Micronomics 2010

#5__19-21Nov__Urban Platform

URBAN PLATFORM FLAGEY 19 -20 NOV

On the Urban Platform, individuals and organisations from 13 cities, from Gothenburg to Istanbul and from London to Sarajevo, present activities by which they shape their cities. It is an occasion for meeting among local and international initiators, with the wider public, elected politicians, civil servants, urban planners, researchers and entrepreneurs to exchange knowledge and experience, and to strengthen local initiatives by showing international affinities.

The streets, squares and parks we share with the people we don’t know, make up the beating heart of our cities. There is a wealth of initiatives that uses urban public spaces as places of expression, experiment and interrogation. They are cultural, social, economic or political projects stretching from urban gardening over bicycle projects, neighbourhood initiatives to exchange systems and actions to support the rights of citizens of a different colour of skin, sexual orientation or social class.

Although these initiatives are often explicitly local, we can find them in almost every metropolis. The Urban Platform brings initiatives who normally act very locally to Brussels, to discover what they have in common, even make plans, but most importantly send a common European signal about the importance of public spaces in our cities.

Residents of Brussels, active citizens, thinkers and daredevils meet to find like-minded’s during the Urban Platform, influence policy makers, convince researchers and make plans to improve their cities.

COLLABORATION LEADING TO THE URBAN PLATFORM

An important conclusion of #1, the January worksession and presentations, was: "this network should allow people and organisations normally excluded to take part in a European meeting and maybe even benefit from a European network." We now propose to push this reflection to its limits.

Would it be possible to create a European network that distinguishes itself from others by the fact that it is not self-referential but refers to local and public activities?

Would this mean that the aim of our meeting in November is to create forms of collaboration and solidarity between micro-initiatives, outside the already established European structures of which City Mine(d) and others are part?

The questions remain unanswered, but in the coming months we would like to work on them.

The collaboration for the coming months is structured around 4 parts:

1. Discourse
 what we would like to demonstrate / bring across ?

2. Actors
 what interest can participants have?

3. Horizon
 How to consolidate collaborations after November?

4. Practical
 Who comes to the forum in Brussels?

Campaiging Day and Online Community are also tools to facilitate the collaboration.

Reasons for creating a network

WHO We want to bring together individuals and collectives who act on a local level in their city, and in doing so create a network of urban micro-initiatives. These initiatives range from neighbourhood associations over urban garding to actions to support the rights of different colour of skin, sexual orientation or social class. We notice that these initiatives develop creative and possitive responses to urban changes and propose practical and alternative solutions to matters relating to living in the city.

WHY To have an impact on political decisions on a local, metropolitan and European level, and on an economy made at the international level, we believe that it is important to network at a European level. To have recognition beyond the local level while preserving a spontaneaous, informal and alternative character. To share ambitions, experience and know-how to strengthen local activities.