Speaker
Description
The cities exposed to multiple transitional flows have been facing various challenges which especially affect vulnerable and marginalised groups. The strong division between the winners and the losers of the neoliberal mechanisms reflects in urban setting and its public spaces, where the discrepancies between the reality and the globally announced mantras of sustainability, resilience, equity and justice become extremely visible. Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, represents one of the multilayered examples of this practice, fuelling the atmosphere of growing uncertainty, far away from the postulates defined by SDGs, 2030 Agenda or the New European Bauhaus framework. However, the improvements are possible and their effects - channeled through the matrix of co-creation, co-production and co-benefits, could make a difference on a smaller scale, gradually influencing comprehensive societal and environmental changes.
Focusing on the case of a new urban oases (2024), situated on the site of a Drop in Shelter for the street children, the paper will examine a relationship between marginalised group(s), neighbourhood community and multidisciplinary professionals, involved in a project launched by the EUNIC Serbia (European Union National Institutes for Culture) and the Goethe Institute. Teamed up with the Belgrade International Week of Architecture (BINA), the Center for Youth Integration, the Italian Institute of Culture, the Embassy of Portugal, as well as a group of the second-year undergraduate students of the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture, they activated and upgraded a small open space creating a unique hub of/for social inclusion, safety and inter-neighbourhood interaction. The project was structured around several phases related to research, design and implementation, consisting of participatory workshops, lectures, exhibitions, presentations and public events. The newly created public space is conceptualised and shaped according to the specific needs of all identified users, representing a common good for the entire local community. Its design and program stimulate exploration, play and learning through the application of art, ecology, recycling and digitalisation. As a new popular place, the urban oasis also raises both the environmental awareness and the quality of space, while connecting the different groups which share their personal experiences of the space and the activities. The selected case will be presented through the lenses of the educational process, highlighting the synchronisation between the expected environmental and social outcomes, a comprehensive participation of future users (both the marginalised children and the local community) and the estimated/achieved sustainability of the implemented project.
| Keywords | Integration; Inclusion; Public Space; Children; Education |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
