As part of the European InCITIES project, Iscte organised the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) advanced school pilot titled Cities Futures – Interdisciplinary Challenges under the scientific and pedagogical responsibility of Catarina Ferreira da Silva, Associate Professor with Habilitation. This BIP started the 30^th of October 2024 and culminated the 24^th of January 2025 with the Hackathon Future Cities: From Vivid Reality to Inclusive and Sustainable Challenges in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area focused on tackling urban authentic challenges, during which the proposals of the participating students were evaluated by a jury comprised of the course Professors, tutors, and the representatives from InCITIES associated partners, CP Comboios de Portugal, Genesis.studio and InovarAutismo. The Hackathon started with the opening speech by the Iscte's Vice-Rector for the PIONEER Alliance, Professor Helena Carreiras. She welcomed the students, faculty, tutors, and the representatives of InCITIES' associated partners, namely Dr. Marta Bom and Dr. Ana Peralta from CP Comboios de Portugal, Eng. Guido Santos from company Genesis Studio, and Dr. Gilmário Duarte from the Association Inovar Autismo.

 The Hackathon awards were sponsored by the Portuguese public company CP Comboios de Portugal, EPE with the winning students receiving travel voucher experiences and CP merchandise. The invaluable participation of the associated partners, particularly the sponsorship of CP Comboios de Portugal, was instrumental in the success of the Hackathon, highlighting the importance of collaboration in fostering inclusive, resilient and sustainable urban development.

The in-presence component of this BIP started the 20^th of January 2024 with the Welcome ceremony by the Iscte's Vice-Rector for Internationalisation, Professor Maria das Dores Guerreiro, at the new Iscte facilities for Knowledge and Innovation (Iscte-CI). The BIP week in Lisbon was filled with workshop sessions, visit to the InCITIES associated partners facilities, social events, and a visit to the Audax_Iscte entrepreneurship and innovation centre that provided souvenirs.

The BIP involved students from the University Gustave Eiffel, Laurea University of Applied Sciences, University of Zilina (UNIZA) and Slovak University of Technology and Professors and Researchers from Iscte, Laurea and UNIZA.