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Interview with Alexia Zoumpoulaki

Marking two years of AURORA: a conversation with project coordinator Alexia Zoumpoulaki on key achievements and the road ahead.

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𝑸: π‘ͺ𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 π’šπ’π’– π’ƒπ’“π’Šπ’†π’‡π’π’š π’Šπ’π’•π’“π’π’…π’–π’„π’† π’šπ’π’–π’“π’”π’†π’π’‡, π’šπ’π’–π’“ π’π’“π’ˆπ’‚π’π’Šπ’”π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’šπ’π’–π’“ 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰π’Šπ’ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑢𝑹𝑨 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕?
A: I am Alexia Zoumpoulaki from EXUS AI Labs, the research and development department of EXUS. Our work focuses on applied AI and data-driven solutions across a range of domains, including health and climate-related applications. In AURORA, I am the Project Coordinator. My role is to oversee the overall implementation of the project and, most importantly, to support the different teams and partners in achieving the project's objectives and intended outcomes. A large part of coordination is making sure that people have what they need to do their work effectively, that challenges are identified and addressed, and that the different contributions ultimately move the project towards its common goals.

𝑸: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’Šπ’π’”π’‘π’Šπ’“π’†π’… π’šπ’π’– 𝒕𝒐 π’•π’‚π’Œπ’† 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 π’„π’π’π’“π’…π’Šπ’π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑢𝑹𝑨, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’†π’” π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 π’‘π’‚π’“π’•π’Šπ’„π’–π’π’‚π’“π’π’š π’Žπ’†π’‚π’π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’‡π’–π’ 𝒕𝒐 π’šπ’π’–?
A: What I find particularly interesting about AURORA is that it sits at the intersection of several areas that are becoming increasingly difficult to consider separately: climate change, public health, data, technology and policymaking. We already know a great deal about climate change and its potential health impacts. The challenge now is how we translate that knowledge into something that can support real decisions. (galima citata iΕ‘didinimui)
The focus on the Boreal region also makes the project particularly interesting. The Boreal region is experiencing significant and rapidly evolving climate-related risks, creating a different and important context for understanding adaptation.
For me, this is what makes AURORA particularly meaningful. We are not developing technology simply to demonstrate that it can be developed. The ambition is to work with cities and public authorities and investigate how climate and health information can actually support preparedness and adaptation.

𝑸: 𝑭𝒐𝒓 π’”π’π’Žπ’†π’π’π’† π’‰π’†π’‚π’“π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑢𝑹𝑨 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‡π’Šπ’“π’”π’• π’•π’Šπ’Žπ’†, π’‰π’π’˜ π’˜π’π’–π’π’… π’šπ’π’– π’…π’†π’”π’„π’“π’Šπ’ƒπ’† 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 π’Šπ’ 𝒂 𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’„π’‰π’‚π’π’π’†π’π’ˆπ’† π’Šπ’” π’Šπ’• π’•π’“π’šπ’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆?
A: AURORA is essentially about helping cities anticipate and respond to the health impacts of climate change. We are developing an integrated set of tools that combines climate monitoring, epidemiological modelling, risk assessment, early warning and decision support. The idea is to move from understanding that a climate-related health risk exists to being able to anticipate how that risk may evolve and, ultimately, support cities in identifying appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures.
Our particular focus is the EU Boreal region, where the AURORA solutions are being developed and validated together with cities and local stakeholders.

𝑸: π‘ͺπ’π’Šπ’Žπ’‚π’•π’† π’„π’‰π’‚π’π’ˆπ’† 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’‘π’–π’ƒπ’π’Šπ’„ 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’ƒπ’†π’„π’π’Žπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’Šπ’π’„π’“π’†π’‚π’”π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’π’š π’Šπ’π’•π’†π’“π’„π’π’π’π’†π’„π’•π’†π’…. π‘Ύπ’‰π’Šπ’„π’‰ π’„π’π’Šπ’Žπ’‚π’•π’†-𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 π’“π’Šπ’”π’Œπ’” 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑢𝑹𝑨 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’˜π’‰π’š 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’•π’‰π’†π’š π’†π’”π’‘π’†π’„π’Šπ’‚π’π’π’š 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 π’“π’†π’ˆπ’Šπ’π’?

A: AURORA looks at a broad range of climate-sensitive health risks rather than focusing on a single disease or hazard. These include communicable diseases such as Lyme disease and campylobacteriosis, as well as non-communicable health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease.
This is particularly relevant in the Boreal region, where changing temperatures, precipitation patterns and extreme weather events can affect human health through very different pathways. Climate change can alter the conditions in which disease vectors and pathogens spread, while at the same time increasing direct physiological stresses and affecting environmental conditions more broadly.
Looking at these different health outcomes together allows us to better understand how a changing climate may translate into changing public-health risks in the region.

𝑸: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 π’π’π’˜ 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 π’Šπ’•π’” π’‰π’‚π’π’‡π’˜π’‚π’š π’‘π’π’Šπ’π’•. π‘³π’π’π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’ƒπ’‚π’„π’Œ 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‡π’Šπ’“π’”π’• 24 π’Žπ’π’π’•π’‰π’”, π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’‚π’„π’‰π’Šπ’†π’—π’†π’Žπ’†π’π’•π’” 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’šπ’π’– π’Žπ’π’”π’• 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒐𝒇? 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 π’‚π’π’š 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒓 π’„π’π’π’π’‚π’ƒπ’π’“π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’π’” 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 π’šπ’π’–π’“ π’†π’™π’‘π’†π’„π’•π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’π’”?
A: For me, one of the most important achievements has been completing the modelling work and moving from the conceptual and development stages towards actual implementation with our pilot cities.
A particularly important part of this process has been the close collaboration with the cities. We have spent considerable effort gathering their requirements and, more importantly, understanding what they actually need from AURORA and how the solutions we are developing can support their decision-making processes.
A project like AURORA brings together a very large number of components: climate data, health data, modelling, AI, risk assessment, decision-support tools and, importantly, the needs and realities of cities. It is relatively easy to describe how these components should work together on paper. Making that integration happen in real environments is much more challenging. Seeing the pilot activities becoming concrete is therefore particularly important.

𝑸: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’ƒπ’Šπ’ˆπ’ˆπ’†π’”π’• π’‚π’…π’—π’‚π’π’•π’‚π’ˆπ’† 𝒐𝒓 π’„π’‰π’‚π’π’π’†π’π’ˆπ’† 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏 π’Šπ’π’•π’†π’“π’…π’Šπ’”π’„π’Šπ’‘π’π’Šπ’π’‚π’“π’š π’„π’π’π’”π’π’“π’•π’Šπ’–π’Ž?
A: The advantage and the challenge are really two sides of the same thing.
Climate-health adaptation is inherently interdisciplinary. No single discipline can address the problem adequately. Climate scientists can tell us how hazards may evolve; epidemiologists and health experts can help us understand the consequences; AI and modelling can help identify patterns and generate forecasts; and cities understand what can realistically be implemented.
The challenge is creating a common language between these disciplines. The same concept can mean slightly different things to a modeller, a public-health expert and a city official. A considerable part of interdisciplinary work is therefore not simply integrating data or technologies, but integrating different ways of thinking about the problem.
Ultimately, this is also essential if we want AURORA to have an impact beyond the lifetime of the project. The goal is not simply to develop scientifically sound models and tools, but to make sure that what we develop is understandable, relevant and useful to cities, so that it can continue to support their climate-health adaptation efforts after the project has ended.

𝑸: π‘ͺπ’π’Šπ’Žπ’‚π’•π’† π’‚π’…π’‚π’‘π’•π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ π’Šπ’” π’†π’—π’π’π’—π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’“π’‚π’‘π’Šπ’…π’π’š, π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’ˆπ’“π’π’˜π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’‚π’•π’•π’†π’π’•π’Šπ’π’ 𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝑰, π’†π’‚π’“π’π’š π’˜π’‚π’“π’π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’”π’šπ’”π’•π’†π’Žπ’”, π’…π’Šπ’ˆπ’Šπ’•π’‚π’ π’‘π’–π’ƒπ’π’Šπ’„ 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’†π’—π’Šπ’…π’†π’π’„π’†-𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 π’‘π’π’π’Šπ’„π’šπ’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ. 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 π’‚π’π’š 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 π’”π’„π’Šπ’†π’π’•π’Šπ’‡π’Šπ’„, π’•π’†π’„π’‰π’π’π’π’π’ˆπ’Šπ’„π’‚π’, 𝒐𝒓 π’‘π’π’π’Šπ’„π’š π’…π’†π’—π’†π’π’π’‘π’Žπ’†π’π’•π’” 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 π’Šπ’π’‡π’π’–π’†π’π’„π’†π’… 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’…π’Šπ’“π’†π’„π’•π’Šπ’π’ 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒅 π’Šπ’•π’” π’‘π’“π’Šπ’π’“π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’†π’”?
A: One important development has been the increasing European focus on moving from climate risk assessment towards preparedness and concrete adaptation action. The European Climate Risk Assessment and the emerging EU framework for climate resilience reinforce the need not only to understand and anticipate climate risks, but also to support authorities in deciding how to respond to them.
This is very much aligned with AURORA's direction and reinforces the importance of ensuring that our early warning and decision-support solutions can translate scientific evidence into useful information for cities.

𝑸: 𝑢𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑢𝑹𝑨'𝒔 π’‚π’Žπ’ƒπ’Šπ’•π’Šπ’π’π’” π’Šπ’” 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 π’„π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’†π’” π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’† 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓-π’Šπ’π’‡π’π’“π’Žπ’†π’… π’…π’†π’„π’Šπ’”π’Šπ’π’π’”. π‘―π’π’˜ 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’…π’†π’Žπ’ π’„π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’†π’” π’„π’π’π’•π’“π’Šπ’ƒπ’–π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 π’šπ’π’– 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 π’‡π’“π’π’Ž π’˜π’π’“π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’•π’‰π’†π’Ž 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓?
A: The demo cities are fundamental because they prevent us from developing the project in isolation from the people who may eventually use its results.
They contribute data and local knowledge, but perhaps more importantly they help us understand what a useful climate-health tool actually looks like from the perspective of a municipality or public-health authority.
One thing that becomes very clear when working with cities is that there cannot be a completely generic adaptation solution. Cities differ in their climate risks, populations, infrastructure, institutional structures, available data and resources. A technically sophisticated solution is of limited value if it cannot fit into existing decision-making processes.
The pilot implementation is therefore also teaching us what can be standardised and replicated across Europe and what needs to remain locally adaptable.

𝑸: π‘³π’π’π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅, π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’Œπ’†π’š π’Žπ’Šπ’π’†π’”π’•π’π’π’†π’” π’šπ’π’– 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’Žπ’π’”π’• π’†π’™π’„π’Šπ’•π’†π’… 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕?
A: The next phase is particularly interesting because we are moving increasingly towards integration, demonstration and validation.
I am most interested in seeing the different components of AURORA come together in the pilot cities: moving from data and models to risk assessment and early warning, and from there towards decision support and recommendations for adaptation and mitigation measures.
An important part of this will be developing a library of potential adaptation and mitigation measures that cities can draw on according to the climate-health risks and local context they are facing. I am particularly interested in how we can move beyond simply identifying possible measures towards supporting cities in selecting measures that are relevant, feasible and useful in practice.
This is where we will be able to evaluate the complete AURORA approach rather than individual technologies and understand what needs to be improved before these approaches can be replicated elsewhere.

𝑸: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’Šπ’Žπ’‘π’‚π’„π’• 𝒅𝒐 π’šπ’π’– 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑢𝑹𝑨 π’˜π’Šπ’π’ 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔?
A: I would like AURORA to contribute to closing the gap between climate-health research and practical adaptation. There is already substantial scientific knowledge about climate risks. The more difficult question is how a city takes that knowledge and decides what to do next.
If AURORA can demonstrate a practical way of combining climate and health data, forecasting, early warning and decision support to help cities select and evaluate adaptation measures, that would be a meaningful outcome. And beyond the individual tools, I hope that the methods and lessons from the pilot cities can be transferred to other European municipalities.


𝑾𝒆 π’˜π’π’–π’π’… π’π’Šπ’Œπ’† 𝒕𝒐 π’•π’‰π’‚π’π’Œ 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 π‘ͺπ’π’π’“π’…π’Šπ’π’‚π’•π’π’“, π‘¨π’π’†π’™π’Šπ’‚ π’π’π’–π’Žπ’‘π’π’–π’π’‚π’Œπ’Š, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π’”π’‰π’‚π’“π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒉𝒆𝒓 π’Šπ’π’”π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’•π’” 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’“π’†π’‡π’π’†π’„π’•π’Šπ’π’π’” 𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑢𝑹𝑨’𝒔 π’‹π’π’–π’“π’π’†π’š 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓. 𝑾𝒆 π’˜π’Šπ’”π’‰ 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’†π’π’•π’Šπ’“π’† π’„π’π’π’”π’π’“π’•π’Šπ’–π’Ž π’†π’—π’†π’“π’š 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 π’Žπ’π’—π’†π’” π’Šπ’π’•π’ π’Šπ’•π’” 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆, π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’–π’‘π’„π’π’Žπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’…π’†π’Žπ’π’π’”π’•π’“π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’—π’‚π’π’Šπ’…π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ π’‚π’„π’•π’Šπ’—π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’†π’” π’Šπ’ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‘π’Šπ’π’π’• π’„π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’†π’”.

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