In February 2023, the IN-HABIT partners met up in Lucca for the project’s fifth general assembly meeting.

Project Coordinator Mar Delgado described the general assembly as “a great opportunity to meet”, it being the first opportunity the IN-HABIT partners had to all meet in person. “That is a totally different experience from the ones we have been having till now,” she added. The event provided the opportunity to share what all the partners have been doing, to discuss, create new expectations, and inspire each other. For instance, Juan Guillermo Yunda Lozano, a representative from Bogotà, described his attendance at the event as “key to advancing the possibilities of dissemination and replication of IN-HABIT projects and methodologies in Latin America.”

The first day featured a session on the pilot cities’ solutions for boosting inclusive health and well-being, and one on benchmarking and co-projecting among IN-HABIT partners. There were also presentations from each of the pilot cities and from the project’s European Commission representative, as well as on the IN-HABIT app, and on market analysis and business model exploitation.

The second day of the meeting saw presentations on a wide range of topics including sustainable lighting, platforms and sensors for environmental monitoring, business incubation activities, mindset change activities, gender issues, and behavioural games.

Held in Lucca, one of the pilot cities, the meeting also enabled the IN-HABIT partners to get a valuable insight into the really interesting work being carried out by the Lucca partners: the Università di Pisa, the Comune di Lucca, and Lucca Crea. Juan Guillermo Yunda Lozano noted that: “of special interest on this occasion was learning about the vast green spaces used by animals in the city of Lucca, and the important work done by many of its citizens and the University of Pisa for the integration and mutual help between humans and animals, especially dogs, in the city.” Attendees got the chance to visit the Animal Lines construction site and test out the IN-HABIT board game designed by Lucca Crea. Mar Delgado noted: “it has been very impressive to see the great work they are doing and how this project, this intervention area, can change the lives of Lucca’s people, increasing health and wellbeing in an inclusive manner.”

To find out more about IN-HABIT’s work in Lucca and the other pilot cities, visit the cities page of the website.