THEMATIC GROUPS
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- Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS
- Category: Public Spaces and Urban Cultures
Call for expressions of interest to host Thematic group meetings (2026–2028)
Theme: Public Spaces and Empathy: Infrastructures of Care, Co-Presence and Spatial Justice
1. Introduction and call rationale
Following our previous two-year thematic trajectory dedicated to "Public spaces, urban cultures and hope" (2024–2026), the AESOP Thematic Group on Public Spaces and Urban Cultures (PSUC) invites university departments, research centres, academic collectives, NGOs, practitioners and other actors across Europe to submit Expressions of Interest (EoI) to host our thematic meetings and workshops for the 2026–2028 period.
Building upon Hope as an anticipatory and vision-oriented paradigm, the 2026–2028 umbrella theme shifts focus on immediate relational ethics, active care, sensory awareness and the lived experience of shared space: Empathy.
If Hope asks, "What can we imagine and build towards?", Empathy asks: "How do we inhabit space together, attend to difference and build systems of care right now?"
In an era marked by deepening social polarisation, defensive architecture, climate precarity and digital fragmentation, public space remains the vital realm where unscripted encounters across difference occur. The 2026–2028 programme seeks to explore how urban research, artistic practice, spatial design and participatory planning can foster empathic relations, not as passive harmony or forced consensus, but as an active, critical and spatialised practice of care.
2. Thematic focuses and suggested angles
We encourage potential host institutions and collectives to position their proposed meeting within one (or a combination) of the following core thematic tracks among others:
- Spatialising care & inclusive design: How do physical design, microclimates, acoustic qualities, public art and representation and streetscapes communicate welcome, dignity and psychological safety? Addressing neurodiversity, accessibility, age-friendly environments and bodily comfort in public space.
- Empathic research & participatory methodologies: Moving beyond extractive research towards collaborative and redistributive research methods, sensory mapping, walking methodologies, narrative urbanism and creative artistic interventions that centre lived experiences and active listening.
- Agonistic empathy in contested public spaces: Navigating spatial conflict, political expression, contested heritage and competing uses without flattening difference. How can public space hold friction, protest and negotiation while maintaining civic respect?
- Multispecies & ecological empathy: Entangling human public life with urban ecosystems. How does public space design encourage care for non-human entities (urban biodiversity, trees, water systems, soil, etc.) along with climate adaptation? How is it possible to re-equilibrate the uneven relationships between human and more than human?
- Empathic infrastructures & everyday mobility: How do corridors of movement (sidewalks, cycling networks, transit hubs and pedestrianised streets) support everyday encounters, micro-interactions and mutual care? Addressing walkability, active mobility, autonomy and accessibility, spatial rhythm and the sensory experience of moving through the city together.
- Techno-empathy & digital public spheres: Navigating the intersection of physical public spaces and digital media. How can hybrid urbanism, open-source data, interactive installations and community platforms build solidarity rather than surveillance, screen-isolation or algorithmic bias? How can we assume intersectionality as a method while collecting data and create algorithm, or take data based decisions?
- Temporal empathy & geographies of rest: Examining how places manage time, pace and productivity. How can public spaces offer non-commercialised refuge, deceleration and spaces for rest or pausing in a hyper-accelerated world?
- Spatial justice at the peripheries: Extending empathic design beyond city centres to suburban edges, industrial zones, small towns and post-growth territories. How do peripheral public spaces build community resilience, repair spatial neglect and counter urban-rural divides?
- Climate and environmental justice: The effects of climate change and pollution are unequally distributed across the population and hit harder in neighbourhoods that are often already neglected: poor in services and infrastructure, polluted, and soil sealed. How should public space design and planning read and counteract this injustice?
The above proposed thematic tracks are the framework, while they can be combined and additional aspects are welcome.
3. Format and requirements for host institutions
Hosted events typically bring together 20 to 40 international scholars, practitioners, activists, PhD candidates and others for an intensive 2- to 3-day program combining paper presentations, keynote lectures, field walks and interactive co-working sessions.
Host commitments:
- Academic framing: Formulate a localised sub-theme or call for papers aligned with the broader 2026–2028 Empathy framework.
- Logistics & venue: Provide accessible seminar rooms, plenary space and technical support at the hosting institution.
- Local fieldwork & socio-spatial context: Integrate site visits, walking seminars and/or local community encounters that ground the conceptual discussion in the host's socio-spatial reality.
- Publication & dissemination: Commit to producing a post-meeting report, news feature for the AESOP PSUC platform, and potentially an edited journal special issue/book proposal.
Note: AESOP TG events operate on a self-funding and low-cost model to keep participation accessible for a wide range of interested publics, meaning participation must be fee-free for attendees in principle.
While AESOP TG PSUC contributes representative(s) to help co-organise and support the event, local hosts are required to cover the travel and accommodation costs for the attending TG representative(s).
4. Submission guidelines and selection process
Interested hosts are invited to submit an Expression of Interest (approx. length of 1,500-2,000 words) including:
- Title & host details: Proposed title, hosting department/institution, lead organisers and local organising team (including e-contact).
- Thematic focus & local context: Proposed sub-theme, short rationale, connection to the 2026–2028 Empathy framework and how the host city/neighbourhood will serve as a living laboratory for the meeting.
- Proposed dates & format: Expected timeframe (e.g., Spring 2027, Autumn 2027, Spring 2028) and outline of the meeting structure (workshops, keynotes, field activities, etc.).
- Budget: Draft overview of funding.
5. Important dates
- Call issue date: November 2026
- Deadline for submissions: 18 January 2027
- Notification of acceptance and online meetings with proponents for schedule finalisation: February 2027
- Execution period: Spring 2027 – Winter 2028
(note: while the thematic framework spans 2026-2028, hosted meetings under this call will run from Spring 2027 through Winter 2028)
Please send your Expression of Interest by and including Monday 18 January 2027 in Word (docx) format to the AESOP TG Public Spaces and Urban Cultures coordination team:
- Matej Nikšič <matej.niksic (at) uirs.si>,
- Evangelia Athanassiou <evieath (at) arch.auth.gr> and
- Chiara Belingardi <chiara.belingardi (at) istc.cnr.it>.
Please feel welcome to use the same contacts for further clarifications whenever needed!
You can explore past activities of the Thematic Group at https://aesop-planning.eu/thematic-groups/public-spaces-and-urban-cultures. If you are interested in issues related to public spaces and urban cultures, we encourage you to join us by following the "How to join" section at the same link.
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- Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS
- Category: Small Towns
AESOP-Small-Towns-Lecture_Series-2026.pdf
Beyond metropolitan centres, small towns are confronted with a wide range of challenges and opportunities linked to demographic change, social inequalities, ecological transitions, changing patterns of housing and mobility, and evolving forms of territorial governance. At the same time, their size, the communities and their environments can provide specific resources and capacities for transition, adaptation and innovation.
This lecture series explores how small towns across Europe are responding to these transformations, and how planning can contribute to shaping their future. The contributions address small towns from different disciplinary, geographical and methodological perspectives, bringing together questions of territorial cohesion, social and spatial inequalities, education and local knowledge, climate resilience, ecological transition, attractiveness and identity. They also examine more specific challenges, including seasonality, depopulation, demographic ageing, housing, mobility, and the effects of crisis and wars.
Beyond the diversity of these situations, the presentations share a common interest in understanding how small towns can navigate complex transitions while maintaining their capacities to provide opportunities and quality of life for their inhabitants and contributing to territorial cohesion in Europe. They also question the ways in which planning policies, professional expertise and local actors can support — or sometimes constrain — these processes of change. By bringing together experiences from different European contexts, the contributions invite us to consider small towns as active places of transition and experimentation.
This European lecture series is organized by the Thematic Group Small Towns of the Association of European Schools of Planning for the second year. It brings together scholars and experts from a variety of disciplines across Europe. It addresses researchers, students and practitioners alike.
Participation is online (Teams) via the following link: AESOP Small Towns Lecture Series | Teams
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- Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS
- Category: Ethics and Justice
This Open Access book explores the concept of the open city, examining its theoretical foundations, normative implications, and real-world practices in contemporary urban planning. The chapters move from conceptual debates on openness and empirical cases, investigating how cities address key challenges such as democracy, freedom, inclusion, creativity, learning, governance, and urban change. Contributors examine tensions between order and disorder, openness and closure, and ask who benefits from urban transformation and under what conditions. By connecting urban theory with planning practice, the volume offers a critical yet accessible reflection on the future of cities.
Developed through the work of the Thematic Group “Ethics and Justice” of the Association of European Schools of Planning, this book provides an essential resource for scholars, practitioners, and students interested in open cities, urban governance, democratic planning, and institutional design.
Link: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-92-3722-7
Table of contents:
𝟭. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — Anita De Franco and Stefano Cozzolino
𝟮. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀 “𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻”, 𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝘆 — Stefano Moroni and Ian Carter
𝟯. 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗔 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼-𝗠𝗲𝘀𝗼-𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 — David Emanuel Andersson
𝟰. 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 — Stefano Cozzolino
𝟱. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗣𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲 — Onur Tümtürk
𝟲. 𝗙𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀? — Elena Porqueddu
𝟳. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹-𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 — Nurit Alfasi
𝟴. 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 — Anita De Franco
- Details
- Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS
- Category: Planning and Complexity
Urban Complex Futures: Critical Leverage Points
Invitation to Online Series
The urban condition today oscillates between dystopian and utopian futures: increasing spatial segregation, political polarisation, socio-economic inequality, authoritarian governance, retrogressive and repressive national interventions are unfolding alongside a resurgence of urban agency, long-term thinking, visionary planning, collective action, community building, and the exploration of alternative futures, including post-growth paradigms, democratic innovations, and real(-istic) utopias. As time and space appear to compress further, urban discourse increasingly seeks pathways toward sustainable and equitable futures.
Our moment in time may represent an urban tipping point capable of leveraging transformations within complex, yet-to-be-understood and shaped realities. Exploring this momentum at the intersection of urban politics, spatial planning, systems thinking, and complexity theory offers a promising framework for developing, debating, and deploying concrete utopias to shape the future of our cities and regions. The aim is to seek pathways for reconciling urban politics today with potential positive future directions, connecting three established network efforts across Europe in consecutive events. The seminar series is in particular open for emerging ideas, young researchers, and students as the future drivers of democratic change.
This seminar series is linked to the forthcoming 24th Conference of the AESOP Thematic Group on Planning and Complexity, ‘Complexity Unpacked: Analytical Tools & Practical Insights for Uncertain Futures’, taking place at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus, on 8–9 January 2027. The three seminars will explore key questions and debates around urban complexity and critical leverage points, directly connecting with the conference's focus on conceptualising and operationalising complexity, and translating complexity thinking into planning practice. We hope the series will help initiate conversations that can be further developed and continued at the conference in Cyprus.
Dates & Times
- Wednesday, 21 October 2026, 14.00-15.00 hrs CET | 💻 online
Complex Adaptive Systems & Sustainable Cities
Speakers: Ulysses Sengupta (Manchester School of Architecture): The Complexity and Sustainability Paradox, Mahmud Tantoush (Manchester School of Architecture): Engaging with Complexity in Design: Adaptive Patterns, Data and Urban Activities
Introduction/Moderation: Ulysses Sengupta (Manchester School of Architecture), Christian Lamker (University of Groningen)
Introducing a special issue in ‘The Journal of Architecture’ (forthcoming)
Co-hosted with Manchester School of Architecture - Wednesday 11 November 2026, 15.00 - 16.00 hrs CET | 💻 online
Complex Realities & Uncertain Futures
Speaker: Anna Pagani (King’s College, London): Can systems thinking help to re-think and transform the housing system?
Introduction/Moderation: Solon Solomou (University of Nicosia), Christian Lamker (University of Groningen)
Co-hosted with University of Nicosia, Cyprus - Wednesday 2 December 2026, 15.00 - 16.00 hrs CET | 💻 online
TIME/LESS Planning & Temporary Uses
Speakers: Kobe Tilley, Tim Devos (both University of Gent): Beyond Dichotomies in Temporary Use of Space: Using Complexity to Broaden Understandings
Introduction/Moderation: Fabio Bayro Kaiser (RWTH Aachen University), Stefano Cozzolino (ILS Dortmund), Christian Lamker (University of Groningen)
Introducing a special issue in ‘Transactions of AESOP’ (forthcoming)
Co-hosted with RWTH Aachen University and ILS Research Institute for Urban and Regional Development - Friday & Saturday, 8-9 January 2027 | 🏫Nicosia, Cyprus
Complexity Unpacked: Analytical Tools & Practical Insights for Uncertain Futures
Hosted by the University of Nicosia, Cyprus
Call for Papers: https://aesop-planning.eu/tg-news/planning-and-complexity/complexity-unpacked-nicosia-cyprus-2027
Registration
Register for one or all three seminars:
→ https://forms.gle/AnAQH1oD33ugk8hAA
The login link will be provided before each event.
Contact
Christian Lamker,
Coordinator Thematic Group Planning and Complexity
Follow also LinkedIn for thematic group updates: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12735445
- Details
- Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS
- Category: Planning/Conflict
As a result of an election procedure open to everyone interested, the AESOP Planning/Conflict Thematic Group (TG) has chosen the members of the new coordination team (in alphabetical order):
- Francesco Campagnari, Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change, University of Antwerpen
- Neeklashi Joshi, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER)
- Carolina Pacchi, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano
The new coordination team will be further supported by former coordinator Enrico Gualini (TU Berlin) and will soon meet to start organising and defining future activities.
The AESOP Planning/Conflict Thematic Group of course is intended as a collaborative effort and is open to contributions and suggestions for initiatives by all scholars interested in the topic of conflicts in urban development and planning. Specific modalities for this will be announced soon. Should you already have contributions and suggestions for initiatives to make, please reply to this email and your input will be considered for coming meetings.
- Application Deadline Extended: HOW DO URBAN FUTURES FLOW? 1-3 FEB 2027 - PORTO (PT)
- Call for Abstracts: The Spatial Life of Trauma: Public Space, Memory and Future-Making
- RURAL PLANNING WEBINAR SERIES: SESSION ON RURAL HOUSING
- AESOP–IIT Delhi–UCL Online Workshop 2026 Brings Global Perspectives on Industrial Planning
