Placemaking as Youth Activism

Cofinanciado por:
Acronym | PLAY/ACT
Project title | Placemaking as Youth Activism
Project Code | 2021-1-PT01-KA220-HED-000027582
Main objective | Reforçar a Investigação, o desenvolvimento tecnológico e a inovação

Region of intervention | Europa

Beneficiary entity |
  • Universidade de Évora(líder)
  • Community Impact, Unipessoal LDA(parceiro)
  • Consejería de Economía e Infraestructuras de la Junta de Extremadura(parceiro)
  • Consorzio Materahub - Industrie culturali e creative(parceiro)
  • KÉK – Kortárs Építészeti Központ(parceiro)
  • Universidad de Extremadura(parceiro)

Approval date | 28-10-2021
Start date | 01-02-2022
Date of the conclusion | 30-04-2024
Date of extension | 30-06-2024

Total eligible cost | 275596 €
European Union financial support | Comissão Europeia - 275596 €
National/regional public financial support |
Apoio financeiro atribuído à Universidade de Évora | 78453 €

Summary

In 2021, the European Commission launched the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative, whose core values are sustainability, aesthetics and inclusiveness. The NEB is a creative initiative, breaking down boundaries between science and technology, art, culture and social inclusion, to allow design to find solutions for everyday problems. Inspired by the NEB, we designed PLAY/ACT, a project with two main axes:

  • Transdisciplinary Curricula:
    The complexity of the challenges of contemporary societies implies transdisciplinary approaches in the search for solutions. Despite this, formal education at the higher level is still organized in a disciplinary way. Although universities have been making efforts to integrate transdisciplinary practices, they are not yet globally disseminated and are not always applied consistently.
    Following the philosophy of the NEB, PLAY/ACT aims to develop a cross-curriculum framework for bachelor and master’s degrees with shared knowledge, skills and experience. This course will train students (and professors) in the design of solutions to real problems in the community with contributions from arts, science and technology.
  • Placemaking Processes:
    Placemaking refers to processes by which people collaboratively shape and design public spaces to maximize shared values and promote community revitalization. Placemaking processes follow three principles:
    • Integrate diverse opinions into a cohesive vision.
    • Translate that vision into a plan and program of uses.
    • Ensure the sustainable implementation of the plan.

These principles require transdisciplinary and community-based approaches, a strong relationship with the place and a process of dialogue and negotiation with local stakeholders, contributing to the development of entrepreneurship and of civic and political activism on the part of young students. The PLAY/ACT project aims to create awareness among young people of the fact that they are active agents of citizenship, and of urban and social transformation.

GOALS

The main goals of the project are two:

  • To prototype and test a framework of a community-centred cross disciplinary course, encouraging the adoption of these practices in higher education.
  • To create awareness among young people that they are active agents of citizenship and urban and social transformation and to empower them to seek solutions to community problems through placemaking tools, in a logic of dialogue with the community and with local stakeholders and consideration for the cultural, social and environmental contexts.

More specifically:

  • To increase the interest of youth in the fields of architecture, urbanism, entrepreneurship, civic activism and local politics through the tactic of placemaking.
  • To train young people with the skills and knowledge necessary to develop placemaking projects, empowering them as agents of local change.
  • To increase entrepreneurial mindset, political and social awareness, openness to intercultural dialogue and civic participation among young citizens.
  • To contribute to the social and urban revitalization of four cities, some of them in rural areas
  • To contribute to the strengthening of relationships between academia, the community and local stakeholders.
  • To contribute to the objectives of the New European Bauhaus, incorporating the exercise of beauty in education, in political decisions and in the daily lives of citizens.

Goals, activities and expected/achieved results

Os principais objectivos do projeto são dois:

i) Prototipar e testar uma estrutura de um curso transdisciplinar centrado na comunidade, incentivando a adoção destas práticas no ensino superior.

ii) Sensibilizar os jovens para o seu papel enquanto agentes activos de cidadania e de transformação urbana e social e capacitá-los para a procura de soluções para os problemas da comunidade através de ferramentas de placemaking, numa lógica de diálogo com a comunidade e com os agentes locais e de consideração pelos contextos culturais, sociais e ambientais.

Mais especificamente:

i) Aumentar o interesse dos jovens nos domínios da arquitetura, urbanismo, empreendedorismo, ativismo cívico e política local através da tática de placemaking.

ii) Formar os jovens com as competências e conhecimentos necessários para desenvolver projectos de placemaking, capacitando-os como agentes de mudança local.

iii) Aumentar a mentalidade empreendedora, a consciência política e social, a abertura ao diálogo intercultural e a participação cívica entre os jovens cidadãos.

iv) Contribuir para a revitalização social e urbana de quatro cidades, algumas das quais em zonas rurais

v) Contribuir para o reforço das relações entre o meio académico, a comunidade e as partes interessadas locais.

vi) Contribuir para os objetivos da Nova Bauhaus Europeia, incorporando o exercício da estética na educação, nas decisões políticas e na vida quotidiana dos cidadãos.

Attribute Type Value
id integer 5449