Translating global policies into local actions: JPI Urban Europe at Urban Future and Austrian Smart City Days

This year’s Austrian Smart City days were imbedded into the programme or the Urban Future conference. JPI Urban Europe contributed two sessions which aimed at connecting global policies and visions and local research and innovation activities, including a session of DRIFTer Timo von Wirth, presenting the key messages of the JPI Urban Europe funded GUST project. 

The Urban Future Global Conference has established itself as one of the major European conferences on urban matters over the last years where policy makers, researchers/innovators, city and national officials, and everyone else who consider themselves as city changers meet. This year’s Austrian Smart City days were imbedded into the programme or the Urban Future conference. JPI Urban Europe contributed two sessions which aimed at connecting global policies and visions and local research/innovation activities.

In front of a full house, Timo von Wirth, DRIFT; Erasmus University Rotterdam, introduced the Urban Living Lab. Timo presented the key messages of the JPI Urban Europe funded GUST (Governance of Urban Sustainability Transitions) project. Urban Living Labs can change the way how we think of urban planning and development.

Urban living labs are arenas for innovation and transformation while providing test grounds in a real-world environment. They can play an essential role in developing new urban solutions. They are a place and mode for experiments for multiple stakeholders and on suitable scales. Following Timo’s keynote, the 40 participants had the chance to learn more about six implemented Urban Living Labs in Austria, among others Thomas Drage (City of Graz; URB@EXP and SmarterLabs); Alexandra Janze and Markus Messics (City of Leoben; URB@EXP) presented their experiences with Urban Living Labs in JPI Urban Europe projects.

Read the record of the complete day, published by JPI Urban Europe, here.