PS-U-GO at the 36th AESOP Annual Congress 2024
July 15, 2024This project Education in Living Labs: Participatory Skills for sustainable Urban Governance – PS-U-GO, brings together leading universities, research institutions and NGOs to collaboratively establish a shared framework for the implementation of urban living labs supporting civic engagement in urban governance and the production of urban space.
Funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme which aims to support education, training and youth, PS-U-GO brings together a consortium of leading research institutions and NGOs, including Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), SOCIAL FRINGE: interesting untold stories (SF:ius), Palermo Urban Solutions Hub (PUSH), Urban Foxes and AESOP Thematic Group for Public Spaces and Urban Cultures (associate partner) to design, implement, and evaluate a participatory action-based training program through a series of Urban Living Labs in Nicosia (Cyprus), Petralia Sottana, and Naples (Italy), as well as Cottbus (Germany).
The project’s objectives include the co-production of a shared framework for implementing urban living labs as educational spaces, highlighting the significance of social and civic engagement in sustainable urban governance. Targeting Higher Education Institutions’ students, particularly future architects and urban planners, the project aims to equip them with essential soft skills, competencies, and advanced participatory skills, by immersing them in real participatory programs. It also aims to expose them to innovation and entrepreneurship in collaboration with the entrepreneurial sector and public authorities, and support the development of advanced participatory skills for governance bodies and civil society. Furthermore, PS-U-GO seeks to deliver applied interventions tailored to each context where the ULLs will operate, create resource-efficient and inclusive urban spaces.
The transdisciplinary approach of PS-U-GO ensures its impact on diverse target groups, including students in architecture, urban studies, sociology, human geography and related fields, policy-makers, decision-makers, and civil society members interested in urban sustainability and governance. The resources generated by the project will serve as a long-term asset for adapting and replicating the methodology, integrating key components within established educational activities.
PS-U-GO will run for three years and will involve a series of participatory activities in each city implementing ULLs, training activities for staff and young people, travels, and experience exchanges between partners, in order to initiate and foster a long-term relationship between academic institutions, governance bodies, and civil society, emphasizing youth participation in urban initiatives and developing their sense of ownership and responsibility for their urban environments.
We look forward to updating you on the progress of the project and the impact it will have!
For more information about the project, please visit the project website at www.psugo.eu or the project’s Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/psugo_project/.
Contact: Nadia Charalambous, Project Coordinator, charalambous.nadia@ucy.ac.cy, 22892965
Note to editors:
- PS-U-GO is funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme [project code 2023-1-CY01-KA220-HED-000158284].
- Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
- The University of Cyprus is the coordinator of the PS-U-GO project.
- The project will run for three years, starting from 29 December 2023.
- The total budget for the project is 400.000 Euro.