The University of La Laguna (Spain) recently hosted a STARS EU meeting aimed at exploring potential pilot projects of common interest in the tourism sector and advancing the definition of the Interregional Tourism Living Lab, a future living lab focused on interregional tourism.

The workshop brought together researchers and specialists at the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalisation and Cooperation, home to STARS EU, from the Cracow University of Technology (Poland), the Polytechnic University of Bragança (Portugal) and the University of La Laguna. The meeting sought to identify interregional challenges and opportunities, define possible areas for joint work and establish the next steps in the development of this Living Lab.

The initiative follows the partners’ agreement to explore an interregional Living Lab focused on tourism. In the specific case of ULL, the meeting provided an opportunity to contribute to and complement the Circular Tourism Pilot, developed within the Circular Economy Living Lab promoted by the University of La Laguna, which will become operational shortly.

According to the STARS EU coordinator at ULL, José Sigut, “this international meeting represents an important boost for our university’s Circular Economy Living Lab (CELL). Interaction with experts from Kraków and Bragança directly enriches our own Circular Tourism Pilot and provides a global perspective while complementing the transversal areas in which we are already working, such as ecotourism and cultural heritage as a tourism resource.”

Specialised expertise

The programme, developed over two days of work, brought together professionals involved in different areas of research, innovation and education related to tourism and its surrounding fields. ULL was represented by specialists from the Tourism Chair, the ReinvenTUR research group, the Agrotourism and Wine Tourism Chair, and the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Agrotourism (GIIA), among others.

Cracow University of Technology contributed expertise in architecture, fine arts, smart cities, urban and regional design, mechanical engineering, and environmental and energy engineering, as well as tourism related to spas and rural environments, one of the region’s strongest areas of focus. The Polytechnic University of Bragança, meanwhile, presented the areas of work developed through its School of Tourism and its Research Center in Tourism, contributing specialised knowledge in the tourism sector, particularly in the fields of nature tourism and thermal tourism.

Potential pilot projects

According to Sigut, this diversity of expertise will make it possible to explore potential links between research, education and innovation, as well as identify areas where collaboration between the different regions could translate into “concrete pilot projects”.

The programme began on 28 September with a visit to the bioclimatic houses of the Institute of Technology and Renewable Energies (ITER). This was followed in the afternoon by presentations from the participating universities on their research groups, projects and areas of specialisation related to tourism.

Following the presentations, the second day concluded with a joint session aimed at identifying interregional challenges and opportunities, potential pilot activities, and the partners and external stakeholders who could participate in them.

Potential areas of work include ecotourism and cultural heritage as a tourism resource, as already mentioned, as well as sustainable tourism, gastronomic tourism, and specific segments such as medical tourism and wellness tourism, alongside other transversal areas related to the sector.

Once all the proposals presented have been analysed, those with the greatest potential for collaboration can be identified, possible responsibilities defined and the next steps for the Interregional Tourism Living Lab established.

Through this collaboration, STARS EU continues to connect the specialised knowledge of its universities with the challenges and opportunities of their regions, creating new spaces for research, innovation, education and sustainable regional development, one of its main objectives.

The meeting, organized by the Université Marie et Louis Pasteur, analyzes legal and social responses to situations of weakness 

Researchers from different European universities will meet from 7 to 9 October at the Marie and Louis Pasteur University (UMLP), in Besançon (France), to analyse human vulnerabilities in Europe from a legal and social perspective. The conference, “Legal and Social Justice Perspective on Human Vulnerabilities in Europe”, seeks to promote dialogue between different disciplines and approaches to understand situations of vulnerability and explore responses aimed at inclusion, social justice and empowerment.

The conference, linked to the Thematic Interest Group (TIG) Inclusion and Social Justice of STARS EU, raises human vulnerability as an issue that requires responses that combine the protection of rights with measures aimed at promoting the participation and autonomy of people. It also incorporates perspectives related to discrimination, migration, education and situations of vulnerability, generated or aggravated by armed conflicts

Over the course of the three days, contributions will address different situations and dimensions of vulnerability, including disability and accessibility, the situation of children, poverty and access to debt relief mechanisms, work and economic life, health care and digital vulnerability. 

The opening will be attended by Hugues Daussy, president of UMLP; Christophe Geslot, director of the Legal Research Center of Franche-Comté; and Célia Berger-Tarare, leader of the TIG Inclusion and Social Justice of STARS EU. The eight participating universities, partners of STARS EU, are joined by the associated partner university Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University, from Ukraine, whose six members will tell their testimonies about the situation in times of war.

Vulnerability and access to justice

The congress focuses on the relationship between vulnerability and access to rights and justice. Among the issues that will be analysed are the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on vulnerability, accessibility policies, vulnerability associated with poverty, access to justice in Albania and the legal implications of different labour and economic contexts.

The social dimension is also extended to areas such as the mental health of students, the specific difficulties of remote island populations and las consecuencias de la digitalización de los servicios sanitarios. En este último caso, el programa aborda las implicaciones legales de la atención sanitaria digital para pacientes y profesionales, así como la identidad digital, la alfabetización digital y el diseño inclusivo.

The conference will conclude with a session titled “From Protection to Empowerment,” shifting the focus from the protection of individuals in vulnerable situations to issues concerning empowerment, social cohesion, collaborative practices, and individual agency. 

The aim of the gathering is to contribute to a broader understanding of human vulnerabilities and to foster an exchange of perspectives among European researchers, addressing these challenges through the lenses of social justice, inclusion, and the strengthening of autonomy and participation.

If you would like to know more about the conference, see the program.

If you would like to listen the conference, click here.

Science that reaches society, research that crosses countries and projects that mark the future. This is how STARS EU participated  in the European Researchers’ Night, an event held simultaneously in 25 countries and more than 460 cities to showcase science in a more informative and approachable way.

As the general coordinator of the alliance Dick Pouwels highlighted, for all the members of STARS EU it is very important that “research does not stay within universities, but that we put our experience and knowledge at the service of society”. And a good example of this are the research initiatives that allow the public to approach three key areas: healthy ageing, clean energy and entrepreneurship with a European impact.

Health and technology for the elderly

The researcher at the University of La Laguna, Sara Darias-Curvo, presented a project (STARS-Health) focused on improving digital literacy and health of the elderly, especially in rural areas. The aim of the project, in which several STARS partners are involved, is to adapt existing applications to the real needs of these people to facilitate their day-to-day lives and that of their caregivers. “The first thing is to listen to the population and then design tailor-made solutions,” Darias stressed.

Hydrogen, the energy of tomorrow

From the French region of Franche-Comté, the researcher at the Marie et Louis Pasteur University (France), Samir Jemei, and the dean Jan Jaap Aué, from the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands), showed how they work on sustainable mobility, electrolysis and energy storage, united by a common horizon: to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The key?, the international collaboration:  “By sharing knowledge, we learn from each other and accelerate change.”

Entrepreneurship with European impact

The third axis of the night was entrepreneurship, by researcher Ariola Arizi, from Aleksander Moisiu University (Albania), the alma mater of the BETTER project. Backed by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, its initiative supports startups, students and researchers in sustainability, digitalisation and health. “We are training the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators and, to do this, international collaboration is essential in opening up opportunities for all.”

Europe, a network of collaboration

The event left a common and forceful message: research is not an isolated matter, but a living tool to transform the present and the future. When Europe works together, the speakers agreed,  it empowers people and transforms their regions, the motto and spirit of STARS EU.

Take a look at this special evening and discover our projects through the voices of their own protagonists.