Procurar



Methodology


“Walking along it, getting your hands and feet dirty” 
Patrick Geddes (cit. in Boardman 1994)


Following Patrick Geddes’ invitation to “walk the territory,” the methodology of the Summer School is based on three fundamental axes: (1) a method of direct contact with the city, through visits aimed at discovering situated dynamics and places where citizens reinvent their spatial practices, followed by discussions with participants and guests; (2) a systemic and holistic vision of city complexity, intended to address the different facets that make up the city: inequality, proximity and interculturality; ecology, mobility and sustainability; culture, communication and social networks; economics, imaginations of entrepreneurship and employment; and politics, government and citizenship; and (3) a participatory and collaborative dimension that is inherent to the choice of sites because organizers and local actors, both from institutions of the state apparatus and citizens’ organizations, will be welcoming and guiding the participants during the field visits.

To merge these three axes, each day the School will be organized into three different moments: (1) WALKING TOURS: morning site tours of places where public policies and methods of participation are being reinvented within the Lisbon metropolitan area, guided by local actors; (2) SEMINAR MEETINGS: an afternoon discussion seminar centered around presentations of invited speakers and reflections on the morning’s field-visits; (3) EVENING SOCIAL EVENTS in important places of the urban area, to cover a wide range of different social activities from mainstream to alternative proposals, in order to experience a large variety of socialization opportunities. 

Every WALKING TOUR has a specific individual responsible for coordinating the different visits and relations with the collaborating partners, while the SEMINAR MEETINGS count on animators and presenters who will raise issues and orient the debate with all participants. Such a structure aims to give the Summer School the character of a “residential” course, where every moment provides participants with the possibility to discuss issues related to the main thematic axes of the city. EVENING EVENTS will be a meeting-point between the present Summer School and another parallel event taking place at CES-LISBOA, so to offer a meeting a space to all participants to discuss issues related to the democratization of politics and society.