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In cities, people are increasingly grouping together to change the city at different levels and make it more interesting, safe and environmentally friendly. Communities arise for different reasons, have different resources and interact with the city in different ways. In this discussion, we want to talk about the process of community emergence and its involvement in the urban agenda, as well as the extent to which it affects changes in the urban context.
What are communities and why do they emerge? How do they grow and develop? What is their strength? How do communities, citizens, authorities and businesses come together? Why listen to communities and why is their vision important?

Recording of the discussion "How are urban communities gaining power?" is available HERE.

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Building connections within a community can have a direct impact on their behaviour in the urban environment and on the nature of the community. For citizens who come together to achieve common ideas and goals, there is always the question of how to make their community more sustainable and effective.
How do we build the right community strategy and model? What internal tools and resources do communities have? How do we engage people, expand the community, and build communication between community members? What is the role of the open spaces and/or neighbourhood centres in the community building?

Recording of the discussion "How are urban and local communities building and transforming from inside?" is available HERE.

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This panel discussion will be dedicated to the phenomenon that is often referred to as “urban activism”: who is “an urban activist”? Who can call themselves so and who cannot and why? What else should this activity and these people be called? Is professionalisation possible in the field of activism? What does it mean? What to call themselves and how to act in the near future? With whom to cooperate and with whom not? We would like to discuss these topics together with the guests and participants of the session.

Discussion programme:

• Film screening “Let’s do this way”/”Davai tak” (directed by Elena Stein, 2020; 18 min);
• Book presentation “Urban Activism in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Strategies and Practices”. Ed. by Tsypylma Darieva and Carola Neugebauer, Dom Publishers, Berlin, 2019;
• Discussion with guests and participants about the scope and appropriateness of the use of the terms “activist / activism”, possible and necessary alternatives;
• Film screening “Empathic people” (2018, 8 min);
• Discussion about the need and limits of cooperation for urban activists. With whom? What for? When? With whom certainly not?

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Pepijn Kennis, regional member of the parliament in Brussels, politically represents Agora and its Brussels Citizens’ Assembly. In this talk, he will go over the reasons ‘why’ and the practical aspects of ‘how’ such a citizens’ assembly can and should work together with the existing political system.
Agora.Brussels is a citizens’ movement with the objective of installing a permanent citizens’ assembly in the Brussels Capital Region. This deliberative assembly should be composed through random selection of citizens, have a legislative mandate, and work on the basis of frequent rotation. To achieve their objective, the movement decided to run for elections and obtained one seat in the regional parliament. This seat allows them the (financial and human) resources to organise such an assembly, and the political legitimacy to defend its decisions and to push for an institutional reform.
The Talk and discussion will be especially interesting for the members of the local councils and activists as well as to everybody interested in the local politics and current debates on democracy.

Recording of the Public Talk “New Ways of Strengthening Urban Communities: Experiences of Brussels Citizens’ Assembly” is available HERE.

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In this concluding discussion we would like to address the following questions ー How will communities change and what new challenges will they face? How will communities change civil society? What role will communities play in shaping the urban agenda in the future? Will this lead to new forms of urban governance?
What is a city without urban communities? Is it possible and what consequences it has?

Recording of the discussion: "How will urban communities change in the future?" is available HERE.

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Citizens' associations perceive artists working with and in the city in different ways: for some communities 一 it is an opportunity to express themselves through art and unconventional solutions, for others 一 it is an invasion of their space and an attempt to impose new values and meanings.
How in reality does site-specific art and socially engaged art interact with communities? Who has the right to create art and do communities have the right to influence it? How does art become a catalyst for urban change?

After discussion: open space / communication / interactive formats

Recording of the discussion “How is the role of public art for communities changing?" HERE.