The PLAY/ACT project seeks and examines the tools for urban placemaking, exploring how issues of urban communal spaces can be tied to youth activism. The initiative is funded by the European Union Erasmus+ program, with the projected completion of the project set for March 2024.
Based on the New European Bauhaus initiative, PLAY/ACT aims to develop and test an interdisciplinary training method primarily targeting higher education participants. Among the project's further objectives is the development and testing of a framework focusing on community building and urban space usage, promoting these methodologies also within university education.
The partner organisations aim to raise awareness among young people that they are active, contributing members of their communities and involved in the shaping of urban spaces. The goal is not only activism but also nurturing responsibility towards the built environment. Students participating in the program gain inspiration during the course, seeking solutions to community issues using placemaking tools and methods, while remaining mindful of social, sociological, and cultural contexts.
Project Partners:
_ARTERIA_LAB - University of Évora;
Community Impact;
University of Extremadura;
Junta de Extremadura; Matera Hub;
KÉK - Contemporary Architecture Centre.
To develop the methodology, participating countries announce events based on community design where students involved in the project can collectively reflect on urban space usage, design new public space functions, while becoming active members of the community.
