Academic literature on the topic 'Catalyseurs – Innovation'

Background: The United Kingdom (UK) lags behind other high-income countries in relation to technological innovation in healthcare. In order to inform UK strategy on how to catalyse innovation, we sought to understand what national strategies can help to promote a climate for innovation in healthcare settings by extracting lessons for the UK from international innovators.Methods: We undertook a series of qualitative semi-structured interviews with senior international innovators from a range of health related policy, care/service delivery, commercial and academic backgrounds. Thematic analysis helped to explore how different stakeholder groups could facilitate/inhibit innovation at individual, organisational, and wider societal levels.Results: We conducted 14 interviews and found that a conducive climate for healthcare innovation comprised of national/regional strategies stimulating commercial competition, promoting public/private relationships, and providing central direction (e.g. incentives for adoption and regulation through standards) without being restrictive. Organisational attitudes with a willingness to experiment and to take risks were also seen as important, but a bottom-up approach to innovation, based on the identification of clinical need, was seen as a crucial first step to construct relevant national policies.Conclusions: There is now a need to create mechanisms through which frontline National Health Service staff in relation can raise ideas/concerns and suggest opportunities for improvement, and then build national innovation environments that seek to address these needs. This should be accompanied by creating competitive health technology markets to stimulate a commercial environment that attracts high-quality health information technology experts and innovators working in partnership with staff and patients.

Résumé Cet article porte sur l’apprentissage en ligne comme élément susceptible d’amener un nouveau rapport au savoir. L’autrice considère l’apprentissage en ligne comme un catalyseur qui refait l’image de l’éducation, relie en réseau les établissements universitaires, répond aux orientations gouvernementales et oblige le professeur à réfléchir à son nouveau rôle. L’étude porte sur deux cours offerts à des adultes inscrits aux études supérieures en 2000-2001. Ces cours ont utilisé la recherche dans les banques de données électroniques, la navigation dans des sites reliés aux cours et l’approche collaborative à partir de thématiques, d’histoires de cas, de résolutions de problèmes. Les travaux d’équipes étaient effectués à distance, grâce aux outils de recherche virtuels. Le texte rapporte les grandeurs et les faiblesses de ce mode d’apprentissage.

PurposeThe study aims to analyse patterns of innovation adoption among Italian female-owned farms, by evaluating the impact of innovation support services and entrepreneurial orientation on innovation adoption.Design/methodology/approachTo explore both the entrepreneurial identity of women farmers and the role of innovation support services in boosting innovation, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of Italian women farmers. A multivariate analysis lets to classify the farms under the previous two perspectives.FindingsThe analysis reveals various patterns of innovation adoption, heavily depending on both the effectiveness of innovation support services and farmers' entrepreneurial orientation.Research limitations/implicationsThe research analyses a sample of women farmers to excavate worlds of innovation among female-owned farms. Cross-gender comparisons can offer a more complete picture of the ways gender catalyses innovation adoption.Practical implicationsAt a policy level, the results of our empirical analysis point out the need for gendering innovation analysis and for tailoring policy interventions to the different worlds of innovation that exist in rural Italy.Social implicationsThe paper confirms the importance of deepening research on gender issues, with the purpose of fulfilling gender mainstreaming underlined in numerous policy documents at both the European and international levels.Originality/valueThe analysis represents a first attempt to join both the entrepreneurial identity of women farmers and the role of innovation support services in boosting innovation. Therefore, the paper fills a gap in the literature.

Uncoordinated and fragmented research activities were the scientific community’s early reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, with researchers planning and running many small stand‐alone trials or observational studies of single‐agent uses. In this article, we discuss actions that were taken by the European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN) and its national partner the Swiss Clinical Trial Organisation (SCTO) to address the issue of uncoordinated clinical research.

Innovation culture is a pivotal driver of a firm’s innovation excellence. This inspires employees to think and do the unthinkable. In that context, this case study uses Apple and Huawei as examples to analyse how innovation culture drives innovation excellence in firms. In such analysis, critical content analysis was integrated with unstructured interviews with product managers from Apple-Glasgow Stores in Scotland and Huawei’s Authorised Stores in Dubai-United Arab Emirates. The study aimed to extract critical information on Apple and Huawei’s innovation behaviours, culture and practices as well as their competition enhancing effects. Outcomes of such analysis were triangulated with the results of systematic review of core theories and literature on innovation culture creation and its leveraging effects on a firm’s performance. Findings revealed innovation culture to unlock employees’ overall improved creativity to think and do the unimaginable. This creates higher product, process, position and paradigm differentiations to leverage a firm’s overall competitiveness. Huawei’s innovation culture catalyses the embracement of higher level of employee creativity and innovativeness across different business functions as a daily business practice and way of life that defines how each and every activity is accomplished. This was found to drive improved quality, cost minimisation and creation of process efficiency advantages that are passed to customers through lower prices to bolster Huawei’s overall process and position competitiveness. Likewise Apple’s entrenched innovation practices and behaviours were found to create higher premium values that customers are willing to acquire even if the products are of significantly higher premium prices. Combined with Apple’s higher commitment to quality excellence as an innovation culture that delights employees to think and do the unthinkable, this was found to bolster Apple’s competitive edge to fetch higher returns as a leader in the global premium telecommunication and consumer electronics segment. Despite its competitive edge, Apple still faces challenges of lowering prices to fill gaps in the lower-income segments that Huawei and Samsung are using as the attack base, inspite suffering from the phenomenon of ‘Made in China are Cheap”. From these findings, the paper extracted an innovative culture development model that can be emulated by the emerging innovation ventures.

Purpose This paper aims to present an impact analysis in the educational dimension of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and specifically on its “knowledge and innovation community” (KIC), focused on the information and communications technology sector named “EIT Digital” in the university field. Design/methodology/approach After reviewing the current situation on education in ICT-related engineering and the need to address new professional profiles and/or complement the current ones to increase the value of the new professionals in a globalised society, the principles behind the EIT model are analysed, taking the experience accumulated in EIT Digital as a basis for discussion at master level. Findings The conceptual framework on “what” and “how” of the EIT described from the educational perspective constituted sound bases for ensuring the value of the EIT KICs as drivers for institutional innovation and structural reform. As the practical experience of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) shows, the policy experimentation space provided by EIT Digital has acted as an internal transformation driver for European universities. It has played a key role to accelerate structural reforms once partner universities assumed the need of modifying or reinterpreting “any internal regulation to participate better in the EIT”. Originality/value This analysis is used as a basis for the design of an institutional agenda of education transformation in the rest of the UPM where the innovation and entrepreneurship vision is inserted into the technical education to give future professionals the tools and capacities to serve as catalyser agents of the innovation system.

Employing a multiple instrumental case study approach, we document and analyze initiatives in Saskatchewan and New Zealand to enhance cultural responsiveness among White educators through professional learning initiatives undertaken as part of broader strategies to animate more equitable educational outcomes for Indigenous students. The findings of this research confirm the capacity of teachers to act as agents of change and highlight the potential of teacher professional learning to catalyze educational reform and innovation, ensuring that schools can indeed benefit students who have historically been underserved by public education. We conclude that the growing Indigenous presence in classrooms is a powerful driver of innovation, which offers the potential to transform curriculum, pedagogy, and teacher-student relationships for the benefit of all learners in these contexts and beyond. Key words: Indigenous students, teacher professional learning, culturally-responsive pedagogy, Saskatchewan, New Zealand En utilisant une approche d'étude de cas instrumentale multiple, nous documentons et analysons des initiatives en Saskatchewan et en Nouvelle-Zélande visant à améliorer la sensibilité culturelle des enseignants blancs par le biais d'initiatives d'apprentissage professionnel entreprises dans le cadre de stratégies plus larges visant à produire des résultats éducatifs plus équitables pour les étudiants autochtones. Les résultats de cette recherche confirment la capacité des enseignants à agir en tant qu'agents de changement et soulignent le potentiel de l'apprentissage professionnel des enseignants à catalyser la réforme et l'innovation en matière d'éducation, garantissant ainsi que les élèves qui ont historiquement été mal desservis par l'éducation publique peuvent effectivement profiter des écoles. Nous concluons que la présence croissante des autochtones dans les salles de classe est un puissant moteur d'innovation qui offre la possibilité de transformer les programmes d'études, la pédagogie et les relations entre enseignants et élèves au profit de tous les apprenants dans ces contextes et au-delà. Mots-clés: élèves autochtones, apprentissage professionnel des enseignants, pédagogie adaptée à la culture, Saskatchewan, Nouvelle-Zélande

This scholarly investigation delves into the transformative influence of digital technologies on national economies, marking a pivotal shift in the global economic landscape. The study's primary objective was to dissect the multifaceted impact of digital transformation, scrutinizing its role in reshaping economic sectors and societal norms. Adopting a qualitative synthesis of peer-reviewed literature, the research meticulously evaluated the economic ramifications of emerging technologies, drawing insights from diverse global contexts and industries. The findings reveal that digital transformation catalyses economic change, with significant variations observed across sectors such as healthcare and manufacturing. The study highlights the critical role of digital technologies in driving innovation, enhancing productivity, and fostering sustainable development. Case studies from different countries provided real-world perspectives on the implementation of digital strategies, underscoring the challenges and opportunities inherent in this digital shift. Conclusively, the research emphasizes the necessity of strategic planning and policy support in navigating the complexities of digital transformation. It advocates for a holistic approach that considers sociocultural, political, and economic factors in technology adoption, stressing the importance of global partnerships in fostering digital economic growth. The study culminates in recommendations aimed at guiding policymakers and business leaders in leveraging digital transformation for sustainable and inclusive economic development. In essence, this paper offers a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the digital era's impact on national economies, serving as a valuable resource for stakeholders navigating the ever-evolving landscape of digital transformation.

How do nonprofit organizations reinvent their identities after they have accomplished all or part of their missions? This comparative case study of two Irish peacebuilding organizations explores what happens when their raison d’etre is fundamentally challenged. A successful peace process in Northern Ireland resulted in reduced support for peacebuilding organizations and a perception of mission accomplished. Conventional literature on nonprofit organizations portrays mission success as positive. We show that mission success paradoxically threatens the very existence of the organization as it may lead to member and donor dissociation. We find that mission success leads to identity ambiguity, which catalyses organizational identity work including different rhetorical strategies of self–other talk. We develop a process model illustrating competitive versus integrative approaches to organizational identity work to understand nonprofits adapting to mission success. We draw out lessons for practitioners. Focusing on a renewed mission that is consistent with the organization’s history is more important than finding a quick financial fix. Social purpose organizations can efficiently and effectively be redeployed to address new challenges, rather than recreating new organizations each time.

There is an increasingly significant trove of observational sketches being used by illustrators as a visual research method to document and depict community and city interactions. Illustration, for me, serves as a potent, participatory tool of visual research that catalyses such transformative conversations and bolsters relationships within the community fabric. The act of drawing goes beyond rendering an image; it fosters a way to capture, record and create multifaceted interactions between people and their environments. The focus of this article is my community research project, Barter Archive (2019–22), an initiative that employs illustration as a transitional medium, moving from mere record-keeping to constructing a visual repository of collective memory. By inviting community members to participate in the process, ‘Barter Archive’ aims to advance understanding of the intrinsic potential that illustration holds. The project underscores its function as a metaphorical method, one that can substantively shape the collective memory. Moreover, the central argument presented here is that traditional models of archiving our collective memory require innovation, demanding greater inclusivity and accessibility. To this end, the illustration-based ‘Barter Archive’ presents an alternative approach to conventional archival methods. It engages the collective community in a participatory process that ultimately enhances memory-making and preservation practices, making them more accessible across the social spectrum. In conclusion, the importance of evolving and enhancing traditional archiving methods cannot be overstressed, as they play a crucial role in the preservation and inclusivity of collective memory. The ‘Barter Archive’ project, through its unique use of illustration, reinvents the conventional processes attached to archival practices. It provides a platform where community members can actively participate and contribute to collective memory-making, subsequently fostering a better understanding of the power and potential of illustration. Implementing this innovative and transformative approach could revolutionize the archiving landscape, making it more participatory, representative and inclusive, ultimately enriching the collective memory tapestry of communities and cityscapes.

Le développement du trafic aérien international est une composante majeure de la croissance des échanges internationaux intervenue depuis la seconde guerre mondiale. La traduction terrestre en est le développement des plateformes aéroportuaires. Avec les dérégulations intervenues dans les années 1990 les hubs sont des éléments majeurs de l’espace européen. Ils ont généré des territoires aéroportuaires allant au-delà des limites administratives et domaniales des aéroports ; ceux-ci sont des espaces importants de l’économie de la connaissance et de l’innovation. A ce titre, ils sont des polarités métropolitaines majeures. Nous en avons choisi trois majeures situées sur deux continents : Paris- Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam- Schiphol et Seoul- Incheon. En raison de leur accessibilité multimodale synchrone, ces aéroports sont parties prenantes de territoires aéroportuaires importants et multifonctionnels. Ils participent sous de formes et des degrés divers à l’économie de la connaissance et de l’innovation et en particulier à ses circulations
The development of international air traffic is a major component of the international exchanges occurred since the Second World War. The terrestrial translation is the development of airport. With the deregulations occurred in the years the 1990, hubs are major elements of European space. They generated airport territories going beyond the administrative and domanial limits of the airports; those are important spaces of the knowledge and innovation economy. For this reason, they are major metropolitan polarities. We chose three major located out of two continents: Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Seoul Incheon... Because of their synchronous multimode accessibility, these airports are recipients of important and multipurpose airport territories. They take part in various forms and degrees in the knowledge and innovation economy and in particular in its circulations

The research proposes the Innovation Labs as a valuable management initiative to support tourism and cultural organisations in developing Digital Innovation Capacity, fostering Digital Transformation (DT) and Business Model Innovation (BMI). Innovation Labs are innovation management models aimed at fostering creative and critical thinking, driving the organisation in finding the best ways to generate knowledge and digital culture, introduce technologies, digitise operations, and implement digital strategies for continuous and sustainable innovation paths (Santarsiero et al., 2019; 2020). The need for investigating and identifying possible solutions, and governance models, in terms of management initiatives that follow emergent innovation trends, and support tourism and cultural organisations in embracing digital innovation journeys, is having a growing interest, both in scholars and practitioners, especially after the pandemic Covid-19. Tourism and cultural organisations, pursuant their attitude to be a labour-intensive production sector, in which the competitive advantage depends on the differentiation of the tourism product and the humanisation of the offered experiences, resulted as one of the sectors that most repudiate DT, conceiving it as a process that would lead to standardisation and loss of appeal to the end customer. However, nowadays, due to the emerging challenges in the Digital Age that are also affecting the tourism and cultural sector, the need for embracing digital journeys favouring DT and BMI should be considered mandatory to guarantee competitiveness and the gain of a sustainable competitive advantage. The rapid development of digital technologies and solutions, and their democratisation, induced changes in consumers’ and users’ habits and behaviours, resulting in the need for developing new products, services and methods of use based on emerging market needs. In the same way, organisations are asked to become resilient, proactive and able to evolve in the same way the competitive landscape does. After Covid-19, besides, the needs for digital innovation journeys and digital revolutions are even more accentuated, confirming that the pandemic has acted as an accelerator of DT dynamics. The competitiveness and attractiveness of organisations and destinations will therefore depend on the digital innovative capacity and ability of operators and destination managers to rethink the tourist offer according to the new emerging trends and context dynamics. Although the need for embracing digital innovation journeys is crucial, it is not an easy process to manage and exploit. Organisations, indeed, experience several difficulties and innovation barriers. In SMEs, in particular, which represent a typical configuration of tourism and cultural organisations, resistance to innovation, and insufficient skills, finance, culture, attitudes, and often also the time to devote to innovation due to overburden of bureaucratic aspects and various routines, are particularly accentuated. It follows these organisations require forms of support to face these needs and develop an innovative capacity, fostering DT and BMI to improve offers, competitiveness, efficiency, as well as customisation and customer relationships. Despite the relevance of these topics, however, the search for solutions and ways to support tourism and cultural organisations in embracing digital innovation journeys has not structurally explored yet. On this vein, the research aims to explore and investigate, in the field of innovation management, models and approaches to face DT and BMI challenges and opportunities, and thus to investigate the emerging phenomenon of Innovation Labs to understand their management model and assess their suitability for tourism and cultural organisations. In the theoretical section, the study presents a systematic literature review of Innovation Labs to provide a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon and identify critical patterns according to two main dimensions of analysis: space & infrastructure, and strategy & management. Furthermore, the study utilises a multiple-case study approach to better enrich the insights gathered from the literature, and to propose an Innovation Lab’s working definition and a management framework. The working definition takes into account all the emerging aspects, the new principles and paradigms that are governing the field of innovation management and that become essential for the organisations competing in this scenario. The framework describes key phases and relevant issues for effective management of Innovation Labs as catalysts of DT and BMI. Then, the research applies the proposed framework through an Action Research (AR) project involving an organisation operating in the tourism sector, to assess its efficacy in fostering tourism and cultural organisations’ digital innovation journeys. The research contributes to enrich knowledge and build theory in the field of Innovation Labs and tourism innovation management. In particular, the study led to developing theories on the contributions of Innovation Labs in fostering DT and BMI in tourism organisations. A further framework explaining the business model’s dimensions on which DT processes impact thanks to these initiatives has been proposed. Lastly, the analysis of the AR project compared Innovation Labs’ management framework with change management frameworks to detect alignments and to highlight insights to support researchers in considering the model as a tool to support innovation dynamics in times of crisis. This research also has relevant practical implications since it provides managers and practitioners with an overview of the dimensions to be considered while designing and managing an Innovation Lab to develop digital innovation capacity and foster DT and BMI. Expressly, managers and practitioners are provided with a framework supporting them designing and exploiting management initiatives aimed at embracing digital innovation journeys to generate marketable digital solutions, improve performance and develop a mindset continuous learning and innovation. The study also reveals some limitations that may address future research. Further empirical, also quantitative, investigations could be developed to extend the sample and to allow a comprehensive validation of the Innovation Lab’s management framework, focusing the research also on the evaluation of Innovation Labs’ activities.

Ce travail traite de la réduction catalytique sélective des oxydes d’azote en utilisant du méthane comme agent réducteur sur catalyseurs bimétalliques Pd/Ce/zéolithes. Dans un premier temps, la méthode d’introduction du palladium, la teneur en palladium et cérium ainsi que l’ordre d’introduction des métaux ont été optimisés pour une formulation considérant une zéolithe MOR comme support catalytique. Puis, l'effet des différentes conditions opératoires ont été évalués. L’effet du support catalytique a été également étudié en comparant un catalyseur PdCe-BEA au catalyseur PdCe-MOR résultant de l’optimisation effectuée. Il a été montré que les deux catalyseurs possèdent différentes espèces métalliques conduisant ainsi à différentes performances catalytiques. Des Relations structure/réactivité ont été établies par différentes techniques de caractérisation et des résultats des tests catalytiques. Il a été mis en évidence un effet synergique résultant de la combinaison de ces deux catalyseurs dans le même pot catalytique (configurations lit mélangé et lit double). Un traitement thermique innovant appliqué au catalyseur PdCe-MOR, pendant sa préparation a été développé et optimisé. Dans certaines conditions, ce traitement conduit à l’amélioration de la performance catalytique, notamment, à une conversion de NOx à N2 et à une sélectivité de CH4 pour la réaction NOx RCS plus élevée. Enfin, des catalyseurs structurés ont été préparés par "washcoating" de PdCe-MOR sur des monolithes de cordiérite possédant des géométries différentes. Les paramètres de préparation ont été ainsi évalués par des techniques de caractérisations et par des tests en banc de gaz
The selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides, in lean-conditions, using methane as reductant (NOx CH4-SCR) over PdCe/zeolite-based catalysts was considered in this work. Preparation method for palladium introduction, palladium/cerium loadings and metal introduction order were optimised for a formulation considering MOR zeolite as the catalytic support. The effect of different test conditions, namely [CH4]/[NO] ratio and water presence in the reaction mixture was assessed. The effect of the zeolite support in the stabilisation of Pd/Ce species was also evaluated by preparing a similar PdCe-BEA catalyst to the optimised PdCe-MOR catalyst, considering the same metal loadings and preparation methods. Both catalysts exhibited different metal species and different catalytic performances. Structure-reactivity relationships were drawn from the comparison of several characterisation techniques and catalytic test results for both catalysts. A synergic effect resulting from the use of both catalysts in a single bed application (mixed-bed and dual-bed configuration) is reported. An innovative thermal treatment applied to PdCe-MOR catalyst during its preparation is reported. Under certain conditions, this treatment results in the enhancement of the catalytic performance, namely, in higher NOx conversion into N2 and CH4 selectivity towards NOx SCR. Structured catalysts were prepared by washcoating of PdCe-MOR onto cordierite monoliths with different geometry (cpsi). Preparation parameters were evaluated through characterisation techniques and the catalytic performance was assessed in a synthetic gas bench plant

What is a moving image, and how does it move us? In Thinking In Film, celebrated theorist Mieke Bal engages in an exploration - part dialogue, part voyage - with the video installations of Finnish artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila to understand movement as artistic practice and as affect. Through fifteen years of Ahtila's practice, including such seminal works as The Annunciation, Where Is Where? and The House, Bal searches for the places where theoretical and artistic practices intersect, to create radical spaces in which genuinely democratic acts are performed. Bringing together different understandings of 'figure' from form to character, Bal examines the syntax of the exhibition and its ability to bring together installations, the work itself, the physical and ontological thresholds of the installation space and the use of narrative and genre. The double meaning of 'movement', in Bal's unique thought, catalyses anunderstanding of video installation work as inherently plural, heterogenous and possessed of revolutionary political potential. The video image as an art form illuminates the question of what an image is, and the installation binds viewers to their own interactions with the space. In this context Bal argues that the intersection between movement and space creates an openness to difference and doubt. By 'thinking in' art, we find ideas not illustrated by but actualized in artworks. Bal practices this theory in action to demonstrate how the video installation can move us to think beyond ordinary boundaries and venture into new spaces. There is no act more radical than figuring a vision of the 'other' as film allows artto do. Thinking In Film is Mieke Bal ather incisive, innovative best as she opens up the miraculous political potential of the condensed art of the moving image.

AbstractThis chapter provides a novel framework for risk assessment and management by combining the Perception of Interprofessional Collaboration Model (PINCOM) and Historical-Clinical-Risk Management-20, Version 3 (HCR-20V3). PINCOM was developed to identify central aspects of interprofessional collaboration, whereas HCR-20V3 is the most used instrument in risk assessment of violence worldwide. The main scope of this chapter is to introduce and discuss the feasibility of combining the two tools to enhance collaboration between service providers in the mental health and criminal justice systems. First, we describe the HCR-20V3 and suggest how parts of it can be jointly used as a tool for concrete collaboration in the practice field. Next, we present the PINCOM tool, containing a conceptual model (PINCOM) and a research methodology (PINCOM-Q). It is suggested that the HCR-20V3 serves as a meeting point between different professionals for being concrete in joint casework. PINCOM can then be used within a larger social innovation framework and as a reflective tool during or after this structured professional assessment and acting as a catalyser for constructive collaboration.

AbstractIn 1944, Henderson’s and Gillespie’s Textbook of Psychiatry notes the ‘remarkable progress that has occurred in psychiatry in recent years in the teeth of war conditions, and even, to a limited extent, because of them’.1 The Second World War nurtures and catalyses a large number of reforms and innovations in the thought and practice of British psychiatry. Attending to the psychological casualties of the Second World War generates a huge number of interpersonally focused psychotherapeutic practices. The psychological significance of personal relationships, of adjustment to situations, of communication and social interaction become central to the linked aims of maintaining military and civilian morale on one hand, and returning psychological casualties to service as soon as possible on the other. The link between the social setting and psychological well-being is not generated by the war. However, the war does give an enormous boost to conceptions of what becomes known as the ‘psychosocial’.

This paper is about how framing an innovative approach for community empowerment by organising networks and consortia for preparing proposals in different research programme frameworks. In the beginning, there was as study for classifying underground spaces and using them as a solution for a sustainable over ground urban development. By advancing in the proposals preparation, the team developed a completely different vision. The underground space was more and more seen as a place for building local identity and sense of belonging, progressing from a functional to a cultural value, from a site conservation to a community valorisation approach, by giving centrality to the people and their needs. As first step, the project faced the challenge of regenerating urban areas by realising Underground Built Heritage potential for local communities and experimenting a methodological approach on sustainability transition. Just like a story, the paper describes the evolution of the approaches, and the implementation of the activities, also if unsuccessful in the competition. The consortium grew and matured, a network based on strong analysis and revision, whose members developed an impressive social capital and learned by any failure. Piece by piece, this network was able to achieve the success, and to start a COST Action, the CA 18110 “Underground Built Heritage as catalyser for Community Valorisation”. The Action, funded for establishing and implementing an expert network, promotes balanced and sustainable approaches to preserve the Underground Built Heritage (UBH) and, at the same time, to realise the potential of the underground space in urban and rural areas for regeneration policies. The paper finally explains how a wellmotivated group of people can transform a network activity, with a little budget, in a research and on field project and how such a network can provide innovative tools for engaging and empowering local communities.