the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP)’s Post

Day 1 / City Canvas Symposium - Public Art, Urban Play and Creative Sports: An interesting conversation today about the 'urban exclusion problem' in our cities. Development and planning have failed to capture and cater to the needs of our youth and young adults, often resulting in them being marginalised and relegated to outlying skate parks for social interaction. Our public spaces are developed for 'adultification', with bland features that de-risk public assets and make them irrelevant to young people. If we flip our thinking, public spaces and assets can serve multiple purposes to benefit our whole society. A public artwork can increase liveability and cultural identity, but if it's also a skatable asset, then instantly, it becomes more relevant to broader part of our community. By integrating active infrastructure into the fabric of our cities, we can foster true inclusivity and create more connected communities. Thanks for the insights Sanné Mestrom Felicity Fenner Indigo Willing Nadia Odlum and thank you to Aunty Ding for the very special Welcome to Country #artplayrisk #publicart #publicdomain #urbanplanning #liveability #inclusivity #industrialdesign

Kerry Harker has written this passionate and insightful reflection on how the arts and culture are ill considered by city authorities. But if a lively city like Leeds can’t see the value of the arts, what hope is there in small towns and rural areas. There’s a complete lack of respect for the arts across the board in the current environment. The value the arts bring is not well served by our advocates. Not enough of the evidence being gathered is being developed into strong punchy messages that politicians, and the wider public, can understand. Rural local authorities seem to see the arts and culture as an “extra”, when, in fact, they are integral to our sense of identity. The arts provide employment The generate spend around them They support the local economy They provide support networks for those who are vulnerable in our communities They make places to visit, work, live, learn, play, grow, develop They make places! Banks are closing, shops are closing… I guess the plan is to move people into the town centres to live. But what will they do? Drink, gamble, eat, get a haircut or a beauty treatment. There is such a lack of direction for small towns and rural areas across the UK that it is frankly unsurprising that social problems exist.

Check this out! Talk about communities of practice!

REASONS TO SIGN THE MANIFESTO: We expressly declare that we are committed to take action for the following goals: 1. Revitalize public spaces to make a big difference to the community’s quality of life. 2. Public spaces as factors of social cohesion. 3. Public spaces contributing to healthy living. 4. The importance of implementing green spaces. 5. City-wide approach. 6. Diversity of functions and productivity of public spaces. 7. Promoting fuller use of the city's great outdoors. 8. Inclusive active public spaces to contrast barriers. 9. Participatory approach and community ownership. 10. Public spaces as self-management laboratories. To sign the manifesto go to: https://lnkd.in/dikhwacX

Bristol has been home to me for over 17 years - and what's so special about it is also what is being pushed to the margins. Since I arrived in Bristol after 5 years in Cardiff, I've always felt this was a city of possibilities and I happily wove myself into various initiatives and organisations that pulsed. But working as an architect also had a dark side - we played a part in taming that pulse. After leaving commercial architecture practice, it was clear that the emerging work was to help keep spaces for communities that nurture culture and creativity - keeping the heart of the city alive. People that can't (or won't) understand this clearly need to have a good look at it again from the inside out...with the longer term in mind. Trends fade and every decade we see a new trend for particular space demand. But what's been constant is the need for affordable, accessible, central, creative hubs. And I'm not talking about shiny coworking spaces or quiet, sterile art galleries. I'm talking about the messy, sweaty places: the workshops, the dance studios, the rooms with paint splattered on the walls. The spaces where ropes, ribbons, and hoops hang from beams... where music reverberates through thin glass - inviting curious passersby to have a look. Meanwhile Use is temporary - but it is vital. And if we, as a city, could see the value of creating spaces that are kept open and available for more permanent creative and cultural groups to make home - Bristol would thrive even more. #bristol #meanwhileuse #highstreet #development #ourcity #cityplanning #urbanplanning #creativespaces #culturalspaces #culture #arts #architecture #communityuse #communitydevelopment #communitybuilding

As a mum of two young sons, I’ve been to plenty of parks and playgrounds, but I never really considered how much our cities exclude our youth and young adults. After attending today’s ‘City Canvas Symposium—Public Art, Urban Play and Creative Sports’, I now realise that we are failing a whole section of our society. Urban public spaces are designed to minimise risk and don’t cater for much recreation other than sitting on a bench, so if we want to get our kids off their devices, we need to do better. What if we looked at public assets and spaces as opportunities to provide multiple benefits? If a public artwork is made to be robust and skatable, then boom, we’re ticking more than one box. If our gutters and stairs were designed for skating, scooters and parkour, then we bring our young people back into our communities rather than forcing them to outlying skate parks. True inclusivity is possible if we listen and learn from our whole community. #artplayrisk #publicart #publicdomain #urbanplanning #liveability #inclusivity #industrialdesign

This is just one of the many reasons that when I am designing or conceptualizing a space, I think about accessibility and inclusivity right from the start. We shouldn't be modifying the spaces we design after the fact to accommodate the community - because it isn't "accommodating" a difference among people, it is about designing for the maximum variety of people from the start. #inclusivedesign #designforall #designforourcommunities https://lnkd.in/gSYfEyAU

Sydney friends, check this out ~ 🛹🏃🏼♀️💚 CITY CANVAS: Public Art, Urban Play & Creative Sports 17th October – 18th October 2024 University of Sydney, Camperdown CITY CANVAS is an interdisciplinary symposium that envisions the city as a dynamic playground, where public art and creative urban sports converge to create rich potential for urban play, with a special focus on the needs of young adults and other non-traditional users of public space.   Co-hosted by ART/PLAY/RISK (led by artist and academic Dr. Sanné Mestrom with Nadia Odlum), in partnership with the Skate, Create, Educate, and Re-Generate initiative (led by skateboarder and scholar Dr. Indigo Willing), this event challenges us to transcend traditional boundaries and reimagine our urban landscapes.   Building on last year’s symposium "Play beyond Playgrounds,” which focused on the child’s right to the city, CITY CANVAS turns the focus to the civic agency of young adults to ask: How can we harness the transformative power of public art and creative urban sports to empower adolescents and create more inclusive cities? And how can we use these mediums to address the underrepresentation of young women, non-binary individuals, and other non-traditional users of urban spaces?    Through keynotes, panel discussions, and interactive workshops, we'll explore how public art can serve as a key methodology to transform typically unwelcoming urban landscapes into inclusive canvases for creative expression and play, particularly for young adults and non-traditional participants in urban sports. The CITY CANVAS symposium helps us understand HOW and WHY we need to reimagine spaces and empower young adults of all backgrounds to thrive and grow in our increasingly high-density cities.   Join us in this vital conversation as we paint a new vision for our urban future.

Good to see #Derby in the news, and a good reminder to read Jack's blog too!

This is gorgeous! And an excellent example of how to visually, clearly and accessibly communicate your organisations personal impact to your community (i.e. the people your practice actually serves!) without spreadsheets of jargon. Please open the link to fully understand why I adore this 👏