Usquare.brussels is not some trivial infrastructure project the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) thought up, for, right from the initial studies, the site was regarded as a hub for research and teaching. Teachers of and researchers and students in architecture, town planning, urban studies, engineering, economics and management were all involved in converting this historic site into an open and sustainable space with consideration for the challenges the circular economy and renewable energy pose. This exemplary initiative makes Usquare a living lab for the university campuses and Brussels.
At this site, ULB and VUB will roll out three spaces: an academic one, a space dedicated to entrepreneurship and a third one to innovation.
The academic centre
The Institute for Advanced Studies: BrIAS
The site’s western side (Building B) is home to the Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies (BrIAS), an incubator for ideas that will focus on urgent topics related to sustainable development. The Institute aims to attract researchers, artists and designers from the world over to freely work together. BrIAS offers its fellows bursaries and accommodation for up to 10 months. It focuses on research that has a strong societal impact and supports researchers in exile and international collaborations.
USET: interdisciplinary research at the service of town planning and economic resilience
The renovated central building (A) houses the USET (Urban and Socio-Environmental Transformations) Research Hub. This hub brings more than 100 researchers of various disciplines together to consider town planning and socio-environmental issues and to look at sustainable finance. The aim is to facilitate interdisciplinarity and interfaculty by addressing challenges associated with town planning and economic resilience. USET strengthens the collective research capabilities of both universities by also offering joint interdisciplinary master programmes.
OpenLab: participatory research
The OpenLab is another key component of the project. It offers a space where citizens, organisations and researchers actively work together on knowledge generation. The idea is to bring science and societal expectations closer together via a participatory approach. OpenLab assists researchers in the design and management of society-related research projects. In parallel, FabLab, which is already up and running, offers digital manufacturing tools to everyone.
European University Alliances
Building C, located at the corner of Boulevard Général Jacques and avenue de la Couronne, is home to European alliances of universities CIVIS and EUTOPIA, which link ULB and VUB to 19 other European institutions. These alliances facilitate student mobility and strengthen collaborations on research and innovation. Thanks to these initiatives, students will be able to get their degree by combining studies in various European countries, thereby reinforcing their European identity and their openness to the world.
A research centre that focuses on Brussels
And last but not least, also the Brussels Studies Institute (BSI), an inter-university coordination body that specialises in research on Brussels, is based at Usquare.brussels. This think tank will strengthen the links between the Usquare ecosystem and the Brussels Region, thus contributing to local and international scientific collaborations.
Innovation
FabLabs
Active in the field of technological innovation, the ULB-VUB FabLabs enable creation by offering a space for learning and interdisciplinary research into the development of digitally fabricated prototypes.
While this infrastructure is a freely accessible community resource, the tools can be used under supervision.
The ULB FabLab sees to it that innovations are documented and shared, inter alia by developing research into intellectual property so that it can be adapted to current-day realities.
To find out more, visit FabLab ULB and FabLab VUB.
To find out more, check out the Brussels University Alliance: https://www.ulb-vub.be/fr/infrastructures/usquare.
Entrepreneurship
Incubator
To top off the creation of a unique environment - where research, the dissemination of academic knowledge and economic activity are intertwined -, Usquare will see the creation of an incubator.
As a real meeting place for key players involved in youth and sustainable entrepreneurship, this place is vital to the dynamics of the Usquare.brussels Ecopole and fully complementary to the development of the ULB and VUB FabLabs.
The premises will essentially be used to host the activities of StartLab.Brussels, the product of a recent merger between the ULB and VUB student incubators. StartLab has taken on the ambitious project of becoming a benchmark at European level.
The building can also be used by an academic entrepreneurship centre run by the ULB and VUB teams.
This component of Usquare receives funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).