Blog Scriptum Multiplicities

European societies have been exposed to growing crisis since February 2020. Climate change, pandemic and recently the war in Ukraine challenge us to rethink our lives in cities. Questions of solidarity, neighborhood help and social participation require alternative spaces for live, work, production, education, meeting and culture.   

We believe that reaching out to local initiatives, regional policy makers and international academics engaged in city innovation measures is important at this time. We are aiming at becoming more sensitive to how to collaboratively create the next urban. We foresee three stages of dealing with this crisis:

Phase one will be the co-development of urgent medical and practical equipment to help save lives. We also address relevant social, digital and urban infrastructures that help in these times. Phase two will be the development of secondary equipment, material infrastructures, shelters and small-scale interventions to cope with unexpected threads over longer periods. Phase three will be the co-development of tools, infrastructures and services to restart the urban economy and develop a resilient collaborative ecosystem after the global shock of the pandemic and in the midst of war on fossil resources. 

The following key themes connect those engaged with Co-Governance, Co-Creation, and understanding the role of collaborative niches for urban development. We believe in the idea of coworking and cocreation as key topics for building new urban productive city blocks as societies seek new formula for making a good living worldwide.

The following key themes connect those engaged with Co-Governance, Co-Creation, and understanding the role of collaborative niches for urban development. Blog editors are Dr. Steve Harding (Birmingham), Susy Silva (Lisbon) and Dr. Bastian Lange (Berlin/Leipzig).