ULALABS Reaches the Final Chapter with an International Event on Urban Experimentation in Barcelona

After three years of collaboration, knowledge exchange and innovation across Europe, the ULALABS project is reaching its final chapter with an international event that will bring together universities, public authorities, urban innovation practitioners and European networks to reflect on the future of urban experimentation.

The event, "Innovation in Action: From Urban Experimentation to Collective Impact. Building a Distributed Ecosystem for Shared Learning and Transformative Change", will take place on 21 October 2026 at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) as part of the UAB Innovation Week.

The event will showcase the project's main achievements while opening a broader conversation on how cities and university campuses can become spaces for experimentation, collaboration and sustainable transformation.

Through the presentation of project results and inspiring discussions, participants will explore how testbeds, sandboxes, urban labs, living labs and prototyping spaces can help address complex urban and climate challenges through collaborative, evidence-based approaches.

The programme will feature the presentation of ULALABS' key outcomes alongside two thematic panel discussions focusing on Urban Experimentation Spaces and Prototyping, Co-creation and Lab Networks, creating opportunities for dialogue, networking and mutual learning among researchers, practitioners, policymakers and innovation actors.

As the final event of ULALABS, this gathering represents not only the culmination of the project's journey but also the beginning of new collaborations and future initiatives that will continue advancing urban innovation beyond the project's lifetime.

Find out more about the event here.