RAPPORT

CITY MAKERS SUMMIT27 - 30 MAY 2016

CITY EXPEDITION GUIDE ROTTERDAM:

NEW EUROPE

CITYMAKERSSUMMIT

27-30MAY2016

organised by:

City in the Making

Partners of the Day:

AFRIKAANDER

WIJK CO-OP

Re:Kreators Meet-up RotterdamCity Makers Summit: City Expedition Rotterdam

Meeting the aspiring Re:Kreators, of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and beyond.

Re:Kreators of Rotterdam With two days left to go until the Summit, the European City Makers divided themselves over ten dutch cities. Sixty of them chose Rotterdam, to learn and share their city making knowledge and to explore the possibilities of our rising network: the Re:Kreators. We were joined by none less than the president of the European Commission of the Region, Markku Markkula.

The Re:Kreators are a European network of city (re)makers, like ZOHO in Rotterdam, Holzmarkt in Berlin and many others. The Re:Kreators find commonalities in their alternative approach to area (re)development. We strive to enable sustainable, social and co-creative urban area development following fair principles. Our aim is to share our knowledge between our fellow members and to join our voices to strengthen our position throughout Europe.

City excusrion on bike

On May 28th the Re:Kreators came together with aspiring members, in Rotterdam. During the day we exchanged thoughts and experiences. We visited several undergoing initiatives in Rotterdam, such as: Marconia, Made in 4havens, and the Hoogkwartier. Some of these projects were initiated by current Re:Kreators members, but we also met several new city (re)makers, which will hopefully support the network in the future. During the excursions the initiators presented their projects. Also they included the participants into their thoughts processes for the future of their projects. During this, many questions arose on a variation of different topics.

These discussions were latter integrated into workshops, at ZOHO. During these workshops we examined challanges such as financing, organisation, and the relationship between bottom level and top level of the governance system. During the workshops, we had the honor to receive the European delegation of Mr. Markku Markkula who reflected on our questions and on our findings.

This is a rapport on the discussions, conclusions and questions which arose on the 28th of May.

Discussion:

The challange of financingOne of the most prominent debate topics during the workshops, was money. City Makers in general, and Re:Kreators in particular, are not ‘in it for the money’. The whole purpose of the movement is to create a sustainable alternative to traditional city development. And the main critique for that traditional form of development is that it is too focused on money. However, thought we focus our development in creating value for people, we can not extract ourselves from the monetary system completely. Though City Making is substantially cheaper than old-fashioned master-plan development, it is not ‘free’. City making requires time and resources. Re:Kreators are already acchiving positive impacts for local communities. They create jobs, culture, art and improved public spaces. They do this, by organising and connecting people. Bringing together entrepreneurial and stimulating them to work co-operate and co-create new businesses, functions, and activities. These mediating activities take a lot of time an effort. Though the activities of these people are vital for the regeneration of deprived urban areas, they are still hardly recognised by authorities nor private parties. Like one of our Re:Kreators said to Markku Markkula:

‘We created the jobs, it is just that the jobs are not being paid.’

The lack of money has a crippling effect on the projects. It is not just that Re:Kreators need money for their own time and effort. More importantly, money is needed for investments in experimentation and expansion.

Getting recognitionThe problem of money, is strongly related to recognition. The organising approach of the Re:Kreators, can be hard to see from a governmental point of view. This has a lot to do with the governments - and private party’s - inexperience in city making. We are aware that we should not try to solve this by holding our hands up towards the governments. If the Re:Kreators want recognition and payment for their efforts, they need to be adopted by the society as whole. In order to do that we have indicated what we think must change in the organisations and stakeholders with which we are now working.

ClientsClients should share the outputs of our activities with their colleagues and partners. So as to make our work more know in their respective professional fields.

CommunitiesShould be more aware of the value of City Makers, and try to compensate for their efforts. This is not only important for the Re:Kreators to continue work, but also to retain his or her ‘neutral’ position in the stakeholder relationship.

MunicipalitiesShould realise that Re:Kreators and City Makers are in fact ‘doing their jobs’. Therefore local municipalities should make as much of effort as possible to facilitate for our projects. This means monetary compensation, but also flexible regulations, and more importantly coorporation.

Re:KreatorsThe Re:Kreators themselves also have a big role to play. They need to organise their network in order to gain recognition from society. The Re:Kreators should have a portfolio of projects, so that future clients (read: communities, municipalities, private parties) can get an impression on what to expect when a Re:Kreators is activated. The network should act as consulting service for governments and private parties. They should show the establishment the possibilities of City Making, and put local authorities in contact with residing Re:Kreators and City Makers.

Reflections of Markku Markkula

After the workshops, there was a moment for reflection for the President of the CoR. A brief account of his reflections and conclusions follows here.

Markkula’s reflections on conclusions of the day was positive. Markkula agreed to the importance of mediators(read: City Makers or Re:Kreators) in the process of urban regeneration. However, he also stressed the crucial importance of the local communities of cities. Deprivation is not only countered by mediators, but also by a community that feels capable of taking matters into their own hands. The people need to shape their own environments.

Markku Markkula visits

ZOHO, and gets a tour by

Jeroen Laven

Markkula argued that this is possible through the large body of knowledge which lies embedded within networks such as the Re:Kreators and the City Makers. The most important thing to do then, therefore it should be a priority to make our knowledge accessible to the greater public. The accessibility of knowledge and ‘know-how’ is a great factor in the facilitation of community led projects. This is why open source networks are so important for the future of our cities.

Another key point for the president, was the accessibility of the CoR. Questions arose from the audience on what kind of cooperative or organisations the CoR would deem worthy of investment. Markulla responded with the sympathetic line:

‘we are not interested in what you do with the money, we are interested in your impact.’- Markkula

The CoR and the EU realise that initiatives such as those of the Re:Kreators are far to varied and context related to be regulated from an international stand point. Markkula therefore made the case for flexibility and reduced bureaucracy. According to him the EU looks for three crucial elements:

1. Regional specialisation, and collaboration between specialised regions

2. Entrepreneurial spirit, and competitiveness3. Fully functioning market

Excursion to the

Hoogkwartier

As long as initiatives support these desires, they can gain the support of the governing bodies of the EU.

It is looking back on the reflections of the President of the CoR, we can state that the goals of the EU share many commonalities with those of the Re:Kreators. And we think our first encounter with the president is promising for future collaborations. We hope to build upon the contacts we made to further extend the positive impact of the Re:Kreators on Europe’s cities.The acknowledgment of city makers inside the Urban Agenda – Pact of Amsterdam signed on May 30 is an encouragement.

However, since a critical mass is lacking the journey is far from done. Markkula’s recognition of our role in urban regeneration is encouraging, but there is still a long way to go before city making practices are - to put it in the words of Markkula - truly mainstream.

For anyone interested in joining our ideals, we look forward on becoming a re:Kreator member.

The closer at the IABR.

Name Surname Organisation City

Viccaro Alessandro Freelancer Rotterdam

Dominiquea Almeida Studio Ck9 + Open leercentra ROC

Amsterdam

Jos Arends De stadsambassade van Almere

Almere

Unige Bagdi - Amsterdam

Mauro Baioni Rome

Milan Bcik IPR Prague Prague

Dominika Belanska Jelde Mesto Bratislava

Sylvine Bois-Choussy European network of cultural centers

Paris

Jonas Büchel Urban Institute, Riga

Riga

Valentina Coletta valentina coletta_studio slug

Rotterdam-Roma

Mindaugas Danys Vilnius Urban Garden

Vilnius

Stan De Kanter Popup World Amsterdam

Maarten Desmet

Ann Dom Antwerpen

Vivian Doumpa stipo rotterdam

Paul Elleswijk HAVENSTEDER

Francisco Fernández Rodríguez

University of Seville

Seville

Alexandros Filippidis SEYN - Sustainable Energy Youth Network

Athens

Khashayar Ghiabi Pakhuis de Zwijger

Amsterdam

Christian Grauvogel Mörchenpark e.V. / re:Kreators

Berlin

Jeniffer Heemann Bela Rua Rotterdam

IJsbrand Heeringa Stipo Delft

Coen Hermans Pakhuis de Zwijger

Amsterdam

Karen Hierqeus Brussels

Toon Jansen stadmakers & co (Almere)

Almere

Toon Jansen stadmakers & co Almere

Erik Jutten city in the making

rotterdam

Marte Kappert marconia rotterdam

Nicholas KarachalisS University of Thessaly - Refill URBACT

Athens

Hans Karssenberg Stipo, re:Kreators and The City at Eye Level

Amsterdam

David Kaspar Prague Creative Prague

Participants of the 28ste of May

Robert Klaassen Drechtstadsboer Dordrecht, Netherlands

Benjamin Knödler Free lance journalist

Berlin

Veronika Kovacsova Paradocks Vienna

Jeroen Laven stipo rotterdam

Ariane Lelieveld Ariquitectura, advies in gezonde zelfvoorzienende woningen en wijken

Rotterdam

Jan Lemmers ZOHO Rotterdam

Marta López-Marcos Universidad de Sevilla

Seville

Alexandru Matei Cubicsphere / Stipo

Bucharest / Rotterdam

Reka Matheiden EUREKA Budapest

Iryna Matsevko Center for Urban History in Lviv (Ukraine)

Lviv

Tiago Mota Saraiva rekreators Lisbon

Marc neelen stealth rotterdam

Irina Paraschivoiu Odaia Creativa / Urban INC

Bucharest

Daniela Patti Eutropian Budapest

Ines Peborde Bioclimatic Cities Lab

Pau (France)

Dries Perborde Pakhuis de Zwijger

Rotterdam

Nicolas Pieri CAP ou pas cap Paris

Ania Pilipenko Guk Berlin

Hanna Pintusava IHS, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Minsk, Belarus

Robert Ploem MATRIX CONSULTANTS

AMSTERDAM

Levente Polyak Eutropian / KÉK Budapest

Laura Popplow co.city lab Mainz/Germany

Veerle Rigter Studio Davoo Rotterdam

Roman Romanets AVR Development Lviv

Marion Roussel CAP ou pas cap? Paris

Jan Rydén FÄRGFABRIKEN stockholm

Charlot Schans Pakhuis de Zwijger

Amsterdam

Janna Schlender Mörchenpark e.V. Berlin

Maria Sitzoglou Resilient Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

Martine Sluijs Pip&partners Utrecht

Dahlia Soliman stipo rotterdam

Marco Stout stout/kramer rotterdam

Annet Struik Institute for Designing Social Impact

Leiden

Gustavo Alberto Tánori Rivera None Mexicali, Baja California. Mexico.

Gert Jan te Velde Vanschagen Architecten

Rotterdam

Ebami Tom made in 4 havens rotterdam

Samantha van den Bos ShareNL Amsterdam

Hanne van Gils

Annet van Otterloo freehouse rotterdam

Bjørn van Raaij Zeewaardig Service Design

Rotterdam

Michiel van Wickeren DeDeelkelder Utrecht

Margriet Vd Heijden Elisabeth groen Amersfoort

Ellen Verbiest We kopen samen de oudaan

Antwerpen

Anne Sofie Verheyen

Piet vollaard city in the making

rotterdam

Anamaria Vrabie Urban Insights Center

Bucharest

Pieter Wieringa Brasov

Friso Wiersum European Cultural Foundation

Utrecht

Philipp Winter Holzmarkt Berlin Berlin

Marta Zakowska Magazyn Miasta (Cities Magazine), Res Publica

Warsaw

Bouwdewijn Vechtclub

Genea Canelles Student

Re:Kreators manifesto1

We, the members of re:Kreators community, are people and initiatives who want to enable sustainable, social and participative urban area

development following fair principles.

We believe in a way of living in the city that is inspiring, affordable and just. We create thoughtful, fun, meaningful and inclusive places

that lift the spirits. We create ruptures and alternatives in people’s imagination about how a city could be, through space and collective

ownership models.

2

We create value: increase of mental, physical and emotional usability of quality urban space.

We use existing resources, energy and qualities. We look for true, permanent change and commitment. We are open source. We share our

knowledge to inspire others.

3

We see urban development in the interest of the people who live there and work in community-based, participative and inclusive ways.

Diverse groups feel at home in and feel ownership over our places – mentally, emotionally and in the say they have in the future of the

area.

Objectives of the re:Kreators Association

To connect

To create a European platform to connect, inspire and multiply re:Kreators around European cities. To improve the established

re:Kreator projects. To develop sustainable structures among the partners of the network, and share them, open source, to help new

projects come about through shared thinking. To make re:Kreators’ know-how and experience accessible to others.

To strengthen

To make re:Kreators’ position throughout Europe stronger, among others by driving interest in the values (social, cultural, environmental, economical) of re:Kreators initiatives. To make these values more tangible and visible in order to improve understanding and working

relations between initiatives and institutions.

To act

To create a continuous dialogue between stakeholders of urban development and decision makers. To influence the urban agenda of governments locally, nationally and on the EU-level. To improve

understanding and working relations between initiatives and institutions. To match with possible investors. To create a permanent

network of city makers.

Join Re:Kreators networkIf you would like to join the re:Kreators network, please fill the

information about your organization or area on www.rekreators.eu or send a mail to rekreators@stipo.nl. We will contact you about further steps,

as soon as we review your application.