Lyon Urban School

http://ecoleurbainedelyon.universite-lyon.fr
The Lyon Urban School is a "Convergence Institute" program which was created in June 2017 by the Commissariat-General for Investment (CGI) as part of the Investments for the Future project (PIA2). It is led by Michel Lussault, a geographer and professor in urban studies at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon).

Through its experimental interdisciplinary project for research, doctoral training and the economic, social and cultural promotion of scientific knowledge, the Lyon Urban School is breaking new ground by establishing an emerging field of knowledge and expertise: the Urban Anthropocene.

The global challenges of urbanization and our transition into the Anthropocene are generating new areas of research and training, new professions and skills, and also a profound change in thinking, representation, practices and occupations in cities.

The Lyon Urban School intends to support the social, ecological and economic transition experienced by societies and countries around the world. It aims to contribute to the development of a new collective way of understanding urban and environmental issues, and of rethinking possible relationships between universities, research laboratories, companies, local and region authorities, public authorities, organizations and citizens in our ever-changing urban environment.



Research activities

The Lyon Urban School's six priority scientific areas for the program's first phase are:
  • The vulnerability and dynamism of urban spaces against global change
  • Environments constituting the Urban Anthropocene
  • Technology and science as a way of understanding urban situations and taking action
  • The Learning City
  • New governmentalities and professionalities
  • The history and epistemology of urban knowledge

Partnerships

The Lyon Urban School brings together 27 research units, including 17 UMRs (Mixed Research Units) from 19 founding institutions at the Lyon Saint-Étienne site and the Université de Lyon.
By the end of 2025, 400 researchers from all scientific areas will have joined.

The Lyon Urban School, located on the LyonTech-La Doua campus, is closely involved with 32 laboratories from the Intelligence of Urban Worlds (IMU) LabEx and with the PULSALYS technology transfer acceleration company.