Reflecting Together: Launch of the ULALABS Learning Communities Roadmap

On 13 November, the ULALABS consortium gathered online with project partners, contributors and guests to reflect on a key milestone of our work: the launch of the Mutual Learning Communities Roadmap. Rather than a formal presentation, the session took shape as a collective reflection on the journey that led to the Roadmap—its conceptual foundations, the collaborative methods used, and the lessons learned so far. The event also featured valuable feedback from social pedagogy experts, Paloma Valdivia and Carme Rovira, and Ryan Wakamiya from the ECIU University, highlighting the growing alignment of ULALABS with the broader European ecosystem of innovative, challenge-driven education.

From Knowledge Sharing to Transformative Learning

The session opened with a reminder of where the journey began. As Anders Riel Müller (UiS) explained, one of the core guiding questions was: How do we move from knowledge exchange to genuine learning that transforms practice? This initial question led to the development of the concept of Transformative Distributed Mutual Learning Communities, stressing not only the spaces where learning happens, but the cognitive and relational processes that enable lived experiences to travel between contexts and be meaningfully applied elsewhere.

This was complemented by Begonya Sáez Tajafuerce (UAB), who deepened the conversation by positioning inclusion as a method rather than a principle—an active contamination of epistemic practices with diverse experiences, identities and knowledges. Inclusivity, she argued, is essential for learning communities to become transformative, relational, collaborative and deeply meaningful.

Mapping Communities, Co-Creating Shared Agenda, and Learning Toolkits

The Roadmap reflects a series of structured methodological steps. Konstantinos Kourkoutas (UAB) explained how the consortium undertook a collaborative mapping of people, organisations, spaces and knowledge flows across four regions—capturing knowledge holders, relationships, interactions, capacities, and the aspirations of stakeholders. This mapping is intentionally dynamic, a living and evolving representation of community capacities that also can guide engagement and future challenge-based work. By doing so, the mapping supports long-term relevance and adaptability.

Building on this foundation, as Karin Eliasson (LiU) explained, partners co-created a Shared Research, Development and Innovation Agenda, identifying short-term priorities (climate-neutral cities, circular economy, transformative learning and engagement) and long-term ambitions such as strengthened interconnected campuses, impact indicators and frameworks for continuous learning. These align closely with ECIU’s challenge-driven research agenda and its vision for connected European ecosystems.

Additional methodological innovations—such as Responsible Futuring workshop and the development of a learning toolkits —reinforce the iterative, open and distributed character of ULALABS. As Javier Martinez and Mafalda Madureira from University of Twente highlighted, these tools are not templates but evolving resources and iterative processes supporting collaboration, experimentation and lifelong learning, exploring the possibilities to connect with microcredentials and digital badges.

As part of the final reflections, Anders highlighted the methodological approach developed is not about applying a fixed blueprint but embracing an iterative process that can respond to context and stakeholder inputs. In that sense, mapping communities becomes a learning exercise rather than a static listing, co-creation is essential for building shared visions and learning agendas.  A learning community is not a fixed entity. It's always emerging and it's always contingent and that requires constant reflexivity: continuously asking what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how to adapt as circumstances evolve.

Pedagogical Perspectives: The Contribution of Social Pedagogy

A key highlight of the event was the contribution from Paloma Valdivia and Carme Rovira, who provided a pedagogical interpretation grounded in the tradition of social pedagogy. They reaffirmed that learning communities thrive when rooted in everyday life, collective meaning-making, dialogue, and civic participation. Their emphasis on understanding needs, focusing on processes, and assessing impact resonates strongly with ULALABS’ ambitions. They underlined that education is not only action but co-creation, lived experience and community empowerment.

ECIU Perspective: Alignment and Future Potential

The final reflection came from Ryan Wakamiya, ECIU University Learner Engagement Coordinator, who praised the Roadmap as “valuable and inspiring,” emphasising strong alignment with ECIU’s priorities of challenge-based learning, inclusive communities, and connected European ecosystems.

Ryan highlighted ULALABS’ strengths: methodological reflexivity, distributed ownership, inclusion as a structural process, and readiness to scale across Europe. At the same time, he pointed to ongoing challenges, such as enhancing citizen involvement, developing mechanisms for reintegrating learning back into challenge agendas, as well as the sustainability of communities. ULALABS, he noted, is well positioned to contribute to emerging European developments including flexible learning pathways, micro-credentials and the future European degree initiatives.

Looking Ahead

With the pilots now beginning, ULALABS moves into an exciting new phase—testing how the principles, tools and approaches developed so far can support real innovation and experimental work in the local ecosystems with living labs and other urban experimentation spaces. As the session made clear, the Roadmap is not a final product but a living, evolving foundation—one that grows stronger through collaboration, reflection and alignment with the wider European innovation landscape, in particular in the close partnership with ECIU University.

On behalf of the ULALABS team we would like to thank all the Roadmap contributors, Paloma Valdivia, Carme Rovira and Ryan Wakamiya, and all the project partners and stakeholders. This publication would not have been possible without your contributions and engagement throughout this journey. Your insights and participation have shaped this work, and we truly appreciate your role in making it happen. We hope it can also serve as inspiration to others.

You can read the full Roadmap here.

In the coming days, we will share the recording of the session in podcast format, along with Roadmap summaries featuring key insights translated into Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Catalan, and Spanish.

Stay tuned!