UniverCity Action Lab – embedding Europe’s education and knowledge institutions into their urban environment to unlock their innovation potential and address metropolitan challenges. Project background Today more than 70% of Europe's citizens live in cities, which makes European Union one of the most urbanised areas in the world. While these areas are considered to be the engines of European economy with extensive job opportunities, and the educated population they attract, they are also places where social and environmental challenges are concentrated, concerning mobility, sustainable land and energy use, inclusion of migrants, digital transformation and poverty. Without doubt, universities hold great potential to act as key actors in fostering dialogue among regional stakeholders to initiate and sustain joint actions towards creation of smart and sustainable cities. However, despite efforts, urban engagement is not an inherent component of HE systems, nor are they a part of ongoing academic programs. HEIs lack relevant strategies, tools, resources, and knowledge to apply to engage in city initiatives. Whereas, it is crucial to expand the bottom up support for the cities to co-develop, test and implement the solutions, and thus consolidate efforts. HEIs can support anchoring innovation by raising interest in the urban areas they are based in, offer resources, and facilitate change. HEIs should also exploit cities as living labs incorporating the open spaces, institutions, and local community in their research and teaching programs. To support this change, UCITYLAB will: 1. increase the knowledge and understanding of HEIs in establishing urban partnerships 2. support societal relevance of the HEI curriculum and enhance ties with civic community 3. develop relevant skills set among students by exposing them to the real-life societal problems 4. strengthen links among the stakeholders of urban community, including HEIs, to facilitate knowledge exchange and better flow of resources for urban development 5. widely disseminate results to foster adoption of city engagement practices in European HEIs Project approach and outputs The project will develop (1) new curriculum, (2) city alliances in 4 major cities in Europe (Porto, Ljubljana, Barcelona, and Paris) and (3) instigate a potential European approach towards fostering solutions towards urban challenges. This will include producing 4 main intellectual outputs: IO1 - UCITYLAB Status-Quo Report & Collection of Good Practices: Local, national and international mapping of status-quo of HEI practices involving city engagement IO2- UCITYLAB Network Roadmap, launching the UCITYLAB Network to initiate and develop city networks, and align HEI activities with local/ regional urban development and innovation agendas IO3- UCITYLAB Challenge Teaching Toolkit: Preparation of the course program and set of resources to be used in the teaching of the Challenge program IO4 - UCITYLAB Challenge Pilot Implementation Report: Challenge Program, a curriculum during which students will understand the basic concepts of urban development, social innovation and design solutions to real-life urban challenges whilst implementing real-life projects together with regional stakeholders. IO5 - UCITYLAB Online Portal that will facilitate the local and international interaction, sharing of ideas and resources, function as a knowledge repository and be the backbone of the education programme The outputs will foster: (i) social innovation, entrepreneurial and urban development skills development among HEI students (100 students, 20 academics from all cities attended/ participated in the program). (ii) improvement in entrepreneurship curriculum at HEIs (the course program integrated into partner HEI curriculums) (iii) economic and social development in the cities where the project partner organisations/HEIs are located (40+ local community members will attend the workshops at national launch events, 12 student projects will be implemented, involved urban populations will benefit from the improvements) (vi) strengthened relationships between HEIs and their urban communities, through national events, online networks, and e-mail dissemination (2,500+ partner HEI and UIIN contact database) (v) launch of UCITYLAB Online Portal with 200+ OERs, as well as the city network database of 120+ businesses, NGOs, and other relevant organisations from each city. (vi) extensive dissemination of the project process and results among other EU cities where urban development is recognised as a priority (4 national launches and 1 international showcase event) Proven expertise Delivering the project will be a consortium of highly experienced and proven partners, who each bring an area of expertise. Having been involved in entrepreneurship, innovation and entrepreneurial and engaged universities projects before, the consortium is well balanced with the necessary competencies to ensure impact.
UniverCity Action Lab – embedding Europe’s education and knowledge institutions into their urban environment to unlock their innovation potential and address metropolitan challenges. Background Today more than 70% of Europe's citizens live in cities, which makes European Union one of the most urbanised areas in the world. While these areas are considered to be the engines of European economy with extensive job opportunities, and the educated population they attract, they are also places where social and environmental challenges are concentrated, concerning mobility, sustainable land and energy use, inclusion of migrants, digital transformation and poverty. Without doubt, universities hold great potential to act as key actors in fostering dialogue among regional stakeholders to initiate and sustain joint actions towards creation of smart and sustainable cities. However, despite efforts, urban engagement is not an inherent component of HE systems, nor are they a part of ongoing academic programs. HEIs lack relevant strategies, tools, resources, and knowledge to apply to engage in city initiatives. Hence, it is crucial to expand the bottom-up support for the cities to co-develop, test and implement the solutions, and thus consolidate efforts. HEIs can support anchoring innovation by raising interest in the urban areas they are based in, offer resources, and facilitate change. HEIs should also exploit cities as living labs incorporating the open spaces, institutions, and local community in their research and teaching programs. To support this change, UCITYLAB has set the following objectives: 1. increase the knowledge and understanding of HEIs in establishing urban partnerships (IO2) 2. support societal relevance of the HEI curriculum and enhance ties with civic community (IO4) 3. develop relevant skills set among students by exposing them to the real-life societal problems (IO4) 4. strengthen links among the stakeholders of urban community, including HEIs, to facilitate knowledge exchange and better flow of resources for urban development (IO2) 5. widely disseminate results to foster adoption of city engagement practices in European HEIs (IO5) In order to achieve these objectives, the following horizontal activities were undertaken, guiding the whole project: A1. Project Management and Communication A2. Dissemination And Sustainability A3. Further Exploitation – Sustainability A4. Quality Management and Evaluation. Moreover, specific activities linked to the IOs were performed: IO1: UCITYLAB Status-Quo Report & Collection of Good Practices IO2: UCITYLAB Network Roadmap IO3: UCITYLAB Challenge Teaching Toolkit IO4: UCITYLAB Challenge Pilot Implementation Report IO5: UCITYLAB Online Portal Regarding the target reached, UCITYLAB reached Higher Education Institutions, businesses, VET institutions, public institutions, supranational organisations, media and others. In terms of number of participants, we can say that: -5000+ people were reached through email dissemination -600+ people have downloaded project outputs -40+ people engaged in our network -500+ people were achieved on social media (facebook, linkedin, twitter) -200 people have downloaded our newsletters The project has developed new curriculum in partner HEIs, that can be transferred to other HEIs and countries. City alliances were also established in 4 major cities in Europe (Porto, Ljubljana, Barcelona, and Paris), which might also be replicated in other contexts. UCITYLAB has, therefore, instigated a potential European approach towards fostering solutions towards urban challenges. Particularly, the major results are: -the fostering of social innovation, entrepreneurial and urban development skills development among HEI students, enhancing responsible citizenship -the improvement in entrepreneurship curriculum at HEIs -the development of problem-based programmes in real context, which represent new innovative educational methods -the strength of relationships between HEIs and their urban communities, through meetings, national events, online networks, and e-mail dissemination The impact and long-term benefits are directly linked to the priorities addressed: -Contribution to innovation through the development, implementation and test of the effectiveness of approaches to promote creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and skills -Development of relevant and high-quality skills and competences -Supporting the civic and social responsibility of students and institutions In fact, during the project, partners have experienced the establishment of partnerships with the cities they are located through municipalities, public institutions, companies and NGOs, and have reported this in a Network Roadmap to help further institutions in engaging in similar processes. Besides, developing students’ social entrepreneurship skills will result in the economic and social development in the cities where the HEIs are located.