Your city is your stage ! Itinerant talks on urban culture and creativity by Barcelona FCH Team
One of the Urban Talk in May 2021 during the Poblenou Open Day in Poblenou Urban District. Credits: IAAC and PUD
What is this tool about and why is it relevant ?
The Urban Talks are a cycle of itinerant talks that aim to open a debate with citizens on culture and creativity in relation to the urban environment. The Urban Talks are a unique opportunity to talk about art, heritage, economy, technology and sustainability with professionals who have stood out for their activity in these fields and who allow us to see the future of cities with optimism.
The tool is executed as a series of round tables that can be reached locally attending, through the live streaming or posterior to the event through the video registration.
Urban Talks are events that have been organise by the Barcelona team during CENTRINNO
The inaugural edition of this event took place in October 2020, followed by three subsequent editions, each focusing on different themes while revolving around the main concept of transforming the territory through art and creativity.
Step-by-steps guidelines for application
Find here a list of fundamental steps shared by the Barcelona team you should follow if you want to organise a series of Urban Talks in your city :
Create a group of directives
This group who would be in charge of the organisation of Urban Talks.
The selected group of directives should involve representatives of entities related to urban context.
For smooth organisation and gaining diversified ideas, possibly include more than one institution within the board.
It may be helpful if one of the directives is a representative of a venue which would be the host for the event.
Select a moderator who will facilitate the discussion and encourage debate during the event.
Share ideas and select important and interesting topics
The board of directives share ideas and select important and interesting topics related to the contemporary issues of the city.
Topics may be linked to a variety of fields which are relevant in the discussion about the city and transformation of urban spaces, such as creativity, sociology, housing, technology, sustainability, circularity, etc.
Create the content
The board of directives create the content covering the selected themes
Decide the budget
It is important to forseen a maximum budget as some of the activities may require subcontracting external bodies.
Pre-select speakers
As far as possible, taking advantage of the endogenous actors available in the district/city, the board of directives pre-select speakers relevant within each of the selected fields.
Invite the speakers and book the venue
Invite the pre-selected speakers to participate in the event. Prepare personalised invitations for each of the speakers, always mentioning the topics and follow up with the invitees. Close up the deals with the speakers and the venue.
Design and promote
Design and promote a communication campaign for good dissemination of the event. Use different channels in order to reach out to different interest groups. Promote the physical meeting as a great space for an open debate.
Prepare technical aspect
Prepare and double check technical aspects of the event both on-site and on-line. For physical premises with limited capacity, a pre-booking system of attendance can be developed.
Make a free event
Ensure that the event provides free-of-charge access to all citizens, regardless of their financial means, thereby promoting inclusivity and ensuring that everyone in the community has the opportunity to participate without any economic barriers.
Record the event
Guarantee the streamline and provide options to participate on-line. Record the event and share it publicly.
Local Outcomes 👍
The organisation of these events allowed the local team in Barcelona to obtain the following achievements:
→ provided space and voice to citizens to debate about urban transformation linked to art & creativity
→ fostered dialogues by investing physical spaces that are at the heart of urban transformations
→ blended the physical and digital aspect by broadcasting the events online to reach a broader audience
Organisational Practices
The use of this tool contributed to the following changes in local organisational practices each of them may relate to some of the three foundational aspects of a FCH: Vision , Community and Infrastructure.
Vision
OP1. Activating interactions and facilitating connections and collaborations among the different actors active in urban environments
Community
OP6. Enabling participation in expression and debate through inclusive approaches that give space to citizens and local communities
Infrastructure
OP9. Create awareness around convivial forms of innovation, manufacturing capabilities, creative citizenship and social connections
