| Abstract [eng] |
Green spaces on university campuses are an important part of a sustainable study and work environment, contributing to systemic well-being. The literature analysis showed that there is no separate approved tool for assessing the suitability of university outdoor study and work spaces, therefore this work aims to fill this gap. The aim of the study is to assess the possibilities of adapting green spaces on the KTU campus for studies and work and to formulate recommendations for nature based solutions. The object of the study is the KTU campus in Kaunas. The methodology was developed as follows: GIS multi-criteria spatial suitability assessment according to 8 criteria divided into 3 categories (environmental comfort, functional infrastructure, social landscape attractiveness), applying the SMART weights technique, the Weighted Sum tool in the ArcGIS Pro environment and hot spot analysis (Getis-Ord Gi*), together with the calculation of the greenness index. An outdoor inventory of the territory, monitoring of the Outdoor Office Day initiative and a survey of the KTU community (43 respondents) were carried out. The survey showed that 53.5% of respondents rated the need to replace indoor spaces with outdoor environments with high scores, but 58.1% do not use these spaces. The most popular activities are rest between lectures (72.1%), creative work (60.5%) and informal meetings (55.8%), and users gave the greatest weight to thermal comfort, air quality, seating quality and acoustic comfort. The greenness index reached 0.71 points and exceeded the recommended value (0.7), but 91.2% of this value is made up of planted new vegetation. The analysis of hot spots identified statistically significant areas of high suitability in the central, west-central and eastern parts of the campus. 6 priority zones (A–F) were selected, for which differentiated recommendations were prepared – from quiet individual work and event spaces to biodiversity conservation zones. The developed methodology can be adapted to other university campuses, and its set of criteria can be supplemented according to the specifics of the territory and relevant sustainability documents. |
