At the end of November, the Heritage Europe team attended the HUB-IN Final Conference, ‘Innovation Meets Cultural Heritage in Cities’, in Lisbon, Portugal. 

Held at the Lisbon Geographical Society between 26th-27th November, the HUB-IN consortium was joined by cities and organisations from across Europe to explore how this four-year project has driven the regeneration of Historic Urban Areas (HUAs).  

The conference focused on the ‘HUB-IN Approach’ and how cities can use the tools and methods produced in the project to regenerate their local Historic Urban Areas through innovation and heritage.  

The conference also considered how HUB-IN aligns with the goals of the New European Bauhaus, and the consortium was joined by representatives from the European Commission to discuss this important topic.  

Pilot Cities from the project had the opportunity to showcase their own Hubs of Innovation and their impact on local communities. Innovators supported through each city’s Accelerator Programme, a capacity-building programme for developing entreupeunrial skills, also presented their projects.  

An exciting highlight of the conference was the opportunity to discuss the project’s future structures including the HUB-IN Alliance, a network of historic cities who will share best practise around the regeneration of HUAs going forward, and the HUB-IN Academy, a digital space containing the project’s tools and methods plus an online platform of short courses on how to create Hubs of Innovation.  

Participants also had the opportunity to take part in a hands-on workshop to plan and design a fictional Hub of Innovation, participate in informal networking, and visit the Lisbon HUB-IN site.  

This exciting programme of events was both a celebration of four years of hard work and the start of a new journey for cities across Europe. 

Want to join the HUB-IN Alliance and access the HUB-IN Academy? See the project website for more details! Homepage – Hub-In