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Working Group/Thematic Line 03

Urban Installations and Gathering Points

Presentation

Theoretical Questions

Research

Archives

Exhibitions & Screenings

Interviews

Conferences

Publications

Leaders

Agata Piet, Isabel Cristina Carvalho

Cultural program Coordinator

Alexa Faerber

Description

This WG3 is devoted to urban installations, dispositives, ephemeral constructions, that can range from community-built parks for children, temporary and emergency housing, structures that can promote exchange between citizens, selling points to encourage informal commerce or for sharing of resources etc. Often public institutions finance the temporary construction of these installations or facilities in public space, but do not implement solutions for a lasting support of the communities. Other times these initiatives are generated by the citizens themselves, who selforganise to find appropriate solutions that enhance and improve communication in public space and facilitate equal opportunities for all community members and sharing of resources – by using recycled material and shared resources. This WG3 is multidisciplinary, transforming architecture and design into a collaborative site where different agendas are developed, and different stakeholders get involved.
This WG3 sets the objective to map creative and innovative solutions that the communities and also socially-engaged art and design labs find to propose solutions not only for resolving a situation of scarcity but also to socially revitalize natural or urban environments that are in decay. The WG3 aims to analyse how discrimination, lack of resources and protective measures for fragilized social groups can be counter-acted through investment in support of structures for cultural and social renovation. The aim is to crystallize circular informal solutions and to elaborate on their applicability to governance structures (in the form of recommendations, tools for urban solutions, urban design, etc.).

Within the WG 3, three subgroups were formed dealing with the following topics:

1. Decolonizing urban interventions
Subgroup leader: Dr. Marta Padovan-Özdemir, Associate professor, Roskilde University, Denmark
It is at the core of the Circul’arts COST action to develop decolonizing strategies enabling innovative methodologies for urban circularity that in themselves are socially, culturally, environmentally and economically sustainable. This requires a decolonization of mainstream dominant Eurocentric understandings of sustainability.
Hence, this subgroup will review and discuss theories of decoloniality to develop a theoretical framework and principles of decolonial interventions in urban spaces and places accommodating and fostering socially sustainable urban ecosystems of pluriversal inclusivity preventing eco-social-cultural extractivism.

2. Intermittent Practices / Temporary Uses / Tactical Urbanism
Subgroup leader: Dr. Eng. Arch. Agata Pięt, Assistant professor, University of Applied Sciences in Nysa, Poland
This sub-group aims to gather data on various typologies and practices in public space that have temporary and intermittent character. These can comprise structures but also art installations or events which might have been constructed as a result of public private partnerships or citizen and community participation. The core element under analysis is the flexibility of urban space and of the solutions proposed, as well as the ability of that space to be transformed in a circular way and respond to different needs of its users. Additionally, investigating the urban context of the sites where the installations are located might be useful.

3. Diversity and Inclusion through Art, Activism, and Socially Engaged Practices
Subgroup leader: Dr. Isabel Cristina Carvalho, Assistant Researcher, Research Center for Arts and Communication (CIAC-UAb), Universidade Aberta, Portugal
This sub-group focuses on collecting data on activist artistic practices that promote diversity and inclusion. It compiles and analyzes a database of recent work, collects names and projects of architects, artists, philosophers, theorists, activists and others who use creative strategies to promote inclusive and participatory spaces. The initial focus is on co-creation methodologies and critical pedagogy that drive these socially sustainable urban intervention practices. This sub-group aims to contribute to the discussion on how art and activism intersect with sustainability and circularity, addressing both material and socio-cultural dimensions.


About Theoretical Questions



During the 1st year of COST Action CA23117 Working Group 3 (Urban installations and gathering points) had 4 General WG3 Meetings: 19.02.2025, 20.03.2025, 09.04.2025, 22.07.2025. During the 2nd meeting in March 2025 it was decided to form 3 sub-groups, proposed by WG3 members, that focus on the topics related to WG3: (sub-group 1: Decolonizing urban interventions, sub-group 2: Intermittent Practices / Temporary Uses / Tactical Urbanism and sub-group 3: Diversity and Inclusion through Art, Activism, and Socially Engaged Practices). Till the end of the 1st COST year sub-group 1 had 2 meetings, sub-group 2 had 4 meeting and sub-group 3 had 2 meetings. Regarding the number of members: sub-group 1 had 14 members, sub-group 2 – 27 members and sub-group 3 – 22 participants. Some of the WG3 members joined more than 1 sub-group. Meetings served for discussing organizational aspects, but at the same time they gave an opportunity to present some of the research of the WG3 members. During the 1st year of Cost action sub-groups focused mainly on gathering existing research on the topic and collecting case studies. Based on that material WG3 plans to advance research during next years, draw conclusions from the analyzed materials and publish together.

Theoretical questions

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About Research

During the second year, WG3 will focus on further developing the research conducted within smaller teams. These research lines will cover a broad spectrum of topics reflecting the interests of the members of the sub-groups established within WG3. Some teams will focus on community-led and bottom-up interventions in public space, while others will explore in greater detail the creation of art from waste as well as various forms of crafting. The results of this research will be published in the coming years. Planned STSM will explore art installations for urban circularity based on the works of Artur Bordalo in Lisbon.

One of the sub-groups (Decolonizing Urban Interventions) will continue organising online seminars and plans to make them public and accessible to a wider audience. The seminars held during and planned for the second COST year, cover the following topics: “I Prefer Not to Build Your City: Inclusion, Refusal, and the Decolonization of Urban Space”, “Indigenous-led Research and Non-Indigenous-led Research”, and “Environmental Racism in Urban Interventions.”

Decolonizing urban interventions

Dr. Marta Padovan-Özdemir, 2025

Decolonising Euro-slums

Dr. Cristian Suau, 2025

I Prefer Not To Build Your City: Inclusion, Refusal, and the Decolonization of Urban Space

Simon Lindblom, 2025

Indigenous-led research and non-indigenous-led research

Eli Hatleskog and Anthony Hōete, 2025

Greenery for Circularts

Kinga Kimic, 2025

On temporary uses and communities: the T-factor project in Trafaria

Margarida Brito Alves, 2025

Intermittent City: Developing Micro-Laboratories of Coexistence in the Age of Adaptation

A. Allegri & R. Ochoa, 2025

Tactical Urbanism and Placemaking: Community-Led Urban Installation Methodologies

Stella Schroeder, 2025

About Archives

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About Exhibitions & Screenings

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About Interviews

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About Conferences

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WG3 Online Research Seminar: Environmental Racism in Urban Interventions


WG3 Online Research Seminar: Decoloniality, Art, and Critical Cultural Literacy in Urban Spaces


About Publications

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