Architectural education from socio-economic perspective in environmental design

In recent years, the concept of sustainability has been extended from technological research fields to the whole architectural discipline, including its social, economical and political aspects. EMUVE (Euro Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology) teaching project intends to educate the future architects in environmental design through the search of innovative reactivation strategies for the excess of real estate developments and urban voids produced by economical crisis along the euro-mediterranean coastline. The aim is to teach the students a new kind of symbiotic relationship with urban and natural landscape. With a responsible consumption of the resources available, we will be able to give in return renewable energy production, environmental recovery strategies, economic reactivation of degraded territories, and cultural value enhancement as an added quality of the territory. How to deal with the unbridled real estate developments which have produced thousands of square meters of vacant houses while a huge amount of people lose their homes? The answers are in the field of recycling strategies, low cost interventions, flexibility of functions, public space qualities, civic participation policies and the development of spaces that generate community and solidarity