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  • Students on the radio

    Students from the undergraduate courses "Gender, Society and Culture" and "City and Urbanism" are collaborating with CoNECT. Luis Cabello Ordóñez, Lucía Chávez Méndez, Alejandro Claramonte Rendo and Manuela Romero Rodríguez, fourth year students of Geography and History, as part of their collaboration with CoNECT, have recorded a podcast in RadiOlavide. In the podcast they reflect on ecofeminism and everything they learned after interviewing, together with Antonio García, those responsible for the organic farming store Las Comadres.

  • Transformative learning: how do we develop capacities for action toward a future we want to live in?

    On March 21st we kicked-off the CoNECT webinar series with a discussion of transformative learning. We live in an era of poly-crises which challenges us to constantly adapt to new circumstances. Learning is a clear prerequisite for societal transformations, but the current situation offers relatively few opportunities for the kind of learnings needed to find avenues for real transformation. Whether in the classroom or in the community, formally or informally, at all ages and levels of ability, how we teach and learn marks our ability to spot opportunities for intervention, connect dots, and create relationships that enable change. Hence, aligning with the goal of the CoNECT project to recognize and enhance capacities for action, this first event focused on the practices of learning to inform resilient transformations. Professor Ashraf Salama’s thoughtful presentation traced the intellectual history of transformative pedagogies in architecture and urbanism, from the ‘unquestioned canonical’ schools of the 19th and early 20th centuries, through the experimental phase of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with critical, participatory, digitally enabled, and design-build pedagogies establishing a foothold in different architectural schools, to the current moment where a new wave of transformative pedagogies focuses on redefining the everyday, decolonizing thought, questioning the hidden curriculum, and advancing transdisciplinarity. Key to transformative learning practices is to recognize their plurality, their focus on holistic learning rather than overly disciplinary education, and their commitment to challenging power structures and established systems. In the context of urban and architectural training it means that alongside skills that distinguish architectural and urban design as professions, there is a need for students to continuously question the brief, to develop skills for social analysis, and to connect design thinking with a focus on challenging the status quo. A (somewhat rhetorical) question inquired into whether we even need architects in the traditional sense in today’s society. What will the role of the architect be in the near future, and are we sufficiently preparing students to become mediators, facilitators, organizers and connectors...? Dr Antonija Bogadi, representing the Circular City Challenge (CCC) project of the JPI-ENUTC funding scheme, delivered a passionate complementary presentation introducing the CCC methodology for circularity education for teenagers. The methodology puts into practice many of the principles of transformative pedagogies through the application of a participatory approach aimed at addressing everyday challenges in urban neighborhoods, empowering youth to act, to reach out to other stakeholders, and to define realizable projects promoting circularity within their own sphere of influence. The CCC project developed a set of tools available for educators, alongside the stepwise approach to engaging with teenagers. The application of the methodology in the first pilots suggests that, despite high level of climate anxiety, youth find that getting a grip on how they might make a difference, and reaching out to other actors in their communities that are active in circularity initiatives, develops a sense of agency and empowerment. The discussion following the talks gave the floor to participants from various backgrounds to bring in their own perspective on the topics. Importantly, it was evident that the need for non-canonical and/or transformative learning opportunities was perceived as pressing in many different domains, from law to industrial design, and in relation to different stages of education from formative years to life-long learning. Furthermore, participants gave evidence of both forward steps (towards different variants and understandings of transformative learning) and backward steps - testifying to the challenges of promoting transformative practices, especially in formal education where the confines of existing models can be stultifying. Nevertheless, the discussion remained optimistic, ending with a few interventions that broadened the scope of education toward professional practice and the need for spreading transformative pedagogies across borders (the example talked about a project working with Ukrainian architects to increase their capacity to act in reconstruction processes). We look forward to welcoming you to the next installment of this series in mid-June. We will discuss urban commons in the context of JPI-ENUTC projects, as well as hearing from a guest speaker, and presenting a brief peek into the exhibition ‘Together Tomorrow: Redefining Everyday Practices’ (working title) put together by architecture and urbanism students at Eindhoven University of Technology.

  • Expo EcoLab à la Maison de Quartier Floréal/La Saussaie

    Le 29 Février 2024, l'équipe AAA a déplacé l'exposition Ecolab dans la maison de quartier, en suivant la scénographie proposée par les élèves, mais adaptée a l'espace disponible. Sur les trois murs du hall on peut y découvrir les démarches, les ateliers réalisés par les élèves et les esquisses du projet. Une presentation au public aura lieu le 23 avril à 17h lors du conseil de maison. D'ici là l'exposition est visitable sur les horaires d'ouverture de la maison de quartier.

  • Site Web TerrEau

    En Janvier 2024 nous avons commencé a développer une page web pour le projet TerrEau, un endroit pour réunir et accéder aux outils que nous développons avec les partenaires locaux. La page se trouve ici. La, vous pourrez accéder au calendrier partagé TerrEau, la charte TerrEau, et la carte TerrEau. Nous continuons à développer cette page et les outils de partage et collaboration sur la transition écologique, avec les partenaires et de façon collaborative.

  • Exposition EcoLab au Collège La Courtille, Saint Denis

    Le  21 Décembre 2023 nous avons lancé l’exposition EcoLab au Collège La Courtille à Saint Denis. Des élèves éco- delegués ont co-conçu et co-construit l’expo avec AAA et les facilitateurs de CoNECT. L’expo montre les dessins, des photos et des textes expliquant la proposition pour un espace écologique dans la cour de l'école. AAA est en train de préparer le dossier de conception, pour construire l’EcoLab cette année.

  • Le Centre Social et Culturel Jacques Prévert

    En Janvier 2024, nous avons visité le CSC Prévert, et fait un entretien avec la directrice Sira Baradji. La structure à un seul niveau s’ouvre sur les jardins de la Pierre Plate, et consiste de plusieurs salles naturellement illuminées. Cette structure va être démolie et le CSC va déménager dans des nouveaux locaux près de la station de Bagneux.

  • La Charte TerrEau

    En Décembre 2023 et Janvier 2024 les partenaires du TerrEau de Bagneux ont travaillé ensemble au cours de plusieurs rencontres tenues au Lycée avant le Lycée, pour co-produire une charte du TerrEau de l'écologie citoyenne. Le but de cette charte est de décrire la façon de fonctionner du TerrEau, les buts, méthodes, prises de décision, entrée et sortie. La charte peut être accédé ici. Nous avons travaillé en grand et petit groupe, en ligne et en présentiel sur un document partagé, pour réfléchir à chaque clause. Les partenaires qui ont travaillé sur la charte sont: AAA, le PPCM, le Lycée avant le Lycée, La mairie de Bagneux (le CSC Fontaine Gueffier, le CSC Jacques Prévert, Le Pôle TEDD) la Compagnie SourouS, et Bagneux Environnement.

  • Interview with the initiative Huerto del Rey Moro (Seville)

    The initiative Huerto del Rey Moro is today a green space self-managed by the assembly of neighbors of La Noria, Seville, that was recovered from administrative neglect in 2004. It is located in the historic centre of Seville and it has an approximate area of about 5000 m2. On February 15 we were able to visit this space and conduct an interview with one of its founding members in which we talked about the past, present and future of this interesting project.

  • Interview with the initiative Mercado de la Ilustración

    The ecological market "La ilustración" is held monthly every third Tuesday (from September to May). It offers local and ecological products, being a space that promotes sustainability and community connection. The Universidad Pablo de Olavide launched this project on March 21, 2023. In the market you can buy oil, bread, meat, sausages, cheese, beer, wine, sweets, honey, vegetables, stationery, textiles, household cleaning, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and many other local products.  We recently had a meeting with two of the people behind the launch and organization of this project and were able to learn a lot from their experiences.

  • CONECT & FACTIBLES

    The conference “Art, Participation and Public Space” took place in Seville on February 22 and 23 and is part of the research project FACTIBLES that aims to recognize contexts, formats and strategies of the most outstanding participatory art practices for the recovery, improvement and inclusive appropriation of public space. The synergies between FACTIBLES and CoNECT, both in terms of the topics of study and the people involved, are very important and that is why we decided to collaborate. Antonio García García, who is responsible for the FACTIBLES project and researcher in CoNECT, participated in the presentation of the Seminar together with Marian Pérez Bernal as researcher of CoNECT. In the Seminar we were able to learn about the experiences of Nomad Garden and Fundación Alalá, which are associations with which we also work in CoNECT.

  • Neighborhood Association Parque Estoril, Cerro del Águila (Seville)

    On Thursday, February 8, we met with the president and three members of the Neighborhood Association Parque Estoril, in the neighborhood of Cerro del Águila, Seville. After three decades of work in claiming a public space for all and proposing a wide range of actions for community cohesion in the neighborhood, they are a reference to learn from. Their baggage is a story of conquest and appropriation. The necessary story to achieve the physical, functional and symbolic recovery of a public space - Poeta Miguel Hernández square - in a modest neighborhood on the outskirts of Seville. And the product of doing so with a participatory and collaborative project. In the design of the space, in its uses or in learning the channels of political representation. A public space with trees, benches and games, where there is also room for a sports facility, a school garden or, more recently incorporated, a community center claimed for many years. A place in the full sense of the word, which supports daily life and mutates with festive gatherings, art workshops and others. It is also a stage for negotiation between different points of view.

  • Conference "Art, participation and public space"

    The CONECT team from Spain is co-organizing the conference “Art, participation and public space” together with the project FACTIBLES. It will take place in Seville on February 22 and 23 and you can find the program here: https://www.upo.es/investiga/proyectofactibles/

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