2022-2026
Re-imagine culture-led regeneration of urban empty spaces in an ecological way
On the 4th and 5th of October 2022, Future DiverCities, a four-year project funded by the European Commission (Creative Europe), was kicked off in Florence. Hosted by the Italian partner Lama, 13 European organisations met in Manifattura Tabacchi, an old tobacco factory and one of the most important examples at an international level of urban regeneration and change making.
Future DiverCities is a four-year project implemented by European organisations seeking to re-imagine culture-led regeneration of urban empty spaces in an ecological way. The project will develop cultural approaches to enhance and preserve the ecological value of unused vacant spaces in 9 European Cities: Berlin, Zagreb, Split, Liepaja, Kuopio, Marseille, Florence, Timişoara and Athens (Elefsina):
• develop innovative cultural models for ecological urban regeneration.
• ontribute to change the paradigm in cultural policy, placing the ecology at its centre.
• build the capacity of the creative hubs leaders to become ecological changemakers.
Future DiverCities is about systematising ecosystemic and ecological strategies in cultural urban regeneration.
As it unfolds the project will create its own new ecological assessment tools to better quantify and qualify quantity and quality the ecological impact with a framework adapted to a variety of cultural interventions.
We will pilot and design new models to qualify and quantity the ecological factor in cultural development strategies. We will review and control the range of environmental impacts arising from all project’s activities.
Work within three clusters looking at three entry points to building ecological value:
Biodiversity, Commoning and Impermanence.
Public Art Lab partners of FDC are La Friche, coordinator and Seconde Nature in Marseille (France)
ANTI Festivalin Kuopio (Finland), KONTEJNER in Zagreb and Split (Croatia)
LAMA Impresa Sociale in Florence (Italy)
BIOS and European Creative Hubs Network-ECHN in Athens (Elefsina, Greece)
the City Council “Culture Department” in Liepaja (Latvia)
Savonia University in Finland (savonia.fi)
and PLAI in Timişoara (Romania)
The project also benefits from the expertise of INNOCAMP PL in Poland (Ashoka network) (innocamp.pl),
LAMA Impresa Sociale in Italy, Savonia University in Finland and Trajna in Slovenia (Krater project / krater.si).
