UPGRADE is an Erasmus+ Joint Regional Project, aimed Capacity Building in the field of Higher Education. The project consortium comprises the departments of Architecture, Urban Planning, and Civil Engineering in 8 highly reputable Higher Education Institutes and one Research Center from 6 different countries. Two of which are Partner Countries (Egypt and Lebanon) -in which the project will be held- and four of which are Program Countries (Germany, Italy, Greece, and Spain) -by which the project will be supervised.

Throughout its duration of 3 years (November 2020- November 2023), the project will focus on the development and integration of the relationships between the following three different sectors within each Partner Country:

1. The research and education sector: Represented by participating Higher Education Institutes in Egypt and Lebanon
2. The society: represented by local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Egypt and Lebanon
3. The business sector: represented by transportation and mobility corporations  

 Participating Higher Education Institutes will embark on an educational process that focuses on evidence-based urban and transportation planning. The students will be encouraged to learn through handling a real-life case study in order address urban planning and urban mobility challenges faced by an unprivileged fraction of the population within the society. Local NGOs will be invited to assist students through the data collection phase of the case study, where students will be encouraged to identify critical urban planning and urban mobility challenges faced by the targeted population.

Following the data collection and analysis phase, students will be supervised by their tutors and tutors from Program Countries to present an urban planning proposal that will help overcome the identified challenges.Finally, transportation and mobility corporations will be invited to assist the students in presenting an innovative urban mobility solution that will complement their urban planning proposal.

At the end of its duration, an International Conference will be held for disseminating the project’s outcome. The Conference is planned to take place in Alexandria, Egypt. Urban and transportation planning scholars from around the world will also be invited to participate and showcase their research within the field of urban planning and urban mobility. Additionally, the presence of representatives from each Program and Partner Country will be indispensable, as well as the presence of representatives from local NGOs and transportation and mobility corporations.