Entrepreneurship Ecosystems cannot be created from the top down

By Alison Partridge 

Ecosystems … some love the word, some hate it. Its original definition is about a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. More high school science lab than tech surely?

Yet more than ever before, industries are using the term ‘ecosystem’ to describe the landscape or community in which they work. This is particularly the case in innovation, entrepreneurship and tech. In this article, Lead Expert of Tech Revolution Alison Partridge, who is also a key figure in the London, UK tech scene, considers why ecosystems are important, the vital components of successful ecosystem and what we need to know about them to embrace this ‘new’ economy at city level.

This article also presents examples of what medium sized cities can do in this space, drawing heavily on the URBACT validated good practice from Barnsley which is now at the heart of the Transfer Network ‘TechRevolution’.

Start placemaking in your own courtyard!

The managing team invited Wessel Badenhorst, an expert on placemaking to participate the Come in! Masterclass event in Budapest and help partners understanding how placemaking techniques can contribute to the success of theirgood practice transfer. He gave to the participants a lecture and had a workshop with locals at the target area of Újbuda. Report from Ferenc Szigeti-Böröcz, network expert.

Talking Armenian houses in Gyergyószentmiklós / Gheorgheni

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, in a small city in Hargita/Harghita County, houses began to talk. This isn’t the beginning of a Transylvanian fairy tale but the story of a cultural event organized in Gyergyószentmiklós/Gheorgheni by a handful of enthusiastic civilians seeking to share the untold stories of the architectural part of the Armenian heritage shaping the look of the city center.

TimeWalking - Discovering the history of Őrmező

A festival called TimeWalking ( called „IdőJárás” in hungarian) was held in Őrmező, modeled on the Budapest 100 Open House Weekend. The program was implemented by the Municipality of Újbuda and the Contemporary Architecture Centre (KÉK) as a part of  the URBACT Come in! Talking Houses / Shared Stories Transfer Network on September 15th.

Training for innovation

City of Turin launched a Call addressed to the organizational positions to select the most interesting and innovative projects for the Administration in synergy with the training plan of the City: "Training for innovation". 44 projects have been submitted, 5 will be selected and can be implemented thanks to Innovato-R project.

WORKING TOGETHER IN REGENERATION Standards of regeneration culture & information within the city

The basic idea behind the culture of regeneration activities is that they must be carried out with the greatest possible involvement of residents and other stakeholders. The city should be open to the voice of residents, because solutions do not come only from the top.

ON BOARD Policy Declaration

The ON BOARD Policy Declaration has been signed by all the Project Partners. 

Tuning up the instruments of social change

Cities in Europe are using music and performing arts education for social change, inclusion and cohesion.

Rome hosts its 4th ULG meeting

The fourth meeting of the Urbact Local Group of Rome (ULG) took place at the Center for Ecological Culture, a multifunctional environment managed by the Casale Podere Rosa Association. The meeting was attended by citizens, associations, start-ups and representatives of the Environment Department of Roma Capitale.

The light festival that put a small Czech town on the map

How an URBACT project in Světlo Valmez (CZ) became an international event.