Call for Participation: Youth as Agents of Hope
July 9, 2026PS-U-GO and AESOP TG PSUC International Conference 2026
Youth as Agents of Hope: Urban Living Labs and Community-Engaged Learning
Larnaka, Cyprus, 29 – 30 October 2026
On 29–30 October 2026, PS-U-GO and the AESOP Thematic Group on Public Spaces and Urban Cultures will come together in Larnaka, Cyprus, for the international conference “Youth as Agents of Hope: Urban Living Labs and Community-Engaged Learning.”
Two days to explore how Urban Living Labs can connect education with real urban challenges, strengthen youth participation and create new opportunities for collaboration between universities, communities and cities.
Involving young people in public space and urban governance brings immediate concerns into long-term urban development agendas. Urban Living Labs (ULLs) offer a framework for inclusive urban decisionmaking and for situated learning that bridges formal higher education with engagement in everyday urban space.
The conference addresses the following questions:
- How do young people gain a meaningful role in public space and urban governance?
- What role do Urban Living Labs play in bridging formal education with real-world urban contexts?
- How can participatory methodologies support civic responsibility among students and young urban professionals?
- What pedagogic frameworks best support situated, experiential learning through ULLs?
- How can students and young people contribute to urban change by co-creating urban solutions and imagining hopeful urban futures?
- What institutional, spatial, and relational practices make ULLs with young people effective?
The conference comprises two days of activities encouraging encounters and constructive discussion among approximately 30 participants.
Each day starts with a keynote talk and continues with roundtables, each structured around one of the conference’s core questions, with a moderator and a discussant. Participants share their work in short interventions (15-20 minutes: oral presentations, visual essays or videos), followed by open discussion.
On Day Two, the PS-U-GO partners’ roundtable brings together the project’s consortium to discuss its Urban Living Labs.
On Day Two, a walkshop in the refugee housing estate of Ayioi Anargyroi connects the discussions with live urban practice. Participants also engage on site with the international artists in residence of the Creative Europe project MedSea, led by Larnaka2030. The walkshop is preceded by a synthesis session drawing together the threads across all roundtables, and followed by an on-site event hosted by the MedSea artists in residence program.
There is no registration fee. Participants cover their own travel and accommodation.