The Urban GoodCamp (UCAMP) project aims to empower Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and their urban stakeholders to tackle pressing urban challenges by creating and actively engaging urban communities of practice, developing and implementing multidisciplinary learning interventions for university students, young researchers and life-long learners to develop real-life solutions to pressing urban challenges. The project will be conducted in seven European cities – and six of which are capital cities, grouped in three areas of urban focus: Circular economy - Waste Management, Urban Biodiversity, and Sustainable Communities. We believe that success in urban development can only be achieved through an integrated approach, where strong partnerships between local citizens, civil society, industry and various levels of government are deemed necessary. In this, the role of HEIs are crucial in taking the role of anchor organisations, and leading transformational change in their urban environments. The project will achieve its goal through the following steps & activities: (1) reviewing and analysing successful urban challenges, through expert interviews and collecting case atudies on learning models; (2) building Urban Innovators Communities and co-defining and validating the urban challenges for the learaning interventions; (3) developing the Bootcamp workshop, innovation tours, mentorship methodology, and train-the-trainer schemes tand plot-testing them in 7 European cities; (4) organising and delivering 7 Local Urban GoodCamp showcase events, 24+ cascading of mini-boutique workshops, and hosting of an international 1.5 mini-conference, the European Urban Challenges Jam where the project results are disseminated and showcased to international audience and further discussions on urban challenges are raised. The project is expected to position HEIs in the role of facilitators for urban co-operation and co-creation in tackling societal challenges.
The major aim of the project was to empower HEIs to participate in joint actions to tackle challenges in their respective urban regions by creating and actively engaging urban communities of practice, as well as developing and implementing multidisciplinary learning interventions for university students and staff in developing real-life solutions to the pressing urban challenges.
More than 70% of Europe's citizens live in cities, which makes the European Union one of the most urbanised areas in the world. HEIs hold great potential to act as key actors in addressing urban challenges and fostering a dialogue among regional stakeholders to initiate and sustain joint actions towards the creation of more smart and sustainable cities. However, the direct links between universities and cities are still weak. HEIs often lack relevant strategies to engage with city initiatives.
<< Background >> More than 70% of Europe's citizens live in cities, which makes the European Union one of the most urbanised areas in the world. HEIs hold great potential to act as key actors in addressing urban challenges and fostering a dialogue among regional stakeholders to initiate and sustain joint actions towards the creation of more smart and sustainable cities. However, the direct links between universities and cities are still weak. HEIs often lack relevant strategies to engage with city initiatives. << Objectives >> The major aim of the project was to empower HEIs to participate in joint actions to tackle challenges in their respective urban regions by creating and actively engaging urban communities of practice, as well as developing and implementing multidisciplinary learning interventions for university students and staff in developing real-life solutions to the pressing urban challenges. << Implementation >> For project implementation, the consortium adopted the double diamond design methodology, involving the four stages of project implementation, including Investigation (developing insights into the urban challenges), Consultation (defining the urban challenge areas to focus on), Development (multi-disciplinary work to develop solutions to the challenges), Testing & Validating (testing and delivering urban solutions that work), and Showcasing and Sustaining (ensuring valorisation of outputs). << Results >> Main results include: the development of publications on urban innovation (7 city scanning reports, 1 synthesis report, 1 case study collection report), the establishment of 6 urban innovators communities; the design and delivery of a practical and innovative methodology (1 Urban GoodCamp Toolkit, 6 bootcamps), and the development of several capacity building activities (6 showcase events; 12 workshops; 1.5 days event; 1 Urban Futures Trendbook published; 6 methodology videos).