Empty buildings and neglected urban spaces need someone to bring them back to life, but the people best placed to do that, the "urban innovators," had no formal training or recognised professional path. EUREKA set out to change that, bringing universities, cultural practitioners and policymakers together to co-design a new curriculum from scratch. Through Urban Living Labs, students tackled real challenges in four European cities, learning to design urban spaces that were more inclusive, sustainable and, above all, built with citizens rather than around them.
The details
Our vision was to champion an alternative approach to urban planning, one that opposes the conventional top-down model in favor of a more citizen-driven paradigm. Our mission: ensure that urbanists design cities with the well-being of their inhabitants at the forefront. Simultaneously, we aspired to tackle contemporary urban challenges, including housing shortages, overpopulation, gentrification, and criminalization.
- A practice-based training that meets job market demands
- A supportive community of peers across Europe
- New tools, methods and processes to improve our cities
- A growing knowledge base on urban planning and regeneration
- An innovative and problem-oriented research
- Empowered youth ready to bring a real-life change
Training: we are actively engaged in co-designing a training program meticulously tailored to address real-world challenges within urban environments. Our idea is clear: to equip youth with the essential skills and tools needed to drive inclusivity and sustainability in our cities.
Research: we are doing the research around current needs, skills and knowledge necessary for the emerging profile of urban innovator.
Network: one of our biggest aspirations is to build a community of like-minded peers and to stimulate future collaborations and projects.
To breathe life into our vision, we embraced an innovative participatory learning approach known as Urban Living Labs. Across four cities, this method allowed students to grapple with authentic urban challenges in their local communities. It afforded them the opportunity to engage with residents, stakeholders, explore physical spaces, test various scenarios, and receive expert guidance and feedback.
Our collective knowledge and new insights that have been gained during these three years resulted in a series of learning materials and publications - all great assets for anyone willing to learn more about urban innovation:
- Six Urban Stories podcasts
- 11 Webinars
- Two publications
Partners
For EUREKA, the consortium brought together an international community of researchers, practitioners, city officials and cultural entrepreneurs, all experts in urban development from across Europe, sharing a common vision that urban development should be an inclusive, citizen-driven process with sustainability at its core:
- Iuav University of Venice (lead partner) — established in 1926 as one of the first architecture schools in Italy, focused on the design of living spaces and environments.
- Melting Pro — a work-production cooperative based in Rome, established by seven professional women with collective experience in cultural management.
- LAMA – Development and Cooperation Agency — a cooperative specialising in consultancy for social innovation and impactful change.
- University of Deusto — one of Spain's oldest universities, internationally renowned for its work in the Social Sciences and Humanities.
- Trans Europe Halles — one of Europe's oldest and most dynamic cultural networks, repurposing abandoned buildings for arts, culture and activism since 1983.
- Espacio Open — an ecosystem of creative and social projects based in the old Artiach biscuit factory in Bilbao's La Ribera de Deusto/Zorrotzaurre neighbourhood since 2009.
- Municipality of Timișoara — the city's local public authority, delivering services across urban planning, health, social services, education, culture, sport and environmental policy.
- West University of Timișoara — a long-established educational institution offering more than 160 degree programmes across 11 faculties.
- AMBASADA (Asociația Casa PLAI) — founded in 2015 by Centrul Cultural PLAI, a social economy structure supporting community projects and generating social impact in Timișoara.
- Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences — the Netherlands' leading university of applied sciences, home to 45,000 students, with a strong practice-based research focus.
- Pakhuis de Zwijger — a cultural-social hub and public meeting space in Amsterdam, bringing together artists, designers, scientists, policymakers and citizens in dialogue.
TEH members involved
Funder
