UCalgary and City

Start an Urban Alliance project

Urban Alliance welcomes and facilitates any research projects that address municipal needs and are collaborations between University of Calgary researchers and City of Calgary practitioners. Additional external partners may also be included.

Urban Alliance places special value on projects that include:

  • Interdisciplinary, cross-silo approaches to solving complex problems
  • A focus on key priorities identified by City Council and Administrative Leadership
  • Leveraged funding models to build research efforts that can have significant impact on the lives of Calgarians

Collaborations can be highly diverse in nature. Examples include:

  • Research projects addressing specific questions or needs
  • Major initiatives addressing a key municipal priority with the support of City funding and involving multiple researchers and business units and possibly external partners
  • Tapping into expert knowledge to enhance City business operations
  • Workshops to exchange information about City priorities and University research resources in focus areas
  • Accessing City data to support a student course or thesis project

How do I get started?

Research ideas, questions or proposals may originate from either The City of Calgary or the University of Calgary, and they may come from individuals or teams/units. If you do not already have a relationship with an appropriate colleague, contact us and we will put you in touch with the right people. We can distribute your question/proposal broadly among faculties or business units if appropriate.

Research Agreements

Depending on the nature of the collaboration, a legal agreement may or may not be required. Urban Alliance has put in place a stream-lined Research Agreement process that applies when the City provides financial or significant in-kind support for a research project. This includes terms and conditions agreed upon by The City and University that are beneficial to both organizations. In other cases, a simple non-disclosure or similar agreement may be sufficient to cover data or IP confidentiality.

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We strongly encourage you to contact the Urban Alliance as soon as you start thinking about a collaborative project. We can help you with key contacts and provide guidance to make the process as efficient as possible.

Barry Phipps – Urban Alliance Coordinator, University of Calgary – bphipps@ucalgary.ca, 403-220-8765

Urban Alliance support, City of Calgary – data@calgary.ca