciplinary problem that requires interdisciplinary solutions, and each of us has something to contribute right now even if we cannot do it all. As teachers and lifelong learners, we can and must model intellectual humility even as we look for ways to take decisive individual and collective action.

Circular waste management of electric vehicle batteries: Legal and technical perspectives from the EU and the UK post Brexit

In light of the climate change, interdisciplinary solutions are needed to deal with end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that are used in Electric vehicles (EVs) in order to avoid a waste problem in the future. Building on both legal and technical perspectives, this paper criticises the current EU and UK frameworks and policies on batteries waste management which fail to address technological innovation, especially, in terms of the creation of a market for ‘second life’ of EV batteries which are subject to the electrochemical performance and durability and safety parameters, as well as LIB recycling in support of a circular economy. Most importantly, it also addresses recent developments in the EU in terms of a proposal for the EU new Batteries Regulation and the impact of Brexit in the UK for its future policy shape.

Operational and emerging capabilities for surface water flood forecasting

AbstractSurface water (or pluvial) flooding is caused by intense rainfall before it enters rivers or drainage systems. As the climate changes and urban populations grow, the number of people around the world at risk of surface water flooding is increasing. Although it may not be possible to prevent such flooding, reliable and timely flood forecasts can help improve preparedness and recovery. Unlike riverine and coastal flooding where forecasting methods are well established, surface water flood forecasting presents a unique challenge due to the high uncertainties around predicting the location, timing, and impact of what are typically localized events. Over the past 5 years, there has been rapid development of convection‐permitting numerical weather prediction models, ensemble forecasting, and computational ability. It is now theoretically feasible to develop operational surface water forecasting systems. This paper identifies three approaches to surface water forecasting utilizing state‐of‐the‐art meteorological forecasts: empirical‐based scenarios, hydrological forecasts linked to presimulated impact scenarios, and real‐time hydrodynamic simulation. Reviewing operational examples of each approach provides an opportunity to learn from international best practice to develop targeted, impact‐based, surface water forecasts to support informed decision‐making. Although the emergence of new meteorological and hydrological forecasting capabilities is promising, there remains a scientific limit to the predictability of convective rainfall. To overcome this challenge, we suggest that a rethink of the established role of flood forecasting is needed, alongside the development of interdisciplinary solutions for communicating uncertainty and making the best use of all available data to increase preparedness.This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Engineering Water

Associations between the household environment and stunted child growth in rural India: a cross-sectional analysis.

Stunting is a major unresolved and growing health issue for India. There is a need for a broader interdisciplinary cross-sectoral approach in which disciplines such as the environment and health have to work together to co-develop integrated socio-culturally tailored interventions. However, there remains scant evidence for the development and application of such integrated, multifactorial child health interventions across India's most rural communities. In this paper we explore and demonstrate the linkages between environmental factors and stunting thereby highlighting the scope for interdisciplinary research. We examine the associations between household environmental characteristics and stunting in children under 5 years of age across rural Rajasthan, India. We used Demographic and Health Survey (DHS)-3 India (2005-2006) data from 1194 children living across 109,041 interviewed households. Multiple logistic regression analyses independently examined the association between (i) the primary source of drinking water, (ii) primary type of sanitation facilities, (iii) primary cooking fuel type, and (iv) agricultural land ownership and stunting adjusting for child age. The results suggest, after adjusting for child age, household access to (i) improved drinking water source was associated with 23% decreased odds [odds ratio (OR) = 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.5-1.00], (ii) improved sanitation facility was associated with 41% decreased odds (OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.3-0.82), and (iii) agricultural land ownership was associated with 30% decreased odds of childhood stunting (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.51-0.94]. The cooking fuel source was not associated with stunting. Our findings indicate that a shift is needed from nutrition-specific to contextually appropriate interdisciplinary solutions, which incorporate environmental improvements. This will not only improve living conditions in deprived communities but also help to tackle the challenge of childhood malnutrition across India's most vulnerable communities.

Cost-effective, Green and Sustainable Filtration Media for Multi-pollutant Removal: An Inter-disciplinary Sustainability Solution

Cost-effective, Green and Sustainable Filtration Media for Multi-pollutant Removal: An Inter-disciplinary Sustainability Solution

A Survey of Molecular Communication in Cell Biology: Establishing a New Hierarchy for Interdisciplinary Applications

Molecular communication (MC) engineering is inspired by the use of chemical signals as information carriers in cell biology. The biological nature of chemical signaling makes MC a promising methodology for interdisciplinary applications requiring communication between cells and other microscale devices. However, since the life sciences and communications engineering fields have distinct approaches to formulating and solving research problems, the mismatch between them can hinder the translation of research results and impede the development and implementation of interdisciplinary solutions. To bridge this gap, this survey proposes a novel communication hierarchy for MC signaling in cell biology and maps phenomena, contributions, and problems to the hierarchy. The hierarchy includes: 1) the physical propagation of cell signaling at the Physical Signal Propagation level; 2) the generation, reception, and biochemical pathways of molecular signals at the Physical and Chemical Signal Interaction level; 3) the quantification of physical signals, including macroscale observation and control methods, and conversion of signals to information at the Signal-Data Interface level; 4) the interpretation of information in cell signals and the realization of synthetic systems to store, process, and communicate molecular signals at the Local Data Abstraction level; and 5) applications relying on communication with MC signals at the Application level. To further demonstrate the proposed hierarchy, it is applied to case studies on quorum sensing, neuronal signaling, and communication via DNA. Finally, several open problems are identified for each level and the integration of multiple levels. The proposed hierarchy provides language for communication engineers to study and interface with biological systems, and also helps biologists to understand how communications engineering concepts can be exploited to interpret, control, and manipulate signaling in cell biology.

PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS OF DIGITALIZATION OF EDUCATION

The article analyses the impact of globalization and technological development of society on research, education, organization and technology of the educational process. Pedagogical priorities of digitalization of education such as combining the efforts of scientists and practical specialists for a comprehensive analysis and interdisciplinary solution of modern problems of digital educational space and pedagogical principles of education digitalization have been identified. The article formulates the conceptual provisions of digital pedagogy and specification of the content of basic pedagogical concepts of digital education, development of digital didactics, revision of forms, methods, means and technologies of teaching, students’ training and development in the digital space. The features and directions of education of children and youth in the digital space have been identified; new forms and methods of organizing the educational impact on children and youth in the digital environment have been revealed; the risks of digitalization of education and ways to overcome them have been outlined. The article shows that the mission of modern education is to provide society and every citizen with a proper transition to the digital age, focusing on other tools and different living environment and to prepare not only young but also middle-aged and older people for new types and kinds of work. An example of solving problems of digitalization of education, which requires joint efforts of scientists and practical specialists, is the creation and work of the Advisory Board on Digital Education and Pedagogy at the Department of General Pedagogy and Philosophy of Education of the NAES of Ukraine. Its functions are to examine current issues of digitalization of education in relation to interdisciplinarity: philosophical, theoretical and methodological, practical aspects of digital education and pedagogy; to сonduct in-depth research of the benefits and threats of digitalization of educational and scientific activities and to make analytical conclusions and recommendations for the management of education.

ОТ ГОЭЛРО ДО ЭЛЕКТРОРОБОТИЗАЦИИ АПК. К 90-ЛЕТИЮ ФНАЦ ВИМ

For almost 100 years that have passed from GOELRO to the ECO-1VK project (Electro-Robotic organic plants of the 1st modification of Valentin Krausp), new theoretical positions are developed, practical solutions made under the guidance of the founders of scientific schools, including the author of this article, are found and patented, and subsequent scientific and technical, technological and complex interdisciplinary solutions for electrification, automation and electrobotization of agricultural conveyor machine technologies are shown. (Research purpose). The research purpose is in analyzing the time stages of development and implementation of industrial technologies in agricultural production. (Materials and methods). The research materials are historical documents, archives, and scientific works of famous scientists who laid the foundations for the development of electrification, automation, and robotics in the agro-industrial complex. (Results and discussion). Author analyzed the stages of development and implementation of electrification, automation and robotization of agricultural production. The article describes each stage, notes their advantages and features. The article presents the final stage of creating conveyor technologies for food production in the full "field-shop" cycle, in which the main role is played by electric robotics and intellectualization of production and processing of organic waste into fertilizer. (Conclusions) The article highlights the history of the development of agricultural science and the author's youth scientific school. International cooperation through CMEA has allowed us to reach the international level in the automation of dairy farming. It also allowed the developing of mathematical optimizations of technologies for dairy farms and fattening of young farm animals. Research has been conducted and have been developed integrated automation systems with automated control systems for farms in dairy farming. The author's developed model design of ECO-1VK modular plant of 1st modification, which comprehensively solved all the problems: social by creating agricultural cities that provides youth in urban life; brought a new generation of youth: cyber-zoo-technologists, veterinarians, engineers, managers. The ecological cleanliness of feed production fields is ensured; animals are kept in natural conditions without the use of antibiotics; milk and meat are processed into organic food.

Inquiry in higher education for sustainable development: crossing disciplinary knowledge boundaries

PurposeThis paper aims to understand if a project work methodology proposed to students, based on an inquiry perspective and dealing with different dimensions of sustainable development, contributed to creating an interdisciplinary solution for a problem on sustainability challenged by food production and consumption, and also to understand if this methodological approach is perceived as important to their learning as professionals and citizens. Data were collected by direct observation, a questionnaire applied to the students and students’ individual reflections.Design/methodology/approachThis paper aims to present the research results of the impact of a pedagogical approach on students, implemented as a part of the Doctoral Programme in Sustainability Science, which was designed following an innovative model at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. The main drivers include building a new body of interdisciplinary knowledge leading to the application of science to address real problems towards transdisciplinary education.FindingsThe results suggest great potential for an inquiry perspective in trying to solve a real problem. Students’ proposals were realistic, viable and complementary enough to collectively contribute in response to the global problem. The use of approaches acquired from different areas of knowledge was clear, and the project methodology was well understood. Students considered the experience very rewarding in terms of learning and contributing positively to their personal and professional development.Originality/valueThis Doctoral programme is anchored in a progressive continuum encompassing holistic debates with a multidisciplinary team of professors in environments that promote interdisciplinary attitudes and new knowledge, and also project work aimed at guiding students to transdisciplinary learning, which constitutes an innovative form of dealing with the complex challenges created by the science of sustainability.

A robust machine learning approach to SDG data segmentation

In the light of the recent technological advances in computing and data explosion, the complex interactions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) present both a challenge and an opportunity to researchers and decision makers across fields and sectors. The deep and wide socio-economic, cultural and technological variations across the globe entail a unified understanding of the SDG project. The complexity of SDGs interactions and the dynamics through their indicators align naturally to technical and application specifics that require interdisciplinary solutions. We present a consilient approach to expounding triggers of SDG indicators. Illustrated through data segmentation, it is designed to unify our understanding of the complex overlap of the SDGs by utilising data from different sources. The paper treats each SDG as a Big Data source node, with the potential to contribute towards a unified understanding of applications across the SDG spectrum. Data for five SDGs was extracted from the United Nations SDG indicators data repository and used to model spatio-temporal variations in search of robust and consilient scientific solutions. Based on a number of pre-determined assumptions on socio-economic and geo-political variations, the data is subjected to sequential analyses, exploring distributional behaviour, component extraction and clustering. All three methods exhibit pronounced variations across samples, with initial distributional and data segmentation patterns isolating South Africa from the remaining five countries. Data randomness is dealt with via a specially developed algorithm for sampling, measuring and assessing, based on repeated samples of different sizes. Results exhibit consistent variations across samples, based on socio-economic, cultural and geo-political variations entailing a unified understanding, across disciplines and sectors. The findings highlight novel paths towards attaining informative patterns for a unified understanding of the triggers of SDG indicators and open new paths to interdisciplinary research.

A Meaningful Anthropocene?: Golden Spikes, Transitions, Boundary Objects, and Anthropogenic Seascapes

As the number of academic manuscripts explicitly referencing the Anthropocene increases, a theme that seems to tie them all together is the general lack of continuity on how we should define the Anthropocene. In an attempt to formalize the concept, the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) is working to identify, in the stratigraphic record, a Global Stratigraphic Section and Point (GSSP) or golden spike for a mid-twentieth century Anthropocene starting point. Rather than clarifying our understanding of the Anthropocene, we argue that the AWG’s effort to provide an authoritative definition undermines the original intent of the concept, as a call-to-arms for future sustainable management of local, regional, and global environments, and weakens the concept’s capacity to fundamentally reconfigure the established boundaries between the social and natural sciences. To sustain the creative and productive power of the Anthropocene concept, we argue that it is best understood as a “boundary object,” where it can be adaptable enough to incorporate multiple viewpoints, but robust enough to be meaningful within different disciplines. Here, we provide two examples from our work on the deep history of anthropogenic seascapes, which demonstrate the power of the Anthropocene to stimulate new thinking about the entanglement of humans and non-humans, and for building interdisciplinary solutions to modern environmental issues.

Smart Energy Solutions as an Indispensable Multi-Criteria Input for a Coherent Urban Planning and Building Design Process—Two Case Studies for Smart Office Buildings in Warsaw Downtown Area

The introduction of parametric tools has made a strong shift within a traditional approach to urban planning and building design, including the creation of a design awareness zone where environmental issues are concerned. This approach also uses sufficient data to be used already at the concept stage and provides initial interdisciplinary solutions. Analyses from the very initial stages allow the inclusion of smart energy choices influencing the massing, architectural features, proportions, flexibility of design, and economics. This is only a threshold; there is still a place for further development and more accurate analyses leading to the construction of buildings and urban areas with a stronger input of sustainable solutions, as existing approaches have certain limitations. This path has been followed in several research grants conducted at the Faculty of Architecture Warsaw University of Technology, and later on developed as a co-operation area with various stakeholders. Outside the general state of art, this paper will include two case studies which were provided as a concept design for prospective investors. Both locations are in the Warsaw Downtown Area, and analyses include algorithmic models dealing with the optimisation of the buildings’ forms, urban scale sun radiation levels, shadow and wind analyses indicating use of sunlight energy and wind as alternative energy sources. One of the case studies contains Pareto Front including both single- and multi-criteria optimization methods for analysing energy and economic efficiency issues, pointing out the best case solutions.