Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CENTRINNO (New CENTRalities in INdustrial areas as engines for inNOvation and urban transformation)
Reporting period: 2022-03-01 to 2024-02-29
During the second half of the 20th century, many European industrial areas lost manufacturing activity and fell into decay due to the globalisation of the economy. The complexity and interdependence generated out of this globalisation process, demand novel approaches to production and consumption models, and look to increase the resilience of European society and its local communities, while reducing its dependence from extractive industries. European industrial heritage areas are a strategic asset for the future of manufacturing in the continent. The mixed landuse in these areas, and the diversity between old and new stakeholders offer the opportunity to experiment alternative models of production at the neighborhood and regional scales. In this context, CENTRINNO aimed to develop and demonstrate strategies, approaches, and solutions for the regeneration of these areas as sustainable manufacturing hubs that hold true to ecological challenges, boost a diverse and inclusive creative economy, and use heritage as a catalyst for innovation and inclusion. Artisans, vocationally trained professionals, entrepreneurs, makers, SMEs, or Fab Labs are key players in cities' supply of local goods and the reactivation of local economies. CENTRINNO brang to the fore complex histories, and available resources, such as materials, skills, or human capital in 9 cities: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Blönduós, Copenhagen, Geneva, Milan, Paris, Tallinn and Zagreb. Cities’ experimentation led to the deployment of Fab City Hubs (FCHs), productive and creative activators for a more sustainable and inclusive urban economy
During its 42 months, CENTRINNO has produced and submitted 44 deliverables, developed 370 local activities and was involved in 18 European-Level events. A collaborative environment supported continuous communication flow between all partners, including 15 Steering Committee meetings, 39 Programme Board meetings, 62 Pilot Coordination meetings, 25 Dissemination meetings, 24 infrastructure alignment meetings, 6 consortium meetings. During project implementation, two Grant Agreement amendments were redacted and approved for validating changes relating to the partnership and the impact assessment methodology.
Partners worked on developing a common approach, envisioned in the CENTRINNO framework and on the development of a serie of resources developed to support the experimentation and futures uses: The CENTRINNO Infrastructure composed by the CENTRINNO Whitepaper, Framework and Handbook has been designed to build a rich picture of the CENTRINNO approach. The CENTRINNO Cartography was iteratively designed as a platform that supports communities in facilitating a circular economy transition in their neighborhood. The Living Archive was developed as an open access platform containing content (stories) stemming from (post-) industrial sites. The Fab City Hubs Toolkit was designed as an interactive online manual enriched with tools, templates, and practical activities supporting the development of a shared vision, an engaged community and an adapted infrastructure for new and existing Fab City Hubs. The CENTRINNO School comprises a collection of methodologies, tools, and approaches designed for any organisation seeking to develop educational programs focused on circular and digital manufacturing.
Three sprints of activities were carried out (Sprint 1: April 2021 – October 2021, Sprint 2: March 2022 to September 2022, Sprint 3: February 2023 to August 2023). In total, the nine pilot cities developed 849 activities, organised in missions, connected to local challenges and productive activities, reaching more than 40000 people. Pilots were supported by the Pilot Coordination Team in mapping activities, heritage-related workshops, educational activities, or local network building. Reflective moments in between sprints occurred both online and in innovative formats of workshops during presential and distributed consortium meetings, serving for peer-learning and consolidation of the framework and associated platforms.
CENTRINNO impact assessment zoomed in processes of change that led to the desired impact in the long-term, observing how to locally consolidate resources, awareness and skills, networks and relationships, and infrastructures towards regenerative neighborhoods. It focused on the monitoring and evaluation of three continuous processes of change: outcomes (pilot-level), strategies (resource level), organizational practices (project-level). 137 outcome challenges, 248 strategies and 10 organizational practices were observed and analyzed. The approach was appreciated by pilots both as a space to dialogue and reflect on qualitative changes, and to structure their local impact assessment.
CENTRINNO activities were disseminated through the project’s website (80 blog posts), 12 newsletters, 2 scientific publications and >3000 social media followers. 16 key exploitable assets were identified by the consortium. Towards M42 the final versions of the FCHs Toolkit, the Cartography and the Living Archive were developed. In addition, the development of the Handbook and associated Blueprints increased the visibility and pathways of replication. Four key resources were chosen as the projects Key Exploitable Results (KERs). the Horizon Results Booster Services Module C supported the consolidation of the strategy of exploitation, building a series of exploitation roadmaps.
Efforts were made to strengthen the model of Fab City Hubs and to sustain the CENTRINNO Network led by the nine Fab City Hubs. The integration of the Fab City Foundation in the consortium, and the presence of the ECHN network created direct bridges to guarantee opportunities for replication across and beyond Europe. In addition, CENTRINNO collaborated with their Sister Projects T-FACTOR and HUB-IN in the co-design of a policy report entitled “Towards innovative, inclusive and creative hubs in European cities”.
Partners worked on developing a common approach, envisioned in the CENTRINNO framework and on the development of a serie of resources developed to support the experimentation and futures uses: The CENTRINNO Infrastructure composed by the CENTRINNO Whitepaper, Framework and Handbook has been designed to build a rich picture of the CENTRINNO approach. The CENTRINNO Cartography was iteratively designed as a platform that supports communities in facilitating a circular economy transition in their neighborhood. The Living Archive was developed as an open access platform containing content (stories) stemming from (post-) industrial sites. The Fab City Hubs Toolkit was designed as an interactive online manual enriched with tools, templates, and practical activities supporting the development of a shared vision, an engaged community and an adapted infrastructure for new and existing Fab City Hubs. The CENTRINNO School comprises a collection of methodologies, tools, and approaches designed for any organisation seeking to develop educational programs focused on circular and digital manufacturing.
Three sprints of activities were carried out (Sprint 1: April 2021 – October 2021, Sprint 2: March 2022 to September 2022, Sprint 3: February 2023 to August 2023). In total, the nine pilot cities developed 849 activities, organised in missions, connected to local challenges and productive activities, reaching more than 40000 people. Pilots were supported by the Pilot Coordination Team in mapping activities, heritage-related workshops, educational activities, or local network building. Reflective moments in between sprints occurred both online and in innovative formats of workshops during presential and distributed consortium meetings, serving for peer-learning and consolidation of the framework and associated platforms.
CENTRINNO impact assessment zoomed in processes of change that led to the desired impact in the long-term, observing how to locally consolidate resources, awareness and skills, networks and relationships, and infrastructures towards regenerative neighborhoods. It focused on the monitoring and evaluation of three continuous processes of change: outcomes (pilot-level), strategies (resource level), organizational practices (project-level). 137 outcome challenges, 248 strategies and 10 organizational practices were observed and analyzed. The approach was appreciated by pilots both as a space to dialogue and reflect on qualitative changes, and to structure their local impact assessment.
CENTRINNO activities were disseminated through the project’s website (80 blog posts), 12 newsletters, 2 scientific publications and >3000 social media followers. 16 key exploitable assets were identified by the consortium. Towards M42 the final versions of the FCHs Toolkit, the Cartography and the Living Archive were developed. In addition, the development of the Handbook and associated Blueprints increased the visibility and pathways of replication. Four key resources were chosen as the projects Key Exploitable Results (KERs). the Horizon Results Booster Services Module C supported the consolidation of the strategy of exploitation, building a series of exploitation roadmaps.
Efforts were made to strengthen the model of Fab City Hubs and to sustain the CENTRINNO Network led by the nine Fab City Hubs. The integration of the Fab City Foundation in the consortium, and the presence of the ECHN network created direct bridges to guarantee opportunities for replication across and beyond Europe. In addition, CENTRINNO collaborated with their Sister Projects T-FACTOR and HUB-IN in the co-design of a policy report entitled “Towards innovative, inclusive and creative hubs in European cities”.
CENTRINNO has helped to advance in the implementation of Fab City Hubs within partner cities and beyond. These spaces help showcasing different approaches to this new community activation space to co-develop new products, jobs, or services for a more sustainable and fair urban economy. While FCHs are still in development, we have seen evidence on how place-based activities have positively generated impact locally by changing organisations, companies and citizens’ behavior and perception towards industrial heritage sites. Not only through FCHs, but developing other tools and resources within CENTRINNO, partners have been able to illustrate how a new local economy that leverages on industrial heritage creates opportunities for excluded groups and individuals to integrate in society. Most importantly, the frameworks, tools and resources have been the vehicle for CENTRINNO to build an alternative, inclusive, and sustainable approach for historic industrial sites regeneration. CENTRINNO will now help other cities to replicate, adjust, or scale up the project's approach, including the FCHs Toolkit, the Cartography, the Living Archive, the CENTRINNO Handbook, or the Blueprints and Policy Development Guidelines. The project works closely with the Fab City Network, already influencing projects such as Villa Buonaccorsi (Potenza Picena, Italy), Cordoba (Argentina), Montreal (Canada), Bali (Indonesia), and the new headquarters of Fab Foundation in Boston (USA).