Happy 2021!

Smoties - Human Cities

New activities dedicated to public spaces in small and remote places

Human Cities Network (http://humancities.eu/) was established in 2006 as a platform for interdisciplinary exchanges in the field of participatory revitalization of public spaces. It takes place within the EU Creative Europe program and in Slovenia with the organizational support of Motovila - Creative Europe Desk Slovenia (https://sl-si.facebook.com/CEDSlovenia/). The network is represented by 10 European partners, the activities in Slovenia are managed by the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (http://www1.uirs.si/en-gb/Home). In 2018, the partnership became global through its activities in Asia.

The new sequel to Human Cities begins in November 2020 with #Smoties activities. The next four years will be devoted to finding new forms of cooperation and taking on local partners to implement participation in innovative approaches aimed at better understanding and revitalizing public spaces in small and remote places. Are you ready to test your ideas about emerging forms of public life in remote places of our world? The journey begins, welcome to join and follow #Smoties (https://www.facebook.com/humancitiesEU/) for instant information!

Call for Abstracts for Special Issue of Urban Challenge Journal - Changing streets in changing cities: providing streets for all?

Deadline for submission of the abstracts: 15th of October 2020.

You are kindly invited to submit a contribution to Special Issue of Urban Challenge journal titled

CHANGING STREETS IN CHANGING CITIES: PROVIDING STREETS FOR ALL?

Special Issue will be published in English.
Deadline for submission of the abstracts: 15^th of October 2020.

More information 

Yours sincerely,

Main editorial of Urban Challenge and Guest editors

You are invited to participate in the fourth international City Street4 (CS4) online conference

23. and 24. September 2020

Using the UIRS Library from 4. 5. 2020 on

You can order library's material through web service My Library or by email knjiznica@uirs.si.

When we prepare the material we will notify you. 

You can order max 5 different material. You can become a member of our library online. The membership is free.

If you can't come for the library's material personally we can send it to you by post. The postal costs will be paid by the user.

Currenty you can't yet return the library's material. The loan period of library's material is beeing renewed automatically.

For more information write to us knjiznica@uirs.si or call us 031 581 528.

Stay healthy!

UIRS Connecting Nature

Project team attended the Training Course Nature based solutions in Urban planning

Green roofs, rain gardens, community gardens and green walls are just some of the Nature based solutions (NBS) defined as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits” (Cohen-Shacham et al., 2016:2).

The NBS research field is progressing rapidly, but the implementation of nature-based solutions in urban planning is still complex and often difficult process. Therefore, in February 2020 a training course “Nature based solutions in Urban planning” was organized, at the University of Trento. The course was coordinated by the Horizon 2020 and supported by the project ReNature. Two-day training attended PhD students, post-doc students, research fellows, practitioners, as well as public officers interested in planning and designing NBS to address urban challenges. It was led by the researcher dr. Davide Geneletti, professor of spatial planning at the University of Trento, specialized in impact assessment of projects, plans and policies, spatial and urban planning, ecosystem services and multicriteria analysis.

The Course Focus

The course manly focused on environmental aspects of wellbeing in the city and the potential environmental benefits that NBS can bring. Lecturers from different research fields upskilled participants in understanding the ecological foundations of NBS, assessing their impacts on ecosystem services and applying key principles for NBS design. The teaching approach was based on interrelational lectures, discussions and case study works, conducted in groups. The following main issues were addressed:

• Current thinking and experiences in European cities
• Urban ecosystems, their biodiversity and functions
• Mapping and assessing urban ecosystem services
• Analyzing demand for NBS and potential beneficiaries
• NBS design to target specific urban needs and challenges
• Windows of opportunities and constraints to mainstream NBS in urban plans.

Discussion raised fruitful questions, to expose here some of the most challenging in relations planning-governance-practice-better quality living:

• How do we know that NBS works better than other technically solutions of grey infrastructure, and how does the dimension of time affect the sustainability of the grey infrastructure comparing to NBS solutions?
• What are the consequences of NBS for the surrounding area and can NBS also have a negative effect(s), such as rising real estate prices in the neighborhood?
• How to think about the cities challenges as NBS solution?

Practical exercise

Participants were taken to a field visit in the city center, and then assigned for case studies analysis and design of NBS, considering inputs learnt at the lessons during the course. Case study work conducted in groups followed the process of, firstly identifying city challenges and secondly, proposing the appropriate type of NBS.

The main challenge of the urban planning exercise was to select 4 of the 21 sites, that are classified by the Urban Plan of the City of Trento as urban transformation sites. In the chosen sites we had to propose zoning areas, containing a new residential areas and areas with different type of NBS. The decision on the allocation of zoning areas was dependent on each group, where we had to provide an equivalent proportion of both types of areas within the total surface of the 4 areas.

The planning of NBS is supposed to take a comprehensive approach; therefore, in the area's primary proposed a residential use, our group always included the NBS.

In the Training Course, NBS were also defined within the Ecosystem services (ES) framework. The benefits of NBS planning actions were addressed in terms of changes in human wellbeing, coherently with planning goals that address the specific challenges of the city. 

ES were understood as the measured benefits of NBS in terms of the increased provision of several key ES for population wellbeing e.g. climate mitigation and air purification.

We were provided with the GIS database, consisting of two types of analysis:

• ES supply, which included the evaluation of the sites in terms of spatial characteristics and their ability to provide certain benefits for the wellbeing of the surrounding population.
• ES demand including evaluated areas in terms of potential beneficiaries of improved environmental conditions.

Our group determined 4 areas considering the most problematic areas in terms of environmental challenges and the areas with greatest need for mitigating environmental effect in terms of wellbeing. Our planning objective derived from the analyses of the city area in the frame of mapping the provision of NBS benefits - mapping ES:

ES Air purification consider areas regarding their ability to contribute to better air quality and to remove particulate matter.  ES supply analysis assesses areas regarding the different type of vegetation (trees, grass and shrubs) and their proximity to the pollution source (roads). The areas of ES demand were primarily defined as residential areas near busy roads; however, it would also make sense to identify polluted areas, used by people for recreation and socializing (e.g. public spaces, frequently used walking routes).

ES Habitat provision refers to the richness of areas with plant, animal species that are important for the ecological aspects of providing biodiversity in the city. Ecological modeling (Zardo et al., 2017) has considered the potential richness of species biodiversity, hotspots of the biodiversity in the urban area and the ecological value of river ecosystems.

ES Climate regulation refers to the assessment of areas in terms of temperature reduction capacity in Trento. The evaluation process defined the coverage of tree canopy areas and the evaluation of evapotranspiration (ratio of tree canopy cover, soil cover and area size). Areas of demand for ES has been identified in urban areas that are exposed to high temperatures and are inhabited by vulnerable population groups (e.g. children and the elderly).

Food provision ES refers to the assessment of the suitability of an area in relation to the current level of food production and the morphological suitability for agricultural activity (slope, soil and altitude). The analysis also showed areas of demand for ES, where residential areas without a private garden, were assessed regarding the distance to community gardens.

ES Noise mitigation assesses the capacity of vegetation barriers to absorb traffic noise and reduce noise pollution for residential buildings nearby. ES Noise mitigation demand refers to noise level from road and railroads (above 65dB) near residential buildings, but could also consider hospital, educational and recreational areas as a demand for noise mitigation etc.

ES Recreation assesses the areas according to their possibilities of recreation. The evaluation of potential sites was based on the structural characteristics of the area and the ability to identify areas as NBS. Accessibility and infrastructure (e.g. well-maintained cycle lanes and parking facilities) were also considered. The areas of ES demand were defined as residential areas, their assessment varied according to the distance of 300 meters (5min walk) to a quality recreational area.

Runoff mitigation evalues areas regarding the ability to infiltrate and retain stormwater, thus reducing the amount of runoff that enters the sewage system.

Assessment and indicators related to wellbeing of social dimension (e.g. social cohesion, meeting the different needs of different types of users) weren’t use in this assessment, but are also important aspect in the process of spatial planning.

An example of an ES analysis Climate regulation, where a mapping of NBS contributions is mapped in terms of cooling capacity:

The advantage of the method seems to be in the understanding of the NBS as different types of solutions with different spatial components and environmental effects. Current spatial planning practices often address greenery in the city only from a structural point of view or regarding specific functions for residents (e.g. recreation), while NBS concept considers nature primarily from its processes, that can provide pleasant conditions in city.

Further discussion and dilemmas

Although the NBS and ecosystem services (ES) are relatively new concepts and most ES studies, are far from a real-life application, Geneletti (2011) acknowledges the potential of ES assessment to increase the quality of planning processes and decision.

For example, Cortinovis and Geneletti (2018) refine and upgrade the method used in the Training course. The example has not been discussed at Training Course, but it seems important to show its usefulness in real-life urban planning context:

Primer prikazuje primerjavo med obstoječimi značilnostmi območja in scenarijem načrtovanja novega mestnega parka. Novi prostorski predlog prikazuje polmer 300-ih metrov, ki bi prebivalcem omogočil ustrezno razdaljo do rekreacijskega območja z NBS zasnovo in z izboljšanimi mikroklimatskimi pogoji.

Udeležbo na dvodnevnem tečaju Na naravi temelječe rešitve v urbanističnem načrtovanju, je bila podprta s projektom Connecting nature, ki ga financira program Obzorje 2020 v sporazumu o dodelitvi sredstev Evropske unije št. 730222.

Literatura:

Cohen-Shacham, E., Janzen, C., Maginnis S., Walters, G. (2016): Nature-based Solutions to address global societal challenges. Gland, IUCN

Cortinovis, C. Geneletti, D. (2018): Mapping and assessing ecosystem services to support urban planning: a case study on brownfield regeneration. One Ecosyst (sneto 1.3.2020) https://oneecosystem.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=25477

Geneletti, D. (2011): Reasons and options for integrating ecosystem services in strategic environmental assessment of spatial planning, Ecosystem and people, 7(3).

Geneletti, D., Cortinovis, C., Zardo, L., Esmail, B. A. (2019): Planning for Ecosystem Services in Cities. In:  Applying Ecosystem Services to Support Planning Decisions: A Case Study, pages: 43–56. Springer International Publishing.

Training Course Nature based solutions in Urban planning: case study material (2020): Trento, ReNature, University of Trento.

Posner, S., McKenzie, E., Ricketts, T.H. (2016): Policy impacts of ecosystem services knowledge. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113 (7).

Zardo, L., Geneletti, D., Pérez-Soba, M., van Eupen, M. (2017) Estimating the cooling capacity of green infrastructures to support urban planning. Ecosystem Services 26: 225‑235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.06.016

Although ES research and policy communities are often disconnected from one another, ES knowledge can enter decision-making process through multiple pathways associated with different potential influences, from raising stakeholder awareness to shaping specific decision (Posner et al., 2016, Geneletti et al.). Among the pathways described by Posner et al. (2016) the following example shows how to use ES knowledge to generate actions and produce outcomes. The example assesses the cooling effect of urban green infrastructure in city of Trento and recreation opportunity for its residents. The analyzed data was used as a baseline to determine the potential benefits produced by different brown field regeneration (Geneletti et al., 2019)

Management of Cultural Heritage Sites

3^rd ICOMOS Slovenia's monograph focuses on the topic of Cultural Heritage Management is issued. The articles tackles specific issues and address them in the context of key topics such as: the legal and administrative frameworks of managing cultural heritage sites, management approaches and policies, and the challenges posed by cultural tourism.

The introductory article was prepared by Jelka Pirkovič, where she presents contemporary concepts of heritage management. This is followed by four articles on the challenges of managing and governing heritage sites in Slovenia. Špela Spanžel discusses the implementation of UNESCO cultural heritage in Slovenia, and Nataša Kolenc talks about the challenges of private-public partnership in built heritage restoration. Tomaž Golob’s article provides a theoretical overview of participatory management of urban areas of cultural heritage, using several Slovenian cases as examples, while Vlasta Vodeb reports about BhENEFIT project’s best practices related to the use of historic building information modelling (HBIM) methods in managing and monitoring historic building areas.

The next four articles illustrate cases of heritage site management beyond Slovenian borders. The tone of this part is set by Helen Kendrick’s article on the exceptional success of heritage-led regeneration of Glasgow, Scotland. Over the past three decades Glasgow has managed to turn its fortunes around and emerged from its industrial past to become a centre of cultural tourism. The case of Mostar and its connections with cultural tourism, boosted by its inscription on the World Heritage List, are presented in the article by Aida Idrizbegović Zgonić and Jasenka Čakarić. This monograph is rounded off with an interesting case of the mining town of Almadén in Spain – the twin city of Slovenian Idrija in its inscription on the World Heritage List. Each year Almadén’s enthusiasts put on a show of re-enacting its history and raise awareness among the local community and the visitors regarding the significance of heritage values as the best way to promote future development of the city and the region.

More information: http://icomos.si/

Orders: info@icomos.si

New issue of Urbani izziv / Urban Challenge journal

vol. 30, number 2, December 2019

The latest issue of Urbani izziv /Urban Challenge journal brings 6 scientific articles written by Slovenian and foreign experts in the field of urbanism, architecture and spatial planning. Articles bring new insights into: development of urban design guidance for heritage sites, perceptions of the living environment according to the respondent age, social aspects of living in gated communities, the role of green areas in reducing a surface urban heat island, place capacity for recreation in peri-urban areas, and a comparative analysis of feng shui recommendations for architectural design.
 
The articles are fully accessible on the Urban Challenge website in Slovene and English language.

Wishing you a pleasant read!

OpenSpaceAlps kicks off in Altenmarkt, Austria

Sustainable development of alpine open spaces by enhancing spatial planning governance

OpenSpaceAlps is one of the fifteen projects approved in the frame of Call 4 of the Interreg Alpine Space programme. It brings together seven partner institutions from Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Slovenia to work on the topic of near-natural open spaces in the core Alpine and EUSALP areas. The partner from Slovenia is the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana.

The main objective of the OpenSpaceAlps project is to foster sustainable development of the Alpine area by contributing to the safeguarding of open spaces featuring environmental and natural values. In the valleys, these open spaces are decreasing due to e.g. development of settlements and transport related areas, whereas in the higher altitudes they are being dissected by tourism, forestry and agriculture related infrastructures. The path taken is to initiate and facilitate processes towards adoption of new spatial planning approaches in the alpine countries as well as to promote multi-level, transnational spatial governance.

The initial meeting of the project partners was held in Altenmarkt, Austria, on 5 and 6 November 2019. Beside discussing the first steps in implementation of the project, presentations were held about development of open space planning instruments in the Federal State of Salzburg as well as more generally in the Alpine area.

For additional information about the project please contact the Lead Partner Salzburg Institute for Regional Planning and Housing (SIR) representative Philipp Vesely (+43 662 623 455/29, openspacealps@salzburg.gv.at ) or Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (UIRS) representative Andrej Gulič (+386 1 420 1317, andrej.gulic@uirs.si).

                                                                                                          

City Street 4

Streets for 2030: Proposing streets for integrated, and universal mobility

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, we would like to cordially invite you to participate in the upcoming International Conference City Street 4 (CS4) to be held at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture (UL FA), in Ljubljana, Slovenia, between 23-26 September 2020.
 

The Conference is organized by University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture (UL FA) , Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (UI RS)  and Notre Dame University - Louaize, Ramez Chagoury Faculty of Architecture, Art and Design (NDU FAAD).
 
Detailed information about the Conference
 
Looking forward to meeting you in Ljubljana in September 2020!
 
Best wishes,
CS4 Organizing Committee

Environmental noise and health

Library of Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia,
Tuesday, 15th October at 5pm, lecture in Slovene language, free of charge

Sonja Jeram will present the topic of environmental noise and the importance of a good soundscape in residential areas. She will explain the position of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission, as well as the role of the National Institute of Public Health in preparing opinions related to land use planning and action plans. She will present the level of noise pollution for traffic, industry, restaurants and wind turbines and highlight individual cases. As a contrast to noise pollution, she will also describe the role of quiet areas in the urban environment.

Environmental noise has several impacts on human health and well-being. Very loud sounds can cause temporary or permanent hearing impairment even in a short period of time. However, such sounds are not often present in the living environment. There is increasing scientific evidence of the negative effects of permanent noise in the environment even when it does not reach high intensities. Although, many people quickly get used to this noise and accept it as part of their everyday life, health effects are reflected in long-term cardiovascular disease. It is estimated that more than one million healthy life years are lost in Western Europe due to suffering from annoyance, sleep disturbance, cardiovascular disease, tinnitus and cognitive impairment in children. The data indicate the severity of the outcomes that we should not overlook.

Sonja Jeram is a researcher at the National Institute of Public Health in Ljubljana. She holds a PhD in biology from the University of Ljubljana in the field of neurophysiology in insect sound communication. She continued her work in the field of chemical safety and participated as a visiting scientist at the European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (Joint Research Centre, Ispra). For her outstanding work on alternative strategies for reducing animal use in experiments, she received the Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation Award. For the last ten years, she has been working on environmental noise and health also being involved in Horizon 2020 European projects.

The lecture is part of a project »Expert basis for spatial planning of green areas aimed at promoting physical activities for citizens«.

You are kindly invited to the lecture and the discussion that will follow. More info at info@uirs.si.

An uklad-based approach to protection and sustainable development of cultural heritage in Chisinau, Moldova

Irina Irbiskaya

Irina Irbiskaya will discuss the uklad-based approach to preservation of cultural heritage in the Republic of Moldova. An uklad is a persistent way of life / mode of activity which has a spatial expression. The ways uklads exist in the city differ according to the size and the role of a city (e.g. capital city, a regional administrative center or a small town). An uklad is characterized by the prevalent family culture, by its attitude to the surrounding space, by the manner in which people belonging to the uklad are aware of their past and construct their future, by how they perceive their children, how they interact with their territory and their neighbors, how they own their property and treat others' property, and by how they work and spend their leisure time.
 
The uklad-based approach to preservation of cultural heritage is elaborated within the framework of the ‘Russian Experts upon request’ program in accordance with Partnership Framework Agreement between the Government of Russian Federation and the UN Development Program.

Irina Irbitskaya is an architect and urban planner. She is  the director of the Center of Urban Competence at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) with expertise in housing projects and urban development and planning advancement. She is a co-founder of the international project Doktor Gorodov.

You are kindly invited to the lecture and the discussion that will follow.

More info at info@uirs.si.

ASTUS – Alpine Smart Transport and Urbanism Strategies

Final conference on 15 October 2019 in Ljubljana, Slovenia

The ASTUS project is in its third year of implementation and the partnership has started to prepare the final event. It will be held on 15 October 2019 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The conference will be an opportunity to learn to know the project outcomes, exchange experience and get encouraged to act.

The aim of the ASTUS project is to assist local authorities with identifying and implementing long term solutions in both mobility and spatial planning, so that CO2 emissions linked to daily trips in the Alps could be reduced. The partners work in pilot regions in Austria, Germany, France, Italy and Slovenia. The main project outputs include a transnational typology of Alpine territories, a CO2 minimizer toolbox, local scenarios, strategies and action plans as well as transnational recommendations for reduction of CO2 emissions in the Alps.

The ASTUS partners would be delighted to welcome you at the project's final event and most cordially invite you to save the date.

For more information about the ASTUS project please consult the project website.

The ASTUS project team

CONNECTING NATURE

The importance of co-creating open spaces in the processes of planning NBS

Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia is addressing possibilities of integrating, assessing ecosystem approach as a possible framework in NBS planning process.

The NBS concept is based on the imitation of nature processes. Analogy for planning open spaces can be found in the process local characteristics of the space. Part of this space are people who are in an interactive relationship with natural processes.

Current activities focus on addressing understanding of process of co-creating open spaces, the importance of integrating the users into the NBS planning process as key stakeholders, and

advantages and disadvantages of co-creating space with users according to the stages of integration.

In order to capture a comprehensive overview, in the next phases, emphasis will also be focused on examining the role of government bodies and planners in the planning process,

management and coordination of the planning process,

the importance of integrated planning,

ways of stakeholder participation

and assessment of success, NBS synergy in open spaces on cases of participating cities in the Connecting nature project.

The purpose of the CONNECTING NATURE project is to place Europe as the leading global force in the field of innovation and implementation of nature-based solutions in the development of cities and society. Learn more about the project on the link: https://connectingnature.eu/

Ljubljana – My City project

Renovation of building shells of buildings with the status of cultural heritage

The lecturer Karl Pollak, an arhitect and urban planner, will present »Ljubljana– My City project«, a project that has been ongoing since 1989 and includes the implementation of the renovation of building shells of monumentally important buildings. The motivation behind »Ljubljana - My City project« was the preparations for the 1991 World Designer’s Conference (ICSID 91), at which time the Municipality decided that rather than contribute to the customary glamour of such occasions it would be better to contribute funds to improving the city itself. At that time, a complete renovation was already underway in Ljubljana, where several buildings were renovated and plans for the revitalization of the old city core area were being prepared. However, the renovation then stalled due to social changes and denationalisation, the abolition of systemic funding sources and high refurbishment prices. Simultaneous with the restoration of individual important mansions and other buildings as part of the project they were also arranging public areas. In addition to that, the City of Ljubljana is also doing away with architectural obstacles which prevent wheelchair users and other disabled persons, including the blind and partially sighted, from moving around the city and having access to individual buildings. The project is still active but is now known under a different name. By restoring facades and roofs, arranging an open urban space - squares, streets and embankments, and eliminating architectural barriers, the city of Ljubljana follows the development flows of western European cities - although not with a complete renovation, which is virtually impossible to implement in our environment due to the fragmentation of ownership and lack of system resources. Nevertheless, the city is becoming not only more friendly to the inhabitants, but also more attractive for investments, the development of tourism, congress industry, etc. There is also a growing awareness of the importance and value of cultural heritage buildings.

Karel Pollak is an architect and urban planner that works at the spatial planning department within the City Municipality of Ljubljana. He has been running the project "Ljubljana - My City" for more than 25 years, and has been involved in many other tasks in the area of regulation and use of public spaces.

You are kindly invited to the presentation and the discussion that will follow. More info at info@uirs.si.

CONNECTING NATURE

CONNECTING NATURE at the presentation of UIRS research activities to the higher professional school Environmental Protection and Municipal Services of the Novo mesto School Center

CONNECTING NATURE

The project referred to at the presentation of the research program Spatial Planning to the Administrative Board of the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia

Work under the program is carried out in four working packages:

WP1: Evaluation of modern developmental paradigms and orientations in order to determine their useful value in spatial planning processes.

WP2: Mobility and low carbon society.

WP3: Spatial demography, migration and social innovation, and housing challenges.

WP4: Development of methods and tools for the implementation of planning processes, and spatial , changes and simulations of in space development processes.

Among the challenges of WP1 Evaluation of modern developmental paradigms and orientations in order to determine their useful value in spatial planning processes, as an example of linkage of research projects and basic research conducted within the research program she referred to CONNECTING NATIRE project with the subject All-inclusive paradigms / approaches / concepts relevant to spatial planning: Interpretation of the NBS, and pointed out the added values of the project to the topic of the research program.

Lessons in collaborative place making

Lecture in English, free of charge

Although there is growing support for the principle of citizens co-creating places together with local authorities and the private sector, there still seems to be a disconnect between the desire to engage the public, and the reality of the standard consultation procedures followed. It is time to change the way things are done and to bring communities genuinely to the heart of planning and placemaking. This lecture will present innovative methods of co-creation (i.e. collaborative place making), and how they can be applied at a local-level.  What new possibilities might open up if there was real co-creation in place-making (as to opposed to consultation, which is often only a step away from tokenism)? How should pre-event activities be fed into and help inform design-led events? How can the impact of outcomes from design-led events be tracked during the follow-on stages of collaborative community planning? What constitutes effective best practice for clarifying the level of substantive planning and design expertise a facilitator requires, if any, at any given community design event? This research presented by the lecturer provides an important scoping of the many components and steps involved. Its findings will aid understanding and ultimately enhance the output performance of community participatory design processes.

Dr. Husam AlWaer (B.Arch, MRTPI, Ph.D, BREEAM AP, AoU, Recognised Practitioner in Urban Design RPUD) is an urbansit with a background in architecture, urban planning and sustainability, who writes and speaks extensively on making better places. He is an award-winning author and curator of events, focussing on issues of place making and urban design practice and their social impacts. He is an educator and facilitator and moderates events nationally and internationally. He is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Urban Design and Evaluation in the School of Social Sciences (Architecture + Urban Planning), University of Dundee. Dr. AlWaer has a passionate interest in the future of sustainable places and towns, in particular the development of new thinking on processes and methods to unlock sustainable urbanism and the way these processes are facilitated and managed.

You are kindly invited to the lecture and the discussion that will follow.

PUBLIC SPACES AND LOCAL LIFE

A special issue of Urbani izziv

A special issue of Urbani izziv PUBLIC SPACES AND LOCAL LIFE has been published. The contributions were selected at the Human Cities Ljubljana 2017 international event organised by the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia and the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Ljubljana within the international cooperation of EU Human Cities (www.humancities.eu) and AESOP thematic group Public Spaces and Urban Cultures (https://www.aesop-planning.eu/blogs/en_GB/urban-cultures-and-public-spaces). The publication brings new insights into the topic of participatory planning and maintainance of public space. For a free access follow this link: https://urbaniizziv.uirs.si/kazalo_p/id/70/id_k/p

Project LUMAT

After the @interregCE @Lumat_project conference #cooperationiscentral and #ECDay2018 project meeting will be hosted by the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, http://www1.uirs.si between 26th and 27th of September 2018 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.