All Things Urban

Last year, a group of students from Berlin came together with the desire to create a space where critical perspectives on the research field of “City” can be heard and where research can be brought out of academic isolation into the public sphere. From this need and these reflections, the three-days Symposium “(re)searching urbanity” was created. A total of 300 visitors participated in the Symposium and over 30 participants presented their ideas, projects, and research results in various forms, for instance workshops, lectures, walks, screenings, readings, performances, at Floating University and Haus der Statistik.

The aim of the Symposium was to provide diverse insights to initiate interdisciplinary discourse, disclose action possibilities, facilitate exchange, and create new fruitful connections. Important for us was dialogue and collaborative practice, mutual learning and spatial intervention, so that current problems and solutions can be tangibly conveyed and fruitfully approached.

Driven by the same aim and motivated by the positive response to last year's event, (re)searching urbanity’s Symposium is now preparing for its second edition, which will take place from the the 4th to 6th of August 2023 in Berlin! We are looking for your contributions specifically on the following main topics:

1. The ecological city
   Urbanization grew with industrialisation and with industrialisation urban pollution and environmental threats grew. Today more than half of the world's population lives in urban areas, while 70% of CO2 emissions come from cities. This makes cities particularly vulnerable to climate change and how we build and live in cities is therefore of crucial importance. Under the topic of The Ecological City, we are calling for proposals related to urbanism from an ecological and environmental perspective. Possible areas of focus could include, but are not limited to:

• Mobility
• Climate adaptation & Mitigation
• Environmental education & the city
• Local initiatives
• The rise of climate activism

2. Queer-Feminism
   Urban studies have been dominated by straight, white, cisgender, and male perspectives. This has resulted in a lack of attention paid to the experiences and demands of marginalized groups. To address this issue, we are inviting proposals from initiatives, activists, artists, architects, urban researchers exploring the intersectionality of queer- feminist perspectives on cities. We welcome proposals on a wide range of topics that relate to queer-feminist perspectives in urban research, such as:

• The experiences of excluded individuals and communities in urban environments
• The role of gender and sexuality in shaping urban development and planning
• The impact of gender and sexuality on urban policy and governance
• The role of queer-feminist perspectives in shaping art, culture, media, etc.
• The intersection of race, class, gender and ability in queer-feminist urban studies
• The potential for queer-feminist and intersectional approaches to inform new urban research methodologies

3. Postcolonial city
   For the topic "Postcolonial City- migrants perspectives on the city" we are looking for local initiatives, artists, authors, architects and urban researchers in Berlin who deal with the following questions:

• The experience of BIPoCs in urban spaces
• The role of migrants in shaping the city of Berlin
• Migrant narratives of street names and neighborhoods in Berlin

Central to this topic is drawing attention to the intertwined stories in public space and showing different perspectives and visibilities in the urban context. The focus can also be on spaces that strengthen neighborhoods or places in which the perspectives, influences or barriers of migrant people in the city become visible.

Are these your research interests? Have you already dedicated an artistic project to one of these areas you would love to share? Have you written a paper, bachelor or master or doctorate thesis that you would like to present to a public audience interested in urban politics? Have you developed a visual research project that fits thematically? Do you have an idea for a workshop, performance, walk, collective mapping, or similar projects that you would like to realize? Then send us a project proposal (max. 500 words, in German or English) till the 21st of May to re_searching.urbanity@mailbox.org.

We are very excited to hear from you! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by email or attend the online info session on the 18th of April at 7pm or the 10th of May at 10am.

2022, Berlin students from various disciplines came together to consider how to open up a space outside the academic context in which research results could be presented and those interested in urban policy could be brought together. Current problems could be debated and solutions developed together.

These considerations resulted in the symposium (re)searching urbanity, in which a total of 300 visitors participated in the nearly 30 presentations (workshops, lectures, walks, screenings, etc.) on critical urban research. Motivated by the exciting exchange, concept & execution should now be refined:

With the reinforcement of 15 new team members, each bringing individual perspectives and skills, we aim to become more accessible, break down further barriers between research, activism, art and local networks, and open up additional events, venues & communication channels.