1st Training Event in Brussels

From September 25th to 27th, we gathered in Brussels for the first training session of the project.

The meeting kicked off with a tour of Track, the headquarters of Urban Foxes, which hosted us during the three days. Track itself is a living lab, an experimental hub connecting creation, education, and performance in Brussels’ North Station district. It serves as an urban research center focused on shared and mixed-use spaces, new forms of collaboration, and a creative economy that is social, circular, and financially sustainable. The Urban Foxes team shared the story of how the space was created, explaining how, through flexible design, the use of recycled materials from decommissioned buildings, and the collaboration between profit and non-profit organizations, they keep the space open. Their creative processes aim to revitalize the neighborhood, especially its youth community.

We then embarked on a journey through Italy. With PUSH, we explored the rural community of the Madonie, a region rich in natural and human resources, where a multifunctional space serving the community is about to take shape. From there, we moved to Lido Pola, where CNR-IRISS is helping the local administration engage residents in a participatory process to transform an abandoned industrial coastal area into an accessible public space. In Cyprus, we discovered the activities of Studio del SURF, the UCY lab that annually involves students in activating small parts of neighborhoods, prototyping new uses and furnishings for public spaces together with residents. Further north, we arrived in Cottbus, where the Coco lab will soon be established in a former shopping center. Managed by BTU, this space will be repurposed and run by students through participatory processes.

Throughout the meeting, we shared challenges, visions, methodologies, and experiences, realizing how much we had in common and laying the groundwork for the four PS-U-GO Urban Living Labs that will launch at the beginning of next year.

Thanks to Bram from Urban Foxes, we delved into a transformative experience that completely revitalized Brussels’ city center, driven by the participation and activism of its residents. We also heard about the work of AUA, an urban academy that uses the city as a laboratory for inclusion and youth activism.

During the training, students from UCY and BTU had the chance to test some of AUA’s tools on the ground. They conducted an urban exploration and shared their reflections with the Sfius facilitators. The final day of training was organized as a fishbowl session—an intensive focus group where students facilitated a stimulating debate on how to build trust, continuity, openness, and inclusiveness within living labs.

The insights gathered will shape a shared manifesto of values for PS-U-GO’s living labs, which will be part of the project’s outcomes and form the foundation for future activities.

It was a constructive exchange that highlighted the wealth of visions, perspectives, and experiences within our consortium, spanning academia, non-profit organizations, and students.

We left feeling energized and eager to dive into the next phase of the project with the launch of the living labs!