Placemaking Week Europe 2024 - Rotterdam

We officially invite you to our Official Opening Celebration for Placemaking Week Europe 2024 - Rotterdam edition!
Welcome to Placemaking Week 2024 – Rotterdam (6th) Edition! This session will kickstart the week in the beautiful venue of OASE with an introductory speech by Rotterdam local placemaker Maurice Specht. This will be followed by a formal welcome from Vice-Mayor Chantal Zeegers and venue representative Berend van Zanten . We'll introduce our keynote speakers for the week and provide important information about the upcoming events.

Goals of the Session:

• Formal welcome from Rotterdam and Placemaking Europe
• Highlight the key themes and objectives of Placemaking Week 2024.
• Foster connections among participants and set the tone for a collaborative and productive week.
• Give out important information to the participants for the upcoming week

Keep the Vibe Going @ OASE! Global Beat with Luciana Renner & DJ Carmix

19:00-20:30: Luciana Renner
Architect, radio host, and music selector. She explores the relationship between musical expressions and the urban spaces where they emerge. Her sets are characterized by nostalgic soundscapes and melodies ranging from soul and global groove to folk, downtempo, and ambient.

20:30-23:00: DJ Carmix
DJ Carmix, based in Amsterdam, emerges from the global beat scene, blending tunes and beats from various cultures, genres, and eras. His music brings people together on the dancefloor, creating a vibrant and inclusive atmosphere. Carmix (Rotem Carmi) is also a member of the Placemaking Europe network. He began his journey as a placemaker by co-creating neighborhood and street festivals, fostering community and connection using his skills as a DJ, event planner, and community facilitator.

As our cities are caught up in a polycrisis, it provides momentum to truly act differently. Rotterdam is known as a city not shying away from bold moves to rethink itself. Currently the city is leading the way in its climate adaptation efforts, going all hands on deck to prepare the city for changing weather conditions. As this years’ festival will showcase, taking a placemaking approach to tackling climate change will yield the opportunity to address multiple challenges at once. After all, ‘When you focus on place, you do everything differently’ (Fred Kent). Placemaking has the potential to be truly regenerative, strengthen our democracies, and turn dysfunctional systems upside down. As the first morning panel, Gabriella Gomez Mont, Jenny Anderson and Johan Verlinde will set the stage for a week of insightful discussions and proactive engagements. Daring us to be bold in the impact we make, and think about our ability to challenge the status quo. 

A free, welcoming, and horizontal space to discuss the current trends and challenges of our practice. The session aims to create an intimate and open environment with dim lighting, encouraging honest and meaningful dialogue. To foster a safe space for free expression, stickers will be placed on phone cameras, emulating a nightclub-style no photo/video policy. Please note that there will be a queue to enter as we must cover the cameras with stickers. 

This session explores the transformative practice of placemaking through a series of dynamic, TED-style talks. Each speaker will have 12 minutes to share practical examples and insights. They will illustrate the journey from conceptual inspiration to real-world implementation, highlighting how modest beginnings, like benches, can evolve into significant community landmarks and large project initiatives. This panel aims to inspire attendees with actionable strategies for creating engaging, functional, and vibrant public spaces. Let us discover how innovative placemaking can foster community connection and revitalisation on both small and large scales. Speakers are encouraged to share how they are applying the principles of placemaking on a larger scale. Please focus on one or two clear examples that outline the storyline and process, avoiding a broad array of examples.

Building bridges between people is crucial in today’s interconnected world. Trust and empathy are the foundations of these bridges, enabling us to collaborate effectively and create inclusive, resilient communities. Bridging organisations is particularly important as it facilitates the sharing of resources, knowledge, and best practices, fostering innovation and enhancing the impact of collective efforts. To foster these qualities, we must explore innovative partnerships that transcend traditional boundaries—not just between organisations but also across concepts and communities. For instance, how can the 15-minute city model, with its focus on creating accessible neighbourhoods, and tactical urbanism, through its low-cost, community-driven projects, empower individuals and communities to take ownership of their spaces? By integrating these ideas with broader strategies for trust-making, we can cultivate environments where collaboration flourishes, and empathy becomes the driving force for positive change. Additionally, building bridges across diverse communities encourages a sense of shared purpose and mutual support, which is vital for addressing complex urban challenges. When communities come together, they can pool their unique strengths and perspectives, leading to more sustainable and innovative solutions that benefit everyone.
Following a discussion on building bridges between organisations, communities and across concepts, we invite you and members of the audience to join us for our evening activity, the Empathic Debate Club. Here, we will delve into fun and thought-provoking debates centred around our four core festival themes. Together, we’ll explore the intersections and challenges that shape our collective future, and challenge ourselves to find common ground between polarised positions. Are you brave enough to participate in the debate?

Four core themes (for the debate):
(1) Creating place and making it last 
(2) Climate adaptation: together towards change 
(3) Living with water: the flow of the city 
(4) Local power and the battle of space

This concluding session will encapsulate key takeaways and reflections from the week. It will feature a special video presentation by Carlos Moreno, renowned for his work on the 15-minute city concept. Following this, Francine Houben, architect and founding partner of Mecanoo, will present "Could a Dijkpark Give a New Perspective for Rotterdam South?" To close, our keynote listeners will share their insights in a series of PechaKucha-style presentations, offering critical reflections on the themes explored throughout the event.

Official Placemaking Week Europe 2024 Closing Celebration

Just us in one of our favorite public spaces in Rotterdam - Biergarten! This Rotterdam institution sits right on one of the city's most recently-refurbished public squares. Come mingle with our international crowd and locals alike over live dj sets, beers, and snacks to send off Placemaking Week Europe 2024 in the best possible way :)