Urban Life & Placemaking: Living in the City - Teacher in Town

The destinations for lecturers Andrew Shaw & Simon de Wijs this year were Bilbao & Valencia, representing two very different sides of Spain. They tell their story. 

Our visit to Bilbao was graciously hosted by Deusto University. We were made to feel very welcome by Elena Linares, one of the international coordinators there. During our time there, we had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Roberto San Salvador del Valle, and gained insights into his department’s work into city governance and leisure strategies. It was especially interesting to hear about their work with city labs and their extensive academic output on urban leisure. 

We also had a productive meeting with the team from World Leisure Organisation, Cristina Ortega Nuere & Mireia Iglesias. We discussed about their input in the forthcoming Uncover Magazine and the World Leisure Congress, hosted at BUas this coming August. A special mention goes to Nicolien van den Berg, an alumna and international resident of Bilbao. Nicolien hosted one of our students at her company Tourne Bilbao. The meeting was especially nice for Simon, as he was her coach in year 1. 

As mentioned, we were also there to visit students. We joined the ULP students on their ‘Urban Scope Exhibition’, which took the form of a city tour, stopping at notable locations to try the local pintxos while learning about the city through different lenses. 

After Bilbao we moved to Valencia, where we had a less packed, and very interesting schedule. 
We participated in the Urban Scope Exhibition of the Valencia group, held at Book Lovers, an English-language book shop in the heart of the city. A big thank you to Alen for co-organizing and facilitating this event. It was a great platform to engage with the local community and for the students to share their experiences. 

We had the pleasure of meeting Suzie Añón y García from Tours in Valencia. She also hosted students on their internships and it was great to hear her enthusiasm. 

Returning to Book Lovers, we took part in the students’ ‘Social Intervention’, a project they have been working on for the past 10 weeks. Their project related to the flood damage of storm Dana, which took place during the time they were in the city. Their intervention took place during the monthly open mic night for writers, and their message connected well with the audience.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Nathalie Sluiter-Kleyn Molekamp and the Global Engagement team for their support through the Erasmus+ mobility program. Their efforts made this trip possible and ensured it was a success.