July saw our first unofficial gathering, while the meetings to expand the chapters continued. As a result, we are extremely happy to welcome the Creative District in the Chapter.Creative District is also joining our beautiful, together project!
First gathering
The gathering took place in Woodpecker, park Royale on July, 14th, 2023.
We talked about:
- the pleasure and pain of designing collaborative spaces in the European Commission with Sergio Marín García;
- the reef, a co-housing project in Brussels with Manuel Pueyo;
- grassroot projects in Slovakia with Peter Benuska and in France with Christophe Bartholeyns
- and last but not least about giving art agency at policy level, with Katrien Reist - van Gelder.
A quick feedback from Borut Cink concluded the gathering.
Here are some of the questions that emerged.
Q > We all know about the disconnect between the EU Institutions and Brussels neighborhoods, but there is another disconnect at personal level between EU officials and what happens in the places they live in. For example, it's very hard to see EU officials showing up at local events or making an effort to connect with their local dynamics. Is this a perception or is it reality? If it is reality, why does it happen? is it lack of mandate? Is it lack of time? Could things get better if the EU institutions would not only occupy office space, but were actively engaged in providing place-building opportunities in different municipalities? Is it a matter of security, and how much at risk EU official really are?
Q > How can we connect to the #neweuropeanbauhaus festival in 2024? One hint: satellite events!
Q > do we need another "structure" in Brussels? There are so many already, what is the added value of the Chapter? Why would other organizations join? Would they even consider joining without a prospective about financial incentives?
Q > how can we make #neweuropeanbauhaus grassroot activities more relevant for the EU? How can we get more visibility?
Work meetings
On the 19th of July, Housing Europe and livepods met the Société du Logement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (SLRB) and the Creative District to learn more about each other and about SLRB's Projects 101e% initiative. This was the second meeting with SLRB, after a first contact, two weeks earlier.
We discovered that the Projects 101e% initiative creates unique contemporary works of art on social housing sites to improve the well-being of tenants and the quality of public spaces. The works are the result of a participatory process and a dialogue between the artist, the residents, a site and the public housing company. By supporting participatory art, the SLRB is helping to improve community life and quality of life for all.
The Brussels Chapter of the New European Bauhaus presented the idea to collect experiences related to "living (beautifully) together" in Brussels using Sensemaker, a methodology and tool developed by the Cynefin Company. The idea could fit very well as a pilot to collect experiences related to projects developed in the frame of the Projects 101e% initiative to understand how (if) people connect with art in shared spaces, and how. The sense making sessions could also help to expand the program to the SociétésImmobilières de ServicePublic (SISP's) that are not yet involved in the program, as well as to understand what forms of artistic interventions may have better outcomes.
The stories collected could also to inform the design of future architectural solutions.
As a result of the meeting, we agreed to organise a demo of the sensemaker platform in September.
As far as the participation to the chapter, Creative district confirmed their decision to join while SLRB expressed interest, pending an official confirmation from the senior management of the institution.
Plans for August
This month, livepods will meet the Syndicat des Immenses and propose its members to join the Chapter and the "living beautifully together" project.
Immense stands for "Individu dans une Merde Matérielle Énorme mais Non Sans Exigences". It's the new name, neither simplistic nor stigmatising, for people formerly known as "homeless", "sans-abri", "sans-papiers", "sans-logis", "précaires" or "habitants de la rue".
What these people have in common is that they have no real home, because they are (currently or at risk of becoming) unhoused or inadequately housed.