Students and workers from Veneto visit Gavá to know Gàvius at first hand

• The students belonged to master’s programs in public administration, mobility management and sustainability management at the Challenge School of the Ca’Foscari University of Venice.

• The Italian delegation was particularly interested in the citizen participation processes promoted by Gavius and in the social and urban innovation aspects of the project.

About twenty professionals and university students from the Veneto region already know Gavius in detail. The project team welcomed them in the plenary room of the City Council of Gavà and explained to them, through several presentations, what Gavius is. The Project Manager, Mònica Sagredo, focused on the origins of the project and the process followed to present it to the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) for its grant. He also detailed one of the most relevant participatory processes that have been carried out so far to develop this virtual tool, the co-creation sessions with citizens.

For her turn, the Lead Expert of the project, Valentina Tageo, explained the most innovative and international aspect of Gavius, how it is included within the digital transformation projects of the UIA and how it is possible to incorporate artificial intelligence in the field of social services. Visitors were also able to learn about their options for submitting urban innovation projects to the UIA and other European initiatives for funding.

The organizer of the visit and town planner Massimiliano Granceri was pleasantly surprised by the explanations. “We really enjoyed the presentations and we have seen that the municipalities have worked hard. We are curious to see the development of the project in the coming months and the potential replicability of the application,” he said. He also wanted to highlight one of the fundamental aspects of Gavius, citizen participation. “We have all learned a new approach to new governance and that citizens and administration can work together to build knowledge through co-creation.”

The session finished with a question-and-answer session to resolve the attendees’ doubts. This visit is part of a program organized by the Challenge School of the Ca Foscari University of Venice. On this occasion, they travelled to Barcelona to learn about projects related to social innovation and the relationship between administration, civil society, business and research centers. On October 18th, other students from the same university will visit us and will be able to learn about the latest advances of the project.