PlusValue announces kick-off of Urban-CoLLaR, an innovative project to drive circularity in urban regeneration, in partnership with Politecnico di Milano

PlusValue, a social impact solutions firm based in Milan and London, is pleased to announce the kick off of their partnership in international research project Urban-CoLLaR (“Co-creating Urban Living Labs for Circular Regenerative Neighbourhoods”). The project, in partnership with Politecnico di Milano, aims to improve environmental and socio-economic outcomes through circularity driven energy and practices efficiency in urban regeneration. The pilot will take place at MIND-Milano Innovation District with the support of Lendlease and the Municipality of Rho.

The project’s goal is to develop a decision-making tool for policymakers and real estate developers to assess the level of resource circularity in urban development projects. Urban-CoLLaR also seeks to raise awareness of environmental challenges among local stakeholders and foster local community engagement and participation through the Urban Living Labs (ULL) co-designing approach. MIND-Milano Innovation District was selected as one of the sites to test and develop the project, alongside Cankaya and Mugla in Türkiye, and Bruges and Leuven in Belgium.

As part of the consortium, Politecnico di Milano will collaborate with the other research institutions involved to develop unique indicators for circularity measurement. PlusValue will design participatory models for the five project sites, leveraging its expertise in stakeholder ecosystems creation within urban regeneration. Lendlease and the Municipality of Rho will support the project by providing access to critical data on resources circularity within MIND-Milano Innovation District and the City of Rho.

Filippo Addarii, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at PlusValue, commented: “The launch of Urban Collar represents an important milestone in our collaboration with Politecnico di Milano and our multi-year partnership with Lendlease at MIND. Our aim is to ensure that the needs of the local community are integrated into the development of the first methodology dedicated to socio-economic and environmental circularity in urban environments. With Urban Collar, Milano Innovation District confirms itself as a laboratory for innovation and sustainability in urban regeneration. We are proud to continue contributing to the success of the district.”

The Urban-CoLLaR consortium, co-financed by the EU member states under the programme “Driving Urban Transition” (DUT), will contribute to the European circularity agenda,

formulated in the EU’s Renovation Wave and Circular Action Plan. The Italian pilot is financed by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy.

The Urban-CoLLaR project is led by an international consortium composed of research institutions and local administrations. The former include Bilkent University (Türkiye), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences (Poland), the Hague University of Applied Sciences and National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania). The latter include the municipalities of Mugla and Cankaya (Türkiye), Bruges and Leuven (Belgium).

About PlusValue

PlusValue is a social impact firm based in London and Milan specialised in innovative finance tools, strategies and advisory for social infrastructures, innovation districts and urban transformation. Set up in 2015 as spin-off of British social innovation leader Young Foundation, PlusValue has a strong track record in EU-funded research and innovation projects and embedding social innovation in large developments with public and private sector partners. Further information is available at www.plusvalue.org.