If we want to create meaningful impact in the field of climate change mitigation, public participation and sustainable and circular urban development there is an urgent need to bridge small scale civic initiatives (in placemaking) with larger infrastructure and area development initiatives and enable participation and civic development in these projects. While civil society initiatives are increasingly being recognised in the field of place-led development, civil society actors and initiatives in the area of infrastructure still receive too little acknowledgement and support. But what can we learn from these initiatives and what (regulatory) framework do they need? In this session we will take a closer look at one of the most interesting area development projects in Rotterdam (Keilekwartier / Merwe-Vierhavens) and learn from international best-practice examples. We will investigate how civic infrastructure initiatives (e.g. energy communities) can foster resilient area development and create benefits and a just transition for the local community. How can these large scale developments still include citizen initiatives in a meaningful and just way? Can we develop good overarching frameworks for these developments?
This workshop builds upon the foundation laid in our previous panel, which focused on the diverse ways we engage youth in participatory urban transformation. We expand on our discussion through hands-on ideation and collaborative systems mapping, leveraging (professional) practice to reimagine the many roles involved in community planning and design.
Through dissociating roles and responsibilities from professional practice, this workshop aims to extract the specific tasks and actions needed from all stakeholders to effect sustainable, systemic change in the urban environment. This enhances engagement amongst youth and adult stakeholders and facilitates participatory design and decision-making through a redistribution of roles across the action group.
This workshop will take the Masterplan for the Merwehaven neighborhood of Rotterdam as the point of departure for identifying local development goals. Attendees to the Placemaking Week are considered community members and stakeholders of responsible, representative, and sustainable urban transformation. Together, we will brainstorm opportunities for youth to drive urban transformation by taking leading roles in its reimagination and civic experience.
This session is dedicated to fostering connections between regional placemaking networks from across the globe. The aim of this gathering is to serve as a platform for representatives from various worldwide regions to come together to share their unique approaches to placemaking, exchange best practices, and discuss challenges and successes. This is a unique opportunity to learn from diverse experiences, build a stronger network, and collaborate together on future initiatives. Whether you’re part of a regional network or looking to start one, join us to gain insights and expand our global placemaking community.
What happens when a room filled with placemaking experts and enthusiasts is faced with community engagement challenges to be solved in different urban scenarios? What creative solutions and ideas will be put on the table? This session will dig into the knowledge and first-hand experience of participants, to find gold nuggets of placemaking essentials that will help build a shared map leading to long-lasting impact in community engagement.
Recently, there has been a lot of fuss around co-creation as a way to tackle big urban challenges. However, talking about experimental approaches seems to be much easier than planning and implementing them in existing (governance) structures, let alone, making experimenting part of full urban development processes. This training sessions allows participants to playfully lay out the cornerstones for experimental approaches and to discuss: Where to start? how to plan? What methods / tools to use?
Senior Advisor on social sustainability, Fragment AS
Helene Gallis is a Norwegian awardwinning entrepreneur, environmentalist and placemaker. Her work focusses on green public spaces that facilitates diverse stakeholder interaction while increasing urban biodiversity. Her experience includes international research projects, consultancy... Read More →
Experience a hands-on workshop on the potential of gamification and AI in participatory design, and discover how it can meaningfully connect communities, local governments, and other stakeholders to design better places for people.
Our session will use the Delfshaven area - where the festival is taking place, as a case study for an area that is undergoing urban renewal. In our workshop, attendees will use digital tools and board games, experiencing the potential of gamification in the design process on various scales. During the workshop, attendees will participate in a unique board game that encourages a creative dialogue where all voices are heard and common interests and disagreements are addressed, resulting in a plan expressing that dialogue.
In addition, we’ll harness cutting-edge technology to gather ideas and input from participants, processing them through AI to visualize their potential impact on the urban environment. This innovative approach demonstrates how community input can play a meaningful role in shaping the urban environment, improving the quality of urban development, and empowering communities in creating places. Our workshop emphasizes the vital role of community involvement in urban planning and the power of gamification in creating meaningful engagement.
By participating, you'll gain insights into effective participatory design techniques and experience how user input can significantly contribute to improving our cities. Schedule: Introduction and Overview Presentation of the case-study area Interactive Workshops AI-Powered Idea Visualization Group Discussion and Q&A The future of our cities is green, human-centric, and collaborative. As a decision-maker, you cannot afford to fall behind. Join us to lead the way in better cities!
Join our workshop exploring the transformative potential of children's empowerment in shaping school environments. This session will provide insights why participatory practices in pre-schools and schools are essential and how they differ from urban placemaking. Participants will delve into practical methodologies that engage young children and learn how to harness children's ideas to enhance school spaces. Architects, educators and psychologists will present an overview of the theoretical framework behind school-based placemaking, highlighting unique challenges and opportunities it presents. Attendees will learn the crucial conditions necessary for participation and understand why this approach benefits the entire school community. Through interactive format, we will demonstrate techniques for interpreting children's wishes and assessing their involvement in decision-making processes. Participants will gain practical tools for evaluating the school environment to ensure it supports children's self-expression and active participation. The workshop will cover methods for co-creating tangible, contextually relevant projects with students, fostering a strong sense of school identity and community. We will share real-world examples and outcomes, illustrating how these practices transform physical spaces and rejuvenate relationships within the school, promoting collaborative and project-based learning. This session is designed for professionals seeking to implement innovative strategies that catalyze positive change in educational environments.
Join us for a workshop that combines the speculative power of storytelling with the hands-on perspective of service design, introducing a narrative-driven approach to placemaking.
In this session, you'll explore a fictional future neighborhood through the daily lives of its inhabitants—humans, plants, animals, and insects. Inspired by the children’s storybook format, participants will design their own story books encouraging radical participation in their own fictional scenarios and imagining what would make our heroes’ utopian lives fulfilling and happy.
As we dive into these stories, insights about community life will emerge, highlighting potential issues and opportunities for improvement. Combining sketching and storytelling with a systemic approach, we will explore how the crafted stories intertwine, making the multiple factors involved in placemaking emerge, and highlighting potential action points. What resources, activities, and connections, are necessary to make the narratives become reality? What systemic changes are required?
This workshop explores the complexity of community-based placemaking processes, weaving storytelling and design-driven methodologies to generate systemic change towards a collective sense of place.
Service designer for urban development, self employed
With a BA in Industrial Product Design from Politecnico di Milano and an MSc in Strategic Product Design from TU Delft, I have over six years of experience as a service design practitioner in international contexts. Alongside my academic role as a design researcher at DESIS Lab (Milan... Read More →
Join us for "City Moves: playful urban spaces," a dynamic workshop where we reimagine urban environments as vibrant, active playgrounds. This session will delve into how sports, physical activity, and play can be seamlessly integrated into city spaces. Participants will hear from a diverse panel of experts including urban designers, public health advocates, community leaders, and cultural organizers. Learn about innovative placemaking strategies, explore successful case studies, and engage in a hands-on activity to redesign Keilewerf as a multifunctional space that fosters movement, play, and social interaction. This workshop is perfect for urban planners, public health professionals, and community organizers eager to transform public spaces into lively, interactive environments. Be prepared to collaborate, brainstorm, and leave inspired with actionable ideas!
Board Member for Placemaking Europe, Placemaking Europe, BG Be Active
Laska Nenova - managing director of BG Be Active Association Bulgaria with over 25 years of experience in marketing, campaigns, social impact, and advocacy across multiple sectors and countries
Stories connect us. They have the power to change our perspectives and ignite change in our living environments. But what kind of stories should we tell? Who should the storytellers be? And who needs to listen?
In this session, we cut through the confusion that surrounds storytelling, exploring what it looks like in practice in placemaking and urban development projects. We will dive into actionable strategies for how to use storytelling to hear the stories of citizens before, during and after a project and discover how to define an impactful narrative of change and use it to connect stakeholders.
The session has three parts: First, it starts with practical insights on how various communication forms (audio, visual, text) can be used to make placemaking and urban development processes more understandable, accessible, and impactful for citizens, professionals, and other stakeholders.
Then, participants will take part in an interactive demonstration of a new methodology for impactful and effective citizen participation, creating AI-powered stories in real time that reflect citizen experiences in our living environments.
The session ends with a closing panel discussion addressing how we can humanize our communication to reach all people, ethical considerations of AI, and human biases in storytelling, among other topics.
Päivi Raivio is an urban designer, artist and placemaker. She is a Placemaking Europe Leader.Päivi is the co-founder of RaivioBumann and Parkly - two companies which operate in Helsinki but also work internationally.RaivioBumann is a creative studio for placemaking, urban co-creation... Read More →
Join us for an introductory session where we explore the core concepts of placemaking. This session is perfect for newcomers and seasoned practitioners alike who wish to understand the foundational principles of placemaking, its significance in urban development, and the specific projects and stories that Placemaking Europe undertakes. Discover how placemaking can not only enhance the aesthetic and functional aspects of public spaces, but how it also fosters community engagement, sustainable development, and the many other elements that go into shaping vibrant urban spaces across Europe and beyond.
