The power of Placemaking Week Europe

Author: Rosaria Battista has an MSc in Urban Management and Development, and she is working on better cities and sustainable growth at Stipo and Placemaking Europe. 

Welcome to the wonderful world of placemaking – where urban spaces are transformed into vibrant, engaging hubs that celebrate community, creativity, and connection! Placemaking is a people-centred approach to urban planning and design, with a focus that goes beyond the physical structure and functional purpose of a space. It aims to create places where the people who live, work and play in them can thrive. Imagine a place that you find beautiful and meaningful, a place where you feel a sense of belonging and where every corner tells a story that resonates with you and your community. That is the essence of placemaking, and it is what Placemaking Europe aims to promote on a global scale.

Cohesive network and foundation
Placemaking Europe originated from a need for a cohesive network among those passionate about transforming public space, starting during the International Placemaking Week in Amsterdam in 2017. Initially a network, it provided a platform for knowledge exchange among practitioners, policymakers, and community leaders. As discussions progressed, it became apparent that a more structured approach was necessary, leading to its evolution into a foundation. Now, Placemaking Europe serves as both a foundation and a network, fostering collaboration, developing tools, and advocating policies that prioritise the human scale of cities. Our mission is to transform spaces into cherished, flourishing places where everyone thrives, uniting around shared values and taking action in our public spaces to create a vibrant, fair, and sustainable world.

Placemaking Week Europe
Our annual celebration, Placemaking Week Europe (PWE), is Europe’s largest placemaking festival, held every September in partnership with a different European city. Drawing over 400 participants worldwide and growing every year, the festival is a global hub for networking, learning, and knowledge exchange. Each year, new themes are tackled relevant to the host city and contemporary ideas in placemaking, featuring workshops, speakers, and real-time projects aimed at improving the way people experience the space around them. Examples of key themes from our last editions include Place-led Development and Placemaking for Equity.

Three factors guide our selection of host cities: 
Firstly, they must be front runners in placemaking, actively incorporating it into their urban development strategies. Secondly, they must have interesting stories, projects, policies, and even hesitance in their history to share with the global community. Lastly, we look for cities with an eagerness to learn, open to constructive criticism and willing to share their experiences to help others learn.

Collaborating closely with the city’s municipality, Placemaking Europe launches innovative placemaking initiatives, aiming to create a lasting impact and foster a vibrant, inclusive community consisting of forward-thinking people. The goal is to share the magic of placemaking, curating an insightful and memorable experience alongside a community of passionate and diverse individuals; we want the work we do together to resonate with and inspire them to continue creating positive change in their own communities.

Strasbourg 2023
The 2023 edition of PWE took place in Strasbourg, France, marking a year of bold experimentation and creativity for the festival. The event showcased high-profile speakers spanning various disciplines in the field, including Charles Landry, the visionary behind the Creative City concept, and Ethan Kent, Executive Director of PlacemakingX, among others. Representatives from over 50 countries, spanning industry sectors such as real estate, architecture, and services, as well as non-profits and academic and governmental institutions, converged to participate in this dynamic exchange. 

Lecturer Andrew Shaw from BUas shares his first-hand experience: 
“I have visited PWE for a couple of years. What strikes me is the curiosity of the attendees. While there are many people joining who are an established part of the community, many are new and generally ask ‘What exactly is placemaking?’ The beauty of PWE is that there are also artists, students, community managers, developers in attendance, meaning that everyone’s views and definitions merge and change over the week. The vibe allows for professional conversations to become personal connections easily. Friendships are formed, which lead to further collaborations. The festival setting makes you feel relaxed and at home in what could be a very serious or stuffy subject and for me the impact has been huge. In 2023, we took our Urban Life and Placemaking students along to be part of all of this. They not only mingled in the workshops and networking, but also conducted some action research. A truly unique experience and learning environment for them.”

Next destination: Rotterdam
Now in its seventh year, the 2024 edition of the festival arrives at Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Rotterdam’s history is appropriately aligned with the principles of PWE. It holds a storied tradition of converting space into place, showcasing remarkable cases of placemaking throughout the city. The festival’s themes for 2024 explore a variety of hidden forces in placemaking that are particularly embedded in Rotterdam’s urban fabric, though applicable to many other cities.

The first theme ‘Creating Place and Making it Last’ underscores the importance of establishing enduring, inclusive, and dynamic spaces. Here you will explore sustainable space and dynamic resilience, incorporating diverse perspectives. Key explorations include implementing systemic placemaking practices and fostering a culture of learning and reflection for lasting urban transformation.
The second theme ‘Climate Adaptation: Together Towards Change’ addresses the urgent issue of climate change, promoting ongoing collective action for community and city resilience. You will explore effective collaborative strategies, nature-based solutions, and climate inclusivity for greener, healthier, and more resilient cities.
The third theme ‘Living with Water: The Flow of the City’ delves into the evolving relationship between cities and water, challenging old notions about waterfronts. Here the synergy of urban life and water is celebrated, exploring rejuvenation strategies that spark water awareness among city dwellers.
Lastly, ‘Local Power and the Battle for Space’ honours the local champions and creative spaces that shape thriving cities and their identities, often without formal recognition or support. Gaining insights into how to nurture transformative power in community spaces, preserving thriving districts during transformation, and fostering collaboration for more vibrant, inclusive cities.

This edition promises exciting insights into the hidden dynamics of placemaking, with the Keilepand taking centre stage as the main venue. Once a historic warehouse, it is now a revitalised home to the KeileCollectief, a vibrant space spanning 15,000m² where a mix of architecture and planning studios come together. Here, passionate entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds join forces to pursue their creative dreams. Today, it stands as a vibrant cornerstone of the Makers District, exemplifying sustainability and community-driven innovation.

The Legacy of PWE
PWE leaves a lasting legacy of positive changes in public spaces and communities. The city's eagerness to learn is pivotal as they do not see themselves as a selling point, but rather a canvas in progress, exhibiting works open to constructive criticism and new developments from other participants. Rotterdam is “The perfect meeting place to share stories, celebrate our similarities, embrace our differences and question where improvements can be made,” highlights Sarah van Schaik, project leader of 2024 Placemaking Week Europe at the municipality of Rotterdam. The collaborative and celebratory atmosphere, with Rotterdam as our shared stage, nurtures a community of forward-thinkers who actively shape positive change. “By collaborating with our local heroes, our placemaking gems of the city, and Placemaking Europe, we ensure an authentic and vibrant event, creating a sense of wonder and connection,” states Sarah.

Co-director Ramon Marrades of Placemaking Europe highlights the ‘triple impact’ PWE brings to its host city. “Participants in PWE naturally become ambassadors for the host city” as they feel they have made a tangible impact and left a part of themselves behind. This impact is threefold: firstly, it attracts a surge of visitors (leading to direct economic impact) who, inspired by the conference agenda, are encouraged to consume and ‘spend sustainably’; secondly, they develop a deep ‘affection’ for the city, feeling empowered to contribute to its development and take ownership of the projects they participated in during PWE. Lastly, the influx of international knowledge aids in addressing urban challenges and ‘making systemic change’.

This article was published in Uncover Magazine - Internationalisation. You can read the complete magazine via this link.