Project R-7904

Building Capacity to transform existing residential subdivisions into smart and robust urban ecosystems (Research)

Developing smart and sustainable transformation pathways requires technical and conceptual innovation. The project CAPA.CITY starts from the hypothesis that these innovations can only be implemented in a durable way if they are supported by a process of capacity building. The main objective of CAPA.CITY is therefor to develop a theoretical and operational framework that can help the building of the, so-called, collective capabilities that are necessary to create smart and robust urban ecosystems. Collective capabilities refer to the ability of a collective - consisting of citizens, businesses, NGO's and institutes- to meet a set of predefined objectives. The point of departure is that building these capabilities is a process of joint learning. For this reason, CAPA.CITY proposes to experiment with location-based experiential learning methods to trigger this process. Given that joint learning is context-dependent, CAPA.CITY proposes to work within one urban context, namely the retrofitting of existing residential subdivisions. CAPA.CITY will initiate capacity building processes in 6 residential subdivisions located in Belgium, Denmark and France. And will explore 3 location-based experiential learning methods, namely telling, envisioning and making.

01 April 2017 - 31 March 2020