UIA Knowledge Lab

How urbanism can contribute tackling summer energy poverty in cities

Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, and climate risks threaten people’s health and several aspects of their well-being. According to...

Journal 3: Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU)

This is the third journal of the Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU) project since its start in September 2019. EPIU, led by Municipality of Getaf...

Tailor-made solutions to tackle energy poverty through household renovation: the case of EPIU

The development of the new home concept in the UIA project combining housing with work and childcare

From the potential target group to actual residents - experiences from a UIA-project that combines housing and childcare

In the UIA-project "home and care" of the city of Landshut, single mothers who work in the health care sector and single mothers who do an apprentices...

CAPACITyES ZOOM IN NO.2, The complexity of urban regeneration: a correlation between unpredictable and good local planning to counteract urban poverty.

This zoom-in, the second and final one of CAPACITyES, highlights how difficult it can be to complete redevelopment works in a period characterized by ...

Alternative training models in childcare - ZOOM-IN

In the home and care project, a new form of childcare is being developed that enables mothers with their children and childminders to live together un...

Journal 2: Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU)

This is the second journal of the Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU) project since its start in September 2019. EPIU led by Municipality of Getaf...

Food-related activities as a leverage against urban poverty

Workshop on Libanese food (c)Les Sens du Goût The UIA TAST’in FIVES project, taking place in the Fives neighbourhood of Lille, France, has aimed at...

Qualification of Childminders as Part of the UIA Project "home and care"

The UIA project home and care targets the the further qualification of child minders to become educators and child day care workers. In doing so the e...

A better way of balancing family life and work - single parent care workers in the health and social care system as a target group for poverty prevention

The Home and Care project in the German city of Landshut has set itself a goal. It wants to try out innovative ways to protect people from impending p...

The challenge of identifying hidden energy poverty

Energy poverty is a situation in which households are unable to access essential energy services. With nearly 34 million Europeans unable to afford to...

Journal 1: Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU)

This is the first journal of the Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU) project since its start on September 2019. EPIU led by Municipaility of Getaf...

An alternative experience of cohousing: children, and migrants cooperating for innovative solutions!

Bergamo had the great misfortune of being among the first cities in Europe to have been affected by the effects of COVID 19, when all over Europe it w...

Co-City - The collaborative management of urban commons to counteract poverty and socio-spatial polarization - ZOOM IN 2

The purpose of this 2nd Zoom-in is to provide a concise and accessible overview of the analytical grid construed through the UIA Co-City journals and ...

What have been the impacts of TAST’IN Fives food related activities on the inhabitants of Fives and the project partners?

This Zoom-In presents an infographic of the analysis contained in the article Food-related activities as a leverage against urban poverty. It is based...

Co-City - The collaborative management of urban commons to counteract poverty and socio-spatial polarization - ZOOM IN 3

UIA Expert Christian Iaione gives an update on the progress of 6 Co-City's pacts of collaborations and analyses how they played a role in enabling co-...

A closer look at UIA projects working on Urban poverty

On 11 October 2018, in the framework of the European Week of Regions and Cities 2018, UIA has gathered together for a public workshop the six cities o...

CO-CITY Zoom-In: Legal tool for citizen–municipal collaboration created to fight urban poverty

UIA Expert Christian Iaione describes the progress made on the Pacts of Collaboration. ...

About Urban poverty and urban agriculture

The UIA Expert Pietro Elisei, in the second zoom-in for the MAC project, focuses his lens on the project process and on design pillars. ...

Co-city Journal 6: final steps of the Turin project

This sixth and final journal of the Co-City project introduce you to the final steps of the Co-City Turin project, drawing also from the Co-City Final...

The co-design effects on the Municipal Financial Report

A discussion with Emanuela Casula, CO-CITY financial manager ...

Co-City Expert Journal 5: Get to know what happened in the last 6 months!

The Co-City project has now come to an end. In this Journal 5, the UIA Expert Christian Iaione reflects on some preliminary conclusions that can be dr...

Co-City leads the way towards new urban commons approaches

The city of Turin, thanks to the Co-City project, is now considered one of the most advanced experiment in Europe for the creation of new forms of man...

Pacts of collaboration and innovation of public procurement at local level: Co-CITY's 2nd journal

UIA Expert Christian Iaione has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Turi...

CO-CITY journal 1: hear from the project's UIA expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Turin is doing in this UIA Expert journal!...

CO-CITY's third project journal

By addressing social exclusion and urban poverty, through public-private-community partnerships and innovative procurement, the Turin Co-City project ...

CAPACITYES, Final Journal:Legacy, Lessons learned, Replicability

This Journal marks the end of the Capacityes project, which has successfully wrapped up its activities in its final year. The journey wasn't easy, esp...

Everybody go home!

On Saturday, 6 May 2023, an event organised by the Municipality of Bergamo, the CAPACITyES project partners, together with stakeholders from the local...

Journal 3 - The cohousing experience in Borgo Palazzo: Ready to go!

The Capacityes project revolves around three central initiatives that reflect the regenerative path in Bergamo, with a particular focus on the Borgo P...

CAPACITyES presented to Italian Municipalities - the innovative path undertaken in Bergamo

The annual national meeting of ANCI, which this year was held in Bergamo, was an opportunity to have a moment of direct comparison with various Italia...

The HUB4KIDS: An “inclusive energy” maker at urban scale.

In the Capacityes project, the active involvement of children and adolescents is reflected in the design and construction of the Hub4Kids. This struct...

"Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone"

The CAPACITyES project focuses on the fight against urban poverty. The added value of this approach lies in the fact that the project puts on the tabl...

Participate, prepare, accompany and carry out

Implementing projects accepted by local communities and, consequently, characterized by different types of sustainability, requires a long and methodi...

Changing People and Places through an Act of Fantasy.

The CAPACITyES PROJECT  identifies and manages the problems of urban poverty and marginalization through an urban regeneration paths characterized by ...

CAPACITYES Journal 1: get an update on Bergamo's project

The CAPACITyES project focuses on the fight against urban poverty. The added value of this approach lies in the fact that the project puts on the tabl...

The second wave of the pandemic threatens the participatory process. Being able to move the project forward despite the second wave of the pandemic

The low numbers of infected people during the summer made it possible to have an important dialogue with the target groups of the Capacityes project. ...

Journal 4: One year after the end of EPIU implementation period

UIA projects have a transformative impact on urban environments by driving sustainable innovation, improving the quality of life for citizens, and pro...

The complexity of energy renovation at the domestic level in Spain.

The European Renovation Wave initiative is a crucial response to the pressing issue of energy poverty. The initiative is built upon the national long-...

The use of AI and data protection in innovation projects at local level: the case of EPIU intelligence unit

Domestic energy consumption data is considered personal data, at least as per the Spanish Supreme court declared in 2019 (STS 2484/2019). In the proje...

Innovation on public procurement at local level

Public procurement refers to the process by which public sector organizations acquire goods, services, or construction projects from external supplier...

Building capacity through multiplier agents to maximize impact

Consolidating the demand of a new public service is one of the challenges that urban authorities face when they innovate and design new services. One ...

Making the Transition Affordable for all UIA report: EPIU as a case study

There is a pressing need to identify effective policy solutions to inspire locally driven low-carbon transitions in EU cities. UIA has led a two-year ...

How project synergies bring new opportunities: the example of EPIU

Synergies between projects can generate a wide range of opportunities for municipalities. For example, the ability to share knowledge and best practic...

The relevance of the ecosystems around an UIA project: the case of EPIU in Getafe

In scientific terms, an ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather or landscape, work together to f...

The Healthy Households’ Office service (OHS) in Getafe, ready to face the high energy prices

Energy prices are at record highs and remain volatile in Europe. Situations of energy poverty are exacerbating and families in Europe are struggling t...

Start-ups’ business models as inspiration for local innovations: the case of EPIU

At corporate level, a business model is a strategy for operating a business. It describes how a company will generate value for its customers. Althoug...

Interview with Sara Hernández, mayor of Getafe

In this article, UIA Expert Marta Garcia interviews the mayor of Getafe, Sara Hernández, to explore how the municipality is integrating EPIU, the UIA ...

Strategic Committee as a governance tool to ensure a committed leadership: the case of EPIU project

Implementing an Urban Innovation Action implies a degree of risk for local authorities and a committed leadership is a requisite for municipal led inn...

Rethink your monitoring and evaluation practices

You want to capture the change that your project is bringing at local level? The new monitoring and evaluation platform is now online: browse through ...

The Legacy of CURANT

The Legacy of CURANT is a short video documentary telling the story of what is left of the project after its end. Through a series of interviews to me...

CURANT Expert Journal: Get an update on what has been happening in the last 6 months

In his 5th journal of CURANT, UIA expert Fabio Sgaragli discusses about the legacy of the project and the concrete things that stay behind - for the ...

Implementing the CURANT project in Antwerp: Get an update in the second UIA journal on the activities carried out

UIA Expert Fabio Sgaragli has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Antwer...

CURANT Expert Journal: holistic approach to integration and evaluation mechanisms

In his 4th journal of CURANT, UIA expert Fabio Sgaragli discusses the significance of a holistic approach to integration and the potential contributio...

CURANT Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Antwerp is doing in this UIA Expert journal!...

Read CURANT's 3rd project journal!

With 39 duos of young refugees and local buddies already cohabitating, the delivery of the new modular housing units and a wide range of active inclus...

CURANT Zoom-in 2: Theory of Change

UIA Expert Fabio Sgaragli dives into the details!...

USE-IT! Journal 6: Lessons Learnt and Recommendations

In his 6th and final journal, UIA Expert Nils Scheffler “focuses on presenting the lessons learned and recommendations from the 3-year long project, (...

Birmingham Zoom-in 3: Community research for a community-oriented urban regeneration

UIA Expert Nils Scheffler explores how “USE-IT! has set up a free accredited community research training programme to train interested local people do...

USE-IT! Journal 5: The project is coming to an end

Take a look at the latest developments!...

Implementing the USE-IT project in Birmingham: Find out in the second UIA Expert Journal what activities have been carried out

UIA Expert Nils Scheffler has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Birmin...

USE-IT! UIA Expert Journal – Progress continues on linking capital investments in deprived neighbourhoods with local communities

Third journal tells us how this complex project is being delivered and how it’s facing its challenges...

USE-IT! Journal 4: The project in its final year

Interim results, lessons learnt and further actions needed....

USE-IT! Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Birmingham is doing on urban poverty in this UIA Expert journal. ...

USE-IT! Zoom-In: Creation of social enterprises

In this first Zoom-In, the UIA Expert Nils Scheffler looked at one key element of the USE-IT! Project: the creation of a community of social enterpris...

USE-IT! Zoom-In 2: Jobs for overseas migrants

UIA Expert Nils Scheffler shares the project’s insights on how to qualify 180 local overseas migrants to become employees for the British health syste...

The VILAWATT currency

The Vilawatt currency, which is born from the European project of energy transition Vilawatt, is not a currency in itself isolated from the project, b...

Final Journal UIA VILAWATT project

The VILAWATT project was implemented to secure a stable energy transition process through the setting of an innovative governance structure (local pub...

Implementing the VILAWATT project in Viladecans: the use of gamification to communicate on complex energy projects

UIA Expert Lucia Fuselli has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Viladec...

VILAWATT Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Viladecans is doing on the topic energy transition in this UIA Expert journal....

Vilawatt Zoom-In: Exploring the project’s communication and stakeholders engagement strategies

UIA Expert Lucia Fuselli has developed a PPT slide show to discuss how the Vilawatt project in Viladecans has approached communication, stakeholder pa...

Vilawatt Journal 3: New insights on the progress of the project

Stay up-to-date with the latest achievements of Viladecans...

An update on the implementation of the Public Private Citizen Partnership and on the virtual currency

Vilawatt is currently considered to be a Spanish example in social innovation and community energy, at a time when energy poverty and energy access ar...

5Bridges - Final Journal

Here is the Final Journal of 5Bridges project led by the City of Nantes. Enjoy reading the project experience and finding inspiration by adopting, imp...

5Bridges Expert Journal 3: Get to know what happened in the last 6 months!

In his 3rd Journal, Freek Spinnewijn summarizes the activities that took place in the last months in the 5Bridges project....

5Bridges Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Nantes is doing on the topic urban poverty in this UIA Expert journal....

5Bridges Expert Journal: Desiging the social restaurant and the urban farm

In his 2nd journal of 5Bridges, UIA expert Freek Spinnewijn looks into how the project has left behind a difficult period and entered one with more op...

5Bridges project and the French national Housing First strategy

This zoom-in explores the potential of a strong link being established between the 5Bridges project and the recent national Housing First strategy lau...

MAC (Monterusciello Agro City): A courageous, creative, concrete and inclusive project.

This latest Journal of the MAC Project is a critical narrative of a project that encountered many complicated moments to deal with during its implemen...

MAC Zoom-In: Video looks at creation of the Agro Urban Centre

UIA Expert Pietro Elisei highlights in this video the steps being taken to bring new opportunities to the Monterusciello neighbourhood...

MAC Project ZOOM-in 3: The protagonists pass on the acquired knowledge

There are several elements of innovation within the urban regeneration path activated by the MAC project in Pozzuoli. ...

Pozzuoli journal: what impacts on the local community?

The current issue of the Journal focuses on the design and implementation path that has characterized the last 12 months, underlining the positive imp...

MAC journal and the challenges of a coordinated dialogue with the project partners

In this edition of MAC Journal, UIA Experts Pietro Elisei presents the implementation challenges and developments faced by the project. ...

MAC Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Pozzuoli is doing on urban poverty in this UIA Expert journal. ...

Implementing the MAC project in Pozzuoli: Find out in the second UIA Expert Journal what activities have been carried out

UIA Expert Pietro Elisei has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Pozzuol...

The MAC Project Journal 3: The progress so far

Get the latest news about Pozzuoli’s project!...

TAST'in FIVES Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Lille is doing on the topic urban poverty in this UIA Expert journal....

Last UIA TAST'in FIVES Journal: Urban labs as a new way of creating and living the city

This last journal of the UIA TAST’in FIVES project accounts for the evolution of the project after UIA funding was stopped. It details the way it has ...

TAST'in FIVES Journal 3: State of Play after 3 years of UIA funding

This Journal accounts for the overall achievements of the UIA TAST’in FIVES project after 3 years of implementation and in light of the prefiguration ...

Testing a future Food Court by prototyping it in real-life: lessons from the experience of UIA TAST’in FIVES’ L’Avant-goût

Refugee Food Festival at L’Avant-goût (Lille) -©Charles Mangin In light of the experiences taking place throughout Europe, this article observes th...

Read the 2nd project journal of Tast'in Fives

Faced with several issues that consistently delayed the works of the community kitchen and the surrounding spaces (mainly due to additional depollutio...

BRIDGE Expert Journal: lessons left behind for other cities

In his 5th journal of BRIDGE, UIA expert Eddy Adams looks into the lessons generated by the project – the ones that are left behind for other cities. ...

BRIDGE Expert Journal 6: Get an update on what has been happening in the last 6 months

In his 6th journal of BRIDGE, UIA expert Eddy Adams looks into the lessons generated by the project – the ones that are left behind for other cities. ...

A Word Amongst Friends

The pandemic and its aftermath have major consequences for international work. City authorities, and those working with them, need to adapt and develo...

UIA cities Rotterdam and Madrid exchanged ideas and experience

Rotterdam and Madrid are developing innovative jobs and skills solutions through Urban Innovative Actions. Both address the challenge of raising skill...

UIA projects contributing to inclusive and smart growth: Report reflecting experiences and first lessons now available

Read the final report with conclusions from the jobs and skills in the local economy capitalisation activities...

BRIDGE Journal - the future legacy of the project

In his 4th journal of BRIDGE, UIA expert Eddy Adams looks into the future legacy of the project. To name but a few, the high-level Work Learning Agree...

BRIDGE Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Rotterdam is doing on jobs and skills in this UIA Expert journal. ...

Implementing the BRIDGE project in Rotterdam: Get an update in the second UIA journal on what is happening on the ground

UIA Expert Eddy Adams has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Rotterdam ...

BRIDGE Zoom-In: Video reflects conflict between school culture vs. street culture

UIA Expert Eddy Adams highlights in this video animation the main elements of the BRIDGE project set in Rotterdam-South. ...

BRIDGE Expert Journal: Get an update on what has been happening in the last 6 months

Read about the progress with a specific focus on monitoring and evaluation...

The B-MINCOME scheme during the heights of the pandemic

What happened to B-MINCOME during the pandemic when people lost their jobs or had their incomes cut? In September 2021, the Barcelona City Council an...

B-MINCOME Journal 5: A successful journey towards participative and community-oriented social welfare system

In a moment where welfare state has been retrenched and the public support becomes pivotal to respond to people’s needs arising from rapid and unstabl...

B-Mincome – blog post on two of the project’s Active Social Policies

The B-MINCOME project is already in place. Nevertheless, as long as this pilot is made-up of different Active Social Policies, they should be consider...

B-MINCOME and the Guaranteed Minimum Income

In this first Zoom-in, Laura Colini, UIA Expert for B-MINCOME shows the approach taken by the project of combining the Guaranteed Minimum Income to di...

B-MINCOME Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Barcelona is doing on the urban poverty topic in this UIA Expert journal. ...

B-Mincome Expert Journal: Get an update of what has been happening in the last 6 months

With the end of the selection process of the 2000 families included in the different pilot schemes for Minimum Income, the project has now fully enter...

From URBACT to UIA: the second article focusing on Rotterdam now available

After the testimoy of Turin, read the story from the city of Rotterdam, one of the three urban authorities that have built upon their experiences in U...

Ghent Knapt Op ends but renovation stories continue

Although Ghent Knapt Op has come to an end, many participants continue to take on house renovations. Ghent Knapt Op has made a significant positive im...

Ghent Knapt Op Journal 4: final updates and new beginnings for Ghent’s housing renovation project

After almost 4 years of intensive work and challenging times, Ghent Knapt Op came to a successful end in spring 2022. The project started in 2019 as a...

“Ghent knapt op”: An end and a new beginning!

Ghent knap Op celebrates the end of a successful innovative project on upgrading and renovating homes of vulnerable citizens 'captive owners'. Althoug...

Ghent Knapt Op takes on another challenge: ‘Non-take-up’

More than 500 people from the City of Ghent have been interested in taking part in the Ghent Knapt Op project and on improving their housing condition...

Gent Knap Op - Zoom in N°3 Improving Housing Conditions

The third Zoom-in dives in the representation of the life cycle of the project through infographic diagrams and explanatory illustrations. The diagram...

Ghent Knap Op Journal 3: The Seven Challenges

Like many cities, Ghent suffers a lack of affordable housing: high-quality and energy-efficient homes. Quality homes that are affordable are scarce in...

Ghent Knapt Op: Construction during Covid-19

As in most countries globally, commodity prices for building materials have risen in recent months. Anyone who is building or renovating has already s...

ICCARus (Gent knapt op): Accessible Homes, Accessible City

A view to a life-long living for seniors and vulnerable citizens. The City of Ghent puts at the forefront accessibility by making homes adaptable for...

'From House to Home' The Recurring Fund: A sustainable future for low-income housing renovations?

The Gent Knapt Op (ICCARus) pilot project focuses on the renovation of existing substandard homes of vulnerable homeowners. The project aims to renova...

Coronavirus-Proof Community Building in Ghent

How to connect people despite the current Covid-19 pandemic restrictions? Ghent Knapt Op is a pilot project that not only sets up a new financial sys...

Gent Knapt Op Journal 2: Five homes renovated and handed over

UIA Expert Martha Giannakopoulou reveals how “Gent Knapt Op launched a series of open calls (waves) and employed an intense communication strategy. Th...

Ghent Knapt Op CO-DESIGNS with residents and delivers its first housing renovations

As Ghent suffers a lack of affordable housing and rising housing prices, the Ghent Knapt Op project aims to renovate houses for vulnerable families an...

Ghent Zoom-in 1: From House to Home

UIA Expert Martha Giannakopoulou “focuses on the most intricate and complicated part of the ICCARus (Gent Knapt Op) project so far: the selection crit...

The first 25 renovations begin and a ceremony to celebrate it!

Gent knapt op’ has just concluded successfully its first phase of selection process and 25 households and participants are ready to start renovations....

GENT KNAPT OP SPREADS THE WORD AROUND THE CITY

Gent, a city of 260,000 inhabitants just outside of Brussels, Belgium, is like many cities: it faces the problem of not enough affordable and quality ...

ICCARUS (Gent Knapt Op) Journal 1: Up and running!

UIA Expert Martha Giannakopoulou shows how the project “addresses not only the provision of adequate healthy housing for vulnerable citizens but also ...

Welcome home!

Come to 59-61 rue du Delta, 1190, Forest on the 4th of September, an unexpected sunny day in Brussels, and you will find the building of CALICO celebr...

CALICO in the Brussels Capital Region - Journal 1

UIA expert Laura Colini provides a descriptive overview of the project and focuses on the 7 UIA challenges. Furthermore, she explores “the model of th...

CALICO. More than a CLT

The main objective of CALICO is to realise more than a typical Community Land Trust (CLT) but an intergenerational inclusive cohabitation focussed on ...

OASIS takes off! - Final Journal

In spring 2023, the OASIS Schoolyard project concluded with its UIA pilot phase of transforming and evaluating the performance of 10 schoolyards. Toda...

How does it feel to be the Director of an OASIS School?

Four School Directors share their experiences of being in charge of a not-so-mainstream schoolyard that introduces a new role of this outdoor space in...

Tips n’ Tricks for a Green and Playful Schoolyard! Join us at the upcoming webinar and learn about the OASIS recommendations.

The City of Paris, in collaboration with the CAUE75 - the consortium partner responsible for the design of the schoolyards’ transformation, has compil...

From co-design to co-implementation of the OASIS Schoolyards

Leveraging on the experience gained by transforming other OASIS Schoolyards this past year, the OASIS partnership decided to explore a different parti...

OASIS Schoolyards Journal 2: Welcoming the newly transformed schoolyards

The OASIS journey: From the co-design process to the final transformation of schoolyards

In her first Zoom-in, Maria Sitzoglou, UIA Expert for the OASIS Schoolyards project, presents the project journey from the co-design phase until the a...

Aiming for Healthier Neighborhoods in your city? The OASIS approach is probably what you have been looking for!

The vision for healthy and cohesive neighborhoods lies at the heart of the OASIS Schoolyards project. As 9 out of 10 schoolyards are now transformed, ...

Back-to-School(yard)! How the OASIS Schoolyards offer a solution to the global dilemma for re-opening schools.

As the end of summer is approaching, governments around the world are seeking ways to safely re-open their schools and welcome their pupils in class. ...

OASIS Expert Journal 1: Get to know the project and what happened in the first 6 months!

In her 1st Journal, Maria Sitzoglou, UIA expert of the OASIS project, discusses all key activities that you need to know about it, what the project is...

Paris is creating an OASIS in the heart of its neighborhoods and why more cities should follow.

AIR-HERITAGE biomonitoring: Interesting facts and results!

AIR-HERITAGE aims to improve the City of Portici’s knowledge on local air pollution, through monitoring and modeling air quality, so that the city can...

Actively engaging people during the pandemic: AIR-HERITAGE info points

AIR-HERITAGE aims to address air pollution in the City of Portici. A key element of the project is actively engaging citizens throughout the process. ...

Two UIA projects working together to tackle urban challenges

AIR-HERITAGE aims to address air pollution in Portici. A key element of the project is actively engaging citizens throughout the process. In this cont...

Biomonitoring: An alternative way to monitor air pollution in Portici

AIR-HERITAGE aims to improve the City of Portici’s knowledge on local air pollution so that the city can more effectively address this issue. More spe...

Air Heritage Journal 2: get an update about Portici's project latest achievements

This second Journal presents AIR-HERITAGE key achievements to date and describes how the various challenges faced, have evolved over time, as well as ...

Making better decisions, faster, to tackle air pollution

The first AIR-HERITAGE zoom-in focuses on the technical aspects of the project. It aims to present the Decision Support Tool developed for supporting ...

Air-Heritage journal 1

Andriana Stavrakaki, UIA expert for the AIR-HERITAGE project, in this journal edition describes the measures put in place by the City of Portici to ov...

Actively engaging students to improve the quality of life of residents, even during a pandemic

Circular Cities: UIA projects at the 4th Circular Change Conference

Check out the conclusions from our Circular economy workshop in Maribor!...

Promised land, the future of urban consumption - takeaways

The Municipality of Milan organised in June a two day event to discuss the future skills, new technologies, narratives and policies with which cities ...

WISH-MI Final Journal

Harnessing art to enable youth participation: the WISH-MI experience

Podcast with Action Aid...

WISH-MI Journal #3

This is the third WISH-MI journal and the first that has been produced since the full implementation of the project. ...

Giornata del Gioco: World Play Day as a launchpad for the WISH-MI missions

The City of Milan is opening new avenues in its drive to improve youth well-being in the city. To coincide with World Play Day, WISH-MI has launched a...

Stimulating design innovation at the local level

WISH-MI aims to improve levels of youth wellbeing in the city of Milan. Improving the quality of, and access to, available services, is an important p...

Going Digital: The WISH-MI online platform gets the green light

The City of Milan has launched a digital platform to offer wellbeing services to its young people and families. The platform is now operational, comp...

Wish-Mi hubs ready to hit the ground

Wish-Mi is an ambitious wellbeing strategy for the young people of Milan. The model comprises a digital hub, enabling access to services, combined wit...

Preparing to land: WISH-MI about to go live

The second WISH-MI journal presents the state of play as the project prepares to go live. It draws upon material gathered during the expert visit to M...

Mapping the UIA innovation challenges with the Wish-Mi stakeholders

Building youth wellbeing through community hubs

A sneak peek of the WISH-MI hubs. City of Milan Director, Sabina Banfi. Shares her thoughts on the project’s new youth spaces with UIA Expert Eddy Ada...

Money talks: How Milan and other UIA cities are stimulating behaviour change using financial proxies.

Milan is one of a number of UIA cities exploring innovative financial tools to nudge behaviours. This article explores the Milan vouchers model, and t...

WISH-MI Journal 1

Milan is a city of 1.4 million people, 230,000 of whom are minors. It has a wide and growing rate of inequality, with 30% of its population either in ...

Co-designing services with young people. WISH-MI ZOOM-IN

This slide deck shares the content and learnings from the WISH-MI youth co-design webinar held on 9th June 2021. ...

WISH-MI: Resetting the wellbeing dial for Milan’s youth

Like many cities, Milan faces the challenge of widening inequalities. This risk particularly affect the city's most vulnerable young people. The UIA W...

Adapt to climate change starting from green areas

The APTBC project has invested significant efforts in improving the parks in the central neighbourhoods of Seraing, which are the least green areas of...

The future of the first creative station in Seraing

This article is based on an interview with Aurélie Portois, currently project coordinator at the Maison du Peuple, and on some preliminary drafts cont...

A Place To Be-Come journal 4

While the project was concluded in August 2023, this final issue of the journal offers a critical reflection on the challenges faced during implementa...

The final event of the APTBC project as a moment of collective sharing

This article is about the final event of the APTBC project, which took place in June 2023. The article presents how the results, ambitions and expecta...

APTBC impacts according to project partners - ZOOM IN

The project A Place to Be-Come has recently closed. Ahead of the final event, all the project partners have shared their ideas about what the project’...

Encouraging residents to use and become familiar with their local green areas

One goal of the project is to improve residents’ relationship with their local parks. This improvement involves on the one side improving the material...

A pilot project's legacy

'La Ruche à projets' has stopped being the APTBC temporary creative hub in central Seraing. However, it will not close its doors and its role as a com...

A Place To Be-Come: journal 3

The third edition of the journal covers almost the entire 2022. The implementation of most of the project actions has been completed and the remaining...

What it takes to raise a community in Seraing

The A Place To Be-Come project is built around one great idea: that inclusion can be promoted by building a community of local citizens eager to devel...

Under what conditions can we assure a real access to green areas in Seraing?

The city of Seraing has a bold plan to redevelop its post-industrial territory after decades of decline. In particular, some urban projects, such as a...

Co-designing a new day-shelter to improve access to low-threshold care in Seraing’s central neighbourhoods

In Seraing, two shelters welcome people experiencing homelessness or great discomfort associated with instable and precarious conditions of life. The ...

APTBC Journal 2: how the puzzle is assembling as an increasingly coherent whole

This second journal covers the year 2021, between the first year and a half and second year and a half of implementation of the A Place To Be-Come pro...

Seraing meets Turin: the power of sharing stories

Last October, a delegation composed by three members of the APTBC project management team, two city officials from Seraing and the UIA expert spent th...

Improving citizens’ relationship with their environment to promote social inclusion, or the A Place To Be-Come’s boldest ambition

In this journal, UIA expert Francesca Ansaloni provides an account of difficulties, challenges and achievements of A Place To Be-Come's first year of ...

Seraing resumes its long journey of commoning where it all began

La Maison du Peuple was built in 1916 in Seraing as a gathering place for the working class. “Before, social-democrat activists gathered in the old th...

How the pandemic diluted the project and how we learnt to stay put, but actively

Julien Bebronne and Lauranne Liégeois are respectively APTBC coordinator and project officer for Arebs, the municipal agency in charge of the project ...

Go transdisciplinary and flexible! The A Place To Be-Come way to learning

A Place To Be-Come aims to tackle urban poverty in Seraing by investing in people and the enhancement of their well-being. This goal is expected to be...

Journal 3 - UPPER

The most important goal achieved by the Upper Project is that knowledge of NbSs and their potential impact on marginal areas has been gained by the lo...

Journal 4 – UPPER

The Productive parks and Demonstration sites included in the Upper project today represent milestones from which the current and future government of ...

Ce.R.S.I.Te.S. and the importance of NbS monitoring for strategic planning

The results of the UPPER project demonstrate how NbS (Nature Based Solutions) offer the opportunity to practice transdisciplinary dialogues, to spread...

Demonstration Sites – an operational laboratory for UPPER's environmental challenges

There were various environmental critical issues highlighted by the UPPER project for the territory of the Municipality of Latina, for which a range o...

UPPER faces - Zoom-In 2

Synergies for a sustainable and resilient territory

UPPER's first urban production park is underway

Journal 2 UPPER project

The UPPER project for the urban natural park of the Acque Medie canal

The Canale delle Acque Medie (The Canal of the Middle Waters) symbolizes an element of structural interest for the urban center of Latina, representin...

Another summer of play, health and wellness with UPPER SEEDS!

After the success of the 2021 edition, the 2022 UPPER SEEDs were kicked off on 13 June. The activities in which citizens, schools and all those who h...

UPPER JOBS: innovative skills for employment and social inclusion

The selection of participants in the second edition of UPPER JOBS has been completed. The participants selected by the Labirinto Social Cooperative ha...

An innovative platform for environmental monitoring

Thanks to the creation of two innovative platforms developed by the partners and integrated into a common observatory, the UPPER project is able to co...

Journal 1 UPPER project

The Journal is aimed to describe the activities of the UPPER project and the results achieved during the first period of implementation. It also descr...

First activities and results of the UPPER project at Latina

UPPER project aims at transforming misused and abandoned urban green areas into Productive Parks (PP) devoted to research, technological development a...

PUJ Prato Urban Jungle Journal N°4

The Prato Urban Jungle project has come to an end! It has been a very long journey, the project has overcome a series of challenges (from a pandemic...

Citizens’ participation and co-creation experiences in environmental issues 

Over the past years an increasing attention towards environmental justice is gaining more public attention through media, activism and civic participa...

Prato Urban Jungle - Journal #3

The PUJ project has continued experimenting and testing nature-based solution to create urban jungles and forests in Prato! ...

Prato Urban Jungle a case study for Integrated Territorial Development

The PUJ project in Prato has been selected as one of the twelve good practice cities within the study on Integrated Territorial Development (ITD) as p...

Upscaling the PUJ project through the Cities Mission 

Recently the City of Prato was recognised under the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, which offers a great potential towards the upscal...

The Via Turchia social housing Jungle! 

The Prato Urban Jungle project tested nature based solutions (NBS) in different pilot sites of the city in order to carry out innovative strategies to...

The Estra headquarter building Urban Jungle! 

The Prato Urban Jungle project tested nature based solutions (NBS) in different pilot sites of the city in order to carry out innovative strategies to...

The Macrolotto Zero Urban Jungle!

The Prato Urban Jungle project tested nature based solutions (NBS) in different pilot sites of the city in order to carry out innovative strategies to...

Create your own Jungle! 

Within the Prato Urbact Jungle project, Legambiente developed the "Create Your Own Jungle" course, where during the classes, participants learnt how t...

Green is health

The green interventions at “Nuovo Ospedale Santo Stefano'' of Prato will create a new urban park within the city bridging the gap between health and b...

Urban Jungle: Prato truly means it

Legambiente is a non-profit association, made up of citizens who care about the protection of the environment in all its forms, the quality of life an...

Prato Forest City: a tree for every citizen

Prato Forest City is the new strategic approach to urban planning, developed by the Municipality of Prato....

Prato rewards sustainable behaviours

greenApes is a digital platform that engages and rewards actions and sustainable lifestyles: users accumulate reward points through their sustainable ...

PUJ - Journal 2: Prato Urban Jungle implementations

Impacts of urban forestry: innovative, socio-ecological and economic added values - ZOOM-IN

PUJ - Journal 1: Project activities development

UIA Expert Daniela Patti focuses her first journal on presenting the main objectives of the Prato Urban Jungle project, the pilot sites, the consortiu...

Prato Turns Green - From the master plan approval to the creation of urban jungles

Prato Urban Jungle – PUJ – project will renew its city districts with greater social, productive and environmental dimensions turning itself into an u...

From Result to Impact - The UIA Project "home & care" on the Way to Sustainable Implementation - Journal N° 3

Zoom In 2: First experiences from living together in the home and care house

Home & Care as an integration project

One of the cornerstones of the Home & Care project is the integration of people who, due to their life situation, their background, and their skills a...

Single-parent families in the Home & Care project – A local and European perspective

In the UIA project Home & Care, professional and social integration of single parents is tested with a new support model. Being a single parent in Ger...

The UIA project "home & care" in the transition from the project idea to the actual implementation - JOURNAL 2

Welcome to the new home – An introduction to the new "home & care" building

Balancing family life and work in the care sector - Experiences from the UIA project “home and care” in Landshut/Germany

The “home and care” project from Landshut between first results and new challenges

The corona pandemic meant that the first contacts between the employees in the home and care project in Landshut / Germany and the UIA expert Prof. Dr...

The home and care Project - Journal 1

Journal N° 1...

THE SECOND WAVE OF SMART CITIES: learning from the experience of a “SMART CITIES LIGHTHOUSE” PROJECT through a study visit in Milan

“The overall evidence suggests that we do not lack technologies, nor the data captured by technologies, but that the bigger challenge lies in governan...

Live from the Growth and Social Investments Pacts Project! An interview with the City of Vantaa Mayor Ritva Viljanen

The City of Vantaa Mayor is now serving her first term. Ritva Viljanen talks about “Jobs and skills in the local economy” and reinforces the commitmen...

How may policy discourse influence local jobs and skills agendas? The case of the Vantaa GSIP Project

Transnational and comparative social policy research shows that integrating individuals with complex social problems (such as low qualifications, outd...

Coding skills for non-geeks only! A smart strategy to train human resources and retain talents in the Aveiro Region - Zoom-in

Aveiro Tech City Bootcamp is an intensive training program, dedicated to unemployed, students or employed professionals looking for new career opportu...

Cities engaging in the right to housing Web conference #2 - No one left behind - Introductory paper

The introductory paper provides background to the web conference “No one left behind”, the second in a series on “Cities Engaging in the Right to Hous...

Do not bury your head in the sand - especially despite COVID 19!

Interview with Laura Font Mela, director of Salesians Sant Jordi-PES Mataró, how they have successfully shifted their physical training program for tr...

Do we need innovations? 3D printing technology for construction materials - ZOOM IN 2

The second zoom-in of Urban Infra Revolution, UIA Expert Kinga Korniejenko focus on exploring the technology of 3D printing geopolymer composites and ...

Engaging cities to reject housing exclusion as a ‘fact of life’

Could Covid-19 prove a turning point in the fight against homelessness? The second URBACT-UIA web conference on the right to housing engaged cities to...

AirQon Zoom-in 1: Not only for mobility purposes– towards the car as a service

The purpose of my first visit to the city of Breda was to learn firsthand about the AIRQON project. Anyone may think that a technology-based project l...

The Urban Commons in the era of public health emergencies: How Sevilla and the UIA community is problem-solving for safeguarding public space and public life in the face of increased risk

While images of empty cities made the world-tour and provoked understandable owe, empty and limited public space is in fact an imminent if not ever-pr...

Loneliness: a cross-cutting challenge tackled from the European perspective

The City of Verona, Italy, has presented S.T.E.P.S. (Shared Time Enhances People Solidarity) at an expert workshop organised by the Joint Research Cen...

Journal 4 - RE/SOURCED

Final Journal on the UIA RE/SOURCED Project...

RE/SOURCED - Journal 3

Our third RE/SOURCED Journal, covering Q1 2023 to Q1 2024...

A viable Energy Community at Transfo

Does circularity help to reduce carbon emissions?

This articles considers whether there is a link between circularity and carbon emissions. It also uses the RE/SOURCED project as an exemplar to show ...

Challenges adopting Circularity in Energy projects

RE/SOURCED aimed to construct a DC Smart Grid using circular principles at Transfo, a former coal fired power station site in Belgium. The original pr...

RE/SOURCED: Zoom-In 2

This video presents the second ZOOM-IN article for RE/SOURCED. It summarises the progress made by the project consortium in delivering the RE/Sourced...

RE/SOURCED - The Educational Perspective

RE/SOURCED is defined by a number of innovative but highly technical aspects of the project. This article presents a different perspective - the proj...

RE/SOURCED Journal 2

This article presents the second UIA Journal for Renewable Energy SOlutions for URban communities based on Circular Economy policies and DC backbones...

What are Energy Communities?

Energy Communities have had considerable press coverage recently and RE/SOURCED always had an Energy Community as one of the integral elements of its ...

Tenacity pays dividends for RE/SOURCED - ZOOM IN

This article sets out the regulatory challenges faced by the RE/SOURCED project team and the steps taken to overcome them. It highlights how regulatio...

What is the RE/SOURCED Smart Grid

This article describes the key elements of the RE/SOURCED Smart Grid...

RE/SOURCED Journal 1

UIA RE/SOURCED Journal - 1...

Cargo bikes: a family alternative to car ownership in Brussels

In Brussels, nine out of ten families with children rely on cars. Cargo bikes offer a sustainable alternative for school runs, groceries, and more. Di...

Rethinking parking: How Brussels is making space for cargo bikes

As cargo bikes gain popularity, Brussels is addressing the challenges of parking, theft, and accessibility through innovative policies and collaborati...

How Brussels is leveraging cargo bike potential for delivery and service trips

In European cities, up to 50% of urban trips for professional activities could be made by cargo bike, yet many lack the awareness, infrastructure, and...

Journal #2: Moving the City on Two Wheels

Incorporating partner feedback, the second edition of the journal traces the progress of each challenge, documents enhancements, and outlines actionab...

Cairgo Bike - Focus on air quality, black carbon exposure

The Cairgo Bike project is designed to boost measures being applied by Brussels Capital Region to structurally improve air quality in the city. It tar...

Incentive: Powering Cargo Bike Take-up

The Cairgo Bike project is designed to boost measures, being applied by the Brussels Capital Region to structurally improve air quality in the city. I...

The CAIRGO BIKE project Journal N° 1

The Cairgo Bike project is designed as a tool to help tackle persistent conditions of poor and damaging air quality experienced in many European citie...

Cairgo Bike working on 3 Ts: Training, Testing and Trial

The Cairgo Bike project is designed to boost measures being applied by the Brussels Capital Region to structurally improve air quality in the city. It...

Contaminated air, public health and Cairgo Bike

The Cairgo Bike project is designed to boost measures being applied by the Brussels Capital Region to structurally improve air quality in the city. It...

Cairgo Bike extending innovative action in Brussels Capital Region

The Cairgo Bike project is designed to boost measures being applied by the Brussels Capital Region to structurally improve air quality in the city. It...

Blue-Green roofs as accessible space in a 1.5-meter distance world?

Photo of the De Boel smart blue-green roof at Amsterdam Zuid (photo credits: De Dakdokters)...

How Universities participate in the development of local jobs and skills agendas? Lessons from the Vantaa GSIP Project

The evolving links between the university and the local government are becoming a major focus of European regional policies in specific areas, as the ...

Yes, we rent! Journal 3: the seven major implementation challenges

CAPACITyES zoom-in 1, the fantasy that creates places

Children's imagination can make our cities more welcoming and harbingers of inclusion-oriented messages, of symbolic meanings that can enrich our expe...

How a Place to Be-Come is transforming local parks while addressing social exclusion - ZOOM IN

On February 2020, the Centre Public d’Action Social (CPAS) - the local institution that delivers social aid - and the project partner Natagora - a gra...

UPPER Stories - ZOOM IN 1

The territory changes with physical work, but also through the story, the memory, the imagination of change. The UPPER stories are a collection of n...

A Junglathon to imagine your urban forest

The City of Prato is experimenting urban forestation strategies through the Prato Urban Jungle (PUJ) project . The project foresees three pilot areas ...

Cluj Future of Work Zoom-in 1: Pata-Rât and the future of work

The first Zoom In of Cluj Future of Work is on Pata-Rât, a Roma settlement located near the city landfill which is one of the main focus of the Urban ...

What is RE/SOURCED?

The RE/SOURCED Project & TRANSFO...

Podcast: the benefits and challenges of cargo bike and trailer sharing systems

Join us in this podcast as we delve into the groundbreaking cAIRgo Bike project, an initiative transforming Brussels with cargo bikes to improve air q...

On the road: cyclist vs motorist pollution exposure - Zoom-In #1 on Service trips

On the road: cyclist vs motorist pollution exposure - Zoom-In #2 on Families