WeGenerate – Co-creating people-centric sustainable neighbourhoods through urban regeneration

This project is based on the stories of four neighbourhoods and their communities located in different parts of Europe. Although they are at different stages of development and facing different urban challenges, they share the same vision of positive change, and WeGenerate will help them reinventing themselves.

Introducing the Demo Cities

In Cesena (Italy), the Demo "Re-Activating Urban Space from City Gateway to Neighborhood" will show how the regeneration of the railway station can be leveraged to create new social, economic, and environmental values for a deprived neighbourhood in the vicinity.

In Cascais (Portugal), the Demo "Social Neighbourhood as an Active Energy Community" will show how a disadvantaged social housing neighbourhood can be turned into an active citizen energy community through. This Demo will go beyond the status quo by extending the opportunities and lowering the barriers for socially vulnerable households to participate in energy communities.

In Bucharest (Romania), the Demo "Open Campus for Neighbourhood and Climate" will go beyond the state-of-the-art by showing how sharing of energy and valuable green spaces can be realised by opening up the university campus through urban regeneration. It will be a pilot of a new sharing economy model.

In Tampere (Finland), the Demo "Human-centric Walkable City" will regenerate the city centre based on a sustainable, people-centric and attractive Walkable City concept. It will use the latest digital technologies including Digital Twin, Metaverse and Extended Reality to stimulate citizen participation and enhance decision-making.

Fraunhofer ISE's Role

The project is coordinated by the Group "Climate-Neutral Cities and Districts" of Fraunhofer ISE. While managing the implementation of innovative solutions for the project, the group is also leading the WeGenerate Innovation Hub. It is composed of 4 Solution Clusters focusing on i) Integrated planning and digital application; ii) Social innovation and participatory actions; iii) Energy in the built environment; and iv) Sustainable mobility. The Innovation Hub serves as an engine of innovation and strives to inspire, accelerate, aggregate and amplify the work of the Demos through diverse expertise.

The Journey

WeGenerate sets out a journey to find the right ingredients and recipes for sustainable and inclusive urban regeneration to create long-lasting positive impacts within the neighbourhoods and beyond. The process will be highly participatory with close collaboration with the city administrations as well as the citizens, local communities, and businesses. Advanced digital applications will be implemented and experimented to support decision-making and stimulate citizen engagement. Expertise in Social Science and Humanities is called upon to foster social innovation and participatory actions across the project. In addition to technological and social interventions, the art and cultural dimensions will be drawn on in the co-creation processes. Four sustainable and people-centric neighbourhoods will be accomplished by the end of the project, and the legacy will be upheld through replication by five fellow cities and others.