FORWARD

Urban Resilience through
Open Science, Education, and Community Engagement in War Regions

Helping Education and Research Move Forward — Even During War

What is FORWARD?

FORWARD aims to strengthen resilient higher education in war-affected regions by integrating interdisciplinary training, open science practices, and practical urban resilience skills. The project develops training modules, practical case studies, and a cloud-based digital infrastructure with FAIR-compliant data management to support continuous learning and research despite conflict challenges. By engaging universities, civil society, and policymakers in Palestine and Ukraine, FORWARD fosters inclusive knowledge co-production and builds long-term capacity for urban resilience. Ultimately, it creates sustainable, scalable models for education and community recovery that can be adapted globally.

FORWARD Context

Palestine

Urban Infrastructure: Over 88,000 damaged structures (35% of buildings) and 60% of housing stock affected;
80% of the population lacks clean water.

Open Science & Data: Limited infrastructure and FAIR skills; universities need training and centralized repositories.

Gender & Equity: Nearly 1 million women and girls displaced since Oct 7, 2023, facing violence and food insecurity.

Ukraine

Urban Infrastructure: Over 4,700 attacks on energy and water facilities leave millions without services; food insecurity rises.

Open Science & Data: Disrupted data collection and FAIR sharing; universities call for training, digital tools, and collaboration.

Gender & Equity: Displacement and economic insecurity worsen gender disparities; equitable participation and gender-sensitive programs needed.

FOWARD Objectives

To Foster

Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing

To Address

Urban Resilience Challenges and Promote Equity and Gender Inclusivity

To Improve

Digital Access and Tools and Promote Open Science and Ethical Data Practices

To Rebuild and Strengthen

Higher Education Systems in War Regions and Build Capacity for Sustainability

Why Urban Resilience?

The destruction of water infrastructure and basic resources embeds social inequalities and limits equal access to essential services, such as clean water, particularly for marginalized groups, leading to increased health risks. Urban resilience describes the capacity of cities and urban societies to react to disturbances and processes of change flexibly and robustly, while addressing complexity and engaging multiple stakeholders through its multidisciplinary nature. It enhances the ability of cities and communities to withstand disturbances and reshape relationships between infrastructural, social, economic, environmental, and institutional dimensions. Achieving this requires innovative, multidimensional approaches that prioritize resilient urban environments, reduce vulnerabilities, and emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement, and cooperation among stakeholders.

Why Open Science?

In crisis situations, facilitating collaboration among stakeholders and addressing barriers such as limited data access and fragmented emergency efforts is critical. Open science principles promote transparency, accessibility, inclusiveness, and ethical data management and sharing, enhancing the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse (FAIR) of digital data for timely and equitable responses. Integrating open education and open science enables universities, professionals, and communities to work with shared datasets, standardized methods, and accessible digital tools, supporting urban resilience, training, and research, particularly in conflict-affected regions where reliable data and collaboration are limited. FAIR data principles strengthen learning and enable knowledge generated in universities to be reused across sectors to address real-world challenges.