'In-between spaces/places' Summer School

for promoting processes of Collaborative City-Making

Brussels Research OpenLAB

Summer School

Exploring the potential of in-between spaces/places

(13-17 . 09 . 2021)

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Table of contents

Click on each title to get directed to related pages.

Group sessions, Sharing/Connecting, Celebration

Group sessions, Creative space

Field trips, Keynote, Group sessions, Networking dinner

Field trips, Keynote, Group sessions, Creative space

Keynote, Group sessions, Creative space

info.cerl@vub.be

Contact

About the project, location

Thursday Sep 16th

Wednesday Sep 15th

Practical information

Tuesdsday Sep 14th

Monday Sep 13th

Friday Sep 17th

Table of contents

Download the programme here.

Who needs to be involved in such processes? What kind of methods should they build upon? What frictions, dilemma’s and obstacles should one expect to encounter? How can or should these frictions be dealt with? What ethical considerations need to be taken into account? What kind of equipment, competencies and financial resources do such processes require?

Click on the sign on map to get directed to google map link

These are the questions that will run through this summer school. Participants will be involved in field trips, discussions, key-note lectures, co-creation ateliers and will explore the potential of in-between spaces to cope with pressing urban challenges in a collaborative manner. With this event, we aim to pave the way for a future Brussels Research Open Lab on the USquare-site, a joint ULB/VUB initiative aiming to connect academia and civil society through processes of collaborative research, engaged learning and action, in line with the weKONEKT.brussels philosophy.

Can we use this moment of transitioning from a pre-pandemic into a post-pandemic society for working towards a more desirable urban future? What is the potential of in-between spaces/places within this regards? Boundary zones, spaces in transition, places that are not (yet) defined, are in a state of becoming, yet to be built. Spaces where different dimensions, people, functions, activities co-exist and relate to one another, interact with one another. Can they help shape processes of collaborative city-making?

Location

About the project

Practical Information

Click to see a glimpse of the conversations during this activity.

Click below each lecture to watch the related video of the lecturer.

Exploring in-between spaces/places

Keynote & World Cafe

Ronald Crouze

Antoine Dutrieu

Ine Van Zeeland & Jonas Breuer

The importance of data literacy, engagement and protection.

Walking in between the physical and the digital city

Transformation, friction and disruption

How democratic education forms an enhanced future?

Temporary use is has-been. What's next?

A methamorphosis for non-used buildings and spaces.

How does the Metabolism of the city works and how we can change it for the better?

During the first participatory session on Monday the groups searched for a shared understanding of concepts such as decolonisation/post-colonisation.

Group 3: The Participatory City

Etienne Toffin, Lien Mostmans, Annelies Kums

Creation of the first integrated bilingual inclusive campus in the heart of the North Brabant district in Schaerbeek, CAMPUS 1030

Discussion on urban renovation by analyzing the campus 1030 (original project promoted by Renovas). The aim of this project is to improve social cohesion in the neighborhood by including students through integrated educational approach.

Group 2: A City in Transformation

Linde Moriau, Francisco Davilla, Gregoire Wallenborn

Sketching a canvas for exploring the Urban Metabolism

Comparison between the Forest Metabolism and Urban Metabolism, resulting in guiding questions exploring ways to work towards a healthy - desirable urban metabolism.

Group 1: The Post-Colonial City

Sino Kanobana, Brecht Van Der Scheuren

Navigating the history, present and future of the See-U site

"Maps lie because they don't trigger the inequalities within states" -Brecht-

Group Activities

Session holder: Rebeca Lopez

Creative writing workshop : 6 minutes non-stop writing “Dear Summer School”. using 'input' as the keword of the day"Different activities, in some sort of ice-breaker mode, quite unformal and creative exercises"

Changing the seat of the participants as a metaphor of the personal changes based on today's gained knowledge.“There is something we all have in common here – is this what an in-between space is like?” -Silvia-

Collective sharing moments, where participants from all groups exchanged knowledge, thoughts and ideas with each other

This collaborative program included activties such as:

Somatic exercises which promote self-expression, focus, creativity and laughter for example:

Sharing/Connecting

Cassio Lopes

Creative Space

Guided tour of See-U site

+Info

Located on the site of the former Fritz Toussaint gendarmerie barracks in Ixelles, See U aims to open the doors of this historic place to Brussels residents and to revitalize this site, which has been closed to the public for more than a century.See U is a friendly place that will appeal to the whole family! Activities for children; Sporting activities ; Organic market; Cultural events ; Guinguette ...

Photo Album of the Day

Click on +info to have more information about each activity.

Click on the sign for each field trip to have the adress on google map.

Field trip locations

Tuesday September 14th Program

1 2

1 2 3

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Group Session/ Futuring Lab

Field trips (Creative space)

14:30-16:00

18:30-20:30

9:30-11:30

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Field Trips

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Sharing- Connecting

16:30-17:30

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Keynote & World Cafe

12:30-14:00

Field Trips

3.Temporary Occupation sites

(Margaud Antoine-Fabry, Communa-Maxima)

Why occupy empty buildings?In this activity Communa shows that other ways of living, thinking and organising the city are possible. "Maxima. A temporary utopia that wants to re-create sense of community in Saint Antoine, Forest."

An introductory trip to the vision and mission of Atelier Groot Eiland, which helps fight urban poverty by offering tailor-made work experiences and job coaching for NEET groups (No Education Employment and Training). Exploring ways to forge targetted collaboration between citizens and farmers by using Community Shared Agriculture (CSA)

(Maarten Dyrickx, Atelier Groot Eiland)

1.Moniroty Walk

(Omar Fassi Fehri)

2. Who Feeds the City

Every place tells a story. And the history of minorities in the public space has often been invisible, 'forgotten' in the public debate.A walk to explore the representation of minority groups througout traces in the city center, Murals, statues and cathedrals.

Click to see a glimpse of the conversations during this activity.

Click below each lecture to watch the related video of the lecturer.

Decolonising the city

Keynote & World Cafe

Fien Criel

Stephanie Collingwoode Williams

Kate Meier & Wileke Bert

Role of diverse actors in the development of 'caring' neighborhoods.

Bridging or Breaching? Citizen participation and private urban development

Crippling accessibility into the city

"For as long as it takes longer to get to the same location as non-disabled people for how the city is designed, there is inequality"

Big city life: we try forget bye.

For whom are cities built for?

how can we find synergies between these upcoming housing alternatives and circular housing?

"We are more disable by the society then by the body we live in" -Stella Young -

Group 3: The Participatory City

Anita Van Belle, Daniel de Loneux

Public libraries, major actors in the connection with nature in the city

After the presentation of various reinvented libraries, some activities that occured within Bibliotheque Herge (Etterbeek) to reconnect people with the nature were presented.

Group 2: A City in Transformation

Margaux Lespagnard

Affordable and circular housing Workshop

Focusing on reuse, repair and maintenance of source materials as well as buildings.

Group 1: The Post-Colonial City

Brecht Van Der Scheuren, Wine Everaert, Sofie Herbouck

Exploring and mapping (in) visible barriers at the See-U site

Diving into the streets of Brussels to excavate the history of minorities in public space – a history that all too often remains invisible.

Group Activities

At the end of the day, inclusion is key.

A creative discussion about an utopistic Brussels 2030 mobility plan. A tram with 6pm aperos? music? free of charges? why not!

“how will we share the city amongst each other in 2030?”

A moment to Reflect

(Rebeca Lopez)

Sharing/Connecting

Group Activities

Sharing / Connecting moment

After a full day of divers activities, this session focused on creating spaces for imagine a file-rouge between the partecipants.An hour of different games, laugh and relaxation.

Futuring Lab

(Khushboo Balwani, Ellen Anthoni)

Tram Design

Nature is everywhere, even in the middle of the city. Together we embarked on a meditative walk through the city, searching for green in in streets - and in ourselves.

(Virginie Lambert )

2.Changing your experience of nature in the city. Naviguer en Terre agitée

1.Visite Decoloniale du Solbosh-ULB

(Zoé Vandermeeren, Audrey Villance )

Creative Space

We need to deconstruct the propaganda of colonasition. The colonizers did not find an uncivilized society, they created the idea of the Sauvage to fit their economic interest. That's why this walk is so important. To deconstruct, to learn and unlearn.

How can universities and civil society collaborate in such processes?

What are the key-drivers of urban transformation?

Photo Album of the Day

Click on +info to have more information about each activity.

Click on the sign for each field trip to have the adress on google map.

Field trip locations

Wednesday September 15th Program

1 2 3

+ info

Networking Dinner

Group Session/ Futuring Lab

18:30-20:30

14:30-16:00

9:30-11:30

+ info

Field Trips

+ info

Sharing- Connecting

16:30-17:30

+ info

Keynote & World Cafe

12:30-14:00

A “smart city talk” that happened somewhere between the digital and the physical and therefore an in-between space, answering to the questions such as: is it possible to make oneself invisble in the city?

Field Trips

3. Temporary occupation with or by youngsters Bike Tour. Citéde la Jeunesse

(Matthias Cox)

An exploration of the city by Bike and analysing sites such as: Manhattan Plan site, Koningin-Groen Park, Stephenson Garden, and Cité de la Jeunesse.

What do cameras address? Actual security or feelings? -Jonas-

(Jonas Breuer, Ine Van Zeeland)

1.Visite Decoloniale du Solbosh-ULB

(Zoé Vandermeeren, Audrey Villance )

2. Exploring smart places and spaces

The colonial history and present of the ULB Solbosch campus by listening to the podcast 'visite décoloniale de l’ULB'. A thought provoking walk that stimulates critical action.

Click to see a glimpse of the conversations during this activity.

Click below each lecture to watch the related video of the lecturer.

Jef Van Laer & Annelies Duerinckx

Collaborative City-Making

Keynote & World Cafe

An Sofie Smetcorn & Sarah Dury

Focusing on three main aspects in citizen science: scientific research, education, empowerment.

Citizen science as a solution for local issues

Collaboration of today, inclusive cities of tomorrow.

Challenges for co-constructing comunities in research practices?

"There is a grey zone between partecipation and actual action. How to prevent for fake participation?” -Mathias-

"Climate justice should be worked towards at different scales: Family, Street, Neighborhood , City, Region, ... " -Vitalya-

Group 3: The Participatory City

Matthias Cox

Bowl Conference: Temporary Occupation with or by youngsters

Group 2: A City in Transformation

Paul Hermant & Gregoire Wallenborn

Exploring dilemma's and contradictions between social and environmental agenda's at neighborhood-level

Group 1: The Post-Colonial City

Ruby Bernabeu-Plous, Severine Janssen, Flavien Gillie

Introduction to the methods and issues of sound data collection

Bruxelles nous appartient/Brussel behoort ons toe (BNA/BBOT) presented how they use soundscaping as method to capture non-conventional voices and construct another potential history of the city.

Group Activities

Discussion on topics such as: Future of entertainment and street performances/experience of different stops and time of the day/ interaction with different neighbourhoods/ subjective maps and security.

Question will remain: how will we share the city amongst each other in 2030?

A moment to Reflect

(Rebeca Lopez)

Sharing/Connecting

Group Activities

Sharing / Connecting moment

In continuation of prevoius sharing/connecting sessions, the importance of sharing feeling, thoughts and giving a moment to ourself to reflect on what can happened during a day of our life has been mentioned today.

Futuring Lab

(Khushboo Balwani, Ellen Anthoni)

Experience design

An eneving full of collaboration, communication and tasty food provided by Atelier Groot Eiland members.

Networking Dinner

Photo Album of the Day

Click on +info to have more information about each activity.

Thursday September 16th Program

+ info

Group Session/ Futuring Lab

Forum Theatre

18:30-20:30

14:30-16:00

9:30-11:30

+ info

Group sessions

+ info

Sharing- Connecting

16:30-17:30

+ info

Keynote & World Cafe

12:30-14:00

“People who works in the scientific world sometimes think that they have the solution in their pocket, based on their theoretical findings. But Often, the local population know much more .”

A conversation to explore our own ties with the subject: Community and corporate? Tensions? Medicine? Countryside?

Is education happening in the in-between spaces? At school, at home, on the street, in the tram, in the garden, experiencing things,…

Group 3: The Participatory City

Slyvia Hoens, Mia Laermans, Octavia Kint

Who is seen, listened to or included in participatory projects?

How can we build a caring community together with neighbourhood users?Focusing on a co-create approach.

Group 2: A City in Transformation

Vitalija Povilaityte-Petri

Can we leverage emerging tensions into transformation opportunities?

Exploring and contesting (im)material heritage at the USquare site using soundscaping methods.

Group 1: The Post-Colonial City

Ruby Bernabeu-Plous, Severine Janssen, Brecht Van Der Schueren, Flavien Gillie

In situ data collection with BNA/BBOT.

Group Activities-Morning

Click to see a glimpse of the conversations during this activity.

Click below each lecture to watch the related video of the lecturer.

Cities in Transition

Keynote & World Cafe

Hari Verlaet

Gregoire Wallenborn

Mia Schmallenbach

Multiplying hubs, enhancing lifestyles.

ValueBugs: closing ecological cycles through circular urban hubs

Youngsters as transformative agents?

Children and youngsters as key-stakeholders for driving urban transitions.

Energy communities: making neighbors collaborate around tough issues

What is an energy community?

"If we don’t manage to reach the climate target it’s because we don’t manage to shut things down" -Emma-

In continuation of morning session, Group 1 divided in 3 subgroups in order to: 1.interview Albert a WWll bombardemant survivor2.interview temporary inhabitants of SeeU site3.Sounscaping the SeeU site

Group 3: The Participatory City

Julien Cabay, Alain Delchambre, Denis Terwagne

Setting-up a shared governance model with FabLab ULB

An exploratory workshop about the facilities of ULB FabLab and it's contiution as a third-space

Group 1: A City in Transformation

Ela Callorda Fossati, Aurore Fransolet, Solène Sureau

E-commerce giants and small shops

Avenues for a more sustainable retail scene in Brussels

Group 1: The Post-Colonial City

Ruby Bernabeu-Plous, Severine Janssen, Brecht Van Der Schueren, Flavien Gillie

In situ data collection with BNA/BBOT

Group Activities-Afternoon

Too triggered with tendernessEndlessNoises, but nevertheless Similar situations suitingInternal excess Outreach, onwards toNew tensionness(Written by one of the participants for the letter-poem game)

In continuation of Brussels in 2030 scenarios, today's workshop focussed on role playing. Particpants played a role of hypothetical characters to imagine the Brussel's city life in 2030.

How images of the future now influence our future?

A moment to Reflect

(Rebeca Lopez)

Sharing/Connecting

Group Activities

Sharing / Connecting moment

Today in sharing/connecting activity various games has been played y participants to reflect on our bodies, our feelings and our minds. One of these games were letter games focusing on the letters of the word 'Tension'.

Futuring Lab

(Khushboo Balwani, Ellen Anthoni)

Stories, conversations and ambience

Creative Space

A co-creation between the women of the Vaartkapoen, Citizenne-Avansa and director Har Tortike.

Forum Theatre

Photo Album of the Day

Click on +info to have more information about each activity.

Friday September 17th Program

+ info

Final Celebration

Group Session/ Futuring Lab

9:30-12:30

15:30-....

+ info

Sharing- Connecting

13:30-15:30

Final sessions to answer the questions asked during the week and to raise new questions. What will be the next step?

Group 3: The Participatory City

Gabriel Spinnler, Etienne Toffin

Formulating future ambitions 'Rethinking participatory (research) spaces'

Group 2: A City in Transformation

Linde Moriau, Francisco Davilla, Gregoire Wallenborn

Formulating future ambitions 'Rethinking hidden resources flow'

Group 1: The Post-Colonial City

Ruby Bernabeu-Plous, Severine Janssen, Brecht Van Der Schueren, Flavien Gillie

A reflection on the data collection process deployed during the summer school and its potential for the future with BNA/BBOT.

Friday for all groups served to collect and harmonise different impressions and collectively formulate some conclusions and action points.

Group Activities

The final session of Futuring Lab group was dedicated to modeling objects and ideas mentioned during the week. At the end of the session the participants presented the 3D cardboard model of futuristic objects created based on their imagination. The focus of this session similar to previous workshops was to asnwer the question: Hpw will we share the city amongst each other in russels 2030?

In order to share we need to adapt, adjust and tolerate. -Khushboo-

Group Activities

Futuring Lab

(Khushboo Balwani, Ellen Anthoni)

Artefacts crafting

A moment to Reflect

Final Sharing/Connecting session consisted of 2 parts:

Firstly the achievement of all groups has been shared amongst all participants. Activities such as observing graphical visualization, listening to the interviews recorded during the week, and other type of collaborative actions has been done in this part.

Secondly, Somatic exercises which promote self-expression, focus, creativity and laughter has been continued with Rebeca: the last exersice to express such feelings was to write down thoughts and emotions inside the drawings that has been made as a group.

Sharing/Connecting

Final Celebration

What frictions, dilemma’s and obstacles should one expect to encounter and how should those be dealt with?

How can third-spaces help us work towards a more desirable urban future?

Final Celebration

A week full of perspective sharing and engaged meaning making... What a joy! A huge thank you to all participants.

'In-between spaces/places' Summer School

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Transcript