Urban Living Labs in Action: From Europe to Latin America’s Neighbourhoods and Cities
2024-12-05 15:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Vienna)
Welcome to a digital workshop 5 december, bringing together urban actors working with experimental methods such as urban living labs – the workshop aims to exchange experiences in urban transformation, discuss new approaches and strategies, and offer opportunities for international twinning.
>> Click here to register for the event to make sure being invited to upcoming JPI Urban Europe and Driving Urban Transitions events, and networking activities. The event will be able to join without registering here (Zoom).
Urban areas are key to build robustness to deal with the bunch of crises and uncertainty of the 21st century. For that reason, renewed efforts are required to address the stresses and challenges with innovative approaches in cities and to enhance the capacities of municipalities, urban governance and society to act and therefore to enhance the robustness of urban systems to stress and disruptions caused by phenomena caused by the climate, biodiversity and socio-economic crises. The urgency to reach agreed goals and significantly change human activities away from linear models of exploitation towards processes within planetary boundaries has never been more pressing.
Urban Living Labs
Success will depend on the ability to bring research results, new governance innovation, technologies, approaches, tools, processes, policy recommendations, etc., into action in all our cities and form multi-stakeholder alliances for change. In that sense, Urban Living Labs provide the experimental settings, to test and co-create solutions and approaches among different stakeholders.
This workshop will bring together urban actors (local public administration, researchers, innovators, grassroots organisations, etc.) working in and with experimental methods such as urban living labs to exchange approaches, similarities, and differences.
Purpose
The workshop aims to exchange experiences in urban transformation, discuss new approaches and strategies, and offer opportunities for international twinning. More specifically for urban living labs, the workshop aims to

provide a platform for exchange and networking among the Latin American Urban Living Lab community and European participants and actors in this field,
discuss experiences with and impact of urban living lab approaches in urban contexts, and
establish an environment for cross-continental learning from experiences and knowledge(s) generated in urban living labs.

The results of the workshop will be used for future activities and events with a focus on Latin America in the scope of the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership (DUT) and the ERA-NET Urban Transformation Capacities (ENUTC).
Agenda
15:00 Welcome note
15:05-15.15 Input on urban living labs – Linking global ambitions with local actions
15:15-16:00 Pitches (à 7 minutes) by projects/initiatives working with urban living labs in Latin America and Europe
16:00-16:10 Short break
16:10-16:15 Introduction to workshop: Learning from urban living labs across continents
16:15-16:45 Workshop: Learning from urban living labs across continents
16:45-16:55 Wrap-up
16:55-17:00 Closing and next steps
Global times
15.00-17.00 CET – Brussels Time
11.00-13.00 BRT – Brasilia Time
09.00-11.00 PET – Lima Time
Contact
Janine Halder – janine.halder@ffg.at

Urban Lunch Talk: Serious gaming as a way of understanding the world
2025-01-23 12:00 - 13:00 | Online
When urban planning and sound decision making relies on the aggregated knowledge and collaboration of many, gamification is a promising approach that allows us to explore possible futures and untangle difficult issues while having fun…or?
>> You can access the webinar recording here:
https://youtu.be/m6EZSsozNBw?feature=shared
In this episode of the Urban Lunch Talks series, we will investigate how serious games can be a useful tool in tackling complex planning situations, to support a better understanding of the issues at stake among stakeholders, help increase the engagement for sustainable urban development and better decision making. We want to share insights from two projects funded in JPI Urban Europe and deep-dive into learnings from these projects and discussion. In what situations are games helpful, vs not so helpful? What are the key success factors and are there any hidden traps? What are the do’s and do-nots’ when setting up your own serious game?
We will take a starting point in findings from two projects funded in the ERA-NET Cofund call Urban Accessibility and Connectivity (ENUAC).
Speakers:
Glenn Lyons, Professor at the University of the West of England, and project coordinator of the TAP for uncertain future project, to talk about e.g. one of the project’s most innovative outputs – a serious game called ‘TAP-SWOT in a BOX’.
Gerfried Mikusch, Projektass. Dipl.-Ing at TU Wien, representing the SmartHubs project to talk about the SmartHubs co-design games.
Jonas Bylund, Researcher KTH Royal Institute of Technology, with a background in the JPI Urban Europe management board with a focus on research and innovation strategy, shares insights on how serious games relates to a tradition of other exploratory methods and Urban Living Labs.
Neil Powell, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor at Uppsala University, will e.g. share experiences from co-creating games (engaging stakeholders in co-designing the game), from a conflicting perspective.
About the ENUAC projects

TAP for uncertain future explores approaches to better consider both uncertainty and different ways to strengthen accessibility through strategic transport planning. The project has developed the Triple Access Planning (TAP) system – a novel approach that considers transport, land use, and digital connectivity in combination. Workshops that helped stakeholders to co-create a mental model of the system, i.e. to understand the system. “Before you can plan how to shape a system, you really need to understand what system you’re trying to shape,” says Glenn Lyons, project coordinator and professor at the University of the West of England. One of the project’s most innovative outputs is a serious game that introduces TAP to practitioners. The game challenges its players to weigh up the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of adopting TAP in their own contexts. Glenn Lyons will join us and tell us more about the project and the game they have developed!
The SmartHubs project examines mobility hubs, dedicated on-street locations where citizens can choose from different shared and sustainable mobility options. The main objective is to assess if a co-designed, user-centric development can enable mobility hubs to act as a game changer towards inclusive sustainable urban mobility and accessibility. The project has developed different tools that facilitate a co-design, user-centric development of mobility hubs involving users, governments and businesses to increase the attractiveness and adoption of shared and sustainable mobility modes. One of the tools is called the Co-design Tool for supporting the planning process of mobility hubs. The tool includes a set of gaming materials and a guiding handbook to enable living labs to design tailored Design Games, encourages and supports the communication between designers, users, researchers, and other stakeholders, and helps to reveal new insights more candidly. Gerfried Mikusch, Projektass. Dipl.-Ing at TU Wien, was involved in the development of the SmartHubs co-design games. In the Urban Lunch Talk he will share some lessons learned on the development and application of the games.
Join us for an interesting Urban Lunch Talk January 23. Register today!
Urban Lunch Talk webinar series
This Urban Lunch Talk is part of a webinar series to discuss and synthesise cross-cutting research and innovation, with diverse stakeholders across Europe and beyond. By facilitating conversations among various stakeholders, we aim to inspire collaborative efforts and practical solutions that can drive sustainable transitions in urban policies and practices. The webinar is designed to be more of a listening experience, allowing you to enjoy your lunch or take a walk at the same time. The Urban Lunch Talk is live recorded on Zoom, and later published for the JPI Urban Europes’ /Driving Urban Transitions’ YouTube channel.
Find the latest episodes on the Driving Urban Transitions YouTube channel. Previous episodes can be found on the JPI Urban Europe YouTube channel.

ENUTC Final event and Agora dialogue, Lund and Malmö, February 5–7 2025
2025-02-05 13:00 - 2025-02-07 13:00 | Lund and Malmö, Sweden
Wednesday until Friday, February 5–7 2025, agencies and project participants from the ENUTC co-funded call will gather in Lund, and Malmö, Sweden, for sharing results and experiences, onsite and online. A Strategic Agora Dialogue will be arranged on the Friday.

Welcome to Lund, Sweden, for the ENUTC final event. Project partners and funding agencies will have the opportunity to gather for sharing experiences, networking, and inspiration. Projects will present and discuss their works, mingle with each other, agencies and experts.
A Strategic Agora dialogue is planned for the Friday (until lunch) in Malmö, Sweden.
Purpose and aim
The final event will let projects report on their research and results, while facilitating exchange and community building among the projects and partners – for those involved to also discuss post-project opportunities.
For whom?
ENUTC project coordinators and at least one additional project partner, external experts and ENUTC funding agencies are invited to attend the final event, and the Strategic Agora dialogue.
Inspiration for continuation
The main focus for gathering is to discuss project results, and exchange experiences – including meeting eachother in real life (IRL), those of us who are able to make it to Sweden. Also the ones joining online will be involved in the conversations.
The projects are about to finish the ENUTC programme. Thus, project continuation will also be at focus during the event. We will be joined by Johannes Stripple from Climaginaries for inspiration – and not least, contiunation will be discussed during the Strategic Agora dialogue.
Discuss project results and experiences
The final event will let projects report on their research and results, while facilitating exchange and community building among the projects and partners – for those involved to also discuss post-project opportunities.
The project leader, or the presenter, will go through the results and experiences (5 minutes) with a PP presentation, sent-in beforehand (can be presented from your own computer). Each project decides on what to present and which experiences to highlight.
Strategic Agora dialogue
A strategic Agora dialogue is planned for the Friday at the World Trade Center in Malmö, Sweden. The dialogue will be only onsite, and it will focus on project continuation, and transformation capacities .
We will discuss how methods and processes could be used at larger scales, the importance and need of international collaborations, and what is required for funding and continuation in general.
Michael Creek from Stickydot will be moderating the dialogue, with support from Johannes Riegler (FFG/DUT), Elena Simion (UEFISCDI), and Kristina Laurell (Formas) managing group discussions.
Agenda (CET, preliminary)
Wednesday 5 February 2025, Eatery, Lund
15.00 For the ones coming to Lund already Wednesday afternoon, registration will open – and there will be space for the project partners who want to meet with eachother.
16.30 Mingle and a toast together.
Thursday 6 February 2025, Eatery, Lund
09:00 Registration and coffe
10:00 Welcome – Kristina Laurell, Simon Boström, Formas & Elena Simion, UEFISCDI
10:25 Project presentations (cirka time spots)

10.25 Embedterlabs
10.35 Crest
10.45 City&Co
10.55 Create

Fika break

11.20 CircularCityChallenge
11.30 Coolshools
11.40 Carin-PT
11.50 Co-Hope

12:00 Mingle lunch, break
13:30 Continuation theme spot – Johannes Stripple, Lund University & Climaginaries
14.15 Project presentations (cirka time spots)

14.15 Opush
14.25 Munex
14.35 U-garden
14.45 Ilit

Break (15 min)

15.10 Conect
15.20 Tango-w
15.30 Contra
15.40 Trustmaking

16:00 Closing remarks – Kristina Laurell, Simon Boström, Formas & Marie Yeroyanni, Senior expert – innovating cities, European Commission, DG RTD
16:20 Q&A
19.00 Dinner (Stäket, Lund)
Friday 7 February 2025, World Trade Center, Malmö
09:00 Guided tour (from World Trade Center)
09:50 Strategic Agora dialogue – Michael Creek, Stickydot, Johannes Riegler, Driving Urban Transitions, Elena Simion, UEFISCDI & Kristina Laurell, Formas
12:15 Lunch
Climaginaries digital activity – possible for the one not yet travelling (by downloading an app).
Welcome to Lund and Malmö
The final event, 5–6 February, will be located at Eatery, Mobilvägen 4–6, Lund, Sweden.
Travelling from Copenhagen airport/Kastrup (Cph) is convenient with trains from Terminal 3 every 15–20 minutes to Lund (ca 40 minutes).
From Lund Central, you may take the Tram 1 to Telefonplan (ca 7 minutes). Walk to Eatery inside the Ideon Science Park (Eatery is next to the Water tower).
Dinner, Thursday night, 6 February, will be at Stäket, Stora Södergatan 6, Lund.
The strategic Agora dialogue, 7 February, will be only onsite, arranged at the World Trade Center, Jungmansgatan 12, Malmö.
From Lund Central to Malmö, there are trains every 5–10 minutes to Malmö Central (ca 10–20 minutes), with buses 3 (at D for Ringlinjen, get off at Propellergatan) and 8 (at E for Västra hamnen, get off at Kockum Fritid) every 5–10 minutes (ca 7 minutes) to World Trade Center, or cirka 20 minutes walk.
For the ones online
Thursday 6 February, agencies and project participants from the ENUTC co-funded call will gather for sharing results and experiences, also online – below is the online meeting link:
Zoom meeting: https://formas-se.zoom.us/j/64161547415
Registration
Registration is per invitation.
Preparations is sent out per email.
Contact
Simon Boström, Formas, simon.bostrom@formas.se

Conference: Sustainable and Climate-Neutral Cities for Inclusive and Equitable Urban Future
2025-02-26 - 2025-02-28 | Rome, Italy
The Urban Europe Research Alliance (UERA), invites you to the Conference “Sustainable and Climate-Neutral Cities for Inclusive and Equitable Urban Future”, in collaboration with DUT and CapaCITIES Partnerships.
This dynamic multi-event will take place from February 26th to 28th, 2025 at the headquarters of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) in Rome, Italy, and will showcase innovative approaches, ideas, and discussions focused on urban climate justice, communication, alternative economies, and equity issues in contemporary cities.
Attendance at the event is free of charge; but registration is mandatory.
Please, find all the info about the General Agenda, Registration, Call for Papers and Venue at the following link:
https://www.plan.aau.dk/sustainable-and-climate-neutral-cities-e124754

Urban Lunch Talk #39 – Can urban experiments breach the car dominance in cities?
2025-04-14 12:00 - 13:00 | Online
Urban Living Labs are typically local experiments that allow researchers and stakeholders from cities to work together to explore and develop new solutions that can show the way towards more sustainable cities. In normal circumstances these experiments are small niche innovations without the power to instigate radical and long term change. However, in volatile times with rapid shifts in policies and peoples’ preferences niche innovations can gain traction and challenge the status quo, i.e. the current system and dominating practices.
Welcome to a new episode of the Urban lunch talks series. In this episode we will learn more about how transformation of urban systems can take place and thereafter deep dive into the role of experiments to challenge the dominance of cars in cities.
>> You can access the webinar recording here: https://youtu.be/yS4MTZsrH4w
We will learn from projects that promote alternative temporary uses of streets and parking lots for other purposes, e.g. urban space for pedestrians, parks and physical exercise. Building on learnings from these JPI Urban Europe funded research and innovation projects focused on mobility and accessibility, we will discuss how local experiments can be seen as niche innovations and as such important stepping stones towards a more people centred urban transformation as they destabilise the current car dominated regime. We will also discuss benefits and hurdles of embedding and mainstreaming these experiments in the larger planning processes of cities and municipalities for an increased impact.
Speakers

Göran Smith, Director at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and an expert in the ACUTE knowledge Hub, will briefly introduce the multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions, contrast it with an analysis of the focus of JPI Urban Europe projects, and argue why research and innovation should place greater emphasis on destabilizing existing regimes.
Anique Hommels, Prof. dr. Anique Hommels, Chair in Sociohistorical Technology Studies at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, will share experiences from the project EmbedterLabs (Better Embedded Labs for More Synergistic Sustainable Urban) that study what can be gained if urban living labs are more embedded in normal planning organisations rather than being treated as stand-alone projects.
Imre Keseru, associate professor of urban mobility (Mobilise Mobility and Logistics Research Group) at The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), will share experiences from the project StreetForum that has experimented with alternative use of streets, for example turning parking lots into outdoor gyms. A toolkit (e.g. digital crowdsourcing tool and guidelines for using art installations and cultural events as well as governance guidelines) will be tested in four living labs (Brussels, Vienna, Stockholm, Istanbul) to evaluate its impact, transferability and scalability and will be available as free-to-use resources for the broader community.
Florian Lorenz, co-founder LAUT – landscape architecture and urban transformation, will share experience from the project TuneOurBlock which experiments with temporary introducing car free zones and slow speed regulations into a neighbourhood dominated by car traffic. The goal is to validate, internationalize, and expand the Superblocks concept as a policy and planning strategy for transformational urban adaptation.

Moderator: Jakob Schabus, IQ Samhällsbyggnad

Final event: Innovations for Managing Sustainable Urban Accessibility
2025-05-20 14:00 - 18:00 | Lodz, Poland
Welcome to the ERA-NET Urban Accessibility and Connectivity additional call “Innovations for Managing Sustainable Urban Accessibility” Final Event (by invitation only).

Time: 20 May 2025 – 14:00 – 18.00 pm (registration, meet and greet with a light lunch from 13.00)
Location: Vienna House Andel’s, Lodz, Poland, back-to-back with the Urban Futures conference (21-23 May)
Register here

The purpose of this event is to provide:

A forum for exchange for all projects within the ENUAC co-funded call “Innovations for Managing Sustainable Urban Accessibility”
Information and workshops, e.g. finding commonalities between projects (for example common challenges) in a creative setting
Presenting and discussing projects’ research results and outcomes
Wider dissemination of the results at the Urban Futures conference
In addition, we invite you to join the Urban Futures conference: The Better-Cities Event, 21-23 May at no extra cost (tickets are provided for free). Please find more information below. Participants however need to pay for travels and hotels.

Important note
We expect 2-4 partners to travel to Lodz for the final event.
Please be aware that this event is by invitation only. Community building within the program is an important aim of the event, and the invitation is therefore limited to researchers actively involved in the funded projects and their partners from outside academia also involved in the projects, as well as the involved ENUAC National funding agencies and experts from the European Commission.
About the Urban Futures Conference
The Urban Futures conference is an annual conference for city changers that attracts nearly 1000 participants from all over Europe. The conference puts inspirational real cases in the spotlight. For the JPI Urban Europe programme the Urban Futures conference is a highly relevant conference to use for communication and networking. You will also have the opportunity to join JPI UE/DUT lounge, a space in the Lounge area for outreach, community building and networking. Read more about the Urban Futures conference here.
Important note! You do not need to register for the Urban Futures conference. Your registration for the final event includes a ticket to the conference (if you wish to have one). When registering for the final event, you will have the option to accept or decline a ticket.
More information on preparations and travel arrangements will follow shortly.
Agenda
The program may be subject to change.
Tuesday, 20 May 14.00-18.00 CEST
Meeting Venue: Vienna House Andel’s in Lodz, Poland
13:00 Registration, meet and greet with a light lunch.
Online participants are recommended to check in 10 minutes before the event starts.
14:00 Final event starts
Welcome and introduction to the program by Björn Svensby, Vinnova, and Johannes Bockstefl, FFG.
Check-in participants expectations on the final event with joint reflections, by Katarina Schylberg, IQS.
14:15 Focus on projects results and outcomes
– Introduction to set up of this session, by Katarina Schylberg, IQS
– Projects presentations followed by Q & A from learning partner
– Feedback from active listening (We practice active listening in the sense that all participants are assigned to listen for certain aspects in each presentation (challenges, key learnings, methodological, overall feelings/impressions).

14:20 Presentation by TAAM – Opposition by ACCTRA
14:40 Presentation by StreetForum – Opposition by TollsThatWork

15:00 Break (10 minutes)

15:10 Presentation by ACCTRA – Opposition by StreetForum
15:30 Presentation by TollsThatWork – Opposition by TAAM

15:50 Break with refreshments
16:20 Joint reflection and synthesis
Challenges, key learnings and take aways, methodological topics etc. Aim to explore (and map) commonalties across research topics and projects. Discussion led by Björn Svensby, Vinnova.

16:50 Presentations from the Mgmt Team
– Highlights from project reports, by Johannes Bockstefl, FFG
– DUT 15-minute City, future call topics and activities, by Maxi Jäger, DUT 15mC TP coordinator

17:15 Feedback
Feedback on how the Innovations for Managing Sustainable Urban Accessibility call was set up and what can be improved for future DUT calls with similar focus.
17:40 Wrapping up
– Wrapping up, feed-back on today’s meeting relating back to the expectations.
– Tour de table on planned communication activities, projects and ENUAC Communication team, by Ida Mårtensson, IQS.
18:00 Final event ends
19:00 – 21.00 Joint dinner and networking for onsite participants

ENUTC Grande finale & BTC Final event, 17-18 September 2025, Bucharest, Romania
2025-09-17 - 2025-09-18
Wednesday until Thursday 17–18 September 2025, agencies and project participants from the ENUTC Building Transformation Call (BTC) will gather in Bucharest, Romania, for sharing results and experiences, onsite and online. There will also be a capacity building meeting with workshops about green transformation with urban living labs, art, design, culture, municipalities, and local ecosystems as change agents.

Welcome to Bucharest, Romania, for the ENUTC Grande final event for the Building Transformation Call (BTC). Project partners and funding agencies will have the opportunity to gather for sharing experiences, networking, and inspiration. Projects will present and discuss their works, mingle with each other, agencies, city representants and experts.
Purpose and aim
The final event on the Wednesday will let projects report on their research and results, while facilitating exchange and community building among the projects and partners – for those involved to also discuss post-project opportunities.
For whom?
ENUTC BTC project coordinators, and at least one additional project partner, city representants, external experts, funding agencies, and researchers or stakeholders interested in the topic, are invited to attend the final event, and the capacity building meeting with workshops.
Locations
Venue: Nod Makerspace, Splaiul Unirii 160, Bucharest
Social dinner: Linea, Str. Lipscani nr. 17, Sector 3, Bucharest
Project presentations
The final event on the Wednesday will let projects report on their research and results, while facilitating exchange and community building among the projects and partners – for those involved to also discuss post-project opportunities.
The project leader, or the presenter, will go through the results and experiences (5-7 minutes) with a PP presentation, sent-in beforehand (can be presented from your own computer). Each project will present research questions, methodolgy (very briefly), and key findings (tentative results), and experiences will be highlighted throughout the expert conversation that will follow the presentation. Instructions for preparations including a PP template is e-mailed to the project coordinators.
Capacity building meeting
The capacity building meeting, Thursday, will build upon the conversations from the project presentations, Wednesday. Thursday’s meeting will revolve around green transformation change agents. There will be keynote speeches, a panel discussion, and a workshop about urban living labs, art, design, culture, municipalities, and local ecosystems.
Agenda
Wednesday 17 September 2025, Bucharest (local times)
11.30 Guided tour (starting at Nod Makerspace, Splaiul Unirii 160)
13.00 Lunch and registrations
14.00 (13.00 CEST) Welcome – Elena Simion, Uefiscdi, Simon Boström, Formas
14.15 (13.15 CEST) Project presentations (and coffe break)
Experts
– Helka-Liisa Hentilä, University of Oulu
– Jeroen Boomgaard, Gerrit Rietveld Academie
– Marc Dijk, Maastricht University
– Maria Neneciu, Uefiscdi
17.00 (16.00 CEST) Conclusions
17.30 Photo shoot
18.30 Social dinner, Linea, Str. Lipscani nr. 17, Sector 3, Bucharest
Thursday 18 September 2025, Bucharest (local times)
8.30 Registration and coffee
9.00 (8.00 CEST) Welcome – Elena Simion, Uefiscdi, Kristina Laurell, Formas, Emina Pasic, Swedish Energy Agency
9.20 (8.20 CEST) Keynote speeches and panel discussion
Keynote speakers
– Marie Yeroyanni, EU Commission
– John Hultén, Shift Sweden
– Mark Dijk, Maastricht University
Panelists (including experts above)
– Emma Sheperdson, Shift Sweden
– Patrik Rydén, Viable cities
11.00 Coffe break
11:30 Workshop: Transformation with Urban living labs as change agent – the role of art, design, and culture
13.00 Lunch
14.00 Workshop: Transformation with Urban living labs as change agent – the role of municipalities, and local ecosystems
15.30–16.00 Reflections, Johannes Riegler, FFG
Online
For the project presentations, Wednesday, follow us by clicking on this link to a Zoom meeting.
For the capacity building meeting, Thursday, follow us by clicking on this link to a live stream at Youtube.
Registration
Registrations until 1st of September 2025.
Due to limited registration capacity, we kindly reserve the right to determine onsite participation.
Contact
Simon Boström, Formas, simon.bostrom@formas.se

Urban Lunch Talk: The aftermath – What came out of the ENUTC calls?
2025-10-27 12:00 - 13:00
Last month, September, agencies and project participants from the ENUTC Building Transformation Call (BTC) gathered in Bucharest, Romania, for sharing results and experiences, onsite and online. There was also a capacity building meeting with workshops about green transformation with urban living labs, art, design, culture, municipalities, and local ecosystems as change agents. Now, agencies will discuss what came out of the Bucharest meeting, and from the ENUTC calls, in an Urban lunch talk.
It is possible to register for the Urban Lunch Talk for the ones interested in being invited to further talks and networking activities. A Zoom meeting link will appear here before the event starts, available for anyone to join the talk. You may download the event to your calendar (ics). The event will be recorded and published for the JPI Urban Europe’s Youtube channel in order to be seen afterwards. You may watch the episode by clicking this link.
-> Join the Urban Lunch Talk (Zoom)
What came out of ENUTC?
The ERA-NET Cofund Urban Transformation Capacities (ENUTC) programme has over the years, in 2 calls, invited researchers, urban government authorities, cities and municipalities, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders to build transnational consortia. The goal has been to create innovation and research projects that enable and support capacity building for urban transformations, also in art and design.
Now that the ENUTC programme is coming to an end, and when the echoes from the last event, the Grande Finale, in Bucharest are sounding out – what could be said about the programme in terms of output? What came out of the 2 ENUTC calls? What is the aftermath? For the upcoming, and last ENUTC Urban Lunch Talk, agencies will discuss the programme’s purpose and results, and what stood out from 21 exciting projects in 2 quite different calls.
Panel of agencies
Kristina Laurell, Formas
Elena Simion, Uefiscdi
Emina Pasic, Swedish Energy Agency
Asta Aleksandravičienė, Research Council of Lithuania
Moderation: Simon Boström, Formas
Urban lunch talk webinar series
The urban lunch talk is part of a webinar series to discuss and synthesize cross-cutting research and innovation, with diverse stakeholders across Europe, and beyond. The webinar is more of a listening experience, so that you can enjoy your lunch or taking a walk at the same time. The urban lunch talk is live-recorded in Zoom, and later published for the JPI Urban Europe’s Youtube channel.

Winter Academy for the Sino-European projects
2025-11-26 09:00 - 2025-11-27 17:00
By invitation only
26-27 November, University of Groningen
Winter Academy for the eight Sino-European projects funded by the Joint Programming Initiative Urban Europe (JPI Urban Europe) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in the Sino-European call of the ERA-Net Urban Accessibility and Connectivity (ENUAC) (EC grant 875022).
The event offers the PhD students and postdocs an opportunity for capacity building and networking. There will be lectures, strategic discussions and exchanges on impact, and learning from the projects’ research and experiences so far.
Registration
Registration closed.

Agenda
The program may be subject to change.
Wednesday 26 November 2025
09.00–09.30 Arrival & coffee/tea
09.30–09.45 Welcome & opening (organisers + host university)
09.45–10.00 Icebreaker/ Research bingo
10.00–11.00 PhD & Postdoc Presentations – Session 1
11.00 –11.15 Coffee/tea break
11.15–12.15 Lecture on stakeholder engagement by Belinda van der Gaag (Senior advisor Public Affairs NWO)
12.15–13.30 Lunch
13.30–14.30 Guest Lecture by prof.dr.ir. Jan Fransoo – Professor of Operations and Logistics Management at the Tilburg School of Economics and Management – room for questions afterwards
14.30 – 14.45 Coffee/tea break
14.45– 16.00 PhD & Postdoc Presentations – Session 2
16.00 – 16.30 Wrap-up Day 1
16.30 – 20.00 Drinks & Dinner

Thursday 27 November 2025
09.00–09.15 Arrival & coffee/tea
09.15–10.15 Guest Lecture by Franco Ruzzenenti – Director of Education of the Energy & Sustainability Institute Groningen
10.15–10.40 Coffee/tea break
10.40–12.30 Workshop – Interactive session – Revisiting Theory of Change
12.30–13.30 Lunch
13.30–14.30 Guest Lecture
15.15–15.30 Coffee/tea break
15.30 – 16.30 Guest Lecture
16.30 – 16.45 Plenary discussion – Lessons learned & recommendations
16.45 –17.00 Closing
