Shaping spaces of sociability: Social infrastructure and the gentle transformation of Budapest’s Népszínház Street
I’m walking down Budapest’s Népszínház Street. Leaving behind Blaha Lujza Square, one of the city’s major public transportation hubs, I’m entering Józsefváros, a district that
Gamification and new scenarios for digital participation: tools and methods
Living and working in times of physical distancing and – sometimes forced – digitalisation cannot always be about video meetings via Zoom, Skype or other similar platforms. Or at least,
Towards a More Social Europe: Inclusion and innovation in three UIA projects
In 2021, Europe is facing a number of challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to surface many structural problems in European societies, from climate change through innovation gaps to geopolitical
Reclaiming non-places in winter: what placemaking can do for us during a pandemic
We all have beloved public spaces – spaces where we feel safe and comfortable, places we like to come back to, places where we can let our children play freely
Urban lessons learnt from the pandemic
2020 will remain in our memory as the year of a sudden, world-wide crisis. Although the pandemic is far from being over, with the arrival of the vaccines we can
Medialab Prado: a hub for social innovation
Medialab Prado is a citizen laboratory that functions as a meeting place for the production of open cultural projects. It is a cultural space and citizen lab in Madrid. It
Busy as bees: A rooftop garden and a dynamic community hub for social integration – BeeOzanam in Turin
BeeOzanam is a community hub whose challenge is to combat cultural poverty and social exclusion, stimulating the growth of a sustainable generation through the co-production of cultural, educational and aggregative
Užupis Republic: A self-governing micronation in the Lithuanian capital
The Republic of Užupis was declared in 1998 in the old town of Vilnius, in a run-down and undesirable district of the capital of Lithuania by a community of artists.
Collaborative housing: innovation in community engagement, social inclusion and participatory design
Collaborative housing can be conceived as an approach to complement state- or municipality-led public housing schemes with bottom-up, self-organised housing projects. It has been the object of a great diversity
Building community and culture in Warsaw’s urban village – Exploring Open Jazdow
Right in the centre of Warsaw, where there once was the summer residence of royals, now lies a one-of-a-kind symbol of resistance, rebirth and civil consciousness, a settlement of Finnish
Co-Housing students and homeless people – VinziRast in Vienna
A four-storey historical building in the heart of Vienna that houses bicycle, woodworking and sewing workshops, a restaurant serving international cuisine and a café hosting events sounds like a hipster
Peter Weiss Haus: a literary centre in Rostock
The Peter Weiss Haus is as a free educational and cultural centre located in an historical building in downtown Rostock. Through the creation of an original and spontaneous governance structure,
From ACTive NGOs to solidarity networks: civic ecosystems during and after COVID-19
Written by Eutropian Director Levente Polyak for Urbact. The COVID-19 crisis has heavily disrupted the activities of NGO Houses and their civic ecosystems. While the lockdown and rules of social
