The 3rd UNIC Thematic Conference brings together the perspectives of UNIC’s Thematic Line 5 (Entrepreneurial Learning for Innovation) and Thematic Line 7 (Arts, Culture and Creativity), while drawing on the transversal contribution of Thematic Line 1 (Superdiversity).
Hosted by Ruhr University Bochum, the conference focuses on the role of creativity, culture, entrepreneurship, participation, and innovation in shaping the futures of post-industrial cities.
Across Europe and beyond, urban communities are confronted with complex challenges related to economic restructuring, social fragmentation, environmental transitions, technological transformation, and growing diversity. At the same time, cities are becoming laboratories for new forms of collaboration, creativity, civic engagement, and social innovation.
The conference seeks to explore how artistic practices, cultural initiatives, entrepreneurial approaches, and participatory methodologies can contribute to more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable urban futures. Particular attention will be given to the ways in which creative and human-centered approaches can foster innovation, strengthen communities, and support urban transformation in superdiverse contexts.
The conference intentionally adopts a broad and interdisciplinary perspective, welcoming contributions from academia, public institutions, civil society organisations, cultural actors, creative practitioners, entrepreneurs, and community stakeholders. It aims to create a space where research, practice, experimentation, and societal engagement can interact and mutually enrich one another.
Thematic Streams
Cultural Innovation, Arts and Creative Urban Transformation
Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation
and Creative Economies
Participatory Methodologies, Co-Creation
and Human-Centered Futures
Inclusion, Accessibility and Community Engagement in Urban Futures
Stream 1: Cultural Innovation, Arts and Creative Urban Transformation
This stream explores how arts, culture, and creative practices contribute to urban transformation and post-industrial regeneration. It focuses on the role of cultural innovation in fostering participation, social cohesion, wellbeing, and community activation while generating new imaginaries for urban futures.
Possible themes include:
• cultural innovation and urban transformation
• arts and creativity in post-industrial cities
• culture-led regeneration
• industrial and cultural heritage
• creative placemaking
• city-centre vitality and cultural ecosystems
• artistic approaches to social innovation
• arts-based science communication
• collaborative creative practices
• AI and artistic experimentation
• digital creativity and cultural innovation
Stream 2: Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation and Creative Economies
This stream examines entrepreneurship as a creative, socially embedded, and transformative process. It explores how entrepreneurial learning, innovation ecosystems, and creative economies can contribute to inclusive and sustainable urban development.
Possible themes include:
• creative entrepreneurship
• social and community entrepreneurship
• entrepreneurial ecosystems
• creative economies and cultural industries
• sustainable entrepreneurship
• entrepreneurial education
• ethical and value-based entrepreneurship
• moral economy and social value creation
• entrepreneurship in superdiverse urban contexts
• entrepreneurship and crisis preparedness
• inclusive and community-oriented business models
• innovation ecosystems for urban transformation
• entrepreneurship, resilience and polycrisis
Stream 3: Participatory Methodologies, Co-Creation and Human-Centered Futures
This stream focuses on methodologies and practices that connect research, innovation, creativity, and societal engagement. Particular attention is given to collaborative, experimental, and participatory approaches that enable diverse actors to co-create responses to contemporary urban challenges. The stream particularly welcomes contributions exploring entrepreneurial, artistic, and creative methodologies for innovation and societal transformation.
Possible themes include:
• co-creation methodologies
• entrepreneurial learning methodologies
• challenge-based innovation
• design thinking
• collaborative future-making
• participatory research approaches
• experimental and practice-based methodologies
• city labs and urban interventions
• artistic methodologies for participation
• methodological innovation
• art-based methodologies for social innovation
• human-centered innovation
• AI as a tool for creative inclusion
Stream 4: Inclusion, Accessibility and Community Engagement in Urban Futures
This stream explores how creativity, entrepreneurship, culture, and participation can contribute to more inclusive and accessible urban futures. Contributions are particularly encouraged when questions of migration, superdiversity, accessibility, and inclusion are connected to broader processes of cultural innovation, entrepreneurship, urban transformation, and community engagement. Particular attention is given to the role of cultural, creative, and entrepreneurial practices in fostering participation, wellbeing, and social impact in diverse urban communities.
Possible themes include:
• inclusive creative ecosystems
• social integration through arts and culture
• community entrepreneurship and social impact
• participatory cultural innovation
• art-based approaches to intercultural dialogue
• creative and cultural responses to urban inequalities
• inclusive and socially sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems
• cultural participation and community empowerment
• methods for evaluating social, cultural, and economic impact
Optional Strands for Teaching and Engaged Research
All UNIC Thematic Conferences will have two optional strands to encourage contributions in educational innovation and engaged research related to the conference topics. Contributors may indicate the relevant strand in the submission form to ensure their work is considered in the appropriate context.
Innovative Methods of Teaching and Learning
This strand welcomes contributions focusing on innovative pedagogical approaches, challenge-based learning, experiential education, creative teaching practices, and educational innovation connected to entrepreneurship, creativity, urban transformation, arts, culture, and socially engaged innovation.
Transdisciplinary Engaged Research
This strand highlights research that actively involves cities, communities, cultural actors, public institutions, NGOs, entrepreneurs, and civil society organisations. Contributions may focus on participatory methodologies, co-created knowledge, societally impactful and policy-oriented engaged research, and socially engaged innovation.
Call for Papers
We invite proposals, from scholars, independent researchers, students, civil society actors, practitioners and policymakers. Submissions may include individual papers, thematic panels, workshops, book presentations, stakeholder roundtables, artist talks and student-led activies. Both theoretical and empirical work are welcome from applicants at all stages of their career.
