Workshop of Knowledge Exchange between Research and Practice on ‘Public Space Design with Social Cohesion and Intercultural Dialogue in mind’

This event has ended.

Over the last two decades, societies worldwide are facing serious challenges to achieve social cohesion. A context of rising diversity, austerity and a series of ethnic conflicts and terrorist attacks have brought about a culture of fear, intolerance and distrust of strangers in our everyday public spaces. This context has led to a series of top-down and bottom-up  experiments in public space design and management seeking to promote social cohesion and intercultural dialogue. To date there have been few efforts to evaluate the outcomes of these experiments and to understand if and how social cohesion and intercultural dialogue have been realized.

This workshop will bring together academics, practitioners and policy-makers to share their knowledge and experience around this subject, and identify where new knowledge is needed in terms of public space theory, practice and policy. It seeks to develop an international network of expertise to support and expand future collaborations in intercultural public space research, practice and policy.

The workshop will begin with a series of short presentations by the invited speakers outlining their varied research and practice insights on the subject, followed by a discussion.

Organizers

Dr. Patricia Aelbrecht, Cardiff University            

Dr. Quentin Stevens, RMIT University, Australia

Invited Speakers

Ceren Sezer, AESOP Public Spaces and Urban Cultures Thematic Group, TU Delft

Jane Dann, Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design, London.

Noha Nasser, MELA, London.

Melissa Meyer, Regeneration & Economic Development, Greater London Authority

Anna Mansfield, Publica, London

 Registration

Attendance is free but is limited to 30 people. If you would like to attend the workshop, please send an expression of interest of maximum150 words to both Patricia Aelbrecht (aelbrechtp@cardiff.ac.uk) and Quentin Stevens (quentin.stevens@rmit.edu.au).