The ULALABS project, running until the end of 2026, seeks to establish a network of open innovation labs across four European universities, all members of the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU). The initiative aims to foster transformative innovation policies through collaborative learning communities and shared agendas. The project's overall objective is to define a theoretical and practical framework for implementing and operating a European distributed Living Lab focused on urban challenges and climate change. This "Lab of Labs" is envisioned as a shared and interconnected R+D+I infrastructure among HEI partners, promoting transformative innovation policies and practices within and among European regions through open and collaborative Learning Communities and Shared Agendas. Below we share the Ulalalabs project first-year milestones.
Key Milestones
Publication of the First Position Paper:In its inaugural year, the project published its first position paper, which began co-creating the vision of a future Lab of Labs. This paper, a collaborative effort involving research and learning across the four regions and partner universities, included contributions from regional stakeholders.
Work Package 2 (WP2) Achievements:
Publication: The project released a comprehensive report titled "The Emerging Lab of Labs: Practices and Experiences of European Urban Experimentation Spaces."This publication, resulting from extensive baseline research, includes a literature review
and findings from regional ecosystems on urban experimentation spaces. It highlights key insights from 12 case studies of diverse urban experimentation spaces across ECIU partner regions. This report provides insights into promising practices, structures, and experiences of urban experimentation spaces, their role in accelerating sustainable innovation, and their function as arenas for collaborative learning.
Future Vision Development: The team co-created a shared vision for a distributed Living Lab, engaging various contexts and stakeholders. The operational vision of the ULALABS project is to articulate the diverse urban experimentation spaces emerging in the different ECIU partner regions into a distributed Living Lab centered around a vibrant learning community, focusing on sustainable urban transformations. Such a “meta-lab” can tackle shared challenges within the ECIU ecosystem in a coordinated manner, reinforcing the R+D+I infrastructures and capacities of the ECIU university and augmenting its overall impact.
In the long term, the project aims to create a hybrid Distributed Living Lab aligned with the ECIU vision, focusing on urban sustainability transformations. This lab will facilitate transformative learning through non-traditional, challenge-based methodologies, fostering interconnections between existing labs and other experimentation spaces.
Work Package 3 (WP3) Developments:
Mutual Learning Communities: The project developed the concept of Mutual Learning Communities, emphasizing transformative learning and moving beyond conventional approaches that focus on information sharing and knowledge dissemination. The report argues for a deeper focus on learning, particularly on how to apply the results of living lab activities in new contexts and settings. By introducing concepts from adult and professional learning theories, such as Transformative Learning and Mutual Learning Communities, the project explores new pathways to scale living lab experiences. The emphasis is on understanding how knowledge and information are processed both cognitively and socially, enabling their application across different contexts.
The activities of WP3 aim to consolidate these concepts and develop a shared base definition, providing the theoretical and methodological foundation for the Learning Communities Roadmap.
Local Mapping and Insights: Initial local mapping for the ULALABS learning community has advanced, providing valuable insights for cross-case learning.
Work Package 4 (WP4) Developments:
Learning Toolkit Syllabus: WP4, particularly Activity 1 (A1), addresses shared challenges by creating a structured Learning Toolkit Syllabus. This syllabus equips learners with skills to tackle urban challenges, emphasizing social entrepreneurship and environmental responsibility. The first structure of the syllabus has been completed and will be tested and further developed with stakeholders and partners involved in the ULALABS pilots and learning community. The syllabus supports the transfer of local knowledge by providing a structured learning approach adaptable to diverse contexts, enabling the scaling and replication of solutions. It develops essential skills, fostering transdisciplinary collaboration, transformative learning, and problem-solving while emphasizing communication and conflict resolution. In summary, A1 of WP4 plays a critical role in advancing the ULALABS project's goals. Co-developing a Learning Toolkit Syllabus in consultation with the learning community facilitates knowledge transfer, empowers societal stakeholders, and promotes transformative innovation through a distributed Living Lab model.
Upcoming Events
To share the results of the first year and the mentioned publications, the ULALABS project is organizing a webinar on Friday, 31st January. You can still register for the event [here].
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