Training future urban innovators

Are you interested in breathing new life into historic urban areas that are too often abandoned and neglected?

Four free courses are now available on the Local Transitions Learning Centre by Energy Cities, designed to empower you as an urban innovator. Whether you’re an urban planner, cultural manager, entrepreneur or community leader, these courses are your gateway to transforming historic urban spaces into vibrant innovation hubs.

Let’s take a closer look!

1. Driving innovation hubs for heritage revitalisation in historic urban areas

Turn heritage into a springboard for urban innovation! Through interactive modules and hands-on exercises, this course dives deep into real-world examples from cities like Utrecht, Brașov, Belfast, Lisbon, Genova and Grand Angoulême. Learn how to balance preservation with progress, empower youth and creatives and foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders.

What you’ll gain:

• Tools to launch open calls and acceleration programmes for urban regeneration
• Insights into tactical urbanism to engage communities
• Strategies to prototype solutions that respect heritage and sustainability

2. Heritage-led innovation: strategies for ecosystems, business models and funding

Regenerating historic urban areas is not a mission impossible! This course shows you how to create entrepreneurial ecosystems, develop sustainable business models and secure diverse funding sources for transformative projects.

What you’ll gain:

• A comprehensive guide to mixed funding models that bring public, private and community resources together
• Strategies for crafting sustainable business models tailored to heritage-led regeneration
• Skills to build ecosystems that foster innovation in urban areas

3. Roadmap process for historic urban area regeneration

Ever wondered how to design a strategic roadmap for urban transformation? This course offers a step-by-step guide to crafting impactful regeneration plans for historic urban areas. Drawing from the successes of eight European pilot cities, you’ll explore tools and methods for data collection, citizen engagement, place branding, action planning and monitoring.

What you’ll learn:

• Designing roadmaps aligned with municipal strategies
• Building co-design plans using diverse tools
• Developing place branding and detailed action plans with measurable outcomes
• A deep dive into leadership models and governance challenges for innovation hubs
• Understanding the importance of the theory of change and setting up monitoring frameworks

4. A georeferenced framework to assess the potential of historic urban areas

This course demystifies geographic visualization, showing you how to map your territory’s assets and stakeholder networks for smarter decision-making. With guidance from experts, you’ll learn how to use this innovative tool for comprehensive urban analysis.

What you’ll gain:

• A clear understanding of how the Geotool supports decision-making
• Skills to visualise and interpret data to identify untapped opportunities
• Guidance on the resources needed to implement the GeoTool in your city

Size this opportunity to take action fostering change by blending heritage with innovation, and creating thriving sustainable communities. Sign up today!

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The courses are developed within the EU-funded project HUB-IN and are part of the HUB-IN Academy’s offering. The project aims to transform and regenerate Historic Urban Areas (HUAs) while preserving their unique cultural and social identity, as well as the environment. Through the course, experts from the pilot cities and technical partners share their experiences, lessons learned and practical tools to support you in the sustainable transformation of your city’s historic urban area.