Community Local Urban Development Laboratory
Local Knowledge and innovation dynamics
The Community Local Urban Development Laboratory (CLUDs Lab) is a University Laboratory that integrates research and Higher Education activities in the field of urban regeneration and local sustainable economic development (LSED) at an international level thanks to the research network activated through EU-funded Research Projects.
The CLUDs Lab is part of the PAU Department at the University “Mediterranea” of Reggio Calabria (IT) where it operates since 2011, in the aftermath of the CLUDs Research Project (Commercial Local Urban District) funded by the 7th European Research Framework Program, Marie Curie IRSES 2010.
Mission
The main goal of the CLUDs Laboratory relates to the exploration of new approaches in both the development and the implementation of urban regeneration policies and economic development strategies, through the joint action of the European Structural Funds and the on-going Research projects.
The CLUDs Lab strives for a sharp mission based on three main strategic intervention strategies, based on strong international partnerships, aiming at the empowerment of the internationalization process of the Research activities:
Networking activities in order to expand the laboratory platform to public and private stakeholders based on specific cooperative agreements aiming at empower the internationalization processes of “Knowledge Institutions”. The Networking activity includes the organisation of thematic workshops, focus group, seminars and the organisation of international events for the granted research project in order to revitalise the context not only through physical transformation projects but also through the exchange of ideas and best practices with international partners favouring the international exposures of territories.
The implementation of Pilot Projects on the Calabria territory. The objective it to propose the experimentation of Pilot Projects for the Calabrian context aiming at implementing the integration between Research activities and local context through the production and distribution of services for businesses, users and citizens, through the combination of smart cities and smart specialisations within the urban regeneration chain.
Capitalization of best practices through results-oriented Local Action Plans, to establish partnership agreements in the field of urban-rural connections and the implementation of Smart Specialization Strategies in terms of spatial, socioeconomic and environmental effects, in line with the Regional 2014-2020 Strategy.