We are excited to be featured in the first edition of UCity Lab e-Magazine! Within our community building efforts, PEOPLE project strives to support cooperation and interoperability between projects and networks, finding synergies with those that have a common vision and share similar goals.

UCity Lab (UniverCity Action Lab) is co-funded by Erasmus+ programme (Strategic Partnerhips) and was launched in October 2018, connecting five partner organisations from Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. It envisions European Universities better engaged with their cities – as they explain, although the cities are considered to be the engines of European economy with extensive job opportunities, and the educated population they attract, they are also places where the social and environmental challenges are concentrated, including mobility, sustainable land and energy use, inclusion of migrants, digital transformation and poverty. And 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.

That is why the UCity Lab 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.

Among other outputs, higher education partner institutions will  work on developing a study program in consultation with societal stakeholders, focusing on student understanding of the basic concepts of urban innovation, social entrepreneurship, and acquiring basic field research skills, followed by urban challenge assignments provided to students by the authorities, guided student field trips, idea development, data collection, and students drafting of a concrete action plan for the development of a product or a service.

Make sure to follow UCity Lab’s actions and outputs on their website and connect through their social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter)!