Community Planning Without Borders: The HYPERLOCAL Conference Connected Brno, Prague, and New York
The Faculty of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Architecture of the Brno University of Technology, together with the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague, CCEA (Centre for Central European Architecture), and ARCHIP – Architectural Institute in Prague, organized the international conference and discussion forum HYPERLOCAL – Towards Community Places. The program took place in two sessions in Brno and Prague.
The international conference and discussion forum HYPERLOCAL took place on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, at CAMP in Prague, and on Thursday, June 20, 2024, at KUMST – the creative hub in Brno. Both parts were very successful and fully attended: on Wednesday, there were 130 participants at CAMP in Prague, with another 100 people watching the program online. The next day, 20 guests participated in an internal expert discussion at KUMST in Brno, and the lecture block with a public debate, which was opened by Filip Chvátal, Deputy Mayor of Brno, was attended by 80 people. The HYPERLOCAL project focuses on participatory planning and the role of non-profit organizations and community groups in urban development and the development of public spaces in relation to the academic sphere and local government authorities.
Key to the June events was the participation of lecturers from the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment (GCPE) of the School of Architecture at Pratt Institute in New York, Eve Baron, David Burney, Eva Hanhardt, and Ronald and Yvette Shiffman, who addressed community and participatory planning in public lectures with the aim of strengthening locally oriented, democratic, and sustainable solutions for urban spaces. The intention was to transfer the experiences of these pioneers of participatory planning in New York to the Czech environment. Visitors learned, among other things, about the role and power of community groups and non-profit organizations that operated in New York in the 1970s and about the current cooperation between the city and civic associations in caring for public spaces and supporting local activities or affordable housing.
"I was impressed by the contribution of Eve Baron, Head of the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment at the School of Architecture at Pratt Institute in New York, in which she showed how the academic sphere can have a real impact on improving the environment of urban neighborhoods. Local civic associations interested in improving their locality turn to this university workplace with their plans and, together with a team of students and teachers, create studies that are subsequently implemented. This year, for example, they addressed the relationship of the Red Hook neighborhood in western Brooklyn to the water. At the same time, it was beneficial to discuss this current topic in the context of Brno, where the relationship of the urban structure to the Svratka River is currently being addressed, both through a top-down approach and a bottom-up approach," comments Markéta Žáčková, Vice-Dean for Scientific Research and Quality Assurance at FFA BUT, on the event's contribution.
As part of the discussion forum, there was an exchange of experiences between the expert group from Pratt Institute, the academic community of the Brno University of Technology, urban planning institutions, and the non-profit sector. This part of the program featured PhD students and graduates of FFA and FA BUT, Karin Grohmannová, Barbora Lungová, Adéla Šoborová, Martin Žák, and Tomáš Kozelský.
The aim of the international meeting was to present and compare alternative methods of transforming public spaces in the Czech Republic and the United States and to promote cooperation between civic initiatives and urban organizations. Furthermore, to deepen education in the field of community interactions through cooperation with university workplaces focused on art, architecture, urbanism, spatial planning, and related social sciences at an international level.
In 2023, Pratt Institute was ranked among the top ten universities in the world in the field of art and design. In the annual QS World University Rankings by Subject, it was also ranked among the top five universities in the United States in this field. The opportunity to establish cooperation with this prestigious educational institution will lead to further integration of the Brno University of Technology into the broader international context and will become an effective tool for spreading the good name of the university and its brand.
The conference represents a promising start to the cooperation between FFA and FA BUT with Pratt Institute NYC. This cooperation should further develop, for example, through exchange stays for students and teachers, semester-long courses, and week-long workshops dedicated to working on specific projects in Prague and Brno using community and participatory planning approaches, which should contribute to the improvement of selected neglected areas in both cities.
| Author | Mgr. Kamila Šmídková |
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| Short URL | https://www.favu.vut.cz/en/students/news-and-calls/f26745/d261972 |
Responsibility: Hana Křížová