NEWS

WeGenerate Kick-Off Meeting in Freiburg

WeGenerate (Co-creating people-centric sustainable neighbourhoods through urban regeneration) is one of the most recent projects funded by the European Commission research and innovation programme in the field of sustainable urban regeneration.

The WeGenerate consortium gathered for its kick-off meeting in Freiburg, on the 28th and the 29th of November, welcomed by Fraunhofer ISE. During these two days, all partners had the opportunity to interact, share local experiences and their role in the project. The time was balanced between discussion of local experiences in Freiburg and the description and projection of activities designed by work package leaders along the project’s duration. 

The meeting proved to be fundamental in promoting the dialogue between the consortium partners, in finding synergies and in reflecting about the importance of the development of the project and its impact at EU level. Thus, to disseminate progress reached, a website is being created to be available online in January 2024. Meanwhile, the WeGenerate project activities can be followed through social media - Facebook, X (Twitter) and LinkedIn. 

About us

The Project WeGenerate is a Horizon Europe Innovation Action seeking to infuse the elements of people and co-creation in the urban regeneration processes. It fully embraces the paradigm shift from building for the people to building with the people. We – cities, citizens, communities, businesses, researchers, and practitioners – take ownership of the urban regeneration processes and co-create sustainable, people- centric, accessible, and beautiful neighbourhoods.

The project is based on the stories of four neighbourhoods and their communities located in different parts of Europe. Although they are at different stages of development and facing different urban challenges, they share the same vision of positive change, and WeGenerate will help them reinventing themselves. 

WeGenerate sets out a journey to find the right ingredients and recipes for sustainable and inclusive urban regeneration to create long-lasting positive impacts within the neighbourhoods and beyond. The process will be highly participatory with close collaboration with the city administrations as well as the citizens, local communities, and businesses. Advanced digital applications (such as Digital Twins, Metaverse and extended reality) will be implemented and experimented to support decision-making and stimulate citizen engagement. Expertise in Social Science and Humanities is called upon to foster social innovation and participatory actions across the project. In addition to technological and social interventions, the art and cultural dimensions will be drawn on in the co-creation processes. Four sustainable and people-centric neighbourhoods will be accomplished by the end of the project, and the legacy will be upheld through replication by five Fellow Cities and others, who are inspired by the WeGenerate processes and results. 

Duration and Partners

WeGenerate is running from 01/11/2023 to 31/10/2027.

The consortium is composed by 21 partners, from 9 European countries: Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (DE), Cesena Municipality (IT), Empresa Municipal de Ambiente de Cascais (PT), District 2 of Bucharest Municipality (RO), City of Tampere (FI), ICLEI European Secretariat GmbH (DE), EIT Urban Mobility (ES), Eupportunity – European Affairs Consulting (PT), Parkunload (ES), Greenvolt Comunidades (PT), ENGIE Building Solutions SRL (RO), National Laboratory for Energy and Geology (PT), Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna (IT), Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest (RO), VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (FI), Nova School of Business and Economics (PT), Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (GR), IREC Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (ES), Czech Technical University in Prague (CZ), RomaTre University (IT) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO).