challenge-
based
research

The ECIU University Research Institute for Smart European Regions (SMART-ER) is a research, innovation and education strong alliance, enabling all member universities to jointly address complex societal challenges under the framework of the UN SDG11 (Sustainable cities and communities).

The ECIU University SMART-ER Research Institute will design, develop and implement research; will value-capture and deliver solutions to current and future UN SDG11 challenges, identified by the ECIU University. Activities will be implemented by bringing together scientific and management research capacities at the 12 ECIU University member institutions.

The challenge-based approach adopted by the ECIU University allows engagement of societal stakeholders and learners in creating and working on challenges and exploiting results. The SMART-ER Research Institute, together with diverse stakeholder groups at a local, national and international level, will work according to a shared Research and Innovation Agenda. To achieve this, the ECIU University will align research capacities and will bring together researchers as an example of how to overcome the limits of each single institution.

The SMART-ER Research Institute will implement a new model of barrier-free  They will promote a dialogue with society, to help overcome the limitations of disciplines, sectors and countries being mainly based on a virtual collaborative environment. Jointly, the institutions will pilot capacity building programmes (Seed Programme and SMART-ER Academy) and citizen science initiatives that will be used as a testbed to put into practice all the mechanisms and structures built.