Newsletter CISB nº 22  - March 2016
Helen Dannetun wants to see cooperation with Brazil grow and develop

She was there when CISB began; now, in May, she will visit Brazil and Brazilian universities together with a large Swedish delegation. Helen Dannetun is Vice-Chancellor of Linköping University – one of Sweden’s largest – and she would gladly see increased cooperation in a broad range of areas such as visualisation, new materials, education, sustainable energy and resource management, machine intelligence, autonomous systems, and innovation.

 “I remember well the discussions we had in the winter of 2011 which then led to CISB starting in May,” professor Dannetun tells us.

Subjects discussed included the logistical and security-related challenges Brazil faced as the arranger of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, as well as how control over the devastation of Brazil’s great rainforests, which are important for the global climate, could be gained with the help of aerial surveillance.

“Those were only a couple of the issues we discussed; education and innovation were others, and great hopes were placed in cooperation between Brazil and Sweden. I’m really looking forward to being on-site and finding out what happened, and how cooperation can be developed further,” she says.

As Vice-Chancellor of one of Sweden’s leading universities, professor Dannetun has found it difficult to squeeze longer trips into her programme, but travelling to Brazil felt important when the issue arose.

“Slowly but surely, we have built up strategic cooperation with Brazil, and today we have a Memorandum of Understanding with six Brazilian universities. I have personally visited several of them and during our trip we hope to sign agreements with a further two Brazilian universities.”

For professor Dannetun, it is important that the agreements have substance so they’re not just papers in a binder.

“There must be a clear ambition for cooperation, and we have capable employees on both sides who will see to that. It’s also a comfort to know that the students we send in exchange to a partner university will receive a high-class education,” she says.

Important areas in which cooperation between Brazilian universities and LiU could increase even more are, for example, aeronautics, automation, sustainable energy, and sustainable urban development, as well as in security, education, and innovation.

“Linköping University has a long tradition of collaborating with the surrounding community, with municipalities, and with organisations, as well as businesses large and small. We can contribute our experiences, but we are also aware that we are working in a Swedish context. From LiU’s side, we need better knowledge of how long-term cooperation works in Brazil, and what expectations we could have of each other for the collaboration to work and develop over the long term.”

Linköping University today has extensive cooperation with Brazil. It deals with exchange students, Brazilian master’s students, students working on degree projects, exchange of doctoral students and also professors. Professor Alex Enrich Prast, University of Rio de Janeiro, has an extensive collaboration with his colleagues within environmental research at LiU and has spent a lot of time there.

Thanks to proximity to the Saab defence corporation and sales of the Gripen fighter jet to Brazil, aeronautics is a major, important area of cooperation. Linköping is the aviation capital of Sweden; within 3 years 300 Brazilian families will live in Linköping for education and exchange of information as a part of the agreement.

“Saab has been in Linköping before we became a university, and we have cooperated closely all these years. Many of the engineers employed at Saab got their education at Linköping University; we have industrial doctoral students and we have visiting lecturers and visiting professors,” professor Dannetun says.

Petter Krus, professor of Fluid and Mechatronic systems at LiU, has recently taken over a professorship in which he will spend 12 months in Brazil over a three-year period. The professorship is funded by Vinnova, the Swedish innovation authority; Saab, the airplane manufacturer; Innovair, a Swedish national innovation programme in aviation; and CISB. The intent is for Professor Krus to expand his research work in the aviation sector, and also to inspire and to exchange experiences with Brazilian colleagues in areas such as sustainable energy, security and crisis management, transportation and logistics, and sustainable urban development.

Professor Dannetun sees cooperation with Brazil – and with universities in other countries as well – as entirely crucial for Linköping University being able to maintain a high level of quality in both research and education.

“The international perspective is important for a higher education institution; we need to break with our current ways of thinking and exchange ideas with each other. Our students will broaden their views and acquire important life experience, and the exchange will therefore contribute to higher quality in education and research,” she says.

“I am really looking forward to the trip in May, where we’ll be a large delegation from six Swedish universities in the Swedish Academic Collaboration Forum as well as representatives of the Swedish Government and its agencies. CISB will continue to have an important role. The hope is that we will make several connections, especially in order to take on together the major challenges in the environment, the climate, and sustainable urban development the world now faces.”

Collaboration in progress

Linköping University has a Memorandum of Understanding and Exchange Agreement with 
Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Universidade Federal do ABC, Universidade Federal do Rio De Janeiro, Centro Universitário da FEI, and Instituto Tecnolócio da Aeronáutica. Discussions are also being held with Instituto Militar de Engenharia and Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.

The main areas for cooperation, in which some twenty professors at LiU are currently engaged, are physics, environmental changes, innovation management, aeronautics, autonomous systems, and education and training.

Linköping University (or LiU) is a public university in Linköping, Sweden. LiU was granted full university status in 1975 and is now one of Sweden's larger academic institutions with four faculties: Arts and Sciences, Educational Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences and Science and Engineering. In 2015, LiU was home to 27,000 students and 4,000 employees.

LiU also have 10-year strategic collaborative agreements with global companies such as Saab, Ericsson and ABB.

 


Challenges in smart industries bring together companies and academia in Belo Horizonte

The workshop will have an innovative methodology, developed by Uppsala University, in which the challenge of a company is discussed by a group of experts.

On May 19, in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, there will be the AIMDay Workshop on Smart Industries, which will bring together representatives of academic circles and large corporations, with the ultimate aim of finding solutions for the challenges faced by smart industry – considered the new Industrial Revolution, being an integration of manufacture with the state of the art in areas such as information technology and communications, connecting people, machines and processes, all in an intelligent manner.

This meeting is organized through a multi-institutional partnership, as yet unprecedented, between the Swedish-Brazilian Research and Innovation Centre (CISB), Uppsala University (UU Innovation), Linköping University (LiU), the Minas Gerais State Foundation in Support of Research (Fapemig), the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and the initiative which goes by the name of the Swedish Academic Collaboration Forum (SACF). Its distinction will be the use of a successful methodology for the approach to the challenges that have been discussed.

Developed by Uppsala University (UU Innovation), this methodology is centered on discussions in small groups, in which one single question is suggested by the company and then painstakingly analyzed during one whole hour, by researchers and experts from different areas. The idea is that of combining the companies' needs for new knowledge with the expertise of academics to get challenges solved. “This strategy is already successfully used in other Universities, including those of Edinburgh and Oxford.

ore than a hundred companies have already participated in AIMdays – the whole gamut, ranging from major multinationals in the telecommunications segment through to companies in segments such as biotechnology, energy, health and sustainable construction”, says Lars-Eric Larsson, a vice-director atUU Innovation.

According to Alessandra Holmo, the Managing Director of CISB, here in Brazil the feedback provided by the companies has been extremely positive, ever since the phase of the initial approach. “There should be the participation of about ten large companies, who will have the unique opportunity to dialogue with about 25 Brazilian and Swedish researchers”, Ms. Holmo says. Companies such as Akaer Engenharia, Saab AB, Atlas Copco Brasil, Ericsson Telecomunicações, Volvo Cars, Fibria Celulose e Vallourec do Brasil, have already confirmed their participation, sending over in advance of the event the challenges that they intend to discuss.

“Our aim is that of encouraging new collaborative projects, led by industry, between Brazilian and Swedish institutions, and AIMday will be an important tool in this process”, she stresses.

Drivers of the revolution – According to the specialist in artificial neural networks, Antônio Braga, a professor at the Department of Electronic Engineering of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), some technological trends are mentioned as being the drivers of this “fourth industrial revolution”: big data and analytics, adaptive autonomous systems, cloud computing, horizontal and vertical integration of systems, Internet of industrial affairs, physical cybernetic systems, and cybersecurity.

“This is a revolution which will take place throughout the world, in all segments”, he adds. “There is industry – and its demand – and the academic area that needs to be prepared in order to supply. AIMday is a highly efficient and interesting model for an approach to real issues in an objective way, and also guides adaptation of industrial firms to the 4.0 dimension. It is very different from other workshops of the area, as industry already brings some questions to be raised, and these are directed to experts in the area”, he concludes.

Service: The AIMday Workshop on Smart Industries will take place on Saturday May 19 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. The workshop includes the program of events of the Brazil-Sweden Excellence Seminar, organized by the SACF. Further information is available at: http://aimday.se/smart-industries-belo-horizonte-2016/

 


Curitiba: a model of innovation in urban mobility

As part of the Smart City Concepts project, two buses will be tested in the city: one is a hybrid bus which has entered commercial operation this month, and the second is a bus running on electricity, which will operate as from June.

Increase the energy efficiency of urban mobility system with the adoption of transport systems that pollute less, and also develop information and communication technology to optimize decision-making with regard to public transport: these are two of the main purposes of the Project known as Smart City Concepts in Curitiba. The initiative has as its main partners Curitiba City Hall, Volvo Bus (with its main unit in the municipality in the Brazilian State of Paraná), SAAB and Combitech, both from Sweden, as well as Universities of the two countries such as the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), the Technological Federal University of Paraná (UTFPR), and the Swedish-Brazilian Research and Innovation Centre (CISB).

According to the experts involved in the pilot project, this experience in Curitiba should generate data that allow the establishment of strategies for electromobility for major cities in Latin America. “I am sure that the knowledge that is here being generated will be of interest to many. Curitiba is still a model for Brazil and also for Latin America as a whole. It will continue to inspire many other cities, as it already does right now”, confirms Semida Silveira, a researcher and manager of the project at KTH.

According to Ms. Silveira, her cooperation to the triple helix model is essential for the development and implementation of solutions in cities where there is a significant congregation of interests. In the opinion of Björn Rudin, the project manager at Combitech/Saab, the triple helix is a condition for the success of the project, as also for the generation of valuable results for all the parties involved.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to work together with the other partners in the project, in different aspects of a common task. We hope to expand our knowledge about public transport systems at all levels. In addition, for us, it would be very good to be part of this movement for the adoption of electromobility throughout the world.”

Test – On 18 March, Curitiba hosted a meeting at which there was a presentation of an overview of the first results obtained from the program, with the presence of several important personalities from both Sweden and Brazil who were involved in this initiative. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the Volvo bus which should be operating in the city in the coming months.

The model that has been put to the test is a non-plugin hybrid bus, meaning that it does not to be recharged at a special recharging station. This bus operates with electricity generated by its own operating system, and with a diesel combustion motor. This bus is articulated and can hold 160 passengers.

“This bus should run for about six months, and then we will be able to generate reports, and thus have more knowledge to understand how the bus operates”, says Rafael Nieweglowski, manager of the Urban Mobility Program at Volvo Bus. He adds that a second bus that runs exclusively on electricity, with a plug-in charging system, should also be tested in the middle of the year. “Starting from the results that these two vehicles have generated, it should also be tested as from the middle of the year. “Based on the results generated by these two vehicles, we may reach conclusions to customize the best vehicle that will operate in the city of Curitiba.”

The data will be analyzed by the Universities involved in the project. According to Ricardo Luders, an expert in supervisory control and hybrid systems and a professor of the Computing Department of the Federal Technological University of Paraná, this analysis will allow the planning of operations by municipal managers and also by partners in the Project.

“We are interested in the operation of the system where the main element is electrical energy. The impact of the operation of these vehicles in the public transport system, the suppliers of electricity…”, he explains. “The system which runs on diesel does not stop, and we need to ensure that the service will continue both with the hybrid bus and afterwards, when we will introduce the plug-in bus.”

Equipped with free WiFi, the hybrid bus that has been put to the test has between 150 and 200 sensors, translated into over 10 thousand parameters. “The first stage is the capture of data and the selection of that data that is relevant. The second is: how to transform this data into information that can be used to improve the performance of the system?”, sums up Keiko Fonseca, a professor of the Electronics Department at the Federal Technology University of Paraná (UTFPR).

This bus is already circulating on line 021 – Interbairros II in an anticlockwise direction. “This is a circular line which interconnects several of the city’s bus terminals. This is one of the longest lines of the city, and also one of the most challenging, as it transports a lot of people. The aim in making this choice of line was exactly that of testing the robustness of the system”, she says.

Ms. Fonseca exemplifies some of the appraisals that have already been made: the acceptance of the new service on the part of the population (one of the advantages is that it is more silent) and also the way in which WiFi is used by the bus users. “To find out, for example, how many access points will be necessary to meet demand, there is a need to know how many accesses will be made using the bus, at what time of day, and the average duration of the connections… these points will all be appraised.”


Brazil hosts a seminar organized by a group of Swedish universities

CISB is one of the participating institutions; issues addressed include nanotechnology, inclusive education and sustainable development, among others.

Between 16 and 20 May, in several Brazilian cities, the Brazil-Sweden Excellence Seminar will be held, this being an event organized by the initiative known as the Swedish Academic Collaboration Forum (SACF), in partnership with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). The SACF is a group comprising six important Swedish universities: Chalmers University, the Royal Institute of Technology, Linköping University, Lund University, Stockholm University and Uppsala University, seeking to carry out seminars on higher education and research in a select group of countries.

According to Helena Balogh, a project manager at SACF Brazil, the main purpose of these seminars are the facilitation of new connections between Brazilian and Swedish researchers, thereby reinforcing and intensifying the ties that already exist between these two countries. “The target is to create opportunities for the joint exploration of critical global problems, and also to connect companies and research projects through innovation.”

Between 16 and 18 May, the seminars will take place at the CAPES headquarters in Brasília. “We are expecting over one hundred speakers”, says Ms. Balogh. Institutions such as the Swedish-Brazilian Research and Innovation Centre (CISB), the Swedish Embassy, the Brazilian Academy of Science (ABC) and the National Service of Industrial Training (SENAI) also participate in the event, together with agencies such as VINNOVA, the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT), and others.

The Swedish delegation that is coming to Brazil has a total of 80 people, including more than 50 researchers, the Swedish Minister for University Education and Research, managers from six different universities, and also managers and representatives of financing agencies.

On 19 and 20 May, additional events will be offered in other Brazilian cities: Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, Belém and Recife. “Each additional workshop is unique and will have a topic, a focus and a structure all of its own. Some researchers take part in the main event and also in the additional events.” One of these will be the AIMday Smart Industries Workshop, which has the purpose of helping companies to find solutions for the challenges of intelligent industry.

Other editions – The SACF initiative has already organized seminars in China (November 2015), in the Republic of Korea (April 2015) and also in Singapore (November 2015). The last edition was in Indonesia on March of this year. A final meeting takes place in Sweden.

Each edition has specific issues, chosen according to the following criteria: “First, the universities that are members of the SACF compile a list of their areas of activity. Embassies, agencies, academics and researchers in the host country are then consulted, so that they may also point out strategic areas. Finally, the selected areas are considered within a context of relevance for both countries”, says Ms. Balogh.

The Brazilian edition of the seminar will include the following topics: image and visualization in the life sciences; nanotechnology and functional materials; inclusive education, gender and ethnicity; sustainable development: energy, biodiversity and the environment; autonomy and artificial intelligence; internationalization and collaboration in higher education. For further information, please check out the website: http://sacf.se/


Road safety is the theme of a global conference in Rio de Janeiro

More than one hundred speakers are expected at this event, which also occurs on another four continents. The themes addressed include education of road and motorway users, and security in public transport.

Between 17 and 19 May, Rio de Janeiro will be hosting the 17th edition of the Road Safety on 5 Continents Conference (RS5C), a global event which brings together researchers dedicated to the issue of road safety. This conference is organized by the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), in partnership with the National Association for Transport Education and Research (ANPET), with the support of the Swedish-Brazilian Research and Innovation Centre (CISB). More than one hundred speakers from 29 different countries are expected to attend this event.

This event is aimed at researchers from several different areas (ranging from traffic engineering to vehicular safety), Government management bodies, students, and professionals from institutions dedicated to the main issue of “traffic safety”. The program of the event includes a special session about “Behavior issues related to motorway users”, which will be the responsibility of representatives from the International Co-operation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic Safety (ICTCT).

The expectation of the organizers is that the researchers may expand their networks of relationships, find colleagues, and also learn about new approaches to traffic safety. “We have received almost 200 articles and, after the process of scientific review, we were left with about 100. About 15 of these are from Brazil”, says Therese Jomander, a business developer at VTI.

Ten issues will be addressed at RS5C: strategies, policies and plans for road safety; analysis of security for accident management; vulnerable road and motorway users; education of road and motorway users; vehicle innovation, autonomous driving and their applications; the behavior and state of the driver; techniques for modelling and security assessment; behavior issues and perception of the risk of road users, and aspects of security of public transport.

According to Ms. Jomander’s evaluation, the decision to host this event in Brazil ended up being a success, as there is a lot of interest in the country for the issue of “traffic safety”. “The main challenge for us has been that of coping with the sheer extent of interest shown by several groups that wish to participate, but we have had significant support from ANPET, our local partner, who is helping us to organize the conference, and also from CISB, who have supplied important contacts taken from their extensive network of contacts in Brazil.”

RS5C is a global conference and originally had emphasis on two continents only: Europe and North America. At that time, the event was called RS2C. Between 1987 and 1999, conferences were held in Europe and then the organization expanded to three continents in 2000, when South Africa hosted a conference. Asia entered the fold in 2007, when the conference was held in Thailand. Now, with the event in Rio de Janeiro, South America finally enters the map and the event’s name has been adapted to RS5C. Further information can be obtained by checking out the website: http://www.vti.se/en/


University of Skovde is a new member of CISB

Located in an industrial region which has strong ties to VOLVO and GKN, the University of Skövde, in Sweden, is the newest member of CISB. One of the roles of the institution is to develop research and provide this industrial hub with new technologies.
“There are two major industrial firms in the city of Skövde: they produce motors for cars and trucks produced by VOLVO. The University campus is right in front of the factories. A few kilometers away there is GKN, another division of the same company but dedicated to the aerospace segment. The collaboration is very intense. We have 100 researchers in different areas working with these companies”, explains Diego Galar, a professor of Security and Maintenance Engineering, responsible for the connection between CISB and the University of Skövde.

“I am also a professor at Luleå University, which is already a member. When I took the position at Skövde, I mentioned the work of CISB. They were interested for many reasons: the Gripen project, in which the maintenance of aircraft motors is something relevant, the connection with the Brazilian automotive segment, which is good for our expertise, and also, of course, the establishment of closer ties with partners such as the VOLVO plant in Curitiba.”

According to the professor, the connection with Skövde, for Brazilian partners, has the advantage of assuring access to cutting-edge technology, especially for the production of motors. “The University of Skövde already has bilateral agreements signed with the University of Campinas (Unicamp) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS). We hope to bring Brazilian researchers to be part of our staff, and CISB is an important partner for this. Post-doctoral students are welcome for our open positions, as also doctoral students with a good knowledge of English.”


Anderson Ribeiro Correa is the new Dean at ITA

He took over pledging to modernise the institution.

Professor Anderson Ribeiro Correa is the new Dean of the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), in the city of São José dos Campos, State of São Paulo. He received this post from professor Fernando Toshimori Sakane, who had been the Dean for eleven months on a temporary basis. Prof. Correa took over on 26 February at a ceremony which had the presence of important people like the Commander of the Air Force, Lieutenant Brigadier Air Nivaldo Luiz Rossato; the General Manager of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA), Lieutenant Brigadier Alvani Adão da Silva; and representatives from the academic and industrial media.

In his inaugural speech, he stressed the need for modernization of the institution. “The values of the school are incontestable, but the engineering of the next 30 years is very different from the engineering developed back in 1950”, he stressed. The continuity of the expansion work, the hiring of new professors and technicians, the physical maintenance of the school, the renewal of the teaching process, the relevant strategic partnerships, the encouragement of internationalization and a search for better alignment with the High Command of the Air Force were listed by the Dean as being his top priorities for his term of office which runs from 2016 to 2019.

For this year, he plans to already have results such as the establishment of partnerships for innovation activities, with Cecompi and the Technology Park in the city of São José dos Campos, new agreements of double qualifications with European and North American universities, and the offer of new online courses, among others.

According to the assessment as proposed by Lieutenant Brigadier Air Nivaldo Luiz Rossato, the project for expansion of the institution (a Government decision which plans an increase in the number of vacancies and also the expansion of the structure, among other initiatives) is relevant not only for the institution itself, DCTA and the Air Force, but for Brazil as a whole. ITA concentrates “Brazil's best brains” in an area which is closely linked to Brazil's growth, he highlighted.

Established in January 1950 to support the aeronautical development of Brazil, ITA is one of the institutes within the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial - DCTA), subordinate to the High Command of the Air Force, situated in the city of São José dos Campos (State of São Paulo). At undergraduate level, the institution offers six courses in aeronautics engineering; aerospace engineering; mechanical engineering; civil engineering; aeronautics; and computer science.


In a new head office, Akaer works towards the development of the “factory of the future”

Recently installed in the Technology Park of the city of São José dos Camos, this company will now enter the naval, automotive, and oil and gas segments, operating in line with the concept of smart industry.

Akaer, a company specializing in the development of innovative technological solutions for the defense and aerospace industries, has transferred its head office to the Technology Park of São José dos Campos, where it will take up an area of 103 thousand square meters (with a built area of 18 thousand square meters). Founded in 1992, Akaer now has over 350 employees, most of whom are engineers and designers.

The company's new headquarters include industrial premises, offices, and laboratories that are already equipped, and which will be used in the structuring of a modern complex for development of advanced technologies.

“There is an aerospace cluster which is the only of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, and which is based in São José dos Campos, a city which is home to several companies of this industry and other related areas. The city also has learning institutions which qualify excellent professional people and are partners in the development of technologies. In addition, the new head office infrastructure is modern and big enough to support our expansion plan”. According to Cássio Grasselli, the company’s marketing director, another advantaged offered by the new head office is the proximity with customers, partners and suppliers who have already set up in the Technology Park.    

      
He also explains that the new company headquarters in the Technology Park allows a significant increase in the capacity for development, simulation, certification testing, assembly, and integration of complex systems for industrial activities in the fields of aerospace, defense and energy. It also allows greater capacity for the management of supply chains.

“Apart from the development of cutting-edge technologies for these industries, the company will also diversify its activities, moving into other segments such as naval, oil and gas, and automotive. As part of its growth and expansion strategy, Akaer will develop its factory of the future, or smart manufacturing, within a period of five years, thereby allowing a reduction of assembly cycle while enhancing the quality present in added-value production phases”.

For this reason, Akaer will be taking part in the AIMday Smart Industries workshop on May 19, in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The workshop will bring together representatives of academia and of large companies, with the ultimate aim of finding solutions to the challenges that smart industry has to face.


Agenda for cooperation between Sweden and Curitiba prioritizes sustainable urban development

On 18 March, the city of Curitiba hosted a meeting between Government authorities and representatives from institutions in Brazil and Sweden for a general presentation on the results of two projects that were developed within the scope of the agreement between Brazilian and Swedish institutions to promote sustainable urban development in Curitiba.

There was a presentation of the results of the Smart City Concepts in Curitiba project (see article in this edition) and also the new project known as the ParCur Project, about emissions of particulate materials and the impacts these emissions have on the quality of the air in the Greater Curitiba Metropolitan Area. Another important moment of the meeting was the signing of an agreement between the partners in the project. Both projects are developed in the triple-helix formation, which means that there is joint participation by the government, academia and industry.

The main aim of the ParCur project is to help to create methodologies for the quantification of particles and its impact on the levels of air pollution in the Greater Curitiba metropolitan region, as well as complementing and lending support to the “Smart city concepts in Curitiba” project with assessment of impact on air quality, resulting from the introduction of new technologies in mass transport corridors. The activities involve a big consortium of government agencies and also research centers in both Sweden and Brazil.

Under the leadership of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) and coordinated in Brazil by the Climate Laboratory (LABOCLIMA) of the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), the project strengthens the bilateral co-operation between Sweden and Brazil with regard to the specific issue of atmospheric pollution, with the definition of ambitious goals for improvement of the quality of life in Curitiba. The central idea here is that the planning and management of mass transport axes should bear in mind the impact on the quality of the air, associated to city development and the use of fossil fuels.

The event had the presence of the Mayor of Curitiba, Gustavo Fruet; Ambassador Jan Olsson, representing the Swedish Ministry of Energy and the Environment; the Swedish Ambassador to Brazil, Per-Arne Hjelmborn; the president of Volvo Bus, Håkan Agnevall; the president of Volvo Bus in Latin America, Luís Carlos Pimenta; the head of the Air Quality Unit of the SMHI, Lars Gidhagen, as well as other representatives of partner institutions.

In the first phase of ParCur, an inventory will be drawn up, listing emissions of particulate materials and soot as input for models for dispersion of particles with high space-time resolution. There will also be the implementation of dispersion models on regional, urban and local scales, and there will also be an integrated analysis which allows the adjustment and validation of the inventory of emissions. In addition to this, there has also been a mapping of the levels of particulate materials and soot, for the identification of hot spots. The second stage involves the modelling of scenarios for emissions, and the assessment of the introduction of new technologies in mass transport corridors.


CISB - Centro de Pesquisa e Inovação Sueco-Brasileiro • Rua José Versolato, 111, São Bernardo do Campo, SP , Brasil • CEP 09750-730
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