Placemaking Week Europe 2024 - Rotterdam

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 session will focus on community-driven co-creation processes that engage youth in urban transformation. Our interdisciplinary panel will discuss different approaches to youth engagement drawing from three international case studies, Learning Scapes/Co-Design Studio, Youth-centered Participatory Action (YoPA), and Four+ architects youth projects.

Facilitating an open and inclusive discussion we will delve into youth involvement of different age groups, participatory approaches, challenges, and methodologies for empowering youth in spatial transformation. Our panel will compare differences in approaches while situating the discussion in real-world engagement. Interactive in scope, questions will touch on what connects us, what disconnects us, what we can learn from one another, and how we may expand youth engagement and empowerment in our future work. Focusing on how (rather than why) we engage with youth, this panel will establish the groundwork for a subsequent workshop which will expand on our discussion through hands-on ideation and collaborative system mapping.

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.

For any project to be a success, a placemaker has to find common ground between different aspirations and priorities by being the driver towards a common goal and outcomes. In a university context, students have to balance the requirements of their course in addition to satisfying the needs and expectations of the stakeholders they are working with.

In this session we will explore and develop the tools to measure success, be it learning outcomes forstudents in an educational context or spatial and social outcomes for communities. Success and failureare closely linked, and can be simultaneous. A project that was an utter failure in terms of delivery can provide the best educational outcome for a student or practitioner, and vice versa. A short term failure might lead to long term gain by planting the seed for something greater to happen. Equally, a short term success can easily evaporate.

Through case studies we will explore the good, and not so good, of placemaking. Through interactive workshop discussions we will identify potential risks and opportunities that will assist students and professional placemakers alike to benchmark their output by framing expectations against defined criteria providing invaluable learnings for future projects.

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. 

Are you eager about doing a placemaking project, but struggling to get started? Or are you curious how to kick-start your placemaking process in 70 minutes? Play the Placemaking Game with us!

The Placemaking Game playfully makes you and your team acquainted with the act of placemaking and supports you in developing a placemaking project. The game is designed for citizens as well as for government officials, policy makers and professional placemakers. It supports those that are less familiar with placemaking as well as the process of experienced placemakers. The Placemaking Game aims to facilitate placemaking projects and will bring up international parallels and differences. 

It can be played with groups of 3-12 people and takes about 60-90 minutes. The game initiates interactive discussions about placemaking and moves placemaking ideas forward towards tangible action. Individual dreams and ambitions are translated into one collective vision. From this vision concrete roles and action points are articulated.

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!

Join us for a workshop focused on cultivating empathy to drive systemic change in placemaking. This session addresses several critical challenges: the fields within the "quadruple helix"—academia, industry, government, and civil society—often struggle to collaborate effectively, define their roles in urban transformation, and ensure that placemaking efforts are genuinely inclusive and reflective of the communities they serve. By bridging these challenges and aligning aspirations, the workshop aims to foster more cohesive, impactful, and inclusive collaborations. Participants will gain practical skills to enhance empathy in their professional and personal interactions, making it easier to work across these diverse fields and engage with the full spectrum of community stakeholders. We will be using tools such as empathy mapping, role-playing, and incorporating approaches from systemic thinking to deepen your understanding of collaborative innovation, community engagement, and ensuring that all voices are heard in the placemaking process. The Greek office of STIPO and Among, two NPOs based in Greece, bring together their knowledge and experience to offer an interdisciplinary and experiential workshop that will provide theoretical insights and practical tools that the participants could bring back to their own context.