Last spring, Stipo and Inspiring Cities hosted a study trip to study trip to Dublin, and we experienced many wonderful things during this trip. We learned about urban development in these crisis years in Dublin. We had a great group, with an inspiring mix of professionals, who sat both at the professional table and behind a glass of Guinness. The experience we shared together has now been incorporated in the accompanying article about the study, which is on the Stipo website here.
After Dublin
One of the conclusions of the Dublin trip was the need to see and experience more. We interviewed a number of people about your wishes and ideas about cities, themes, and methods for a new study visit. Based on the discussions we decided to organize a new study trip to London, from 3 to 6 November.
We cordially invite you to attend this study visit to London with us. If you are interested, reserve it in your calendar, and let us know. The group maximum is only 25 people, so be quick!
London Study Visit: An Urban Anthropologist Experience
The recent riots in London show the darker side of this city, but that's not the only thing a professional sees of the city. Compared to other cities, such as the Dutch cities, there are currently a remarkable number of initiatives in London that provide energy to urban development from both perspectives of the lived city as well as the planned city.
We see top-down processes of preparing for the Olympics, such as the car-free center. We also see low-scale projects that effectually change the city: The Big Society movement presented by Cameron; another example is The School of Life by Alain de Botton; cooperation between business and community projects, such as a large and respected law firm with half of the employees regularly working for the district; the Brixton Pound, a local currency for the district; and Meanwhile Space, where new companies are given the opportunity to develop their businesses.
The aim of the study visit is to get to know a part of the city of London from both the lived and the planned city perspectives. As with our Dublin visit, we will learn lessons and draw conclusions from a city during a crisis and how a city can continue to develop during a crisis. We will look at physical, social, and cultural aspects and we will take away inspiration from both citizens and professionals alike.
We are building on this programme from our Dublin visit. We are looking to talk with local partners and foster interaction between the locals and visitors. We also want to partner with a local project. We learned from Dublin that smaller subgroups may provide more interaction and knowledge exchange, so we plan to have smaller subgroups, while in conversation with local organizations. This time around we will also organize a preparatory session, possibly during the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam from October 6 to 9, during which we may see several films about the development of London.
We have already started preparing this journey, as we have a strong network in London with people like Algoed Line from Inspiring Cities who lives in London, and also various other British professionals. We have recently been on a preparatory visit a few weeks ago, and we received lots of enthusiasm from parties that want to participate.
In the coming weeks we will further develop a draft programme. In
addition, your suggestions are more than welcome. Some of you have already
helped us with ideas to visit projects and interesting partners within our network. If
you want to go, please let us know if you know of other partners interested in
attending. During the second half of September we will conduct a second visit
to prepare and finalize the program details.
The cost of the study trip depends on the final program details. We expect
the cost of the study to be approximately €850
ex VAT (Thursday-Sunday). This is slightly higher than in
Dublin because (1) London is a more expensive city than Dublin and (2) if we
want to continue these trips, it must be cost-effective. This was not the
case in Dublin. Furthermore, since we will take the train to London, the
program and the group interaction can begin as early as the Eurostar. The
travel (by train), hotel, transport in London, breakfast, lunch and dinner (1x)
are all included in the price.
We hope you enjoy the article about Dublin and we hope you also join us to London. The
moment we know how many people are coming to Dublin, we will send out further
information. We also welcome your suggestions for other companions. We
hope that we will bring together another great group as we did in Dublin.
Sincerely,
Jeroen Laven
Programme + Projects
Preliminary Programme. This is the proposed programme for the study trip to London, subject to change. Contents include an introduction, daily schedule, and parallel sessions.
London Project List. Here is more information about interesting sites and projects we would like to visit in London.
For more information:
Contact: Jeroen Laven
Click here to Jeroen mail