DCitizens Project wraps up research on Digital Civics at final lab retreat in Newcastle.
DCitizens is a research and innovation project led by Instituto Superior Técnico and Interactive Technologies Insitute, that aims to foster Digital Civics in Lisbon, exploring how digital technologies can empower citizens and communities to co-create services, shift from transactional to relational models, and reconfigure relations between citizens, communities, and institutions.
The project held its final lab retreat in Newcastle, UK, from 19–20 November 2025. The retreat corresponded to the wrap-up consortium meeting and was co-located with the Early Stage Researcher (ESR) training. The event was hosted by Northumbria University, at the School of Computer and Information Sciences.
From the ITI, participants included Hugo Nicolau, Ana Henriques, Patricia Piedade, Tainna Souza, and Jing Zhao.
During the consortium meeting, partners reviewed deliverables, and major achievements, prepared the final report and review processes, and advanced one of the project’s key outputs: the Research & Innovation Agenda for Lisbon. The programme also included discussions on future research collaborations.
Alongside the consortium meeting, Early Stage Researchers participated in training sessions focused on research communication, methodological exchange, and science communication, including a 3-Minute Thesis workshop, a method swap session, and a research showcase.
The final session featured presentations from community partners. Paulo Rosa presented WearAccess, a bespoke accessibility service for a teenager with multiple disabilities, developed through the co-creation of an always-available smartwatch-based support for everyday communication and entertainment. The session concluded with Rui Estrela presenting Balcão do Bairro, a community-based walk-in service desk in Lisbon designed to improve access to digital services, operating as a “middle-out” institution between grass-roots initiatives and institutional hierarchies.
🔗 Event page: https://dcitizens.eu/news-events/dcitizens-meets-in-newcastle/
Image credits: © DCitizens.eu
