EUREKA - European Urban Regeneration Knowledge Alliance was a multi-year project that brought together four prestigious universities alongside grassroots organizations with expertise and excellence in urban regeneration and innovation, as well as the city councils of the host cities of these organizations.
Coordinated by the University of Architecture in Venice, the PLAI Cultural Center collaborated with partners such as: West University of Timișoara in Romania, University of Deusto in Spain, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, Timișoara City Hall, Espacio Open, Pakhuis de Zwijger, LAMA, Melting Pro, and Trans Europe Halles.
EUREKA (European Urban Regenerators Knowledge Alliance) was a three-year project designed to create a multidisciplinary curriculum co-developed by universities, cultural practitioners, and policymakers, aimed at shaping a new emerging profession: urban innovation.
The project addresses the growing need in European cities to regenerate abandoned or deteriorating urban spaces, whether public or private. Traditional "top-down" urban planning approaches are no longer effective. Instead, today’s reality demands inclusiveness and social innovation, embracing the complexity of urban regeneration and involving a variety of stakeholders: public administrations, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizens.
This new professional profile aims to transform urban spaces collaboratively, ensuring the involvement of all parties in the process to achieve greater social impact. Urban innovators are already in high demand in the job market due to the rapid pace of urbanization and gentrification. The EUREKA project seeks to recognize this emerging profile and develop the best training program, involving a wide range of stakeholders in urban regeneration. The goal is to create education relevant to the labor market, making a real difference in the cities we live in.
