News & Events
News, seminars, conferences and research activities
This page documents research outputs, seminars, conferences, doctoral milestones, awards and public dissemination.
Featured News
Selected announcements from the Lab’s current research and academic activities.
8 July 2026
Invited Keynote at the ISIE Socio-Economic Metabolism Conference
Daniela Perrotti delivered an invited keynote at the International Society for Industrial Ecology’s Socio-Economic Metabolism Conference at the University of Cambridge.
13 June 2026
Spatial Patterns of Urban and Suburban Electricity Consumption
Pramit Verma and collaborators published new research on energy-consumption clusters in Central Europe.
29 April 2026
European State of the Climate 2025 Released
Daniela Perrotti contributed as Lead Author of the “Policy and Action” section of the C3S–WMO European State of the Climate 2025 report.
News
Research milestones, publications, appointments and public engagement from the UrbanLab.
8 July 2026
Invited Keynote at the ISIE Socio-Economic Metabolism Conference
Daniela Perrotti delivered an invited keynote at the International Society for Industrial Ecology’s Socio-Economic Metabolism Conference at the University of Cambridge.
13 June 2026
Spatial Patterns of Urban and Suburban Electricity Consumption
Pramit Verma and collaborators published new research on energy-consumption clusters in Central Europe.
29 April 2026
European State of the Climate 2025 Released
Daniela Perrotti contributed as Lead Author of the “Policy and Action” section of the C3S–WMO European State of the Climate 2025 report.
9 April 2026
Urban Metabolism Translated into Nine Urban Archetypes
Daniel Otero Peña and Daniela Perrotti published a design catalogue translating metabolic evidence into nine resource-sensitive and community-inclusive urban archetypes.
2026
Daniela Perrotti Serves on the 2026 F.R.S.-FNRS Sustainability Commission
Daniela Perrotti serves on the F.R.S.-FNRS Sustainability scientific commission for the 2026 doctoral Grants and Fellowships call.
19 January 2026
Urban Metabolism and the Post-Growth City
Daniela Perrotti discussed urban metabolism and post-growth urbanism in the Postgrowth City Podcast.
2026
Daniela Perrotti Joins the Tema T Fellowship Programme
Daniela Perrotti was invited as a Visiting Professor in Urban and Regional Climate Transition at Linköping University, Sweden, within the Tema T Fellowship Programme.
August 2025
Daniel Otero Peña Completes His Doctoral Research
Daniel Otero Peña defended his doctoral thesis on the spatial dimension of urban metabolism on 28 August 2025.
27 May 2025
Post-Growth Landscape Studies and Contested Urban Ecologies
Daniela Perrotti contributed to a critical discussion of urban nature, political ecology and post-growth landscape studies.
February 26, 2025
Ursula-Crisy Cardenas-Mamani Defends Her Doctoral Thesis
Ursula-Crisy Cardenas-Mamani defended her doctoral thesis integrating urban metabolism, ecosystem services and dynamic modelling.
2024
CO-HABITAT Research Report Released
The CO-HABITAT research report was published as a 170-page cartographic and design investigation into animal-inclusive planning in the Brussels-Capital Region.
28 March 2022
Integrated Urban Metabolism and Ecosystem-Service Research
Announcement of major publications on ecosystem-service integration and the spatial dimensions of urban metabolism.
2025
aIST-nexus Research Programme
The F.R.S.-FNRS-supported programme began developing an interdisciplinary framework based on agency, information and spacetime, with its research report released in 2025.
Events
Conferences, seminars, invited lectures and scientific exchanges involving members of the Lab.
5–9 July 2027
Nature-Based Solutions and Materials for the Circular City
Polytechnic University of Milan
2 February 2026
Grassroots Metabolisms
University of Gothenburg
2026
Mapping Metabolic Imperialism in Nature-Based Transformations
POLLEN Political Ecology Network Conference
23 December 2025
Nature-Based Solutions for Decarbonising the Urban Metabolism
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
11 December 2025
Metabolic Imperialism by Design: Intra- and Inter-Species Ecological Unequal Exchange in the Making of Metropolitan Nature
University of Amsterdam — Urban Planning
10 December 2025
Nature-Based Solutions in Urban Metabolism Research
Leiden University — Institute of Environmental Sciences
1–4 July 2025
ISIE 2025 Scientific Committee and Special-Session Organisation
International Society for Industrial Ecology
24–27 June 2025
A Multispecies Ecological-Unequal-Exchange Framework for the Urban Metabolism
International Society for Ecological Economics / International Degrowth Conference
24–28 March 2025
Degrowing with Nonhumans in Cities: Multispecies Labour Alliances as Levers for Urban Degrowth Futures
American Association of Geographers
2025
Urban Biowaste and Construction Materials at SBE25
SBE25
27–30 August 2024
Conceptualising Agency across Industrial and Social Ecology
Royal Geographical Society with IBG
24–27 August 2024
ISIE Beijing 2024 Scientific Committee and Keynote-Session Chair
International Society for Industrial Ecology
14 June 2024
Modelling Urban Metabolism in Light of Agency
University of Louvain Urban Metabolism Lab
12–14 June 2024
World Sustainable Built Environment Conference
World Sustainable Built Environment Conference
20–22 March 2024
From Concepts and Models to Practice
AScUS 2024
2024
Identifying Metabolic Clusters in Belgian Cities
American Geophysical Union
14–17 December 2023
Urban Science and Sustainability Conference
Urban Science and Sustainability Conference
2–5 July 2023
International Conference on Industrial Ecology
International Society for Industrial Ecology
31 May 2023
Looking South: Urban-Metabolism-In-Formality
University of Louvain Urban Metabolism Lab
27 April 2023
Food-to-Waste / Waste-to-Food
University of Louvain Urban Metabolism Lab
2023
Landscape Architecture and Metabolic Approaches
International Federation of Landscape Architects
25 November 2022
Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research Conference
University of Louvain / interdisciplinary research conference
26 April 2021
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Urban Water Challenges
Louvain4Water, University of Louvain
Awards and Distinctions
Selected distinctions and nominations connected to the Lab’s research and doctoral supervision.
2026
HERA Doctoral Thesis Award 2026
Daniel Otero Peña was awarded the HERA Doctoral Thesis Award 2026 for his doctoral research on the spatial dimension of urban metabolism.
Fondation pour les Générations Futures
2023
Nomination for the 2022 Graedel Prize
Research involving Daniela Perrotti was nominated for the 2022 Graedel Prize by the Journal of Industrial Ecology.
Journal of Industrial Ecology
Editorial Activities
Editorial leadership and scholarly publishing initiatives supporting interdisciplinary research exchange.
2025–present
Urban Metabolism in Transition: Integrating Space, Function, Services and Practices for the Next Generation of Metabolic Studies
Daniela Perrotti serves as Lead Guest Editor of a Resources, Conservation and Recycling special issue integrating spatial, functional, service-based and practice-oriented approaches to urban metabolism.
Elsevier
2023–present
Scientific Reports Editorial Board — Sustainability
Daniela Perrotti has served on the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports in the Sustainability section since 2023.
Nature Portfolio
Cities are not closed systems
Their metabolism extends across territories, infrastructures, ecosystems and communities. Understanding these relationships is essential to creating urban environments that are more resource-sensitive, socially just and ecologically resilient.