Urban Shift

The Urban Shift project aims to promote and address the goals of the EU Green Deal through the development of a transdisciplinary start-up education programme and itinerant exhibition which will travel across Europe. The project will address the urban challenges of urban heat islands, food waste & circularity, mobility & circularity, and climate & adaptation. Transdisciplinary start-ups will be formed by students from 4 of the partners and develop start-ups with the support of business experts. The results of the start-ups will be showcased in a travelling exhibition across Europe with workshops and events taking place to promote the green deal. 

At the heart of the Urban Shift project is the Living Labs programme, where a minimum of 10 transdisciplinary start-ups will be formed over the 3 year programme. The start-ups will be formed by architecture students from IAAC, business students from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, media students from Hochschule der Medien and vocational education & training (VETs) from WIFI. Throughout the six month programme the students work together to design and prototype innovative solutions that address the urban challenges of urban heat islands, food waste & circularity, mobility & circularity, and climate & adaptation. The programme starts with several online get-to-know each other sessions before a week-long kick-off where the students meet in person and form their start-ups. The start-ups will then continue to work remotely with the support of their institution as well as special training sessions from the business partners to support their start-up development. During a closing ceremony, the start-ups will pitch their ideas and receive vital feedback for moving forward. This programme will take place in two batches with 40 students each round. 

To promote the results of the Living Labs programme, as well as the work being done addressing the EU Green Deal, an itinerant Living Exhibition will travel across Europe after each phase of the Living Labs. Each exhibition will travel to Barcelona, Vienna, Stuttgart with the addition of Copenhagen in the first round and Genova in the second. A series of events will be held in parallel with the exhibition including an official opening and workshops.  

In the framework of the project, IAAC is responsible for the work package of dissemination including the design and curation of the Living Exhibition. In addition, IAAC will implement the Living Labs programme within the IAAC academic programmes, specifically the Master in Advanced Architecture programme.