Sardečna
zaprašajem
Professional conference
on hospitality infrastructure
from local tourism
to large migration processes
23-27.10
27.10
ONLINE
OFFLINE IN VILNIUS
ABOUT
THE CONFERENCE
The world is getting smaller. The technology development together with globalisation processes allow us to move around, travel and change residences easily. In recent years, after easing of covid restrictions and several socio-political events, the movement of people has increased significantly. This tendency is especially noticeable in the Belarusian context. Migration processes, local and supralocal tourism, digital nomadism – more and more people encounter the contexts of unfamiliar cities and are forced to quickly learn to navigate in new conditions. Getting to know a new place is not always a pleasant and exciting experience. Disorientation, social and physical inclusivity, inhospitality towards newcomers are just some of the challenges we face. At the same time, the paradigms of designing urban spaces are still mainly based on the perspective of local residents.
So can we say that it is time to change approaches to territorial planning and start taking into account the dynamics of people's movement? Can point-to-point movements be made more fluid and inclusive? Won't this lead to the unification of spaces and loss of identity?
During the conference we have considered some of the components that accompany the process of people movements and their acquaintance with new cities, both locally and internationally.
DESCRIPTION OF DISCUSSIONS
MONDAY | DISCUSSION
«SEAMLESS MOVEMENT»
How often do we feel lost and disoriented when we find ourselves in an unfamiliar city? Quite often, the way from the point of arrival in the city to the point of stay or another place is associated with various challenges: we find it difficult to find the way from the train station to the desired stop, it takes a lot of time to understand the ticket purchase process, we anxiously try to understand where exactly to get off the bus, and not without adventures look for the right address. How to make the process of moving around the city as seamless and inclusive as possible? During the discussion, devoted to the problem of seamless movement, the participants discussed the MaaS concept, argued about the role of mobility, talked about the principles of the planning of comfortable navigation, assessed the state of Belarusian cities, and shared the best approaches to mobility planning in Belarus.
The discussion participants noted that the seamless mobility theme is not isolated from other urban processes, instead, it is an instrument for achieving higher goals: city comfort and compactness, inclusiveness, city branding — general improvement of quality of life. Thus, approaches to mobility planning are to be considered in an interdisciplinary complex together with other measures, including management and education. The lenses to view the mobility system through should be changed as well: instead of leaning on the normatives and indicators, it is necessary to take the experience of users as a base for decision making. This is well shown by the project of the third subway line navigation in Miensk, which was presented during the discussion. Belarusian cities have a lot of potential for integrating alternative concepts of movement. Though the situation is not ideal yet, through building proper cooperation between citizens, specialists and decision makers, it is possible to create a positive monolit experience of moving around Belarusian cities.
Kiryl Siniutsich
Transport expert, public figure, professor, transport engineer
Evgeniy Loiko
Architect
Moderator:
Darya Hardzeichyk
Journalist
TUESDAY | lecture
«ARCHITECTURE OF BORDERS»
What is a border? An imaginary line that separates different states? An area where different identities mix? A cooperation space? Or just a series of checkpoints and fences? Borders as a phenomenon are constantly changing: they become stronger or disappear altogether, are embodied in the form of walls and fences or remain only as lines on a map. At the same time, in real space, borders are not always stable either: drawn along rivers or glaciers, they move along with the natural objects to which they are attached.
During the lecture, Nataly Nemkova talked about her research project, which demonstrates an innovative and more flexible approach to border planning by example of arctic territories. Lecturer told us about an atypical perception of territories and their borders by Arctic native peoples that are moving around the territory together with their settlements. She noted that digital technologies and certain computer simulations enabling a more landscape-based approach contribute to making the process of border formation more flexible and democratic, allowing their constant change depending on the context. Following the discussion, it was pointed out that the borders are not simply lines on the map, but multilayered objects including not only political, but landscape, cultural and other borders. Every one of them should be considered in the context of larger systems than just territories of certain cities or countries. Any border is a place, which creates tension, but not obligatory a negative one. It is more about the state that something is always happening there. Acknowledging these processes their inclusion into larger systems will allow to move forward more flexible and transformative solutions in the process of any object planning.
Nataly Nemkova
Architect, artist, landscape urbanist
Moderator:
Ilona Elyashevich
architect, urbanist
WEDNESDAY | DISCUSSION
«CITY AND BRAND»
The topic of city branding is far from new, but it is not yet possible to say that Belarusian cities have succeeded in creating their brands. What is an ideal city brand and what urban actors should participate in its development? What are the best, stereotype-free urban brands based on? How to build a connection between brand local residents? When discussing an ideal branding, speakers outlined its several components: the presence of a comprehensive strategy for the city development that the brand is a part of; yearly increase in city value in all meanings through constant brand functioning.
Do all cities need a brand? Speakers noted that a city should grow to the point of creating a brand: 1) there should appear a series of points of attraction, which will become the base for branding; 2) interests of government should unite with business interests, which will lead to formulating strategic objectives that will be solved by brand. It is also of importance to remember about the problems typical of branding. It is necessary to avoid the creation of artificial brands, when a brand becomes a manipulation - artificial picture that has behind itself. Moreover, it is important to consider that a brand should be more stable than trend splaches.
On the one hand, the brand should include the identity of the city residents. On another hand, it has to form an image of the city attractive for the tourists and investors.
Dzianis Misiulia
Entrepreneur, Malako creative agency
Andrey Ezerin
Researcher
Anton Petrukhin
Architect, researcher
Moderator:
Kseniya Martul
Communication expert
Thursday | DISCUSSION
«LOCAL TOURISM»
The COVID restrictions, and then the narrowing of opportunities for crossing borders due to the socio-political situation, contributed to the activation of local tourism in Belarus. Alternative types of travel within the country began to compete with tourist routes that correspond to the state ideology. What does modern local tourism look like in Belarus and who are the main actors? How should architecture and planning take into account the changing nature of travel without forgetting the locals?
During the discussion speakers defined a range of problems within the local tourism planning industry. For example, one of the problems of recreational zones in Belarus is the absence of a comprehensive approach. In such projects, specialists think about the territories only, instead of project implementation, administering, or widening the audience. Moreover, issues related to civic participation and work with public opinion are a great pain for urban specialists. In such cases, an architect and an urban planner play the role of a moderator between authorities and people. It is a complex process of agreements and considerations of different points of view. Documentation related to the local tourist planning provokes a range of questions as well. Although the documents of various institutions are taken into account during the project development, there is a general lack of communication between the ministries. Also, there is a relevant issue related to the accessibility of participation in the local tourism infrastructure among active citizens and small-scale businesses.
Solving the highlighted issues may give a new impetus to the local tourism development in Belarus.
Zinaida Lyashonak
Urbanist, architect
Moderator:
Volha Abraztsova
Guide, teacher
«PLANNING FROM THE MIGRANT'S POINT OF VIEW»
The migration processes of recent years and the rise of digital nomadism have highlighted the question: to what extent is the perspective of newcomers generally taken into account in urban planning? There is a feeling that cities are planned for permanent residents, but history shows that quite often it is migrants who are able to launch new territory development processes. At the same time, migration is often strongly stigmatized, which complicates the process of a migrant's integration into full-fledged urban life. How different is the experience of the migrants and locals in using the urban space? How to research it and take it into account in urban development planning?
During the lecture, Rik Huizinga presented the research on young refugees’ interaction with public urban space. The lecturer highlighted that the urban environment is actively formed by mobility: movement of people, movement of goods, movement of ideas. The remaining stigmatization of refugees and their perception only as temporary citizens is an important issue in different political and social debates. Nevertheless, migrants are social actors, integral to the city, as they engage in the daily life of cities through different forms. We should consider what migrants bring to the city.
The lecture highlighted an important fact that home space is often perceived by young refugees as unwelcoming and lonely. In such a situation, public space becomes a way of socializing through meeting new people, learning the city and practicing language. There is a clash of contrasting requests to the public space: 1) the crowdedness of tourist spots provides young refugees with anonymity and the ability to observe the city, 2) but they also experience the need for quiet places to rest in moments of fatigue from excess.
FRIDAY | LECTURE
Rik Huizinga
Assistant Professor at Utrecht University (Geosciences, Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Urban Geography)
Lecture moderator :
Ilona Elyashevich
Architect, urbanist
«How to make cities more hospitable for migrants?»
On the final day of the Conference, an offline event took place - a brainstorming session in the format of a world cafe on the topic "How to make cities more hospitable for migrants?". The participants discussed how urban planning, architecture, urban services and business can help make cities more welcoming toward migrants.
The participants noted the importance of researching the needs of migrants in the urban space from the perspective of urban development and planning, in order to inform the professional community. All groups agreed on refusing to place all migrants in one neighborhood in order to prevent the formation of ghettos (closed parts of the city, intended for minorities); it is important to enable an integration into full-fledged urban life. Urban space navigation should apply symbols and illustrations understandable for everyone, instead of exclusively text formats in official language. But the participants opposed ubiquitous translation into English in order to preserve the cultural identity of the city. Instead, English translations should be used only in the places of mass usage and arrival infrastructures (bus and train stations, shopping centers, transport etc.). It is important to enable the national diaspora to have voting rights and put forward proposals on the city level.
Architecture makes it possible to create spaces for common activities: city gardening, cultural and social space, places for art making. These kinds of places contribute to socializing and building horizontal connections between migrants and locals. For this purpose, it is also possible to create mobile pavilions or to use abandoned buildings with the authorities permit. Possibility to bring the architectural or cultural code of one's city or country to a new environment, as well as application of foreign practices will help not only to make cities more comfortable for migrants, but also to enrich the outlook and perspective of local residents.
The cooperation between business and urban services in the effective integration of migrants can take place at different levels: from creation of an inclusive interface of digital products for using services to lobbying for simplification of the country's legislation when hiring a migrant. Urban services for payment of public services must include a high-quality knowledge base on household issues and translations into foreign languages, which, among other things, will help reduce the workload of administrative services when processing requests.
Small and medium-sized businesses can attract new customers by analyzing their location in the urban space and introducing part of the cultural code of people from other countries into their products or participating in social initiatives to familiarize themselves with the urban space. In addition, it is important to understand that migrants can bring new ideas, experiences and perspectives to business problems. In addition, migrants improve the overall quality of services, since competition leads to an improvement in the quality of services.
offline | WORLD CAFE
Offline-event moderator :
Karina Salavei
Manager/executive director of one of the Belarusian environmental organizations
Speakers
Rik Huizinga
— Assistant Professor at Utrecht University (Geosciences, Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Urban Geography)
His research draws upon problematic social and cultural relations in the context of globalisation, migration and societal change. Main areas of research include topics around gender, masculinity and intersectionality; refugees, migration and settlement; and young people, identity and equality. He is also interested in issues related to qualitative and participatory methods such as positionality, reflexivity and research ethics. His work draws attention to the ways in which structural forms of marginalisation (ageism, racism, sexism, capitalism) shape peoples’ everyday lives and highlights the variegated forms of resistance people display to counter exclusionary practices.
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lecture «PLANNING FROM THE MIGRANT'S POINT OF VIEW»
friday, 27th october, 18:00
Dzianis Misiulia
— Entrepreneur, Malako creative agency
The main area of activity is branding. At the core of the Malako agency is the commercial sector. Urban and territorial branding is an additional direction, in which our agency has worked on several projects as well.
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discussion «CITY AND BRAND»
wednesday, 25th october, 18:00
Andrey Ezerin
— Researcher
Researcher of urban solidarity processes, expert in the field of strategic communications. One of the initiators of the project of preserving the Miensk’ historical neighborhoods of Asmalouka (2014-2019). Author of publications on urban planning and local community issues.
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discussion «CITY AND BRAND»
wednesday, 25th october, 18:00
Anton Petrukhin
— Architect, researcher
Master's student of the Brandenburg University of Technology (Germany) in the field of world heritage. Has seven years experience of urban development in Belarus and Kazakhstan. Fields of interest: cultural landscapes, historical urban landscapes, wooden architecture of Belarusian cities.
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discussion «CITY AND BRAND»
wednesday, 25th october, 18:00
Kseniya Martul
— Communication expert
Fields of interest: outdoor advertising and urban visual communication, urban planning, development and rehabilitation of small towns, city branding, urban communication, neighborhood communities, architectural planning of urban spaces.
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discussion moderator «CITY AND BRAND»
wednesday, 25th october, 18:00
Nataly Nemkova
— Architect, artist, landscape urbanist
Founder of IM-A Studio. The studio creates the future of life and is engaged in the search for a third entity between nature and technology. Architect and landscape urbanist. Nataly is very interested in interactive environments and new approaches to architecture.
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lecture «ARCHITECTURE OF BORDERS»
tuesday, 24th october, 18:00
Darya Hardzeichyk
— journalist
Main areas of activity: social and cultural journalism, podcasting. 3 years of experience in journalism. The author of the "Cozy City" podcast on urbanism.
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discussion moderator
«SEAMLESS MOVEMENT»
monday, 23th october, 18:00
Zinaida Lyashonak
— urbanist, architect
Currently working as an "urban planner" in the municipality of Avannaata (Greenland) with a total population of 10,696 inhabitants. Four years of work experience at "BelNIIP of urban planning", including the project of the "Braslavsky special tourist and recreation park". Interested in researching legal constraints that dictate approaches to work with urban space.
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discussion «LOCAL TOURISM»
Thursday, 26th october, 18:00
Volha Abraztsova
— guide, teacher
Guide, author of multimedia city tours and quests. PhD in Technical sciences.
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discussion moderator «LOCAL TOURISM»
Thursday, 26th october, 18:00
Kiryl Siniutsich
— Transport expert, public figure, professor, transport engineer.
Main areas of activity: lecturer at BNTU in the field of public and commercial transport; public transport, sustainable mobility, interaction with passengers, design of public transport systems.
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discussion «SEAMLESS MOVEMENT»
monday, 23th october, 18:00
Evgeniy Loiko
— Architect
Main areas of activity: urban mobility, transport demand management, vision zero, development of orientation and navigation systems, local and domestic tourism.
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discussion «SEAMLESS MOVEMENT»
monday, 23th october, 18:00
Karina Salavei
— manager/executive director of one of the Belarusian environmental organizations
Area of professional interests: organizational development, increasing visibility and recognition, promotion of non-governmental organizations and initiatives, project management, development of local communities.
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offline-event moderator
friday, 27th october, 18:00
Ilona Elyashevich
— architect, urbanist
Researcher and project manager at Minsk Urban Platform. She has previously worked as a teaching assistant at the Urban Planning Department at BNTU. Her professional interests focus on landscape and human-centered approaches to urban planning and design.
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Host during the whole ConferenceABOUT US
The Miensk Urban Platform is an interdisciplinary team of researchers and urban development practitioners with work experience and education background in EU countries and Belarus. Since 2014, we have been organising events in the field of informal education, developing architectural projects and researching the urban environment.
We have already conducted five conferences dedicated to various aspects of the urban environment. During the last year conference "Reabilitacyja" we reflected on the state of various components of the city and the possibilities of their rehabilitation. In 2021, “The Caring City” conference focused on urban design tools that enable people to care for themselves and others while also being open to it. We studied ecology in the urban environment and architecture, practical methods and tools for creating sustainable projects in 2020 at the conference "Sustainability as Quality Indicator of Urban Environment." In 2019, our team hosted a conference titled "Accessibility as Quality Indicator for Urban Environment" which discussed architectural, planning, and urban solutions in the field of universal design. In 2018, the conference was conducted as part of the urban forum and was dedicated to pilot projects for the development and redevelopment of urban areas. Experts from different countries with extensive research and practical experience gave lectures at the events.