On September 24, the Enhance Europe project was showcased at the European Researchers’ Night 2025 in Vic (Spain). The event took place at the Modernist Hall of the Casino de Vic, where David Romero, Director of the Knowledge Transfer Unit at the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (CRM), introduced the project to a broad audience.
Romero’s talk, Recovering heat from asphalt to build more sustainable cities, explained how asphalt solar collectors, structures embedded in road pavement layers, can capture heat from solar radiation and transform it into renewable, easy-to-use energy. This energy can supply nearby buildings such as shopping centers, transport terminals, or public services, while at the same time reducing operational costs. The technology also lowers surface temperatures on roads, helping to mitigate the urban heat island effect and create more liveable urban environments. He also highlighted the importance of the mathematical models being developed within Enhance Europe, which are essential to support and guide the real-world experiments that will be carried out during the project. These models ensure that the solutions tested in the field are reliable, efficient, and scalable.
When presenting complex research projects to a general audience, the challenge lies in simplifying the discourse without losing its essence. “It’s like translating a complex novel: the language must be adapted, but its richness and depth must remain. This way we break the stereotype that mathematics are cold or useless, and show that they can have a real, tangible impact on people’s lives.” For Romero, engaging with the general public is also a fundamental part of research. “It is an opportunity to share research as people, not only as scientists. Explaining our work to citizens allows us to listen to questions, share enthusiasm, and make visible that science and scientists are part of society, like any other profession.”
Although Enhance Europe is still under development, Romero stressed the importance of presenting it now, at events like the Researchers’ Night: “It is important that people understand research as a living process: it starts from a question, develops, and often opens new ones. In the case of Enhance, it shows how experiments on the blackboard and in the lab will move into real life. Presenting it now means transparency and trust, and it involves society from the beginning. Ultimately, research and innovation only make sense if citizens know them, understand them, and can make them their own. This is also how we contribute, because it is our responsibility, to prevent misuse or misinformation.”
The presentation also emphasized the interdisciplinary nature of Enhance Europe, which brings together expertise from mathematics, engineering, urban planning, and environmental sciences. Combined with its commitment to open science and the development of digital twins, the project illustrates how collaborative research can accelerate the transition toward more resilient, sustainable, and liveable cities.