People, Places, Possibilities: IN-HABIT Final Event

Five Years of Inclusive Urban Transformation Come to a Close in Córdoba

Córdoba, June 12, 2025 – After five years of collaboration, experimentation, and co-creation across four European cities, the IN-HABIT project concluded with a powerful and heartfelt two-day final event in Córdoba. Funded by the European Union Research & Innovation Horizon 2020 programme, IN-HABIT set out to explore how small and medium-sized cities can become more inclusive, healthy, and sustainable by activating underused resources and focusing on community voices.

The final gathering brought together partners from Córdoba, Lucca, Nitra, and Riga, as well as the fellow city Bogotà, alongside representatives of the international stakeholders, local institutions, researchers, entrepreneurs, artists, and residents. What emerged was more than a reflection — it was a shared celebration of how deeply place-based, people-led innovation can transform not just urban spaces, but also the way cities think, act, and relate to their inhabitants.

Walking the Talk in Las Palmeras

Fittingly, the event began not just in halls, but in the streets — with a community walk through Las Palmeras, the neighborhood where IN-HABIT Córdoba took root. Over the course of the project, this historically under-resourced area became a living laboratory for inclusive urban regeneration.

Participants witnessed the tangible outcomes of five years of dialogue and action: colorful murals created with local youth, new shaded picnic areas where families now gather, redesigned play spaces co-created with neighbors. An active visit to one of the patios involved in social activities and community led urban change also represented a great chance to discuss urban transformation in its many forms.  It was a reminder of what made IN-HABIT different: a commitment to listening deeply, acting locally, and building from the ground up, always with an innovation look for solutions

From Reflection to Vision

Over the two days, our reflections explored what lasting change looks like. Moderated conversations touched on the challenge of breaking down silos between institutions, ensuring policy continuity, and maintaining participation after project funding ends.  While each city faced its own context, challenges and constraints, the shared insight was clear: real change is relational, and its success depends on long-term commitment, collaboration, and care.

Day two deepened the dialogue. Panels explored how IN-HABIT’s results — such as co-created public spaces, community health monitoring, and inclusive entrepreneurial support — can move from temporary pilots to embedded practices. Participants emphasized the need for strong political leadership, better institutional mechanisms for participation, and continuous support for local teams and civil servants who carry projects forward. A contribution from Maria Yeroyanni from the EU Commission, illustrated new possibilities to give continuity to mission cities in the future.

But rather than focusing only on challenges, the sessions were animated by a spirit of possibility, discussing broader change beyond the original project areas — creating spillover effects and inspiring new alliances among neighbors, organizations, and public services in new cities, too.

A Future Built Together

As the event drew to a close, M. del Mar Delgado, IN-HABIT’s project coordinator and professor at the University of Córdoba, offered a moment of heartfelt synthesis. Reflecting on the project’s journey, she shared:

“We knew our starting point, and we knew the kind of results we were aiming for — but the path was open. That openness allowed us to grow alongside the communities, to stay flexible, and to respond to what really mattered on the ground.”

Her words captured the project’s core strength: adaptability with purpose, and a deep respect for the knowledge and energy already present in communities.

The celebration closed with a group photo, symbolic thank-you notes, and a shared toast — but what lingered most was a sense of continuity. IN-HABIT was never just a project with a start and end date. It was a collective journey rooted in care, imagination, and the belief that cities become healthier and more inclusive when those who live in them are at the center of change.

From Córdoba to Riga, Lucca to Nitra, IN-HABIT has planted seeds — in neighborhoods, in institutions, and in hearts. As this chapter closes, its legacy lives on in the people and places it helped activate and in those who supported these changes. To witness their stories and the impact they’ve created, we invite you to watch the IN-HABIT legacy video — a tribute to five years of transformation, made possible by and for the communities we serve.

Watch the video here