UIA Knowledge Lab

BRICK-BEACH: a missed opportunity ? Zoom-in 3

The BRICK-BEACH project is in a delicate situation due to problems related to the delay in obtaining the pertinent administrative authorizations and t...

How to use debris and demolition waste to regenerate a sandy beach - a Zoom-in on BRICK BEACH

Construction and demolition waste is always seen as one of the main barriers for implementing a circular economy. Instead, in Velez-Malaga they saw it...

BRICK-BEACH Journal 5: A new impetus for the project, but will be it enough?

In this 5th Journal, Miguel Lucena will guide you through the most relevant news of the last 6 months for BRICK-BEACH project. With the approval of th...

BRICK-BEACH journal - facing Covid 19 and other challenges

In this fourth Journal of BRICK-BEACH project, UIA Expert Miguel Lucena reports on the advancement of the project till March 2020. With the project at...

A circular economy project for the citizens, with the citizens: BRICK-BEACH engagement process - ZOOM IN 2

The first Zoom-in published in January 2019, was intended to give an overview of the BRICK-BEACH project and collect the opinion of the partners invol...

BRICK-BEACH Journal 3: overcoming some of the challenges related to its infrastructural activities

In the third Journal of BRICK-BEACH, UIA Expert Miguel Lucena shows how the project is currently overcoming some of the challenges related to its infr...

BRICK-BEACH UIA Expert Journal – tackling illegal dumps and recycling waste to recover its lost beach

UIA Expert, Miguel Lucena, gives a first look on how the project is being implemented ...

Construction and demolition waste treatment plant for the regeneration of the “Mazquitilla” Beach

This second Journal of BRICK-BEACH reports on the advancement of the project till March 2019 and focuses on the activities realised in different areas...

MILMA Final Journal !

MILMA (Migrants Labour Integration based on Acculturation) was a project funded by the EU, through the Urban Innovative Action (UIA) that promoted int...

MILMA UIA Expert Journal – creating an open and inclusive labour market

UIA Expert, Dario Mazella, gives a first look on how the project is being implemented ...

MILMA Zoom-in 1: The entrepreneurial approach

How entrepreneurship education helps to face challenges in regard to inclusion in the MILMA project....

MILMA's innovative approach towards improving integration of migrants - Journal 2

In his 2nd journal of the MILMA project, UIA expert Dario Mazzella highlights the progress of the MILMA Project in Fuenlabrada in the last month. It ...

Final Journal UIA VILAWATT project

The VILAWATT project was implemented to secure a stable energy transition process through the setting of an innovative governance structure (local pub...

Implementing the VILAWATT project in Viladecans: the use of gamification to communicate on complex energy projects

UIA Expert Lucia Fuselli has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Viladec...

VILAWATT Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Viladecans is doing on the topic energy transition in this UIA Expert journal....

Vilawatt Zoom-In: Exploring the project’s communication and stakeholders engagement strategies

UIA Expert Lucia Fuselli has developed a PPT slide show to discuss how the Vilawatt project in Viladecans has approached communication, stakeholder pa...

Vilawatt Journal 3: New insights on the progress of the project

Stay up-to-date with the latest achievements of Viladecans...

An update on the implementation of the Public Private Citizen Partnership and on the virtual currency

Vilawatt is currently considered to be a Spanish example in social innovation and community energy, at a time when energy poverty and energy access ar...

MARES Journal 6: get an update about Madrid project

UIA Expert Alessandro Coppola drives us through the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Madr...

Implementing the MARES de MADRID project: Get an update in the 5th UIA journal

UIA Expert Alessandro Coppola drives us through the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Madr...

UIA projects contributing to inclusive and smart growth: Report reflecting experiences and first lessons now available

Read the final report with conclusions from the jobs and skills in the local economy capitalisation activities...

MARES de Madrid Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Madrid is doing on the jobs and skills topic in this UIA Expert journal. ...

Implementing the MARES de MADRID project: Get an update in the second UIA journal

UIA Expert Alessandro Coppola has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Ma...

MARES de Madrid Zoom-In: Learn how the city supports the emerging social economy sector

UIA Expert Alessandro Coppola provides an in-depth look at how the implementation is changing the local economy. ...

Implementing the MARES de MADRID project: Get an update in the 4th UIA journal

UIA Expert Alessandro Coppola drives us through the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Mad...

MARES's 3rd project journal

In his 3rd Journal of the MARES project, UIA Expert Alessandro Coppola takes his readers in a journey of how Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) works...

The AS-FABRIK project Journal n 6 Project led by the city of Bilbao

One year after the UIA funding ended, the AS-Fabrik project is standing on its own feet. In his 6th and final journal, the UIA Expert Willem van Winde...

AS-Fabrik Zoom-In: Interview provides insight into transformation of local economy

UIA Expert Willem van Winden interviews Eduardo Castellano one the architects of a highly innovative approach towards industrial modernisation. ...

Zoom-in: An innovation hub for the city of Bilbao

In his 3rd Zoom-in, AS-FABRIK expert Willem van Winden, guides through the innovation hub in the city of Bilbao. Bilbao is now constructing the AS-FAB...

AS-FABRIK Expert Journal 5: Get to know what happened in the last 6 months!

In his 5th Journal, Willem van Winden summarizes the activities that took place in the last months in the AS-FABRIK project. Most importantly, Willem ...

AS-FABRIK Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Bilbao is doing on jobs and skills in the local economy in this UIA Expert journal....

Co-creation and collaboration processes within AS-FABRIK project

This Zoom-in deals with the issue of co-creation in Bilbao, in the framework of AS-FABRIK project, wherein a physical location that will become the be...

AS-FABRIK Expert Journal 4: Get to know what happened in the last 6 months!

In his fourth Journal, Willem van Winden discusses all key activities that you need to know about AS-FABRIK. Most importantly, Willem shares his thoug...

Implementing the AS-FABRIK project in Bilbao: Get an update on the activities carried out in the second UIA Expert journal

UIA Expert Willem Van Winden has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Bil...

AS-FABRIK Expert Journal 3: Working on increasing the competitiveness of industry and developing new knowledge-intensive business services

UIA Expert Willem Van Winden provides an update on how the project is evolving....

The B-MINCOME scheme during the heights of the pandemic

What happened to B-MINCOME during the pandemic when people lost their jobs or had their incomes cut? In September 2021, the Barcelona City Council an...

Rethink your monitoring and evaluation practices

You want to capture the change that your project is bringing at local level? The new monitoring and evaluation platform is now online: browse through ...

B-MINCOME Journal 5: A successful journey towards participative and community-oriented social welfare system

In a moment where welfare state has been retrenched and the public support becomes pivotal to respond to people’s needs arising from rapid and unstabl...

B-Mincome – blog post on two of the project’s Active Social Policies

The B-MINCOME project is already in place. Nevertheless, as long as this pilot is made-up of different Active Social Policies, they should be consider...

B-MINCOME and the Guaranteed Minimum Income

In this first Zoom-in, Laura Colini, UIA Expert for B-MINCOME shows the approach taken by the project of combining the Guaranteed Minimum Income to di...

B-MINCOME Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Barcelona is doing on the urban poverty topic in this UIA Expert journal. ...

B-Mincome Expert Journal: Get an update of what has been happening in the last 6 months

With the end of the selection process of the 2000 families included in the different pilot schemes for Minimum Income, the project has now fully enter...

CAMINA - Journal 2 - From the Novel Cultural Narrative to Social Laboratories for Culture

Ileana Toscano, UIA expert, in this 2nd Journal, focuses on the Novel Collective City Narrative, built up with the contribution of Almería citizens an...

The Novel Collective Narrative of Almeria to foster Cultural Participation

In this first episode developed for the project “CAMINA”, Ileana Toscano, UIA expert, introduces the Novel Collective Narrative of Almería’s Cultural ...

Journal 1 - CAMINA – Community Awakening for Multicultural Integrative Narrative of Almería

Ileana Toscano, UIA expert, in this 1st Journal, provides an overview of the policy context at local and international level, in which CAMINA has been...

GAVIUS hosts two Study Visits of the Ca’ Foscari Challenge School

International networking and dissemination of the project's concept and solutions are at the core of GAVIUS mission: in this light, the project's team...

GAVIUS joins the 5th Edition of the Conference “For a Circular and Competitive Economy”

Last 1st and 2nd June, the 5th edition of the conference “For a Circular and Competitive Economy” took place in Gavà (Spain). This annual event is arr...

GAVIUS: from co-creation to technological development - interview with Enric Ruiz-Esteller

Given the complexity of urban challenges, the public administrations involved in the Urban Innovative Actions Initiative are well aware they need to s...

Designed with and for the user: GAVIUS employs co-creation to develop its social aid management app

After having successfully concluded its co-creation phase, the GAVIUS project is deep diving into the development of the mobile application which will...

GAVIUS Journal #1: When AI Serves Common Good

Municipalities and local agencies are the forefront of digital transformation experimenting to use Artificial Intelligence and Data Anaytics to improv...

Making the Transition Affordable for all UIA report: EPIU as a case study

There is a pressing need to identify effective policy solutions to inspire locally driven low-carbon transitions in EU cities. UIA has led a two-year ...

How project synergies bring new opportunities: the example of EPIU

Synergies between projects can generate a wide range of opportunities for municipalities. For example, the ability to share knowledge and best practic...

The relevance of the ecosystems around an UIA project: the case of EPIU in Getafe

In scientific terms, an ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather or landscape, work together to f...

The Healthy Households’ Office service (OHS) in Getafe, ready to face the high energy prices

Energy prices are at record highs and remain volatile in Europe. Situations of energy poverty are exacerbating and families in Europe are struggling t...

Journal 2: Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU)

This is the second journal of the Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU) project since its start in September 2019. EPIU led by Municipality of Getaf...

Start-ups’ business models as inspiration for local innovations: the case of EPIU

At corporate level, a business model is a strategy for operating a business. It describes how a company will generate value for its customers. Althoug...

Interview with Sara Hernández, mayor of Getafe

In this article, UIA Expert Marta Garcia interviews the mayor of Getafe, Sara Hernández, to explore how the municipality is integrating EPIU, the UIA ...

Strategic Committee as a governance tool to ensure a committed leadership: the case of EPIU project

Implementing an Urban Innovation Action implies a degree of risk for local authorities and a committed leadership is a requisite for municipal led inn...

The challenge of identifying hidden energy poverty

Energy poverty is a situation in which households are unable to access essential energy services. With nearly 34 million Europeans unable to afford to...

Journal 1: Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU)

This is the first journal of the Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU) project since its start on September 2019. EPIU led by Municipaility of Getaf...

Co-management and activation of large urban spaces in the era of climate transformation

This zoom-in article focuses on the New Governance and Social Innovation component of the project Cartuja-Qanat in Sevilla, which aims to propose an i...

CartujaQanat – Recovering the Street Life in a Climate Changing World Journal 2: How is Sevilla moving the needle in the fight to urban climate transformation

Sevilla in Spain, will be the battleground of Europe for extreme urban heat. A pilot space containing an amphitheatre, an underground gallery and open...

The Urban Commons in the era of public health emergencies: How Sevilla and the UIA community is problem-solving for safeguarding public space and public life in the face of increased risk

While images of empty cities made the world-tour and provoked understandable owe, empty and limited public space is in fact an imminent if not ever-pr...

More than sewage and water pipes. How a water company in Spain becomes a driver of urban transformation

The Metropolitan Water Supply and Sanitation Company of Sevilla (EMASESA) is the coordinating Partner in the Urban Innovative Actions Program ‘Cartuja...

Bringing together the key areas of Climate change, Social Innovation and Public Space revitalisation

In this Journal, UIA Expert Kostantina Karydi explores the achievements of the first year of the Sevilla CartujaQanat project across eight selected go...

Final (internal) evaluation and results: what can be replicated in other cities endowed with forest resources

In July 2022, the project started collecting the information for its final internal evaluation. Due by the end of October 2022, the evaluation was a m...

Incentive mechanisms for visibility and engagement: acknowledgments, prizes and awards

UFIL has given and gained visibility over the last three years. Prizes and awards were used to help young entrepreneurs to accomplish the UIA project’...

Zoom-in #3 - Lessons learnt in UFIL

UFIL is close to its completion and project's partners were invited to point out the main lessons learnt throughout implementation. By sharing this ex...

Forest certification in and around UFIL: a multi-functional driver

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organisation promoting the responsible management of forests, and is one of the partners of t...

Local action plans for forest bioeconomy development: a mission impossible?

One of the main objectives of the UFIL project is to contribute developing a local bioeconomy ecosystem which is based on the sustainable exploitation...

Zoom-in #2 - Business and job creation in UFIL: sustainability mechanisms

The Urban Forest Innovation Lab project is a Jobs and Skills Urban Innovation Action. Through its innovative training, the project is expected to help...

How do UFIL entrepreneurial ideas link urban to rural areas? A mix of tradition and local innovation.

UFIL is an Urban Innovation Action and as such is supposed to focus on urban development. In fact, UFIL has a peculiarity that makes it different from...

UFIL Journal #3: how the project is about to begin its fourth and final year

This is the third journal of the Urban Forest Innovation Lab (UFIL) UIA project since its start on 1 November 2018. It covers the period 31 October 20...

UFIL Journal 2: taking stock of the project implementation

This is the second journal of the Urban Forest Innovation Lab (UFIL) project since its start on 1/11/2018. It covers the period 1 January 2020 – 31 Oc...

ZOOM-IN #1: The ‘business challenge’ mechanism of UFIL

In UFIL, the ‘business challenge’ is a mechanism ruling the internal competitions which are run in the project’s innovation lab. These competitions ar...

UFIL and the COVID-19 outbreak: challenges and opportunities.

UFIL is designed to create innovation and to impact at the socio-economic level. The project tackles job creation and development of new businesses in...

Scouting innovators: how ideas shape the future of Cuenca's forest-based bioeconomy

UFIL is looking for innovators and when potential candidates were asked to share their ideas on the future of Cuenca's forests, the city, the objects ...

Fostering local skills and innovation capacity in the forest sector: UFIL's first journal is out

In this first journal edition of the UFIL project, the UIA Expert Rossella Soldi presents the challenges and the solutions implemented by the City of ...

Creating Healthy Air Quality in Schools

In this zoom-in, the issue of outdoor and indoor air quality in schools is discussed on the occasion of the project GBG_A2CC of the City of Barcelona....

A blueprint of actions at the city scale for a successful adaptation plan to climate change - Recommendations from the Barcelona GBG_AS2C project

This Web article presents a blueprint of actions for cities to draft their own adaptation plan to climate change, also exploiting their local knowledg...

Evaluation - An indispensable component of innovation projects

Evaluation is an indispensable component of any project, especially innovation ones. It provides an understanding of the reliability of the applied me...

Upscaling with a vision - The school yard as a school

In this Web Article, the upscaling plan of the Climate Shelters project of the City of Barcelona is presented. The plan reflects a vision, namely to c...

Journal No. 3 The “final mile” of the Climate Shelters project: communication, evaluation and replication

The Journal (the 3rd for the Climate Shelters project) aims to provide an overview of the progress of the Climate Shelters project, with emphasis give...

Cultivating a School Culture for Climate Action - The Barcelona example

In a world that’s becoming increasingly complex, there is a need to prepare especially young people for a future that will require good knowledge, an ...

Indicators as tools for Adaptation to Climate Change at the city scale - The Climate Shelters project of the City of Barcelona

In this Web Article, the approach of the City of Barcelona towards the development of Performance Indicators as tools for Adaptation to Climate Change...

Changing the lens in urban design to cope with the impacts of climate change to health - The Barcelona approach

Protecting citizens at the neighbourhood scale in the event of heat waves is at the core of the Climate Shelters project of the City of Barcelona. Rea...

Barcelona’s pilot project to beat the heat

It is only 10 am but air temperature in Barcelona is already high; another heat wave has hit the city, causing the further enhancement of the heat isl...

Barcelona: a city in climate action

Image of the Can Fabras school yard following the conversion of the school to Climate Shelter ...

Adapting Barcelona to Climate Change: A multi-criteria approach for the selection of schools to be converted to Climate Shelters - Zoom In

This zoom in focuses on a challenging feature of the Barcelona “Climate Shelters” UIA project, namely the methodology and criteria for the selection o...

Barcelona’s Climate Shelters project The challenge of communicating unwelcome messages on climate change

To connect with people and communicate climate change effectively, one should convey more than climate facts to people. Instead, there is a need to un...

Science in the City

Image of Barcelona by Kaspars Upmanis on Unsplash...

GBG_AS2C journal: Climate shelters in Barcelona

In this journal, UIA Expert Constantinos Cartalis provides a contextualization of the Climate Shelters project within the policy context of the Europe...

Zoom in: GUARDIAN community engagement - How can residents contribute to fire resilience

In this zoom-in the UIA expert Elsa Pastor digs into the participatory approach that GUARDIAN has implemented to engage communities within the global ...

Looking at the GUARDIAN system’s “brain”: The NetSense SIDEINFO platform

In this article we show the main features of the monitoring, control and intelligence system that Medi XXI has designed for the GUARDIAN project. This...

GUARDIAN is officially inaugurated!

In this article we provide all the details of the GUARDIAN official opening event that took place at Riba-roja and Paterna last April 7th. It was a gr...

GUARDIAN Journal 3: get an update about Riba Roja de Turia's project

In the third Journal of the Guardian project UIA expert Elsa Pastor reports on project progress during year 2021. She also analyses cross-cutting impl...

Zoom-in: Interview to Ferran Dalmau, MSc on Wildland Fire Science and Integrative Management, Medi XXI CEO

In this Zoom-in we summarize the conversation that we had with Ferran on less visible yet important aspects of the GUARDIAN project. During the interv...

Analysing the economic viability of GUARDIAN: current challenges and expected outcomes

In this article we present a preliminary overview of the methods and challenges that prof. Francesc Hérnandez and his team at Universitat de València ...

Innovative fuel management at GUARDIAN: the green firebreaks

The main axis on which GUARDIAN's integrated fire management strategy pivots is the construction of green firebreaks, a fire management infrastructure...

GUARDIAN works are in the spotlight!

GUARDIAN works are progressing at full speed this spring, as the initial commissioning of the entire hydraulic infrastructure is expected in 3 months’...

GUARDIAN Journal 2: get an update about Riba Roja de Turia's project

In the second Journal of the Guardian project UIA expert Elsa Pastor reports on project progress during year 2020. She also analyses cross-cutting imp...

Unsupervised irrigation, how GUARDIAN scientists satisfy their thirst for innovation

Automatic preventive irrigation through water canyons is one of the several fire management actions that GUARDIAN is implementing at La Vallesa Wildla...

The smart use of water to fight WUI fires

Water scarcity is increasing in many European countries, being the climate change crisis and the growing water demand in urban areas their main driver...

GUARDIAN Expert Journal 1: Get to know the project and what happened in the first 6 months!

In her 1st Journal, Elsa Pastor, UIA expert of the GUARDIAN project, discusses all key activities that you need to know about GUARDIAN, what the proje...

Learning to live with WUI fires

While fire has been one of the most relevant elements for the advancement of mankind, paradoxically it has also been -and still is- the responsible fo...

Consolidation of the public-citizens cooperation for the provision of affordable housing

One of the most innovative aspects of the ‘Yes, We Rent!’ project is to coproduce affordable rental housing through a collaboration between the munici...

4 key activities to mobilise empty flats for affordable rental housing - zoom-in °3

Mataro's city council has developed an incentive scheme and untertaken four key activitites to mobilise private empty flats for the affordable rental ...

Mataró concludes its project ‘Yes, we rent!’ – the final event

Yes, we rent! Journal 3: the seven major implementation challenges

Mataró’s Tenants Housing Cooperative for affordable rental housing - zoom-in °2

Mataro's tenants housing cooperative, Bloc Cooperatiu, provides affordable rental housing reactivating private vacant flats. This article describes ho...

Recommendations for the establishment of a new housing cooperative to provide affordable housing in Mataró

The challenge of evaluating an innovative housing project

The city of Mataró has developed an innovative housing project to provide affordable housing in the private rental market. In order to learn from the ...

A day to remember: 18.2.21, Mataro has a new offspring – the tenant housing cooperative BlocCooperatiu!

On 18th of February 2021, the notary LOPEZ & ALBIOL formally approved Mataro’s new tenants housing cooperative ‘BlocCooperatiu’. Dedicated residents o...

‘Yes, We Rent!’ Journal 2: Reactivating the private empty flats has started!

UIA Expert Nils Scheffler updates us how “the acquisition of empty flats as well as the training of troubled adolescents for the renovation of the emp...

A look ahead - What does 2021 bring for the 'Yes, we rent!’ project

COVID-19 and its effects continue to be a reality in Mataró, but also for the project 'Yes, we rent!'. ...

Do not bury your head in the sand - especially despite COVID 19!

Interview with Laura Font Mela, director of Salesians Sant Jordi-PES Mataró, how they have successfully shifted their physical training program for tr...

Mataro Zoom-in 1: Vacant flats for a better future of vulnerable young adults - The ‘Yes, We Rent!’ training programme

Yes, We Rent! – Training vulnerable young adults...

First owner signed contract to bring his flat to the ‘Yes, we rent!’ housing scheme

On 28th of September the time had come. The first owner, Antonio Martínez, signed the contract to make his empty flat available to the 'Yes, we rent!'...

Journal 1 for ‘Yes, We Rent!’: Mataro’s first steps

UIA Expert Nils Scheffler explains that “so far, no serious challenges for the project have arisen. There is a quite strong political and administrati...

Owners, make your empty apartments available!

In order to acquire apartments for the 'Yes, we Rent!' housing scheme, the first information campaign measures were started and first apartments visit...

Mataró has kicked off its project for a larger audience: The Learning event!

Mataró faces the problem of “people without flats and flats without people”....

Seraing resumes its long journey of commoning where it all began

La Maison du Peuple was built in 1916 in Seraing as a gathering place for the working class. “Before, social-democrat activists gathered in the old th...

Discovering CAMINA by walking in Almeria with the delivery partners

On the 21st and 22nd April 2022, CAMINA hosted the project officer Nelida Hancco-Herrera for a field visit in the places interested by the cultural an...

CAMINA – How CULTURE fosters social integration and re-connects degraded cultural heritage neighbourhoods within city life

The project “Community Awakening and Multicultural Integrative Narrative of Almería (CAMINA)” has been fostering a new approach to promote Cultural Pa...

The Climate Shelters project - Climate innovation to beat the heat

In his 2nd Zoom-in, Constantinos Cartalis, UIA Expert for the Climate Shelters (Adapting Schools to Climate Change through green, blue and grey Soluti...

The water reclamation plant

In the 1st zoom-in of the GUARDIAN project, UIA expert Elsa Pastor dives into the first piece of water infrastructure designed and implemented in GUAR...