Reimagining the UAB campus north limit: ULALABS workshop explores the transformation of the CircuLAB surrounding area.
- hafsaelbriyak
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min de lectura
On 25 March 2026, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona hosted a participatory workshop in the framework of the pilot of the ULALABS project, focusing on the transformation of the Recycling Center and the CircuLAB surrounding area. The session brought together around twenty participants, including students, academic staff and researchers, as well as technical and administrative staff, and was designed as a co-creation space in the context of the UAB campus Living Lab to collectively reflect on this area of the campus and explore potential future scenarios.
The workshop opened with a welcome message from UAB OPEN LABS coordinator Alfons Mias, and a brief introduction on the project and pilot by ULALABS coordinator Konstantinos Kourkoutas. In continuation Uri Serra from Replantegem, shared an initial analysis and insights on the area under analysis as a context for the participative part later on. This first part was complemented with short interventions by technical staff from the UAB sustainability Office (Anna Florensa - Green Spaces and Biodiversity and Carme Hidalgo - Circular Economy), the Architecture and Urbanism technical office (Adrià Herbera) and the CIRCULAB technician Clara Borràs.
The participative part of the workshop initiated with an interactive live-question session that enabled participants to share their perceptions of the site and contemplate the reasons/factors that have produced the actual situation.
This initial exercise highlighted a shared understanding of the space as being strongly shaped by car-oriented infrastructure, with limited pedestrian accessibility and connectivity, low environmental quality, and a general perception of being unwelcoming and disconnected from the rest of the campus. At the same time, participants identified its strategic potential as a key area for future transformation.
Building on this initial diagnosis, participants engaged in group work to further analyse challenges and develop proposals. The collaborative process also made use of the Responsible Futuring Approach that enabled the exploration of alternative future scenarios, integrating key principles such as sustainability, inclusiveness, safety, renaturalisation, and the enhancement of everyday user experience.
Another key feature of the workshop was the use of a custom tailored made AI-Assisted Urban Design tool, which supported participants in translating their ideas into visual representations. These visualisations played an important role in facilitating discussion and enabling a shared understanding of the proposed scenarios.
The outcomes of the group work converged on the need to transform the current character of the space—dominated by hard surfaces, parking areas, and a lack of pedestrian structure—into a greener, more accessible, and people-centred environment. Proposed interventions include the creation of clear pedestrian pathways, shaded resting areas, urban furniture, new vegetation, and improved signage, as well as enhanced connectivity with other parts of the campus. The proposals also emphasise the importance of fostering social uses, improving environmental quality, and reducing the perception of isolation, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and identifiable campus space.
Group A
Group B
Group C
This workshop represents a first step in an ongoing co-creation process, which will continue through future pilot activities aimed at further developing and refining an updated proposal for this strategic area of the campus.
The presentation of the workshop is available here:
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