Exploring the Role of Higher (Arts) Education and Students within City Transformations
Tuesday 20 June 2023
ELIA Advocacy and Project Manager, Irene Garofalo, gives a recap of the CrAFting Cities Together event in Bologna, Italy. From 23-25 May, I had the pleasure of participating, alongside ELIA’s Executive Director Maria Hansen, in the event CrAFting Cities Together in Bologna, Italy. This event was hosted by the University of Bologna, our partner in the Horizon Europe funded CrAFt project. The CrAFt project supports cities in their transformation towards sustainable, beautiful and inclusive spaces and specifically focuses on creating tools for stakeholder collaboration. The event provided a great opportunity for us to meet with our colleagues and various city representatives from across Europe in person, one year since the project’s kick-off. Being in Bologna in May, right after heavy and destructive floods had hit its region Emilia-Romagna, was a strong reminder of the urgency of what the project is trying to achieve. In many conversations we discussed the importance of not only making our cities climate-neutral, but also increasing their resilience to extreme weather conditions caused by climate change and supporting and including citizens and other stakeholders in the process. ELIA’s role is to bring higher arts education institutions into the CrAFt project, and to connect students to these key developments within cities. During (interactive) sessions and brainstorming discussions we stressed the importance and potential of structural engagement of both higher education institutions and students as city stakeholders, highlighting their position withing the fabric of many European cities. In the past year we have built a framework for interdisciplinary groups of students to be integrated in the project, both through curriculum-related activities, think/do tank events, and a dedicated international and interdisciplinary group of CrAFt students. We were particularly happy to have five of the project’s international students fully participate in this event. They also had the opportunity to present the achievements of their work over the past 6 months, which included organising a student think/do tank for about 40 regional students, at the School of the Arts of the University of Évora. The project has a lot more in store for the next two years, including the next think/do tank for students in the autumn (we will share more details soon!). If you are wondering about opportunities for your institution or students to connect to the CrAFt initiatives, make sure to check the CrAFt website, and feel free to get in touch. View the photo album of the CrAFt CrAFting Cities Together event in Bologna. Related links:
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