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.
