ULALABS at ECIU Lunch and Learn

On Wednesday, 21 January, members of the ECIU University community gathered for a Lunch & Learn session dedicated to exploring the vision, current work, and emerging results of the ULALABS project—while reflecting on how experimental spaces can drive sustainable urban transformation.

The session opened with a presentation from Konstantinos Kourkoutas, project coordinator, with an exploration of the diverse innovation and experimentation spaces that we have encountered in ULALABS so far, such as living labs, city labs, testbeds, fab labs, and other urban experimentation environments. Participants were shown real examples from across the ECIU ecosystem and beyond, demonstrating how these spaces are already addressing societal challenges and enabling new forms of cross-sector collaboration.

During the session, the ULALABS team shared its vision of a distributed, interconnected meta-lab—a “Lab of Labs” that links universities and existing innovation infrastructures across Europe that focus on urban challenges and climate action. ULALABS positions universities not only as knowledge institutions, but as active agents in urban sustainability transitions.

The project also highlighted its commitment to transformative learning through challenge-based approaches. Two key project publications were also shared during the session:

• Emerging Lab of Labs – Practices and Experiences of European Urban Experimentation Spaces

• Transformative Mutual Learning Communities Roadmap – Learning(s) from the ULALABS Experience)

These outputs capture both the foundations and the evolving practices behind the ULALABS framework.

Next steps: Pilot Activities for 2026

The session concluded with a preview of upcoming pilot activities planned for this semester by the respective pilot coordinators:

A. Cross-case Learning Pilot that will explore the following two challenges :

1. How can we prepare and open up urban spaces for experimentation and innovation, and how can we tr ansform a University Campus into an experimentation and collaboration arena? 

2. How can challenge-based processes be set up effectively at the city level?

B. Distributed learning pilot, where partners and local stakeholders in the four partner regions will explore and test different tools and methodologies in four local experimentation sites:

1. How can emerging technologies and collaborative methodologies be integrated to design inclusive and sustainable urban spaces?

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Upcoming Events:

1) ¨The University Campus as an Experimentation Arena¨ in the frame of the Cross-case Pilot 1. The first activity will take place on Wednesday, 28 January at 12:15, during an open webinar exploring how university campuses are increasingly becoming vibrant arenas for innovation through living labs, testbeds, and other experimental spaces.

2) ¨Cities for All¨ in the frame of the Distributed Learning Pilot. The initial activity in the form of an online webinar, is scheduled for Wednesday, 11 February (12:00–13:30 CET) where we will explore how to co‑create inclusive urban design strategies that reflect the needs and aspirations of diverse communities.

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You can access and consult the presentation of the Lunch and Learn session in continuation:

PPT_Lunch & Lean_January 2026.pdf

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