An article by Denise Cahill - Project Lead Playful Paradigm, Cork City
The City of Cork represented the Playful Paradigm partnership at the 2019 Bologna Conference on Citizen Engagement on July 1st and 2nd 2019.
The City of Cork represented the Playful Paradigm partnership at the 2019 Bologna Conference on Citizen Engagement on July 1st and 2nd 2019. The conference was structured to uncover steps taken by each city to implement citizen engagement project/initiative with the most impact; identify the ways each city managed challenges; identify the necessary ingredients to upscale projects across city government and to create personalised action plans and commitments based on shared information.
A variety of cities participated from across Europe and the United States to share their experience of citizen engagement practice. On Day 1 each city was invited to graphically depict their journey of Civic Engagement of good practice. The cities that received the highest votes (sticky dots) were invited to present their good practice and informal discussions emerged from each presentation. It was an excellent and engaging process of sharing good practice and of informally meeting partner cities. Projects in Helsinki (Re-use of Municipal Buildings for Public Activities), Birmingham (Social and Economic Partnership Projects) and San Jose (Pokemon Go Gaming for voter registration) were presented.
Poster of the Social & Economic Partnership Model of Civic Engagement in Birmingham
Following a short break each city was invited to discuss the challenges faced and means of managing citizen engagement initiatives. Cities were invited to share their successes and challenges in an interactive manner and a broad discussion ensued following the activity.
A World Café methodology was adopted to explore how cities can scale up their citizen engagement approaches. The difficulties of meaningful citizen engagement emerged again with many cities outlining the key challenges they face in their practice. The Mayor of the City of Newark Ras Baraka who has been a thought leader in the US for urban revitalisation spoke about the challenges for political leaders in responding and balancing the diverse needs and wishes of citizens and the challenge to be re-elected.
Day 2 provided a deeper insight into Civic Engagement in practice with site visits to projects around beautiful (and exceptionally hot!!) Bologna. With a strong ethos of civic engagement and a commitment by the municipality to the provision of civic spaces for cultural development it was a fantastic opportunity to see projects in reality and speak with those who led each through challenging process to success.
We visited DYNAMO – an example of an urban regeneration project for innovative use of public spaces. Inspired by a youth group responding to the rise in the national movement DYNAMO is a municipal space (a bomb shelter from World War II) with dedicated parking centrally located, close to the train station in Bologna. DYNAMO was funded by the Incredibol call for projects and is actively participate in a debate on sustainable mobility for the city.
A range of picture demonstrating the various elements of the DYNAMO Project in Bologna
We also heard about the INCREDIBOL project which promoted creative and cultural activities in the city of Bologna and is coordinated by the Municipality in conjunction with public and private partners. The project seeks calls to promote the creation of start up businesses in the creativity and cultural sector, to foster regional companies, share desk / office space and re-use derelict municipal premises across Bologna.
We visited the Kilowatt – Le Serre Project which is a regenerated abandoned space transformed into Public Gardens and filled with projects and activities including a café, a social space, a childcare facility and a vegetable garden.
The Kilowatt Project funded by INCREDIBOL in Bologna
Finally we visited Mercato Sonato and the Sensaspine Orchestra which regenerated a district market into the headquarters of the Sensaspine Orchestra. It is now considered to be the centre for arts and cultural activities from ballet to electronic music performances, video mapping, poetry and drama.
Mercato Sonato – a derelict shopping arcade transformed into a practice and performance space for an orchestra
Upon reflection of the 2 day summit, we learned a lot about the great work that is being undertaken in many cities to engage citizens. In conclusion I believe the key to successful and meaningful civic engagement lies in a genuine commitment to the process; with key individuals leading and guiding the development of projects through to fruition working with courage and tenacity in the difficult grey areas of bureaucracy. We were struck by the vast amount of experience in various European cities to truly engage with citizens and what a challenge this is in an Irish context of centralised government and minimal power in local government. We are keen to link with our Playful Paradigm partners to learn about their experience also.
An article by Denise Cahill
Project Lead Playful Paradigm, Cork City
