Results of second Light4health International Summer School announced
(Worldwide) – The project saw collaboration across six leading universities and architectural schools around the world.
The second International Summer School of worldwide project Light4health (L4H), held within the framework of the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership grant programme, has ended.
The Summer School was organised and attended by representatives of leading international universities and European architectural schools in the field of lighting design, including Aalborg University (Denmark), Hochschule Wismar (Germany), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Thomas Jefferson University (USA), Creative Lighting Department ITMO University (Russia), and the University of Wolverhampton (UK).
Together with Prof. Dr. George Brainard and his lab from Thomas Jefferson University, the team sought to develop a novel educational course to teach health research methods and findings to lighting designers at the graduate level.
In connection with the coronavirus pandemic, classes were held in a remote format, hosted by Hochschule Wismar. The main subject of the online school for 2020 was “Lighting for Working and Educational Environments”.
The work was conducted in interdisciplinary international groups (39 participants in total), which included students from each partner university. Within its framework, participants comprehensively evaluated the lighting of four spaces on their respective campuses. This involved the analysis of natural and artificial light, and study of the effect of lighting on the daily rhythms of users. In the course of practical work, students identified and recorded in detail, all the characteristics of these rooms, so that the rest of the team who worked remotely, could accurately understand these spaces.
The classes lasted five weeks, and were divided into five modules. Each week was devoted to a specific topic that included a theoretical part, based on pre-recorded lectures, and practical tasks, concluding with a final presentation.
In module 1, the students were expected to measure/analyse visual qualities of daylight and artificial lighting using known lighting metrics. In the second module, they used the CIE toolbox to analyse SPD measurements and assessed the physiological impact of artificial lighting. In module 3, they evaluated lighting in given spaces via subjective impressions, and used ALFA software simulation and tools from previous modules. Finally, in the fourth module, students developed and tested a new lighting concept for improving users’ health, wellbeing and performance.
Four associated partners supported the L4H project with tools and expertise; Seoul Semiconductor, QLAB Laboratory of Light, Solemma and GL Optic. Seoul Semiconductor provided SunLike LED tunable task lamps for the lighting measurements on-site, and QLAB Laboratory of Light performed professional spectral and flicker measurements for these lights, to be used in DIALux calculations. Solemma provided a free yearlong ALFA license for all students and teachers, and GL Optic provided spectroradiometers and software, to be used throughout the project.
Despite the fact that the International Summer School was moved online, tutors made the remote classes in groups as comfortable as possible for participants. Students were able to discuss current issues in the field of lighting design with experts from different universities around the world without leaving their own homes. They were also able to participate in L4H on-the-job training at their universities. The project also allowed students to improve their communication skills. For this purpose, team members from different countries formed common chats for communication.
The revised format posed a number of new challenges for the summer school; for example, working remotely without meeting in person before, or choosing an appropriate time for discussion, due to the difference in time zones. In spite of these challenges, the final results produced by the students were assessed as extraordinary, and the overall experience has been considered a great success.
The third and final summer school within the framework of L4H will be held in Spring 2021, hosted by Aalborg University in Denmark. Held in an online format, the focus will me on “Lighting for Healthcare Environments” – an especially relevant topic in the context of the pandemic.
For more information on the Light4Health project, contact Asst. Prof. Dr. Karolina Zielinska-Dabkowska, the L4H project’s principal investigator, at k.zielinska-dabkowska@pg.edu.pl.
