Consolidation Grants 2023

Partner in Switzerland

• Université de Genève: John Poté (main applicant)

Partners in the MENA region

• King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology KAUST, Saudi Arabia: Dhafer Alsalah (main applicant)

Project presentation

Before the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which cause COVID-19 disease, one of greatest concern is the infections caused by multidrug resistant gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB), which are increasingly being reported worldwide. On the other hand, with COVID-19 pandemic during the two last years, the world endured by an increasing consumption of antibiotics, leading to the potential emergence of multidrug resistant gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB) which is a grave and a major global health concern. Consequently, there is in fact the increasing dissemination and emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The aquatic ecosystem is a non-clinical environment for spreading of pathogens, SARS-CoV-2, MDR-GNB and a hot-spots for horizontal gene transfer.

During the two last decades, AMR is recognized as one of the greatest threats to public health, environment, food security, and is a global concern affecting anyone, any age, in any country. This resistance leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality worldly. It can also have negative environmental consequences, which are likely to lead to other global health crises in the future if nothing is done, probably more than COVID-19. Given the number of deaths due to MDR-GNB and the potential epidemic, research must be conducted worldwide to prevent AMR associated with outbreaks as geographical borders do not respect pathogen infections.

In this context, the present proposal will explore:  

• The Epidemiology and molecular characterization of MDR-GNB post covid-19 in river receiving systems under temperate and tropical conditions.
• Occurrence of infections with antibiotic resistant Helicobacter pylori in the Middle East environmental sittings.
• Microbial quality of irrigation water and its consequences on the vegetable produce in developing countries under tropical condition.

Quantitative data from different sittings will be useful to evaluate the potential risks and to limit the spread of MDR-GNB. Additionally, the results from this study shall provide insights on the possible routes of exposure and determine the prevalence of antibiotic resistance among the environmental isolates, which could provide insights to the antibiotic therapeutic regimen. On other hand, this project will maintain and reenforcing the alliance between Saudi Arabia and Swiss counterpart; each specialized in their research poles to obtain a long-term collaborative project."

Partner in Switzerland

• SUPSI: Giacinta Jean (main applicant)

Partners in the MENA region

• Lebanese University, Lebanon: Yasmine Makaroun (main applicant)

• American University of Beirut, Lebanon: Nadine Panayot

• Holy Spirit University Kaslik, Lebanon: Joseph Zaarour

Project description

Our project intends to progress from developing emergency interventions, aimed at securing architectural decorated surfaces of the *Bagdhadi ceilings*, studied in 2022 during the SUPSI first mission funded by the Research Partnership Grant (LH MENA call 2021) to designing long-term conservation measure, that could be efficient, essential, and sustainable.

The project will address the Sursock Palace as an ideal case study, a building of great historical and artistic relevance but at the same time representative of a wider reality as its construction and decorative elements are like those of other traditional Beirut houses.
The research will proceed on two parallel but closely interconnected fronts, considering:

1. Technical issues related to developing sustainable techniques to facilitate the conservation of other similar decorations and
2. Critical issues to understand if and how the traces left by the explosion of the silos in the port of Beirut could be completely erased or they could be integrated as a significant layer of history into the architectural spaces.

To reach this goal we will have to consider:

• a deep and sound knowledge of the existing construction technique, that will allow to design minimal and effective consolidation interventions with simple and easily replicable operations.
• compatible traditional materials, available locally and the possibilities to adapt them for our specific needs.
• the local people to be involved in the project by developing conservation strategies and techniques compatible with local skills and the involved stakeholders.
• how to foster sustainability into conservation, proposing preventive and minimal interventions, aiming at the retention of the original structure and materials with minimal alteration, removal or substitution of the original components.

Finding permanent solutions for the consolidation and presentation of these surfaces implies considering not only their material dimension but also their artistic and cultural value. Taking into consideration the severe losses suffered by the internal spaces it will be important to reflect on how to address the problems of image integration, based on the discussions opened with the two round tables that were organised by SUPSI and the Lebanese project partners in July 2022 and in April 2023, finding a delicate balance between reconstructing the original surfaces as they were and including the traces of their sad history.

Partners in Switzerland

• HES-SO, Haute école de gestion de Genève: Sabine Emad (main applicant), Felicia Soulikhan, Léana Mannshardt

• HES-SO, Haute école de gestion de Fribourg: Samuele Meier, Magali Dubosson

Partners in the MENA region

• Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, Lebanon: Michele Kosremelli Asmar (main applicant), Joumana Yeretzian

Project description

This research proposal aims to build on and deepen the results of a previous collaboration that was designed to reveal the perceptions of teachers, school staff, other students and their parents regarding the inclusion of children with disabilities. Although this project was deeply impacted by the unprecedented economic and health crises, it nevertheless highlighted the disparities in perceptions between private and public schools, among individual schools in the same region, and across different regions. While the attitudes of the participants were generally supportive, and laudable initiatives had been undertaken, the 3 consecutive crises (economic collapse, covid 19 and Beirut port explosion) have completely disrupted the situation and undermined the efforts made. The context has dramatically altered structures, people and objectives.

In a situation where the system has been brutally disrupted, and where everyone has to cope with a context of strong general impoverishment, the inclusion of special needs children, who in the statistics represent a small minority, has sadly been greatly neglected. In light of this context, our project aims to study the situation of inclusive schools as it has been impacted by these unprecedented crises, and to propose possible solutions for pursuing this same ambition, even though resources are limited and the system has been severely shaken. The context of this crisis and its dimensions can serve as a field of observation for other regions suffering from more or less similar conditions.

To achieve this aim, we plan to conduct semi-structured interviews and focus groups in private and public schools in the 9 regions. In addition, we will be interviewing officials from the Ministry, school boards and project managers from non-governmental agencies involved. The aim is to triangulate the information gathered in order to draw out the main findings, which will be discussed at a participatory conference organized by the researchers. The aim is to work with representatives of stakeholders in Lebanon likely to promote inclusion in the complex system of a country where the crises seem to have become entrenched. Our intention is to publish a handbook of best practices and possible solutions that can be used not only to work towards the inclusion of disabled children in Lebanon, but also in any country facing severe economic conditions and/or wishing to move towards meeting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

Partners in Switzerland

• Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz FHNW: Maryna Peter (main applicant), Kim Müller

Partners in the MENA region

• Palestine Polytechnic University, Occupied Palestinian Territory: Hassan Sawalha (main applicant), Maher Al-Jabari, Safa Sultan

Project description

The Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) faces a severe water crisis, with approximately 660,000 Palestinians experiencing restricted access to water, and access to water volume well below WHO recommendations (Human Rights Council, 2021). This crisis is exacerbated by arid climate conditions, population growth, Israeli control over water resources, and infrastructure demolitions. The Hebron Governorate, the largest in the West Bank, is particularly affected, with some communities relying on as little as 20 liters of water per capita daily (Amnesty International, 2009).
Water scarcity bears profound social, economic, health, and agricultural consequences. It leads to waterborne diseases and economic challenges due to costly water trucking services. To address this issue, our project explores the greywater reuse for irrigation as a feasible solution at the household level.

Our project aims to create a greywater treatment system customized for Palestinian communities. It assesses its technical performance, safety, acceptability, and affordability. We focus on closing identified gaps by developing digital monitoring, conducting risk assessment, economic feasibility analysis, and examining user acceptance, as well as drivers and barriers to adoption. Key stakeholders like the Palestinian Water Authority and WASH Cluster Partners will be engaged to en-sure success and foster broader greywater reuse adoption.

Our multifaceted approach includes field research, technical laboratory evaluations, pilot greywater reuse system implementation, and stakeholder engagement across five work packages. Activities encompass desk studies, field visits, surveys, technical and user-centered assessments, and stakeholder engagement. Risk mitigation strategies address technical failures, infrastructure damage, security concerns, and partnership building.

We seek to raise awareness about water scarcity's severity and greywater reuse's potential. We aim to develop, evaluate, and implement a practical technical solution, alongside a comprehensive monitoring and management concept. Our goal is to lay the groundwork for future research and scaling efforts, expanding the adoption of greywater reuse systems. Our vision is to make a lasting impact by addressing acute water shortages through greywater reuse, improved water management, and stakeholder collaboration.

Partners in Switzerland

• PH Zürich: Wiltrud Weidinger (main applicant), Samir Boulos

Partners in the MENA region

• Université de Tunis, Tunisia: Nada Najjar (main applicant)

• The International Institute of Debate (iiDebate), Tunisia: Elyes Guermazi

Project description

Tunisia has experienced political and economic challenges in recent years, which have had a significant impact on its youth. The ongoing political transitions and economic uncertainties have created a pressing need to equip young people with competences that not only enhance their employability but also foster resilience in the face of adversity. The project “Fostering Self-Competences in Tunisian Youth Centers” (short FOYER) seeks to explore how a program promoting self- and social competences in Tunisian youth centers can address these critical needs. Youth centers play an important role in fostering personal growth, social integration, and they are crucial for non-formal education of young people in Tunisia.

The FOYER-project consists of two components: (1) An educational intervention in the Jdaida Youth Center in Manouba and (2) a research study examining the impact of this intervention on the stakeholders the youth center. The Jdaida-center is considered as pilot institution and the research findings will serve to adapt the educational program for further youth centers. The educational intervention comprises two crucial elements. On the one hand, the educators’ and social workers’ capacities are enhanced to provide life skills activities in their youth center. On the other hand, the FOYER-project provides the trainers of the Jdaida Youth Center with an educational program to raise the self-awareness and social competences of the young people. The research component of this project examines the impact of the educational intervention on the self-awareness, social competences, and social inclusion of a core group of young people in the Jdaida-center. It thereby identifies the crucial elements of a self- and social competences training program for educators in youth centers. The findings of the research serve to develop a robust model of good practice in this field. The FOYER-project hence provides the basis that allows the scaling up of the developed and improved educational program that supports young people in youth centers in Tunisia.

Partners in Switzerland

• Université de Lausanne: Michel E. Fuchs (main applicant), Néjiba Maamar

Partners in the MENA region

• Université Mohamed Lamine Dabbaghine Sétif 2, Algeria: Youcef Aibeche (main applicant)

Project description

L’Encyclopédie d’archéologie arabe est dirigée par les Prof. Michel E. Fuchs et Youcef Aibeche des universités de Lausanne et de Sétif 2 (Algérie). Sous la co-responsabilité scientifique de Néjiba Maamar, chercheuse en archéologie et en histoire ancienne à l'Université de Lausanne, le projet débute en septembre 2023. Dédiée à l’archéologie et à l’histoire ancienne de tout le monde arabe, elle couvre toute la période antique dans une large acception.

L’Encyclopédie répond à une nécessité scientifique et culturelle majeure pour le monde arabe qui concentre un patrimoine archéologique d'une importance capitale dans l'histoire de la civilisation humaine. Celui-ci reste menacé de disparition dans certaines zones. Un tel patrimoine doit être préservé de différentes manières selon l'UNESCO. Le projet vise donc le soutien à la recherche en histoire ancienne et en archéologie ainsi qu’à l’enseignement de ces disciplines, d’autant plus que celui-ci a un statut marginalisé dans la formation supérieure dans les régions concernées. Cette difficulté est amplifiée par le fait que nombre de concepts archéologiques sont mal définis en arabe, la terminologie étant souvent lacunaire dans cette langue. En outre, les étudiants ne maîtrisent généralement pas de langues autres que l’arabe. L’un des buts du projet est en conséquence de pallier ces défauts.
L’Encyclopédie a pour vocation de rassembler les connaissances actuelles sur les différentes disciplines de l'archéologie. Il s'agit d'un travail de recherche dans lequel nous produisons les données en arabe et en anglais, sous forme d'articles scientifiques soumis à l’expertise de collègues suisses et internationaux. Notre objectif est de faire de l'Encyclopédie un outil de référence et d'enseignement pour les étudiants, les archéologues et les chercheurs. Elle est aussi conçue comme un facteur de consolidation du travail des différents acteurs dans le domaine de la préservation du patrimoine de la région MENA. L’Encyclopédie se présente sous un format numérique en open access dans le but d’en garantir l’accès général et d’augmenter régulièrement son contenu sur le long terme. L'Encyclopédie étant bilingue anglais-arabe, elle est destinée à l'ensemble de la communauté scientifique, assurant au projet un large impact international.

Partner in Switzerland

• Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology EMPA: Andrea Bergamini (main applicant)

Partner in the MENA region

• New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Nikolaos Karathanasopoulos (main applicantl)

Project description

The project aims at the development of vibration isolating and attenuating advanced materials that are based on both single and interpenetrating-phase, architected topological designs. In particular, it targets the engineering and design of moderate and high-strength viscoelastic co-continuous composite materials that rely on triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) topologies for the first time.

The project working packages explore the dynamic performance of advanced material designs with a wide combination of stiffness, density and viscosity attributes, that remains up to now utterly explored. As such, the project premises the exploration of an entirely new dynamic material performance space, with significant vibration isolation attributes over a wide range of frequencies that is utterly infeasible for single-phase and merely elastic architected solid materials. The project combines extensive numerical analysis and machine learning parts, that are supported by a considerable amount of advanced manufacturing and experimental testing tasks. For this purpose, extensive, experimentally-calibrated datasets will be created, serving as a reference for this utterly novel advanced material design dynamic performance space.

Machine learning will provide the basis for the development of data-based metamodels that can directly evaluate the dynamic performance of this rather vast space of advanced material designs, while providing advanced modeling capabilities that are infeasible with the mere use of traditional modeling techniques. In particular, the developed machine learning models will render the solution of the inverse optimization problem for dynamic material tasks feasible for the first time, through their coupling with standard optimization analysis techniques. By those means, the inverse on-request design of vibration isolating materials, more specifically, the identification of the inner interpenetrating phase composite design specifications that optimally satisfy vibration isolation targets at a frequency range of interest will become accessible to the engineering community.

The investigation of single phase and interpenetrating architected TPMSs will offer new insights in the mechanics that govern the interaction of two vastly dissimilar phases and allow to reach areas of the  stiffness-damping space currently not accessible to conventional materials, especially if high strengths requirements are taken into consideration.

Partner in Switzerland

• HES-SO, HES-SO Valais-Wallis - Haute Ecole et Ecole Supérieure de Travail Social: Lisa Marie Borrelli (main applicant)

Partner in the MENA region

• Yarmouk University, Jordan: Ayat J. J. Nashwan (main applicant)

Additional partner

• Institute of Social work, Sweden: Annika Lindberg

Project presentation

The project aims to study how refugee-led movements, non-governmental actors and state authorities operating on the local city level challenge national-level return policies. Empirically, it focuses on initiatives to support Syrian refugees displaced by the more than decade-long civil war, in two major host states in Europe and the Middle East: Sweden and Jordan. In both countries, Syrian refugees are experiencing mounting political pressure to return to the war torn country as well as the effects of precarious residency, living conditions, and limited access to social rights and societal participation. The project draws on ongoing collaborations between the main partners within the framework of a research project on the transregional  politics of refugee return decision-making, and the LH-MENA Consolidation Grant would allow the researchers to consolidate their collaboration and to pursue a pressing research topic emerging from the ongoing research. The project proposes a qualitative and participatory research design that engages with interlocutors involved in supporting Syrian refugees in two cities: Irdib in Jordan, and Gothenburg in Sweden. By comparing different local strategies to challenge return oriented policies, the project contributes with knowledge on the complexities of multi-scalar refugee governance and amplifies strategies for refugees’ inclusion and future-making in host societies.

Partner in Switzerland

• ETH Zürich: Hugo van Buggenum (main applicant)

Partner in the MENA region

• Qatar University: Mohammed Ait Lahcen (main applicant)

Additional partners

• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA: Stanislav Rabinovich
• Queensland University of Technology, USA: Pedro-Gomis Porqueras

Project description

US Treasury securities, which are essential assets for both the US government and global financial markets due to their safety and liquidity features, typically trade at a premium. The project seeks to dissect this treasury premium into safety and liquidity components, and to analyze how these vary over the business cycle. Understanding these fluctuations is crucial for central banks in tailoring their policy responses and assessing financial stability, as well as for investors in making better forecasts and investment decisions.

The project will develop both empirical analysis and a quantitative theoretical model. For the empirical part, we will collect and analyze US macroeconomic data, Treasury bonds of different maturities, and micro-level data on  corporate bond yields, along with firms' financials. For the analysis, we measure the overall treasury premium as the yield difference between Moody's seasoned Baa (the median bond rating in the US) corporate bonds and long-term Treasury bonds. The safety and liquidity premiums are computed as the yield difference between Moody's Baa and Aaa corporate bonds for safety, and between Aaa corporate bonds and US Treasury bonds for liquidity. Preliminary findings, based on macro data, indicate that these premiums are counter-cyclical, positively related to economic uncertainty, and negatively linked to government bond supply. To gain a more disaggregated understanding of the premia over the business cycle, we plan to examine how US corporate bonds, compared to US Treasuries, relate to US firms' behavior. To do so we will combine and merge data on US firms from Compustat with Bloomberg and Moody's data on corporate bonds.

To have a deeper understanding and uncover the underlying mechanisms driving the evolution of the premia, we develop a real business cycle model with a liquidity-based demand for bonds as well as search frictions in the labor market. Among government and corporate bonds, government bonds are assumed to be nominally safe and liquid, whilst corporate bonds are less liquid and subject to endogenous default risk, leading to fluctuations in the liquidity and safety premiums when the economy experiences aggregate and firm specific shocks. The model will be calibrated to the US economy and will be simulated to generate liquidity and safety premia over the business cycle, consistent with the empirical evidence.

Partner in Switzerland

• AO Research Institute Davos: Jacek Wychowaniec (main applicant)

Partner in the MENA region

• New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Jeremy Teo (main applicant)

Project description

We are now entering a realm of new and exciting space exploration era. The hostile space environment is known to affect both human and microbial biological processes, including the immune system. Spaceflights were shown to dysregulate the function of astronauts’ immune system, suppressing both the function of innate and adaptive immune cells, manifesting a reduced response to both dormant as well as potentially external pathogens. One the main dangers of space, is a potential dysregulation of the entire wound healing process, which will result in an influx of external pathogens. Immune cells, in particular macrophages, are the main orchestrators of the wound healing process and their space-induced dysfunction could potentially cause abnormal wound healing. For healthy wound healing in space, it is envisioned that a rapid seal must be applied, and subsequently space-induced dysfunction immune cells be modulated to operate in an appropriate and healthy manner. The former functions to protect and immediately prevent further infiltration of external pathogens. From data obtained from the RPG Space ImmunoBioinks, we hypothesize that the Space ImmunoBioinks serve both purposes. The supramolecular self-assembling material escapes the need for externally applied stimuli to achieve crosslinking or polymerization for physical stabilization, ideal for dressing the local unique spatial space of individualized wounds immediately through extrusion delivery. Secondly Space ImmunoBioink is a structuring hydrogel that enables the physical entrapment of biochemical signals or immune cells, our preliminary findings show that macrophages exposed to peptide sequences of the hydrogel can be modulated to likely facilitate wound healing. Such immune cells can be alternatively recruited to wound site through chemotaxis via diffusion released biochemical signals or delivered with the application of the Space ImmunoBioink hydrogels.
In SI-WHIM - Space ImmunoBioInks for Wound Healing In Microgravity project we propose to generate a small lab-on-a-chip bioreactor onboard the random positioning machine that provides microgravity (µG) conditions, to study efficacy and stability of Space ImmunoBioInks for healing simulated ‘wounds’ under μG. This will be achieved by studying macrophage-mediated myofibrotic activity of fibroblastic cells into simulated ‘wounds’ under μG. The envisaged technology will contribute towards space bioengineering research.

Partners in Switzerland

• Université de Genève: Hajar El Ahanidi (main applicant), Camilla Jandus

Partners in the MENA region

• Centre National de l'Energie, des Sciences et des Techniques Nucléaires, Morocco: Mohammed El Mzibri (main applicant), Mohammed Attaleb

Project description

Bladder cancer (BC) is a disease with several molecular and pathological pathways, reflecting different behaviors depending on the clinical staging of the tumor and the molecular type. It has been shown that BC is one of the cancers with the most important load of DNA damage. In fact, due to its “reservoir-like” function, the bladder is continuously in contact with toxic molecules and metabolites and subjected to many types of inflammatory and genotoxic agents.

Immunotherapy is a powerful strategy to treat cancer by harnessing the body’s immune system to generate or augment an immune response against it. During the last decade, novel tumor immunotherapeutic approaches have revolutionized cancer treatment. The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) against immune escape mechanisms has been approved for treatment of different tumor entities and has been shown to consistently improve the overall survival, yet only in a limited number of patients and tumor types.

In bladder cancer, only 15–25% of patients with advanced disease respond to therapy, and even those who initially respond may later develop acquired resistance. The mode of action of ICIs has been almost exclusively linked to their effect on checkpoint expressing immune cells, while much less is known on immune checkpoint ligand - dependent resistance to ICIs. As extensive efforts have been made to understand how PD1 signaling and regulation on T-cell play a role in tumor resistance to ICIs; here, we propose to tackle the problematic from a novel perspective. In this project, we speculate on an innovative resistance mechanism to anti-PD1/L1 treatment in bladder cancer that plays a role in the initiation and reinforcement of resistance occurring at different phases of tumorigenesis.

Based on this knowledge and preliminary data, we hypothesize on the existence of a therapeutically targetable crosstalk between DNA damage response pathways and PD1-Ligands, and we aim to understand the mechanistic pathways underlying resistance to anti-PD-Ls’ therapy in bladder. Overall, we expect this project to provide novel facets of our understanding of ICIs resistance mechanisms in cancer, and to identify novel therapeutic strategy for bladder cancer patients and beyond.

Partners in Switzerland

• Hochschule Luzern HSLU: Luca Mangani (main applicant), Mhamad Mahdi Alloush

Partners in the MENA region

• American University of Beirut, Lebanon: Fadl Moukalled (main applicant), Adam Fares

Project description

This project focuses on the investigation of a pressure-based, fully-coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver. This solver utilizes an edge-based vertex-centered finite volume method (EBVC-FVM). The motivation behind studying the EBVC-FVM approach stems from its superiority over the conventional cell-centered finite volume method (CC-FVM) when dealing with tetrahedral meshes. In the CC-FVM approach on a tetrahedral mesh, there is a limitation in computing gradients within the control volume. Gradients are computed from face values, typically representing averages from the control volume and its neighboring cells. However, tetrahedra have only four faces adjacent to their control volumes, potentially resulting in gradients with lower resolution. On the contrary, the EBVC-FVM approach considers a polyhedral dual mesh corresponding to the tetrahedral mesh. The polyhedral dual control volume exhibits a significantly larger number of faces. Consequently, gradient computation is more accurate as it incorporates information from a greater number of neighboring cells. Tetrahedral meshes are also known to produce numerical diffusion, causing a detrimental effect on the accuracy of the solution particularly in simulations where high-order discretization is crucial, as is the case with Large Eddy Simulation (LES).

Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that highly efficient tetrahedral mesh generators have recently emerged in the industry, drastically reducing mesh generation time. This development encourages the community to increasingly rely on tetrahedral meshes, especially when addressing more complex fluid flow problems involving complex flows and/or geometries that demand denser meshes. Given the extensive adoption of these tetrahedral mesh generators, selecting a discretization approach like EBVC is highly suitable for a sophisticated solver, as it effectively handles tetrahedral meshes. In the existing literature, there is no evidence of solvers that incorporate a dual mesh for their pressure-based approach. Typically, those who do employ a dual mesh tend to use density-based methods. In our project, our goal is to investigate a pressure-based algorithm using the EBVC method, specifically applied to a dualised tetrahedral mesh, and designed to employ an effective vectorization approach, ensuring the creation of a scalable parallel performance. This entails offering methods for GPU acceleration in addition to distributing the computational load across CPUs.

Partner in Switzerland

• HES-SO, Haute école de travail social de Genève: Marc Breviglieri (main applicant)

Partner in the MENA region

• Ain Shams University, Egypt: Noha Gamal Said (main applicant)

Project description

Cette recherche veut tirer profit de presque dix ans de collaborations favorisant un brassage entre chercheur.euse.s qui, sur le vaste enjeu de la régénération écologique du monde contemporain, ont privilégié une mutualisation de savoirs interdisciplinaires (sociologie, géographie, urbanisme, architecture, arts sonores et visuels). Elle vise (1) à consolider une méthode d’investigation fondée sur la mise en place d’ateliers collaboratifs, (2) à approfondir le thème de la régénération écologique en partant de l’enfance qui se présente comme une figure particulièrement fragilisée par le réchauffement climatique et (3) à mettre l’accent sur des partenariats tunisiens et égyptiens que notre consortium MENA avait minorisé au profit de nos initiatives de recherche au Maroc.

Ce projet prend pour axe une réflexion sur la place contemporaine de l’enfant dans l’espace public urbain des métropoles en mutation que sont Le Caire et Tunis. Devant un constat de désillusion post-révolutionnaire, et de délaissement marqué de la sphère publique chez les jeunes (Melliti, 2023), le projet veut questionner la mise en jeu précoce, chez l’enfant, des formes élémentaires de la coexistence démocratique dans le milieu urbain. Il part de l’hypothèse que peut se jouer dans la rue, non pas la déception mais l’apprentissage de la vie publique, et la formation d’un imaginaire du vivre-ensemble.

Méthodologiquement, ce projet de recherche est co-construit avec des enfants et prend appui sur l’occupation temporaire d'édifices pour y édifier des ateliers où se fabriquent en commun des objets rapportés aux enjeux de régénérations écologiques (poupées, chants, légendes, podcast, débats,…). Les espaces occupés, et revivifiés à l’occasion, sont envisagés comme des lieux de témoignage d’expériences sensibles vécues à hauteur d’enfant, comme un atelier de fabrication de communs locaux partageables par les habitant.es du quartier et enfin comme une plateforme d’expression pour les enfants. Ce projet aborde un sujet à la fois négligé par les SHS pratiquées dans le MENA, et très souvent rabattu par la nouvelle gouvernance urbaine sur des questions sécuritaires. Il vise à ouvrir un horizon de réflexion sur la question du bien-vivre dans des villes soumises à de fortes pressions climatiques, en considérant que des éléments de réponse se trouvent logés dans l’expérience qu’en fait l’enfant.

Partners in Switzerland

• ETH Zürich: Nicole Stoffel (main applicant), Michael Zimmermann

Partners in the MENA region

• American University of Beirut, Lebanon: Omar Obeid (main applicant), Carla El-Mallah

Project presentation

Background
Routine daily iron supplementation is recommended for all women during pregnancy and iron supplementation is also first line treatment for overweight women who are iron deficient. High dose iron supplementation in women acutely increases serum hepcidin. High serum hepcidin is linked to abnormalities in glucose and insulin metabolism and may reduce insulin sensitivity. Both pregnant women and overweight women are already at high risk of insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Whether their risk of IGT is further increased by the acute increase in serum hepcidin after high dose daily iron supplementation is unclear. If high dose daily iron supplementation decreases insulin sensitivity though acute increases in hepcidin, this would argue that these risk groups be given regimens of iron supplementation that do not acutely increase hepcidin, that is, lower dose, alternate day therapy.

Study aims
Our primary study aim is to assess whether high dose daily iron supplementation can impair glucose metabolism by decreasing insulin sensitivity in overweight women and pregnant women, two risk groups for IGT. A secondary aim is to assess whether the impairments in insulin and glucose metabolism are associated with higher hepcidin concentrations induced by high dose daily iron supplementation.

Study overview
The study will be a randomized, double-blind 17-day metabolic intervention trial including 14 days of high-dose or low-dose iron supplementation. The study will be done at the American University of Beirut (AUB). An identical design will be used in both pregnant women and OW women. The participants will undergo three oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs), one before beginning iron supplementation (day 0), one on the final day of supplementation (day 14) and one after supplementation has been stopped for three days (day 17).