Think Local Act Global

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UNIC engages its European-wide population to solve the societal challenges of post-industrial cities in UNIC CityLabs.   

The European University of Post-Industrial cities is ramping up collaboration between University and City. The UNIC member universities all share an identity and ambition of acting as drivers for development in their post-industrial cities with and for their citizens. This principle of development through co-creation is evident in the eight universities’ practices. From cherished informal stakeholder relationship all the way to established Open Innovation Platforms, there are many modes and forms of co-creation between the UNIC universities. UNIC builds on this experience by developing a shared co-creation model for our universities and cities in UNIC CityLabs.   

Solving locally defined societal challenges on a European arena 

UNIC CityLabs is a platform for co-creation between university and city, where UNIC gathers and shares diverse perspectives and knowledge on societal issues, solves these issues through co-creation, and inspires and engages the members of our academic and civil community to work towards societal impact. Within UNIC CityLabs the eight UNIC universities host events where specific societal challenges and opportunities for development are identified and discussed locally and then brought to an international setting to be solved by diverse groups of people. Results and solutions are then brought back to the discussion on a local level to support and encourage their implementation. The first UNIC CityLabs will kick-off this Spring and focus on the topics of Inclusivity, Diversity and Urban Resilience. 

UNIC CityLabs are organized by the UNIC universities in cooperation with their cities, each university hosting multiple local and international events per year. The events aim for a wide reach, bridging the gap between the academic and civil communities. This is supported by a conscious attempt at engaging students and citizens from diverse settings and gathering perspectives from the general public. UNIC CityLabs is also a platform for Engaged Research, practices that aim to engage members of the public with the shared goal of collaboratively gaining understanding and even solving societal phenomenon through research. 

Is your city facing a challenge that you would like to solve in a UNIC CityLab? 

UNIC welcomes additional partners from the private, public, or third sector to join CityLabs as participants, experts, teachers, speakers or case providers. Follow the UNIC channels and your local university’s channels for information on events.  You can also contact the UNIC CityLabs coordinator of your city with any questions or ideas you might have.

Erasmus University Rotterdam: unic@eur.nl | Koç University: unic@ku.edu.tr | University of Zagreb: unic@unizg.hr  

University College Cork: unic@ucc.ie | University of Deusto: unic.ud@deusto.es | University of Liege: unic@uliege.be 

University of Oulu: unic@oulu.fi | Ruhr University Bochum: unicteam@ruhr-uni-bochum.de