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Interview with Ramojus Motuzas

In this interview, lecturer at Vilnius University and researcher at the AdCogito Institute for Advanced Behavioral Research (Lithuania), reflects on the first-year challenges of the Aurora project.

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Within the project, Mr Motuzas leads the task dedicated to identifying user needs, developing use case scenarios, and defining key performance indicators (KPIs), ensuring that Aurora’s solutions are aligned with stakeholder expectations and practical implementation.

𝑸: 𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’ƒπ’†π’ˆπ’Šπ’π’π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑢𝑹𝑨, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 π’˜π’‚π’” π’”π’•π’Šπ’π’ π’‰π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’π’š π’†π’™π’‘π’π’π’“π’‚π’•π’π’“π’š, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’šπ’π’–π’“ π‘»π’‚π’”π’Œ 𝑻2.3-π‘¬π’π’Šπ’„π’Šπ’•π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ 𝒐𝒇 𝑼𝒔𝒆𝒓 π‘Ήπ’†π’’π’–π’Šπ’“π’†π’Žπ’†π’π’•π’”, 𝑼𝒔𝒆 π‘ͺ𝒂𝒔𝒆 π‘Ίπ’„π’†π’π’‚π’“π’Šπ’π’” 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑲𝑷𝑰𝒔 π’…π’†π’‡π’Šπ’π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’π’, π’˜π’‚π’” 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 π’•π’Šπ’Žπ’† π’˜π’‰π’†π’ π’Žπ’‚π’π’š π’‚π’”π’”π’–π’Žπ’‘π’•π’Šπ’π’π’” π’˜π’†π’“π’† π’”π’•π’Šπ’π’ 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏. π‘―π’π’˜ π’˜π’π’–π’π’… π’šπ’π’– π’…π’†π’”π’„π’“π’Šπ’ƒπ’† π’šπ’π’–π’“ 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’“π’†π’”π’‘π’π’π’”π’Šπ’ƒπ’Šπ’π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’†π’” π’…π’–π’“π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’‡π’Šπ’“π’”π’• π’šπ’†π’‚π’“?
A: From the outset of the AURORA project, I was tasked with clearly defining the needs of the participating demo cities (Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Tampere, and Pori) and replicant cities (KlaipΔ—da, JoniΕ‘kis, JΕ«rmala). At the project’s kick-off meeting, it became apparent that, despite all cities coming from the same region, the climate and health challenges they face do not overlap. At the same time, neither city had a clear idea of a technological solution to overcome these challenges. Given the nature of my task, I naturally tended to take on the unifying and mediating role in this project in helping the cities articulate their challenges, needs, and requirements, finding the common interest and agreement among them, as well as forging a dialogue with the technical partners of the project in assessing the technical viability of the possible solutions.

𝑸: 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 π’˜π’π’“π’Œπ’”π’‰π’π’‘π’” π’Šπ’π’—π’π’π’—π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’‘π’Šπ’π’π’• π’„π’Šπ’•π’š π’“π’†π’‘π’“π’†π’”π’†π’π’•π’‚π’•π’Šπ’—π’†π’” 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’•π’†π’„π’‰π’π’Šπ’„π’‚π’ 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 (π’Š.𝒆., 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, π’†π’π’ˆπ’Šπ’π’†π’†π’“π’”). 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’˜π’†π’“π’† 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’Žπ’‚π’Šπ’ π’„π’‰π’‚π’π’π’†π’π’ˆπ’†π’” π’Šπ’ π’‚π’π’Šπ’ˆπ’π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 π’ˆπ’“π’π’–π’‘π’” 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’‡π’Šπ’π’…π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’“π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’• π’”π’π’π’–π’•π’Šπ’π’π’”?
A: Throughout the year, I initiated and led an Online Workshop and two in-person Design Thinking Workshops. These meetings served as a platform for empathizing with the challenges each city faces, defining the unifying problems, ideating viable technological features, and, lastly, prototyping possible solutions. Each workshop involved numerous participants, including project partners of academic, research, and technological nature, as well as city representatives. While it is vital to ensure everyone’s voice is heard, it is also critical to reach a mutual understanding and agreement for the project to move forward. Furthermore, it was important to bring the cities and the technical partners into direct dialogue, so that the city representatives have the right expectations for the technological solutions and the technical partners are aware of the cities' expectations.

𝑸: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’˜π’‚π’” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’Žπ’π’”π’• π’„π’‰π’‚π’π’π’†π’π’ˆπ’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 π’…π’†π’‡π’Šπ’π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 π’”π’„π’†π’π’‚π’“π’Šπ’π’”? π‘Ίπ’‚π’Žπ’† 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝑷𝑰𝒔? π‘Ύπ’‰π’Šπ’„π’‰ π’π’–π’•π’„π’π’Žπ’†π’” π’‡π’“π’π’Ž 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‡π’Šπ’“π’”π’• π’šπ’†π’‚π’“ 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’šπ’π’– π’Žπ’π’”π’• 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒐𝒇?
A: Once the consortium reached an agreement to work on heat-stroke and flood-Campylobacter frameworks, it was important to learn from the cities which specific actions they would like to take in the future. Examples of these actions include improving risk assessment, increasing public awareness, and taking preventive measures to reduce emergency medicine centre visits. Equally, it was critical to obtain early-stage feedback from technical partners on the feasibility of various technological solutions that would allow performing these actions. In the final stage, it was all about matching the planned technical solutions with the city's planned actions. When it comes to KPIs, it is crucial to ensure they are ambitious yet achievable and, most importantly, measurable.
I am very pleased that, at this stage of the project, each city's challenges and interests are reflected in the AURORA project, and, together as a consortium, we are on our way to addressing these challenges with effective technological solutions. I am personally very excited about the upcoming demonstration events, where we will be able to witness, through each use case, how the technology can help cities in the Boreal region become more resilient to climate change.

𝑸: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’‚π’…π’—π’Šπ’„π’† π’˜π’π’–π’π’… π’šπ’π’– π’ˆπ’Šπ’—π’† 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 π’‡π’‚π’„π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒂 π’”π’Šπ’Žπ’Šπ’π’‚π’“ β€œπ’π’π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’Šπ’” 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 π’šπ’†π’•β€ 𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆?
A: I would advise setting strict internal deadlines to establish common ground and ensure the project moves forward, while also allocating sufficient time and effort to understand the unique characteristics of the project participants. In the initial phase of the project, it takes time to learn about end-user challenges, needs, requirements, and expectations, and to align them with viable technological solutions within the project scope. It is important not to panic that lengthy discussions do not generate concrete ideas and solutions from the very outset of the project.

𝑸: 𝑰𝒏 π’šπ’π’–π’“ π’π’‘π’Šπ’π’Šπ’π’, π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’Šπ’” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’Žπ’π’”π’• π’Šπ’Žπ’‘π’π’“π’•π’‚π’π’• π’π’π’π’ˆ-π’•π’†π’“π’Ž π’Šπ’Žπ’‘π’‚π’„π’• 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑢𝑹𝑨 π’˜π’Šπ’π’ π’ƒπ’“π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝑼 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 π’“π’†π’ˆπ’Šπ’π’?
A: I believe that, in the long term, the AURORA will set an example in the EU Boreal Region on how cities can improve the quality of their policies, decision-making, and emergency response regarding the effects of climate change on population health. I hope that, with the success of the AURORA project, there will be a ripple effect in the region, with cities partnering, learning from one another, and passing along the best practices from this project.

𝑸: π‘―π’π’˜ π’˜π’π’–π’π’… π’šπ’π’– π’…π’†π’”π’„π’“π’Šπ’ƒπ’† π’šπ’π’–π’“ π’†π’™π’‘π’†π’“π’Šπ’†π’π’„π’† π’˜π’π’“π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰π’Šπ’ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑢𝑹𝑨 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 π’„π’π’π’”π’π’“π’•π’Šπ’–π’Ž π’Šπ’ π’ˆπ’†π’π’†π’“π’‚π’?
A: My experience working in the consortium has been largely positive. Despite the professionals coming from very different backgrounds within the European Union, I find them extremely easy to communicate with, professional, and collaborative. Most importantly, I never received a β€œno” when asking for input or help. I believe this attitude is key to the project's success.

We sincerely thank Mr Motuzas for sharing his insights and wish him every success in the coming year as the Aurora project progresses toward its next milestones, continuing to strengthen its impact on climate resilience and public health in the Boreal region.

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