A research lab at ICTA-UAB
Building Transdisciplinary Capacity with Urban-Regional Innovation Partnerships | 28th March 2017
The Urban-Regional Innovation Partnerships (URIP) form part of NATURVATION (NATure-based URban innoVATION), a European Horizon 2020 funded collaborative research project (2016-2020) is aimed at unlocking the potential of nature-based solutions (NBS) for sustainable urban development. The project builds transdisciplinary partnerships across six cities—Barcelona, Gyroz, Leipzig, Malmo, Newcastle and Utrecht—to scrutinize the insights of those working on the ground designing, developing and implementing NBS. Each partnership involves stakeholders from a range of organizations, including public authorities, urban developers, conservation organizations, community groups, and local businesses working alongside the research team. The partners participate in a series of structured meetings, or URIP Dialogues, in order to provide input to: 1) framing the problems to be investigated; 2) deliberating the criteria through which to organize the collection of data on the emergence of NBS across Europe; 3) designing and developing new methods of assessment; 4) collaborating in the design and process of inquiry for the case-studies of NBS innovation; 5) participating in the identification of the systemic conditions enabling and constraining NBS; and 6) co-designing, co-developing and co-implementing the findings and outputs.
The first URIP Dialogue of Barcelona, co-organized with the ENABLE project, was held at our headquarters in IMIM-PRBB. A total of 33 people from 16 different organizations participated in the event. The dialogue included a brief presentation of the Naturvation and ENABLE projects, together with the URIP participation process; a brief presentation of the conceptual framework of NBS; and a world café workshop for the identification, mapping and prioritization of NBS in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Thanks to the URIP meetings, the BCNUEJ team is able to prioritize environmentally and socially innovative NBS interventions in the Barcelona metropolitan area for more in-depth assessment.