During this year’s Placemaking Week, at which climate adaptation was an important topic, our partner STIPO hosted a workshop showcasing the GreenDense project.
The festival offered an incredible opportunity to involve a wider audience into the work of the GreenDense team. With 33 workshops, 19 outdoor sessions, 30 panels, 25 short sessions, and 4 plenaries, and over 600 participants from all over Europe it is an inspiring breeding ground for new ideas and a knowledge-sharing platform.
GreenDense’s contribution was the workshop Climate-Adaptive Cities: An Expert Workshop on Greening through Placemaking, hosted by Minouche Besters and Khadidja Konate from STIPO, alongside the team from Placemaking Europe involved in another EU climate related project, ReGreeneration.
The workshop was tailored for experts and drew mostly participants with extensive knowledge in incorporating climate adaptive measures in placemaking strategies, community involvement, and long-term strategies for greening cities. With a goal to share about the GreenDense and ReGreeneration projects and to gather insights from these expert participants that could benefit our work, the workshop drew an exceptionally active and enthusiastic crowd for the late Friday afternoon, with over 40 participants.
The workshop kicked off with presentations on the two European projects. As a warm-up exercise, the participants were then asked to hand draw stakeholders to involve in the process. Within minutes the wall was covered with drawings of children, the elderly, businessmen, politicians, non-humans like pets and birds, and natural elements such as trees and rivers.
The co-creation activity was conducted in smaller groups and then focused on two critical topics. The first being Using Local-Scale Initiatives to Build Lasting Engagement, thus discussing tools and strategies for fostering long-term community involvement in greening projects. Key questions included:
- How do we connect overarching strategies to local initiatives?
- What methods can effectively engage communities to ensure sustainable impact?
Others tackled Developing City-Wide Programs and discussed planning and programming for city-wide greening infrastructure. Key questions included:
- How can we design cohesive programs that bridge city strategies with grassroots initiatives?
- What strategies ensure lasting contributions and tangible urban improvements?
The discussions generated exciting ideas and practical strategies to address urban greening challenges. These insights underscored the importance of collaboration between policymakers, planners, and residents to create vibrant, sustainable, and climate-resilient urban spaces, reinforcing GreenDense’s multi-stakeholder approach to participation. The importance of facilitation for bridging between different goals and stakes was also pressed, while others emphasised that clear focus on smaller specific themes helps people to engage and allows for more targeted action.
It was a very fruitful workshop, and the STIPO team looks forward to bringing the lessons of the coming year to the next Placemaking Week in September 2025.
About the Placemaking Week Festival
From September 24 to 27, over 500 placemakers, urbanists, city officials, and community leaders from across Europe gathered in Rotterdam for the annual Placemaking Week Festival. This dynamic event is a must for anyone seeking a vibrant and collaborative environment to exchange ideas, draw inspiration, and explore innovative perspectives on urban challenges and opportunities.
Despite a few clouds, most days were blessed with sunshine in lovely Rotterdam!
Article written by Khadidja Konate and Minouche Besters, STIPO
Pictures by Maria Blau