Phd in PLANNING, DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE TECHNOLOGY

Thesis title: Sustainable architectures and spaces for Outdoor Education. Tools, design strategies, modelling, simulation and monitoring

In a context marked by environmental crises, urban transformations, and post-pandemic educational challenges, this thesis investigates the strategic role of outdoor school spaces in promoting resilient, healthy, and inclusive learning environments. Starting from the growing interest in Outdoor Education and its pedagogical potential, the research positions itself at the intersection of educational studies, architectural design, and ecological transition, offering a critical reflection on the quality of outdoor environments for early childhood and their rethinking in a climate-responsive and technologically aware perspective. The main objective is the development of an integrated methodological framework for the design and evaluation of outdoor school spaces, with a particular focus on the 0–6 age group. This tool aims to guide designers, administrators, and educational communities in defining interventions capable of addressing the challenges of climate change, enhancing outdoor learning, and promoting children’s health and well-being. The approach is based on four interconnected domains: environmental-climatic, design-functional, socio-cultural, and health-sanitary. The methodology unfolds in three main phases: a first preliminary and analytical phase, focused on literature, historical cases, and regulatory frameworks; a second synthetic-evaluation phase, aimed at defining the framework through the study of national and international best practices; and a third elaborative-experimental phase, conducted on four real pilot cases, in collaboration with research bodies, educational institutions, and professionals from different disciplinary fields. The use of microclimatic simulations, environmental sensors, participatory observations, and qualitative evaluation tools has enabled an interdisciplinary, context-sensitive, and evidence-oriented approach. The results highlight how a well-designed outdoor school environment can not only mitigate the effects of the urban heat island and improve microclimatic comfort, but also foster more inclusive, sustainable, and locally rooted educational experiences. The thesis thus positions itself as both a theoretical and operational contribution to the debate on school, city, and climate, proposing adaptive and scalable models for the ecological transition of the educational environment.