For three days, the festival participants not only got to know the culture of the Basque Country, but also got familiar with the history of Bilbao's extraordinary transformation: from a post-industrial hostile city into a cultural centre famous for its architecture.
The participants of the UNIC CityLabs Festival, Bilbao 2023 took part in discussions with representatives of the city of Bilbao, during which they discussed the specific problems of other UNIC-Alliance member cities. During the two days of workshops, lectures and panels, they jointly discussed solutions and exchanged good practices regarding the role of universities operating in cities in the post-industrial transformation.
During the festival, also a meeting of all 10 rectors of the UNIC-Alliance member universities with representatives of 10 cities in which they are situated took place, during which further cooperation was discussed. UNIC's renewed goals for the coming years were highlighted: unlocking models of cross-institutional learning, teaching and research that should be deeply involved in diverse post-industrial urban ecosystems. The importance of CityLabs – the flagship project of the UNIC alliance, was emphasized. It provides opportunities to exchange of knowledge between the universities and cities in which they are located.
According to the participants of the UNIC CityLabs Festival in Bilbao, it was a very intense and inspiring time spent in a great atmosphere, among people full of passion, working for a better future of our cities and universities.
University of Lodz was represented by: Rector of the University of Lodz – Prof. Elżbieta Żądzińska, Vice-Rector of the University of Lodz – Prof. Łukasz Bogucki, Prof. Mariusz Sokołowicz, Dr Maciej Jażdżewski and students Agnieszka Dukalska and Mateusz Pieczyński. Agata Burlińska participated in the event on the part of the City of Lodz
UNIC – European University of Post-Industrial Cities is one of 44 alliances of European Universities. European Universities are international universities of the future, promoting European values and identity, and revolutionising the quality and competitiveness of European higher education by joint implementation of innovative solutions in the field of education and science and deep institutional integration.
The collaborative project focuses on the challenges faced by post-industrial cities, the role of universities in their transformation and building the potential of cities in key areas such as: inclusion, superdiversity and sustainability.
Text and edit: Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz
Photos: University of Lodz