Faced with the almost 700,000 tonnes of reinforced polymer waste that Europe is likely to produce in 2025, the YouRban research project promotes the development of a dynamic ecosystem dedicated to recycling and upcycling materials.

The project, coordinated by the Department of Mechanical Engineering in collaboration with the Department of Design, aims to create an active and aware urban community to find creative solutions for recycling and upcycling, in particular for reinforced polymers. By promoting the values of sustainability and inclusiveness and the knowledge of circular economy processes, the project will activate an urban ecosystem involving citizens, artists, designers, architects and small-scale producers.

The project revolves around two fundamental pillars: the two pilots in Milan and Barcelona.
In the Milan pilot, the approach is based on "problems in search of a solution." Citizens report concrete problems, and artists design solutions through an innovative co-creation process. The involvement of YouRban expert technicians ensures specialized skills and training.
In the Barcelona pilot, the approach is reversed, with a perspective of "solutions in search of a problem." Artists and creative networks design solutions for change, then seek stakeholders willing to adopt them to solve specific problems and meet the community's needs.

YouRban is based on an innovative research strategy which draws on the European Union's Green Deal and New European Bauhaus initiatives, promoting workshop and training activities for artists and designers.

The beating heart of the project is its truck, a mobile laboratory conceived as a true traveling workshop. This plant houses recycling and reprocessing technologies for end-of-life composite materials. The truck is not just a production tool, as it is also a powerful dissemination medium designed to promote the new values of the circular economy through exhibitions, artistic events and participatory activities. The involvement of YouRban's partners from Italy, Spain, Lithuania and Austria ensures specialised expertise and training.

YouRban's main goals:

• Create a decentralized de-remanufacturing system for plastic waste, closing material cycles, generating new products, and reducing environmental impact.
• Develop new value chains based on local economies, using artistic experimentation and regenerative design to foster inclusivity and resilience.
• Promote social and professional inclusion through participatory approaches and digital tools, educating communities on CoCreation and regenerative design.
• Establish sustainable urban networks, creating new artisan skills and jobs.
• Provide access to urban technologies for prototyping and creating handcrafted objects, supporting a flexible and efficient recycling model for MSMEs.

The project exploits the Open Call mechanism to involve micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, laboratories and associations interested in understanding material recycling technologies and opportunities, helping to raise awareness, train and create new jobs and business opportunities within the involved cities after the end of the project.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme.