A UN-HABITAT
COLLABORATING CENTER
ULLC Education
Welcome to the Urban Living Lab Center's (ULLC) Education Program, where learning and skill development are at the heart of urban innovation. As a collaborative initiative hosted by leading educational and research institutions, ULLC prioritizes the education of current and future students and professionals in the realm of urban living labs.
What is the Education Programme
The Urban Living Lab Center (ULLC), co-hosted by major educational and research institutions, places high importance on learning, training and developing skills of current and future students and professionals. Education plays a fundamental and multifaceted role in the ULLC.
The activities encompass:
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Skill Development: Education within ULLC is essential for equipping current students and future professionals with the skills necessary to thrive in urban living labs. Through hands-on experiences, workshops, and courses, individuals can develop practical skills in data analysis, urban planning, urban mobility, urban energy systems, sustainability, and community engagement.
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Experiential Learning: ULLC provides a unique opportunity for experiential learning. It is a real-world laboratory where students can apply theoretical knowledge to practical situations in ongoing projects in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. This hands-on approach allows them to better understand urban living lab practices, problem-solving, and collaboration.
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Workforce Development: As urban living labs continue to gain prominence in addressing urban issues, there is a growing demand for professionals with specialised skills. ULLC plays a crucial role in preparing a skilled workforce that can contribute to developing and managing urban living lab projects, ensuring the availability of qualified individuals to meet industry needs. Find out more about our Change Makers Programme.
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Research Support: Education also extends to research (Degree Programmes & Courses). Students involved in ULLC’s activities may engage in research projects, allowing them to explore innovative solutions and contribute to the academic knowledge base. This research-driven education benefits students and advances ULLC’s mission of stretching the boundaries of existing knowledge.
Find out more about our ULLC Fellowship Programme.
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Interdisciplinary Learning: Urban living labs often require interdisciplinary approaches involving mobility, education, climate, urban planning, digitalization, clean air, energy, and governance. Through multi-disciplinary partnerships among partners, ULLC encourages cross-disciplinary collaboration, fostering a holistic understanding of urban challenges and solutions.
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Networking and Collaboration: ULLC provides a platform for students to connect with peers, educators, researchers, and industry professionals. This networking and collaboration are valuable for building relationships, sharing insights, and fostering community within the urban living lab ecosystem.
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Long-term Impact: By educating students and future professionals, ULLC contributes to the long-term sustainability of urban living labs. These individuals carry their knowledge and skills into their careers, ensuring the continued growth and evolution of urban living lab practices in various organisations and communities.
Who is Involved in the Program?
The main ULLC partners involved in Education are the academic partners. The knowledge and catalyst partners complement the efforts of the academic partners. ULLC’s partners include over 20 academic institutions that offer degree and certification programs at various levels on the ULLC thematic areas (link to ULLC topics). Partners like MIT also offer short micro masters and short certification programs through platforms like MITx Online.
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In addition to academic partners, ULLC partners also include Knowledge Partners. These partners are involved in increasing the technical capacity of practitioners working on the ground to implement sustainable energy, mobility and resource management solutions.
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ULLC is also comprised of catalyst partners. These partners can accelerate the transformation by providing the necessary impetus to an idea or approach. Though the necessary ingredient is financial support in many cases, catalytic partners also bring in visibility, knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer experience transfer.
Partner Universities Latin America
Partner Universities Africa
Partner Universities Europe
Partner Universities Asia
Courses will be hosted by:
What Does ULLC Offer?
From the perspective of the education program, ULLC offers academic partners the opportunity to collaborate and avoid spending their resources on creating courses that are already available. Academic partners are encouraged to use the resources developed by each other and develop course plans that take advantage of the openly available courses through the ULLC.
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In addition, the partnership with knowledge and catalyst partners enables ULLC academic partners to use practical examples from projects implemented on the ground, bringing real-life examples to support the theory being delivered through lectures.
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The ULLC’s online learning platform, the NUA Campus, also allows academic partners to a digital platform with collaboration. This way, the NUA Campus can provide an online classroom for all the ULLC academic partners.
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In addition, the ULLC also regularly develops course ideas for academic partners’ perusal. These ideas are developed after reviewing the available courses and modules among the ULLC academic partners, sieving the duplicates, and suggesting topics based on the needs of practitioners and at a local implementation level.
Interested in taking advantage of the ULLC offer?
If you are an academic institution, an NGO, or a think tank, you may be eligible to join the ULLC as a partner. In addition to being one of these institutions, you will also need to:
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Be working in either Asia, Europe, Africa and/or Latin America
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Working on topics related to ULLC either by already delivering academic programs or implementing project activities.
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Be willing to share the material and results you have produced.
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Be ready to allow other ULLC partners to use the material in their activities, provided your contribution is acknowledged.
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Be open to working with peer organisations and other ULLC partners in mutually beneficial ideas, e.g., joint courses or projects.
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Be willing to contribute your resources in cases where there is no active funding, but there is potential for developing new ideas for financing.