The first Urban Thinkers Campus in Sicily – titled “City as a Service” and organized by PUSH- took place this October (from 8th until 10th) at Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, in Palermo.

The aim of the Campus was to better understand how ICT and service design can work together and re-imagine the city, especially in less globalized contexts, debating the role of the key players involved: urban communities, researchers, entrepreneurs and local authorities.

The three day event was attended by many local and international guests; depending on the topic of the day were present representatives of civil society, research institutions and companies: all contributions have enriched the debate and there was an active participation both during the morning plenary sessions and during the afternoon parallel sessions (in smaller groups and more interactive).
The Campus was a great opportunity to meet people and share ideas.

The full report of “City as a Service”, which will contribute to Habitat III debate in Quito, can be downloaded here. It includes reports of each session, the list of participants and some pictures of the three days.

On our YouTube channel you will find the full video of the three plenary sessions and a general video report, while on Facebook is available the photo album of the three days.

PUSH, as an associate member of the World Urban Campaign and its initiative I’m City Changer, has been selected to coordinate the organization of the first Urban Thinkers Campus in Palermo (8th – 9th – 10th October).

The event, hosted by different cities around the world, is promoted by the United Nations, with the aim of sensitizing and creating awarenessamong the citizens on urban issues, and prepare the contents to be presented during the conference Habitat III (Quito 2016). The Campus is designed as an open space for workshops and seminars, an opportunity to share and promote positive urban transformations.

PUSH is searching for under 35 volunteers for the daily organization of the Campus. We need someone who can greet and support all the participants that will attend the event in Palermo from all over the world. For this reason it is requested a good knowledge of English.

It will be a unique training opportunity: students will also have the chance to ask for CFU for their academic path.

Apply by September 25th: use the form below or write us on cityasaservice@wepush.org

Less than one month to the start of City as a Service Intensive School , the educational program launched by PUSH that will take place in Erice from September 25th to October 3rd , open to young professionals aged between 18 and 35 years old.
The Intensive School will focus on how to prototype services for the cities of the future: using the Service Design methodology the participants will have the opportunity to develop and test innovative ideas able to improve citizens’ live.
The final program is available online: fourteen international Special Guests will guide the students during the 9 days full immersion.

The university students who will take part to the School will have the opportunity to get 6 CFU, approved abroad.

Moreover, the results of the initiative will be presented during the City as a Service Urban Thinkers Campus, international event of World Urban Campaign, that will take place in Palermo next October.

PUSH has already received plenty of applications from all over the world, but still it is possible to apply by September 13th on the website edu.wepush.org.

Una nuova avventura per il team di PUSH:  il prossimo autunno organizzerà City as a Service, un doppio evento che mira a interrogarsi sui cambiamenti delle città e delle abitudini dei suoi cittadini attraverso l’uso di servizi innovativi e tecnologici, adottando un approccio dal basso e centrato sull’utente.

City as a Service si focalizzerà sull’area mediterranea e su quei servizi capaci di fornire soluzioni efficaci in contesti marginali; sarà un’occasione per discutere di innovazione digitale e service design.

La prima tappa sarà “City as a Service Intensive School” e avrà luogo a Erice (TP) dal 25 settembre al 3 ottobre. Nove giorni per formarsi, confrontarsi e approfondire le dinamiche urbane legate all’innovazione e ai servizi digitali ai cittadini in contesti storicizzati: un approccio interdisciplinare per ripensare la città attraverso le tecnologie e il confronto transculturale.

L’Intensive School è aperta a 30 ragazzi fra i 18 e i 35 anni; la formula di partecipazione sarà quella della candidatura volontaria ed è previsto lo sgravio del costo di iscrizione grazie a borse di studio offerte da sponsor privati. È già possibile candidarsi sul sito edu.wepush.org.

Sarà un’occasione per lasciarsi ispirare e mettersi alla prova, attraverso un viaggio guidato nel mondo del Service Design, cercando di stimolare lo sviluppo di idee innovative.

I risultati prodotti durante i giorni di Intensive School faranno parte dei contenuti della seconda tappa dell’evento, l’Urban Thinkers Campus – City as a Service, che si terrà a Palermo dall’8 al 10 ottobre 2015 ai Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa.

L’evento è promosso dalle Nazioni Unite con lo scopo di sensibilizzare e creare consapevolezza tra i cittadini sulle questioni urbane, e preparare i contenuti che verranno presentati alla conferenza Habitat III “The city we need” (Quito 2016).

Il Campus è concepito come spazio aperto a workshop e seminari tematici, un’opportunità per condividere e promuovere trasformazioni urbane positive. Il forum intende offrire idee e soluzioni, proponendo un approccio integrato, dando voce ai diversi stakeholder, al fine di portare la società civile, rappresentanti della pubblica amministrazione, della città, dell’industria ed esperti del settore ad individuare e affrontare insieme eventuali ostacoli allo sviluppo “intelligente”.

È possibile partecipare attivamente, inviando le proprie proposte di servizi innovativi tramite la pagina web utc.wepush.org. Output dell’evento sarà un documento ufficiale che verrà presentato e condiviso alla conferenza Habitat III di Quito 2016.

Continuate a seguire gli aggiornamenti della manifestazione anche sui profili social di City as a Service: Facebook e Twitter.

The Urban Thinkers Campus will be held in Caserta at the Belvedere di San Leucio on 15-18 October. This is an initiative of the UN-Habitat that, in association with the Forum delle Culture di Napoli e della Campania, will explore the theme “The City We Need”. The goal of the campus is to bring together urban thinkers, philosophers, writers, journalists, bloggers, urban planners and designers, city leaders and decision makers, businessmen, marketing and communication experts, and all those that in various ways are interested in the topics connected to urban policies, which will mark the approach of Habitat III.

Within this grand event we will have our own space on Wednesday 15, from 2 to 4 pm. The topic of our session is “The City as a Service”, where speakers will talk about a new approach in designing services for the city, an approach having at its center the citizens conceived as a community.

Featured speakers:

 Antonio Prigiobbo – Campania StartUp, NAStartUp  

 Michele D’Ambrosio – Isola Nova Associazione CleaNAP  

 Claudio Esposito – Studio Ines Bajardi AA 

Program of the session: 

 14:00 – 14:10 Registration of participants

 14:10 – 14:20 Introduction to the session  “The City as a Service – The City as Service Provider” (Domenico Schillaci – PUSH); 

 14:20 – 15:20 Speakers’ papers

 15:20 – 15:50 Round-table: “Shared Strategies and Best Practices to Plan the City of the Future) (moderator Mauro Filippi – PUSH); 

 15:50 – 16:00 Closing remarks.

The admission is free, but it is necessary to register on the website.