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The Urban School's Lab

The co-production of public knowledge by students and teachers is a guiding academic principle of the Urban School. We firmly believe that students learn more and better when they are engaged in building public knowledge for cities, territories and their actors. The Urban School's Lab, created in 2021, adheres to this objective and enhances our students’ work. It also positions the School as a facilitator of debate on what professional practice needs to do to better incorporate ecological and social transitions.

The Lab has three objectives:

Promote

Highlight our innovative educational systems, including the group projects which are the core of our academic model, as well as the professional situation scenarios, simulations, study trips, etc.

Decompartmentalise

Initiate new inter-School collaborations at Sciences Po
Promote meetings between students, teachers, researchers, and the Urban School staff
Create new partnerships in France and abroad.

Experiment

Produce new knowledge
Define new subjects, particularly in connection with the School’s two Chairs: the Cities and digital technology Chair and the Cities, Housing and Real Estate Chair
Test new academic formats in situ and with less "traditional" partners, taking interdisciplinarity even further.

The Lab's events

Upcoming event: Lab day on June 11, 2024

Annual event of presentation and discussion of the collective projects of the year. Students, partners, teachers, researchers or professionals from cities and regions come to discuss major contemporary urban and territorial issues.

41 group projects
200 students
30 speakers

Every year, the Urban School's students are invited by public or private partners to collaborate on real-life challenges, in order to address operational and strategic questions. They do this through a "Group Project" exercise. The students will present their projects during workshops, with the presence of tutors and partners, and will receive feedback from a major witness as well as engage in debates.

Registration

Past events

23 February - screening and round table “The rise of South America's Largest Criminal Organisation”, coorganised with the CEE of Sciences Po
16 February - Cycle of webinars “Nouveaux enjeux de la transition numérique des villes” , coorganised with the Cities and Digital Technology Chair and the PUCA
15 February - Round table “Les évolutions de mixité sociale et ségrégation dans le Grand Paris” coorganised with Apur and INSEE
14 February - Masterclass of Pedro Homem de Gouveia “ Changing Urban Mobility – how can we… get moving? “, coorganised with the CEE of Sciences Po and CIVITAS SUMP PLUS
1st February - Masterclass of Benoit Bazin, CEO of Saint-Gobain, coorganised with Sciences Po Careers
1st February - “Thematic Half-Day - Ecological Transition“ organised by Cities are back in town and AIRE
14 June - Lab Day 2023