UGR County Councils: Designing the Roadmap

Description – Key features in a nutshell

The UGR County Councils are regional dialogue spaces that connect university staff, local policymakers, civil society actors, and the private sector across Granada’s regions. They foster collaboration to identify local challenges and co-design solutions. Their aim is to align scientific knowledge with regional development needs. They are organised primarily around in-person meetings, while virtual sessions are also held to follow up on the activities of each UGR County Council. The UGR County Councils are new collaborative spaces designed:

• To foster direct connections between the University of Granada (UGR) and the different municipalities and regions within the province of Granada
• To create innovative, sustainable solutions by engaging the university, local governments, businesses, and the public in co-creation processes
• To generate opportunities and transfer scientific, educational, and innovative knowledge that contribute to the transformation and sustainable development of the regions
• To lay the foundations for future Living Labs, testing and applying innovations in public policies and local practices

How does the format work?

The methodology behind the UGR County Councils is based on the Living Lab methodology and follows a collaborative model known as the ‘Quadruple Helix’, bringing together four key stakeholders: the university, the public sector (municipalities’ mayors and governments), businesses, and citizens. The UGR County Councils aim to work closely with local communities to identify local needs related to three main thematic areas: the environmental impact of urban agendas, soil and culture. Besides, one of the UGR County Councils’ objectives is to design solutions for local development through regular meetings, workshops, and hackathons which can be implemented through scientific knowledge, technological innovation, and public policies.

After recruiting our main participants (lecturers, researchers, professors, and technicians from the University of Granada) via Google Form, the first informational meeting about the formation of UGR County Councils was held on 18 December 2024, gathering over 45 participants. The formal launch of the UGR County Councils took place and premiered on 20 January, 2025, as part of the Impronta Granada initiative, the strategic alliance between the University of Granada and the Provincial Council of Granada.

This recruitment process was coordinated by Medialab UGR, the Social Innovation Lab of the University of Granada. The first internal call was launched through a Google Form open to the entire university community between June and July 2024. Once this initial group was engaged, we organised the first informational and training session on the Living Lab methodology on 18 December 2024.

After ensuring that the university community was familiar with the initiative, we updated the Google Form to open participation to the other three helices – citizens, policymakers, and the business sector. University members themselves helped share the form with representatives from their own municipalities. Parallel to this, Medialab UGR, with the support of the Provincial Council of Granada, also sent the form to all municipalities in the province of Granada.

Challenges

• Engagement of local stakeholders. Ensuring active and sustained participation from local businesses, municipalities, and citizens is challenging
• Coordinating diverse interests. Balancing the interests of different groups (university, public sector, businesses, and citizens) while ensuring the project’s goals are met
• Implementation of solutions. Ensuring the co-created solutions are practical and implementable within the local context and effectively integrated into local policies

Tasks and resources

Scientists

Over 80 scientists from the University of Granada have joined the UGR County Council initiative. The registered researchers have different backgrounds and are specialised in more than 20 diverse areas of expertise (ranging from psychology and linguistics to parasitology and ecology), which make the knowledge transfer rich and fruitful.

Key tasks

• Provide scientific expertise and knowledge to help identify local needs and co-create innovative solutions
• Guide collaborative research projects that address regional challenges, particularly within the framework of the “Living Lab” methodology
• Actively participate in the evaluation of proposed solutions and innovations based on scientific validity and local applicability
• Present findings from collaborative efforts at various meetings, workshops, and events, such as the Impronta Granada annual gathering

Knowledge exchange managers and research managers

Key tasks

• Coordination of knowledge transfer by facilitating the transfer of scientific knowledge to local communities
• Ensure active participation from all relevant stakeholders, including municipalities, businesses, and citizens and ensure their needs are met with appropriate knowledge inputs
• Handle logistical arrangements for meetings, workshops, and events, ensuring smooth operations and communication
• Oversee the implementation of collaborative projects between UGR, businesses, and local governments
• Promote participation in the councils through communication strategies such as the social media campaigns
• Collect participant feedback after each session, ensuring that ideas and concerns are communicated effectively to the relevant decision makers

Policymakers

Key tasks

• Contribute to the identification of local needs, leveraging their expertise to align council projects with existing urban agendas and municipal and regional development plans
• Help ensure that the innovative solutions developed through the UGR County Councils are integrated into local governance and policymaking processes.
• Provide institutional support for the projects that emerge from the UGR County Councils
• Engage with local businesses, citizens, and researchers to promote regional collaborations and policy initiatives based on scientific evidence.

Example

The successful implementation of the Living Lab methodology in the 10 different regions constituting the Granada province, where university researchers and local stakeholders work together to design and implement solutions for their municipalities’ needs.

How has the format been implemented?

1. Initial informational session. Held on 18 December 2024, organised by Medialab UGR within the framework of the Impronta Granada initiative, with institutional support from the Vice-Rectorate for Social Innovation, Employability and Entrepreneurship. The meeting was moderated by Medialab UGR staff, who were also responsible for designing and managing the agenda, and brought together 46 participants to discuss the structure, objectives, and methodology behind the creation of the UGR County Councils.
2. Internal structure
   1. Council presidency. Vice-Rectorate for Social Innovation, Employability, and Entrepreneurship.
   2. Council spokesperson. Responsible for leading meetings, ensuring cohesion among stakeholders, and coordinating action implementation. This role could be assumed by a UGR lecturer or staff member.
   3. Dialogue facilitator. When necessary, Medialab UGR experts will facilitate participatory processes, ensuring all actors have a voice and that discussions are productive and balanced.
3. Ongoing Google Form questionnaire. The initial Google Form used to reach the lecturers, professors, researchers, and technicians from the University of Granada has been extended to the other three stakeholders (municipalities’ governments, private sector and citizenship in the region of Granada) accounting currently for over 120 registered participants.
4. Emailing list. Creation of an emailing list per UGR County Council so that the different participants can contact each other.
5. Organisational session. 10 different virtual meetings have been organised so that every UGR County Council participant can meet their counterparts and identify their local needs so as to present them in the formal launch event.
6. Formal launch. The councils met officially on 20 January 2025 during the Impronta Granada event, where all participants were introduced and roles assigned.
7. Additional meetings. Subsequent meetings will be held either in-person or online, depending on local needs and priorities.

Available resources (What are the main tasks?)

1. Coordination: Organising meetings, gathering feedback, and ensuring all stakeholders are informed of developments.
2. Workshops and Living Labs: Facilitating collaborative problem-solving and ideation sessions.
3. Community engagement: Ensuring active participation from local residents, businesses, and governmental bodies. Fostering engagement is considered in the following ways:
   1. Participation certificates;
   2. Continuous training through science-policy based workshops;
   3. Best UGR County Council Award to be delivered at the 2026 Impronta Granada event;
   4. Visibility and dissemination through UGR social media.

What works? What doesn`t? (Lessons learnt)

• What works? Clear communication channels and flexible participation options (online and in-person meetings) have helped engage stakeholders
• What doesn’t? Overreliance on digital platforms for engagement may exclude some community members, especially in rural areas with limited access to technology.

How do you evaluate the activities?

Evaluation will be conducted through continuous feedback loops, including focus groups after each meeting. Success indicators include:

• Number of projects initiated
• Level of satisfaction from participants
• Number of solutions implemented in local policies
• Degree of local economic impact

Sources and further reading

Promotion and dissemination of both the informational meeting and the consolidation of the UGR County Councils:

• UGR County Councils microsite via Impronta Granada website with the profile of the different participants: https://improntagranada.es/campaign/consejoscomarcalesugr/
• UGR County Councils news and informational video within the University of Granada via Medialab UGR: https://medialab.ugr.es/impronta-granada/la-universidad-de-granada-celebra-la-primera-reunion-informativa-sobre-la-constitucion-de-los-consejos-comarcales-ugr/

Do you want to know more about the policy engagement toolkit?

Do you want to share your experience in policy engagement? Do you think about contributing to the policy engagement toolkit? Feel free to contact Tome Sandevski via science-policy@uni-frankfurt.de