'Geospatial assessment of green inequities across primary schools in the Brussels-Capital Region' | Elsa Gallez (VUB)
Since 2015, urban greening strategies such as the implementation of green and blue infrastructure (GBI) and nature-based solutions (NBS) are highly encouraged by the United Nations to create more inclusive, resilient and liveable cities. However, the inequitable distribution of GBI among socio-demographic groups remain prevalent. Children are one of the most vulnerable groups to urban health issues and climate change risks in cities. However, most studies assessing children’s (in)equitable access and/or exposure to urban GBI and related benefits focus on residential metrics, whereas schools represent an essential place of children’s daily urban experience. Multiple studies highlight health benefits and ecosystem services associated to GBI accessibility/exposure within and around schools, but few explore the link between school-related GBI and schools socio-economic characteristics (or school types).
Going beyond the sole use of NDVI indicators by developing quality-based GBI indicators at multiple distances, and following the plea to adopt a more function-oriented approach on GBI accessibility and exposure, this novel research aims at examining the equity implications of the distributional patterns of school-related GBI in the Brussels Capital Region (BCR). Potential inequities across all 418 primary schools of the BCR will be explored through bivariate, multivariate and cluster statistical analysis techniques, considering school-level socio-economic indices (SEI), school management types, and schools’ exposure to environmental hazards.
A lunch will be offered by Cosmopolis. Please register if you want to join! If you are not able to join in person, you can follow the presentation online. Register to receive the meeting link.
Elsa Gallez is a PhD student in Interdisciplinary Studies: Urban studies. She holds a Msc in Urban Environmental Management (WUR, 2020) and a Bsc in Geography (University of Namur, 2018). She joined the Department of Geography (VUB) in January 2022. Her main research interest lies in the study of socio-environmental inequities and inequalities in cities. Aware of the complexity and paradoxes of urban environmental justice issues, she dedicates her research to the exploration of effective levers - in the fields of land policy and green infrastructures - aimed at providing a more equitable access to green amenities. As a PhD candidate, she is analysing the geospatial distribution of, and access/exposure to, nature-based solutions (NBS) and green and blue infrastructures (GBI) in the Brussels-Capital Region, within and around primary schools. This research is part of the ERA-NET Cofund H2020 COOLSCHOOLS project (2022-2025).