After developing and testing the   Urban GoodCamp Training Programme    - a multidisciplinary challenge-based innovation sprint in the form of a bootcamp that comprises theoretical and practical learning - the  consortium conceived this Toolkit as  the   result of the implementation phase of the project. It describes the different elements of the methodology, as well as the structures that can be used to carry out the bootcamp. 

Considering the atemporality of Urban Challenges, the consortium partners believe that this programme can be a useful tool for any organisation interested in contributing to transform their communities. In this regard, we hope that this toolkit will be your best ally when implementing the   Urban GoodCamp Training Programme. 
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The 4th International partners' meeting of the project took place in Venice in 20-21 April, and was organized and hosted by an amazing team at  Dipartimento di Management - Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.

Beyond the absolutely inspiring context - which, in itself, has become the focus of one of the urban challenges of the project - the team rolled up its sleeves to plan the final activities of the project.

Boosted by the creativity of the solutions designed by the students and stakeholders participating in the bootcamps in all the 6 European cities, and the collaboration of the project's team to design the final products of the project, there will be a lot happening in the next months!

#erasmusplusproject #urbanchallenges #sustainability #urbangoodcamp #bootcamps

Snapshots of the community events held in different partner cities


By:  Catherine Hayward (UIIN)

​Stakeholder consultation is key throughout the Urban GoodCamp project lifespan. Thus, the project envisions the undertaking of at least four events where urban stakeholders are engaged to provide feedback, insights, and advice around the development and implementation of the project bootcamps.

Consultation Events 

The initial Consultation Events have already taken place across six partner cities (Amsterdam, Helsinki, Ljubljana, Madrid, Paris & Venice), and this kick-started a collaboration between the community of stakeholders and the UCAMP consortium. Insights were gained into the urban challenges that stakeholders found most pressing, and these challenges were integrated into the learning framework and toolkit of the UCAMP bootcamps, allowing students the opportunity to apply their new knowledge to real issues.

Community Building Events

Considering the valuable input gained from stakeholders that was used in the development of the bootcamps, the next step was to obtain feedback from the communities on the bootcamp toolkit and content. Therefore, the partners once again have brought together their urban stakeholders to discuss the outline of the bootcamp, in a so-called Community Building Events. These events not only  aim to obtain feedback, but also focus on how to better create connections between stakeholders themselves (i.e., how can they work together to solve urban challenges?), as well as developing linkages between the stakeholders and the project consortium for the creation of greater impact.

Looking Forward in our Communities

So far, more than 100 urban stakeholders have taken part in our Community Building Events, and these stakeholders and members of the UCAMP consortium have committed to working together for their goals. For example, the University of Ca’ Foscari and its Venetian stakeholders aim to test possible ways to aggregate the different initiatives already operating in the city, to work towards making Venice a resident- and tourist-friendly city. This process will also allow Ca’ Foscari to test if the university can really become a platform to facilitate co-design processes with local stakeholders, through the creation of an effective innovative learning environment.

Another UCAMP consortium member, Institut Mines-Télécom Business School, has plans to work together with a company that was part of their stakeholder community, to reach more participants for the bootcamp and co-deliver the programme.

Following up on this first Community Building Event, the next step will be for the urban stakeholder groups to provide their suggestions for improvements on the implementation of the bootcamps, so that the toolkit can be updated for future users. There will also be opportunities to further strengthen the alliance between the communities and the UCAMP consortium through innovation tours, additional events and an intercommunity webinar. The second Community Building Event will take place in the first quarter of 2023.

The Urban GoodCamp Train the Trainers' session was held in October 2022 on Zoom. Delivered by members from Aalto University, the session was intended to provide an overview of the  Urban GoodCamp project and its different layers. The session was hosted by Natalia Villaman, with the help of colleagues Marcela Acosta and Saara Kuikka. 
 
Together we delved into the structure of the programme, its educational goals, the role and commitment of all partners involved and useful information on timelines and reporting. At the same time, a complementary document was introduced: the Urban GoodCamp's Pilot Implementation Strategy. The document, representing WP5's first deliverable, is meant to act as a replicable guide to understand and implement the current and future versions of the project. It includes all the contents from the Train the Trainers' session, as well as more practical and detailed information on the different aspects of the events to be held. 
 
Finally, the trainers introduced a series of supporting tools for partners to help them plan, keep track and organise their own work. Taking the form of templates, visual aids, presentations and checklists, the partners at Aalto University wanted to provide concrete means to make the planning traceable, easy to document and relatable for all partners involved.
 
After the training, it was time for questions. This time was used to ask for feedback on the session itself, and on the contents of the Pilot Implementation Strategy as well. WP5 duly noted existing needs and gaps that were subsequently implemented (such as the need for dissemination guidelines or feedback collection surveys) and were disseminated among all partner organizations.
 
This instance proved to be a great exercise to understand the magnitude and importance of the  Urban GoodCamp project. Yet at the same time, it turned out to be a moment in which to recognize the hard work being put forth by all those involved.

By: Alexandra Zinovyeva (interviewer) & Viviana Rojas (co-author)

Hack4Change, a week-long hackathon that brings students and stakeholders together to tackle pressing social sustainability issues, is organised by Dublin City University (DCU) Business School. Gathering more than 600 students and 80 industry representatives to work together to solve society’s biggest challenges, the event exposes students to numerous activities, including live talks by experts, mentoring and pitching. Overall, the event gives students practical experience in collaborating with industry partners, and students are given the opportunity to directly engage with relevant societal topics.
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The process of making a change
Hack4Change has three main objectives that impact learning: it aims to 1) facilitate the development of innovative ideas to tackle societal challenges, 2) create student awareness and interest towards societal issues, and 3) help participants develop critical skills such as teamwork, networking and problem solving.
Participants in Hack4Change are made up of first-year undergraduates enrolled in the Learning Innovation for Enterprise (LIFE) module. The LIFE module is designed to help students better understand innovation in commercial, entrepreneurial, and organisational contexts. The hackathon tackles challenges in three key areas: climate, equality and mental health & wellbeing. The challenges related to climate include topics such as sustainability, fast fashion and smarter travel, while topics associated with equality may consist of diversity & inclusivity, global challenges and discrimination. The mental health & wellbeing challenges that may be addressed include post-COVID living, cyberbullying and more.
During the event, students are teamed up with one another according to their topics of interest, and develop viable social enterprise ideas based on the event’s themes. Participants go on to pitch their concepts to judges at the end of the week and are assessed based on the reflection papers they submit after the experience. Throughout the hackathon, participants receive advice from industry leaders and mentors. The event has mentors from a mixture of backgrounds and includes mentors from the university’s internal areas who are experts in the hackathon’s topics, as well as master’s students.
To bring participants in closer proximity with one another, Hack4Change makes use of the online “Gather Town” platform; a virtual world where video-calling is combined with a 2D map, which allows participants to virtually walk around and have conversations with other people on the map. Gather Town allows multiple people to hold separate conversations in parallel, joining conversations as easily as they would in reality. Hack4Change uses the platform so that students can attend talks from different speakers, meet with their mentors, and enjoy a chat with their friends in the park or on the beach.

Impacts and lessons learned
In terms of attracting participants, it was necessary to create awareness of societal challenges and the benefits that students would receive by participating in the hackathon. Furthermore, DCU was able to use its position as an industry-focussed university to easily find stakeholders and mentors that could take part in the event. Organisers of Hack4Change acknowledge that involvement of external stakeholders is critical for making participants’ experience more enriching and engaging, and stress the importance of creating an interdisciplinary experience, considering the multifaceted nature of societal challenges.
 
Alexandra Zinovyeva (interviewer)
Viviana Rojas (co-author)

By  Adeline Leroy & Omar Faris

Urban agriculture refers to a number of different activities related to the cultivation of the production, distribution, and marketing of food and other products within urban and peri-urban areas. It is an industry with many opportunities and growing new challenges with a key facet being knowledge and competence are constantly evolving which must be shared to create synergy effects and growth.
 
A key aspect of these new challenges is ensuring all urban agricultural practices fall in line with the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations; i.e. ensuring and attempting to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The following are recent changes and urban farming techniques that have allowed urban farming to follow these global goals, largely thanks to recent technological as well as digital transformations:
 
Vertical Farming
The integration of vertical farms throughout urban areas allows for the utilization of urban spaces to be more productive and efficient while providing citizens with access to fresh products.
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IoT Based Smart Farming
Agricultural producers across urban and peri-urban locations are required to track a multitude of parameters on a daily basis to ensure a high quality of crops and mainitiang an efficient and satisfactory yiled. Internet of Things sensors [IoT Sensor] are developed to assist in reducing the challenges they face by mining data on matters such as water, air, soil, and climate which help in future forecasts in determine what plants need, as well as any urgent and immediate changes.

Appro 77
Regarding the prevention of food waste APPRO 77 is a concrete and innovative solution which fights against food insecurity. It develops and conducts a multitude of activities concerning anti-waste food, food aid, and has already distributed an estimated 1.172 Tons of food
 
All in all, it is essential to look at modern urban agriculture practices as a solution to the ever evolving climate crisis, all the while ensuring millions have access to food, products, and more at a faster rate, with producers being more efficient, and countries enacting more climate friendly agricultural practices. 

Ludovico Dejak, young Venetian by birth, who studied in Rome but then returned to the lagoon to be the co-founder of Venice Calls, a local non-profit organisation based on the Giudecca   island in Venice. Because of the issues related to ‘Acqua Alta’ - High Tide, Ludovico, together with the Venice Calls team, tries to sensitise younger generations on climate change and its impact on our Planet, and of course on the city. They regularly organise clean-ups of the lagoon with partners   such as the WWF and the Guggenheim Foundation, where they create teams of volunteers who
collect garbage around the islands of the lagoon, record the items found and map where they accumulated the most. This is just one of the initiatives that Venice Calls launched to protect the lagoon, but of course he recognises the importance as well as the challenge of creating a real ecosystem where all local nonprofits can work together, in an effective way to help the city.