Co-creating Urban Futures

Cities have a significant role to play in advancing democracy and citizenship. In an urban world, cities are both home and local political context for most people. As centres of social life, economy and resource use, cities are also key sites for dealing with global challenges like climate change.

Citizen “co-creation” is an important means of opening-up multi-directional, horizontal dialogues and decision-making processes between government and civil society. But it necessitates experimentation and institutional change, which can be difficult for local governments because of rigid structures and a lack of resources. There are also concerns over the extent to which citizens can genuinely influence government. Hence critical engagement with local concepts and practices of ‘co-creation’ is necessary to identify challenges and ways forward.

The blended intensive programme “Co-Creating Urban Futures” is designed for up to 30 students. It will take place from October 2026 to January 2027 and consists of three elements:

1. online Roundtables between October 2026 - December 2026,
2. online learning Hub (on Moodle) to facilitate independent and group learning and provide documentation of the course and workshop
3. the main on-site learning between 23-27 November 2026.

There will be a series of six online roundtable discussions. The main goal of the roundtables is to establish a common ground for the course, as this is an interdisciplinary course including architecture, planning, urban studies, political science, and law:

• in the first session, the main aims and objectives of the course will be introduced and discussed with the students;
• in the second session, teaching staff from the participating universities will present their perspectives on “global urban challenges”;
• the third session is dedicated to the main concepts of “co-creation”, their normative foundations and role within politics;
• Tte fourth session aims at establishing the interrelatedness of “power, planning and policy making” and the fifth session will introduce the case studies for the workshop in Tübingen.

All sessions include groupwork and discussions. After the workshop, one further session will take place to review and summarize the results of the on-site course and to fill the online repository with content.

During the Online Learning Hub, students and teachers will contribute to set up a portfolio of learning resources, such as lectures, readings, student presentations, and a dynamic documentation of the course and the insights into co-creation gathered during the learning programme. 

Using Moodle and related resources, this will include video documentations of learning units, audio or video documentation of interviews and discussions with stakeholders,podcasts, as well as written reports, a glossary, and so on. The Hub will also provide important resources for the African partner, opening up learning and collaboration opportunities for students. 

During the whole learning period, this online forum is offered, where students and teachers can come together, deepen the exchange between the CIVIS university members, intensify discussions and develop research questions regarding co-creation, andprepare important content for the on-site course.

For the On-site Learning, teaching staff and students come together in the city of Tübingen to learn together. The five days of intensive learning experiences focus on the transfer of theoretical approaches to co-creation into more practical exercises, applications, and discussions. 

The particular empirical focus will be advancing community power in Glasgow. Teaching staff will give teaching input and lead smaller working groups dedicated to deepening the learning experiences. These include:

• drawing lessons from interdisciplinary theoretical approaches and to problematize them in terms of practicability;
• experimenting with existing tools and techniques for organizing participatory problem solving;
• conducting interviews with participants of co-creation projects to gather insight in their experiences and to identify strengths and shortcomings of such collaborative processes;
• meeting stakeholders from governments, administrations and civil society, and learn about their interests, needs,and recommendations for co-creating urban futures;
• participating in excursions to ‘best’ and ‘worst’ practice examples.

• Co-creation and co-production in contemporary cities
  
• Challenges facing cities today
• Democracy and politics
• Urban governance
• Planning, policy and power

Upon completion of this BIP, students will have acquired:

• a critical understanding of co-creation in urban futures;
• local and comparative knowledge of recent experiences in cities;
• skills of engaging with the government and the public;
• experience of collaborative learning.
  

Between 23-27 November 2026, teaching staff and students come together in the city of Tübingen to learn together. The five days of intensive learning experiences focus on the transfer of theoretical approaches to co-creation into more practical exercises, applications, and discussions.

The particular empirical focus will be advancing community power in a context of polarisation and political unrest. Teaching staff will give teaching input and lead smaller working groups dedicated to deepening the learning experiences. 

Groups will be composed of students from across the participating institutions to ensure intercultural exchange and interdisciplinary learning. These include:

• drawing lessons from interdisciplinary theoretical approaches and to problematize them in terms of practicability;
• experimenting with existing tools and techniques for organizing participatory problem solving;
• conducting interviews with participants of co-creation projects to gather insight in their experiences and to identify strengths and shortcomings of such collaborative processes;
• meeting stakeholders from governments,administrations and civil society, and learn about their interests, needs, and recommendations for co-creating urbanfutures;
• participating in excursions to ‘best’ and ‘worst’ practice examples.

Outline Programme:

Day 1: introduction, methods for working with communities, groupwork on interview questions and thematic interests.

Day 2: fieldwork: engaging with community-based organisations in Tübingen, learning about their experiences and challenges.

Day 3: fieldwork: interviews with key stakeholders in communities, deeper research on research interests. Late afternoon excursion to Tübingen.

Day 4: preparation of group presentation, background research, compiling slides, etc.

Day 5: group presentations, feedback from staff and closing ceremony.

The virtual part will take pace between 14 October - 9 December 2026, each Wednesday after the following schedule:

• 14 October, 17:00-19:00 CET: the main aims and objectives of the course will be introduced and discussed with the students. Lead: Glasgow.
• 21 October, 17:00-19:00 CET: teaching staff from the participating universities will present their perspectives on “global-urban challenges”. Lead: Bucharest.
• 28 October, 17:00-19:00 CET: the main concepts of “co-creation”, their normative foundations and role within politics. Lead: Tübingen. Support: ULB
• 4 November, 17:00-19:00 CET: establishing the interrelatedness of “power, planning and policy-making”. Lead: Rome. Support: ULB
• 11 November, 17:00-19:00 CET: students meet in groups to prepare for workshop. Lead: Tübingen.
• 9 December, 17:00-19:00 CET: results of the onsite course review and summary and ways to fill the online repository with content. Lead: Tübingen. Support: Glasgow

At the end of the 5 day meeting, students will conduct group presentations on a problem of co-production (e.g. equal access to knowledge resources). The group presentation will be given in mixed groups (from different universities) developing collaborative as well as analytical and presentations skills -  50%. 

Students will also conduct an individual project on a case study in their own country. This part of the assignment will take the form of podcasts, videos, or written reports and be made available on the Hub. This individual assignment will be submitted online at the end of the course in January 2026 -  50%. 

Motivation Letter

CV

The applications will be evaluated based on:

• background,
• English level,
• motivation.

• Dr Ross Beveridge (Glasgow)
  
• Professor Annette Hastings (Glasgow)
• Dr Rolf Frankenberger (Tübingen)
• Associate Professor Luisa Moretto (Brussels)
• Dr Giuseppe Faldi (Brussels)
• Dr Cătălina Dobre (Brussels)
• Associate Professor Mihai Răzvan Niță (Bucharest)
• Dr Athanasios Gavrilidis (Bucharest)
• Dr Serena Olcuire (Rome)
• Professor Carlo Cellamare (Rome)