THEMATIC GROUPS

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Transboundary Planning and Governance

Published: 29 September 2023

In July, many of us had the opportunity to meet at the annual AESOP Congress in Lodz, Poland. Under the umbrella of the TG, we organized a track (Track 4 “Integrated Planning over the borders”) with six papers sessions, a roundtable (Roundtable 9 “Planning across borders in times of war and geopolitical conflict”) and an in-person TG meeting. In this message, I want to summarize some of the discussions we had at the AESOP Congress, and give an outlook of the activities for the rest of the year. Please also note that the TG report from 2022 which summarizes previous activities is available to read on the TG website: https://aesop-planning.eu/thematic-groups/transboundary-planning-and-governance

Follow up “Planning across borders in times of war and geopolitical conflict”: The roundtable at AESOP was well attended and highlighted the connections and clashes between transboundary planning and geopolitical events and conflicts. All organisers and speakers voiced an interest in continuing discussion on the subject, and in our TG meeting, we contemplated various strategies and activities to follow-up on the theme:

1. Academic reflection on transboundary planning in times of war and conflict: A short academic reflection on the roundtable to share our discussions with a broader audience.
2. Planning education acknowledging war and crisis situations: Thinking about  “blind spots” related to war and crisis situations in planning education and communicating these ideas to the AESOP community.
3. Pan for Ukraine network: This existing network of schools of planning and architecture in Germany supports Ukrainian students and researchers. Please check the website (https://www.panforukraine.de/about/ ) and get in touch if you want to contribute or participate.
4. Learning from other disciplines: Planning research (in Europe) seems to have little grasp on conflict and war, and the role of planning therein. There could be opportunities to learn from other disciplines, such as foreign policy, related to how transboundary planning could deal with conflict or even attempt to mitigate it.
5. Support regeneration in Ukraine: Although the war is still ongoing, the regeneration of Ukraine will also pose a challenge in the future. How could we support this process from an academic perspective? One idea was to review relevant articles on regeneration and post-war development and organizing an online session aimed at learning about the issue.
6. Facing challenging interpersonal situations head-on: As humans, we often tend to avoid interpersonal conflicts and act like they don’t exist, for example by limiting interaction of students from potentially conflicting backgrounds (e.g. Ukraine – Russia, Serbia – Kosovo, …). However, such behavior might just conceal conflicts and in the long run avoid that wounds really heal. Could there be strategies to face challenging interpersonal situations head-on, instead of pretending they don’t exist? It is not yet determined what the concrete format or outcome of this activity could be, but it might be an issue faced by many in the classroom or workplace, and therefore worth discussing.

7. Communicate concerns to policy maker: While we might be eagerly discussing among academics, communication with policy makers is sometimes still a challenge, also in relation to the theme of geopolitical conflict. A recent communication related to the EU’s adherence to the OECD Council Recommendation on “Regional Development Policy” for example does not acknowledge the war in Europe and potential implications for regional development policy. Could we contribute to an increasing acknowledgement of connections and clashes between transboundary planning and geopolitical events and conflicts in policy circles? The initial idea was to direct comments to and share our discussions with representatives from public actors such as the European Commission.

In Lodz, we agreed that not all of these activities would be led by the TG coordinators, but that we would be happy to help with matchmaking among interested persons. If you are interested in developing a certain idea further or contributing in some way, please be in touch and I will connect you with others who have voiced their interest.

TG meeting: Our next TG meeting will take place in December 2023 online. In due time, I will share a date and agenda for the meeting, as well as a link to participate. Please note that we are more than happy to accommodate additions to the agenda and tailor the discussion to your ideas.

AESOP 2024 in Paris: Together with the Local Organizing Committee, we are currently drafting a track description for our track "BORDERS" at the upcoming AESOP Congress in Paris, taking place July 8-12 2024. We will keep you posted on the details and the call for abstracts. If you have any ideas for roundtables and special session for the upcoming congress, please don’t hesitate to be in touch. We are happy to host relevant activities in our track, or facilitate organization where possible (e.g. suggest speakers from our TG list).

Currently, the AESOP Young Academics network is hosting a call for co-chairs among early career researchers. If you are interested to co-chair our track (Track 4: Borders), please apply here by September 30^th: https://aesop-youngacademics.net/news/ya-news/co-chair-call-for-aesop-congress-2024-in-paris

Finally, I want to extend again a big thank you to everyone who contribute to our TG activities in Lodz, especially track co-chairs Annalisa Rollandi and Sylwia Dołzbłasz, roundtable organizers Alois Humer and Jörg Knieling, roundtable speakers Erblin Berisha, Maros Finka, Jens Kurnol, Franziska Sielker and Jacek Zaucha, and of course everyone who presented their work in our track, participated in the lively discussion and attended the TG meeting!

Best wishes,

Eva & Alois

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Public Spaces and Urban Cultures

Published: 27 September 2023

An event organized by UnCommon Public Space Group, Department of Urban Planning, University of California (Los Angeles, USA) and the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Thematic Group on Public Spaces and Urban Cultures, within the working theme 2022-2024 “Public Spaces, Urban Cultures, and Constructing Peace”

Date: Monday, November 06, 2023, 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm CET / 7:00 am - 10:00 am PST 

Local organizers: Claire Nelischer,  Andres F. Ramirez, Gus Wendel, Christopher Giamarino

AESOP Thematic Group PSUC representatives: Stefania Ragozino (Italy), Christine Mady (Finland)

About the workshop:

This online workshop will incorporate presentations and structured collaborative activities to introduce bi-directional, place-based, and humanistic approaches to the study of public space, and the possibility of the "event" as a form of inquiry in public space research. It invites public space scholars working on issues related to justice and peace in public space to consider how events could serve as a tool to generate new understandings and foster community relationships in public spaces.

Highlighting examples from Los Angeles, we will share the recent work of UCLA's UnCommon Public Space Group to use transdisciplinary, community-based approaches to explore pressing public space issues, and advance justice and peace in urban public environments. Drawing from these examples, we will define our emerging approach to the use of events in public space research as a means to generate new understandings and foster peaceful and just relations in public space; frame this approach in relation to relevant theories and methods; and offer a working set of principles and practices events as a tool of inquiry in public space research. 

Drawing from their own research experiences and ideas, participants will engage in facilitated, small group discussions on the limits and possibilities of events as tools of public space research, and will work collaboratively to develop and refine principles for such an approach, and prompting new questions, ideas, and opportunities.

The workshop will conclude with a discussion of avenues for further development and collaboration around the concept of events in relation to public space research, including a future chapter presenting principles for events-based inquiry that will integrate examples, ideas and ongoing research from workshop participants. 

To participate:

To facilitate generative discussions and focused collaboration, this workshop will be limited to 20 participants. Those interested in participating are asked to submit a 300-word prospectus that includes: 

• Your name, title, and affiliation
• Your email address
• A confirmation of your availability on November 06 during the workshop time (4:00 pm - 7:00 pm CET / 7:00 am - 10:00 am PST)
• A 300-word statement describing your own public space research effort (past, present, or future) through which you are considering the potential of community-based events as a tool for building understanding of public space and relationality with community, and outlining your goals for participating in this workshop

Submissions will be evaluated for fit with the workshop's content and goals, as summarized above. Selected participants will be assigned to breakout groups for the workshop based on shared research interests and approaches.

Please submit your prospectus by October 27, 2023 - extended deadline to: Andres F. Ramirez, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Image source: (Un)Common Public Space Group. "Inhabiting the Night" event in Westlake/MacArthur Park, Los Angeles. 2022

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Ethics, Values and Planning

Published: 19 September 2023

In this two-day event, which took place at the ILS - Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development (Dortmund, September 14-15, 2023), we had the chance to explore the significance and impact of conformism/conformorality in the planning field and within our scientific community. Although this topic might sound new and fresh, this conference was inspired by some previous works of our invited keynote speakers, Matteo Colombo (Tilburg University) and Claudia Basta (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency PBL). As a Thematic Group, we thought this topic deserved to be further explored and enriched with new reflections. The conference confirmed that this issue is not only relevant in our research community but also needs to be taken seriously because of its silent impact and the way it can affect scientific inquiries and scholarships.

On the first day, we had the pleasure of attending two keynote speakers. Matteo Colombo, who works mainly in the field of neuroscience and moral psychology, discussed the fundamental aspects of conformorality and connected them with the urban environment. Claudia Basta, on the other hand, shared a valuable personal experience on how conformorality has obstructed her scholarship path and prevented her from enriching her perspective with new ideas. Her inspiring talk was titled “On academic conformorality, and why it threatens academic freedom.” The two talks will be available online soon.

On the second day, the conference hosted ten highly inspiring talks:

• Questioning traditional redistributive urban policies: A heterodox approach to the just city - Stefano Moroni (Polytechnic University of Milan)
• Antifragility and Resilience: Two Sides of the Same Coin? - Francesco Curci and Daniele Chiffi (Polytechnic University of Milan)
• Green public space and its change - Paulina Budrytė (Kaunas University of Technology)
• Easy theories for complex neighborhoods? How conformorality tames wicked problems in neighborhood management - Mark Scherner (University of Vienna)
• Ordinary Neighborhoods - Raffael Beier (TU Dortmund)
• Urban Displacement, an Unqualified Negative? Between Harm, Fairness, and Effectiveness in Conventional Responses - Brett Allen Slack (Polytechnic University of Milan)
• To plan or not to plan: Is this the question? - Anita De Franco (Polytechnic University of Milan)
• Import-Export Rules: Saving the greater number or sheer insensitivity? - Nana Serwaa Antwi (Polytechnic University of Milan)
• MEGA-AMBITIONS - How generic and holistic values drive the interplay between mega-regionalization and urban megaprojects in Greater China - Henry Endemann (Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
• A Planning and Urban Development Perspective on Digital Sovereignty. Diverging digital values in cities - Unger Lena (TU Dortmund) – This talk was cancelled.

The various contributions made it clear that, quite surprisingly, conformorality (or, more in general, conformism) has both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, it can favour certain collective learning processes through a "copy-and-paste" mechanism. On the other hand, it can harshly prevent the creative development of new ideas and reflections, severely limiting society and, in particular, the scientific community. What appears to be evident is that within the scientific community, it can be beneficial for many scholars to conform to certain prevalent and winning ideas to better align with successful groups. Benefits can derive from, for example, smoother review processes in scientific journals or funding opportunities. An interesting expression/concept that emerged in the final discussion round requiring further investigation is that of the "conform-zone."

THE ORGANISERS

Stefano Cozzolino and Anita De Franco

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Ethics, Values and Planning

Published: 05 September 2023

Breaking through ‘conformorality’ in urban and regional studies

September 14-15, 2023 - ILS (Dortmund, Brüderweg 22-24)

For any query or information, please get in touch with the organisers:

• Stefano Cozzolino This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Anita De Franco This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.