Regaining a sense of belonging
Human Cities / SMOTIES
Human Cities / SMOTIES – Creative works with small and remote places
SMOTIES enhanced the livability of public spaces in ten rural European villages by fostering local cultural initiatives that strengthen social cohesion through participation. Often, the absence of gathering spaces limits opportunities for residents to connect and advocate for their needs. By engaging local communities in a co-creative process, SMOTIES encouraged them to envision alternative possibilities for shaping the future of their environment and actively participate in its care.
Italy
Local
- ITALY: Albugnano (~500 inhab. ~52 inhab./km2)
- FRANCE La Vallée du Dorlay(~1600 inhab. ~44 inhab./km2) & Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez(~485 inhab. ~40 inhab./km2)
- UK: Penmachno(~600 ab. ~11 ab./km2)
- AUSTRIA: Oberzeiring (~814 inhab. ~22 inhab./km})
- SLOVENIA: Polhov Gradec Dolomites Park, Zlebe & Belo(~560 inhab. ~52 inhab./km7
- ESTONIA: Joaveski (33 inhab. ~5 inhab./km7)
- GREECE: Apano Meria (~1200 inhab. ~80 inhab./km4)
- PORTUGAL: Estreito da Calheta (~1600 inhab. ~110 inhab./km4)
- ICELAND: Borgarnes (~1900 inhab. ~1500 inhab./km3)
- POLAND: Bobrek(~3000 inhab. ~15 inhab./km2)
- FRANCE La Vallée du Dorlay(~1600 inhab. ~44 inhab./km2) & Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez(~485 inhab. ~40 inhab./km2)
- UK: Penmachno(~600 ab. ~11 ab./km2)
- AUSTRIA: Oberzeiring (~814 inhab. ~22 inhab./km})
- SLOVENIA: Polhov Gradec Dolomites Park, Zlebe & Belo(~560 inhab. ~52 inhab./km7
- ESTONIA: Joaveski (33 inhab. ~5 inhab./km7)
- GREECE: Apano Meria (~1200 inhab. ~80 inhab./km4)
- PORTUGAL: Estreito da Calheta (~1600 inhab. ~110 inhab./km4)
- ICELAND: Borgarnes (~1900 inhab. ~1500 inhab./km3)
- POLAND: Bobrek(~3000 inhab. ~15 inhab./km2)
Mainly rural
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Yes
2024-10-31
Yes
Creative Europe
No
No
As a representative of an organisation, in partnership with other organisations
SMOTIES is a 4y project co-funded by Creative Europe Program. Starting in 2020, it belongs to the Human Cities network that includes, since 2006, design, art and architecture universities and consultancies. Spanning Europe, it acts as a platform of interdisciplinary exchange, examining the liveability of public spaces through participatory design. SMOTIES applies its approach to 10 small European places which are depopulated, relationally remote, and depositories of material and immaterial culture which risk being undervalued and hence lost. These places benefit from the design of creative innovations to be anchored in public spaces, collaboration with local stakeholders, activating possible trajectories for a local evolutionary pathway, and valorizing existing excellence niches.
Participatory and social innovation practices supported this process. It is based upon the belief that culture-led regeneration strategies can transform spaces into desirable places to live through democratic participation. Through a shared methodology, training for capacity-building purposes, spatial prototyping, and an assessment of the generated impact with a long-term perspective, SMOTIES gave life to alternative ways of community engagement by co-designing public spaces in 10 remote places.
SMOTIES stimulated local communities to take responsibility for collectively giving form to the future of their living environment and actively participate in its care. Also, it offers a replicable model – the SMOTIES TOOLBOX – for value-driven regeneration in marginalized regions, based on a developed and tested methodology that provides a common ground of 20 scenarios clustered in 5 topics (collaborative governance, sustainable living, tourism, ageing society, distributed education) for developing project trajectories in European rural places. With the conclusion of SMOTIES, all partners reported that stakeholders had set up follow-up initiatives, strengthening the ripple effect beyond its end
Participatory and social innovation practices supported this process. It is based upon the belief that culture-led regeneration strategies can transform spaces into desirable places to live through democratic participation. Through a shared methodology, training for capacity-building purposes, spatial prototyping, and an assessment of the generated impact with a long-term perspective, SMOTIES gave life to alternative ways of community engagement by co-designing public spaces in 10 remote places.
SMOTIES stimulated local communities to take responsibility for collectively giving form to the future of their living environment and actively participate in its care. Also, it offers a replicable model – the SMOTIES TOOLBOX – for value-driven regeneration in marginalized regions, based on a developed and tested methodology that provides a common ground of 20 scenarios clustered in 5 topics (collaborative governance, sustainable living, tourism, ageing society, distributed education) for developing project trajectories in European rural places. With the conclusion of SMOTIES, all partners reported that stakeholders had set up follow-up initiatives, strengthening the ripple effect beyond its end
participatory design
community-centered design
co-design
remote places
spatial design
In SMOTIES, remote places refer to systems of villages that may be near major cities but difficult to reach due to physical or relational connections (geographical barriers, lack of transportation links). These infrastructure systems lack sustainable mobility models that can support a better daily life for all generations; access to crucial services and amenities within walking distance is not inclusive in terms of equity and affordability.
Environmental sustainability is central to SMOTIES, with public space transformations designed to align with local systems and resources. The aim was for all 10 places to integrate into the context and not to make self-referential interventions. Efforts include collaborating with associations and artists, reusing materials, repurposing abandoned spaces, and minimizing waste. The focus on context-sensitive interventions has supported sustainable future scenarios, such as restoring historic trails and promoting eco-friendly tourism.
As said, the SMOTIES methodology aimed to build guiding perspectives towards the future, generating long-term legacies in the involved settings. The one on “Sustainable living” focuses on creative solutions for emerging bioeconomy-based local economic transitions.
Mentioning here one of the 10 pilots (Dorlay Valley, France), the dependence on cars and the lack of regular transport were crucial issues. The project leveraged the famous local textile heritage: the braid and lace industry.
18th century and remains a source of pride among inhabitants. The project encouraged locals to improve mobility and develop alternative ways by valorising their historical know-how. Designers developed graphic materials to promote soft mobility and showcase the valley’s textile heritage, including a “sensitive” map. The map was one of the main prototyping tools, aiming to provide information not typically found on conventional maps to as many of the valley’s residents and occasional visitors as possible.
Environmental sustainability is central to SMOTIES, with public space transformations designed to align with local systems and resources. The aim was for all 10 places to integrate into the context and not to make self-referential interventions. Efforts include collaborating with associations and artists, reusing materials, repurposing abandoned spaces, and minimizing waste. The focus on context-sensitive interventions has supported sustainable future scenarios, such as restoring historic trails and promoting eco-friendly tourism.
As said, the SMOTIES methodology aimed to build guiding perspectives towards the future, generating long-term legacies in the involved settings. The one on “Sustainable living” focuses on creative solutions for emerging bioeconomy-based local economic transitions.
Mentioning here one of the 10 pilots (Dorlay Valley, France), the dependence on cars and the lack of regular transport were crucial issues. The project leveraged the famous local textile heritage: the braid and lace industry.
18th century and remains a source of pride among inhabitants. The project encouraged locals to improve mobility and develop alternative ways by valorising their historical know-how. Designers developed graphic materials to promote soft mobility and showcase the valley’s textile heritage, including a “sensitive” map. The map was one of the main prototyping tools, aiming to provide information not typically found on conventional maps to as many of the valley’s residents and occasional visitors as possible.
SMOTIES aimed at place-based environments, materialised agencies of local communities, and situated relationality through participatory approaches. Our place-based practices are focused on developing integrated and intertwined activities in specific public spaces that tap into the transformative possibilities of the reconstruction and reappropriation of territorial identity. We did not target a single space; instead, we worked with a network of spaces, employing collective redefinition strategies for each by assisting participant communities in formulating a problem and redistributing intellectual control over the whole research process. This approach aims to regenerate place-rooted collectives and cultures by rearticulating the area's social, cultural, and economic foundations with its community. We identified key places that reflect the village's relationship with its territory: those rooted in the past, which shape its primary connection to the land through personal memories and symbolic meanings, and those focused on the present, representing efforts to reclaim and renew the community's future. This vision also aims to recover what has been lost due to factors like spatial closures or changes in land use driven by socio-economic transformations.
Mentioning here one of the 10 pilots (Albugnano, Italy), the project addressed the increasing demand for regaining a sense of belonging among inhabitants and valuable storytelling towards visitors. It is about providing informative signage and experimenting with the tactical urbanism strategy to reclaim public spaces and reopen long-abandoned locations for temporary events. The square has been collaboratively implemented through a tactical urbanism action and used during the yearly theatre festival. Furthermore, we co-designed a service prototyping performance for the festival with the playwrights and performers: they staged citizens from the future who spoke about the Albugnano of tomorrow.
Mentioning here one of the 10 pilots (Albugnano, Italy), the project addressed the increasing demand for regaining a sense of belonging among inhabitants and valuable storytelling towards visitors. It is about providing informative signage and experimenting with the tactical urbanism strategy to reclaim public spaces and reopen long-abandoned locations for temporary events. The square has been collaboratively implemented through a tactical urbanism action and used during the yearly theatre festival. Furthermore, we co-designed a service prototyping performance for the festival with the playwrights and performers: they staged citizens from the future who spoke about the Albugnano of tomorrow.
In SMOTIES’ pilots, power matrices emerged forcefully from participatory activities that have served as tools to let friction zones emerge in time and through the reconstruction of place-based narratives. The challenge was to work with the communities to address their social fragmentation, open social imagination, and question the current underlying (often unexpressed) local controversies to envision possible futures collectively. Rural communities sometimes lack public spaces intended as encounters for social interaction and are deprived of representative spaces where they may identify, assemble, and exercise their rights to participate. We therefore adopted an agonistic lens to examine political conflicts and their connection to 'place'. Instead of selecting a single location for the design intervention, we created a network of distributed interventions in various places, each reflecting the functional and symbolic needs of the social groups activating them. In this sense, weaving the place-centredness approach to assist the reappropriation of territorial identities with the layers of relationalities entangled among communities through time has become a progressive social agency.
The project envisioned a future focused on participatory governance of public spaces, promoting local culture and creativity. It also developed a low-impact cultural tourism model highlighting the region’s diverse identities and offering an alternative narrative.
Key achievement:
•Identified a network of significant sites, blending historical landmarks with new community spaces.
•Co-created a tactical urbanism project, reclaiming part of the main square for pedestrians and social activities.
•Designed a storytelling route in the historic centre with information totems featuring local history, personal stories, archival images, and accessibility details.
•Transformed an abandoned green space into a new venue for social gatherings in collaboration with a local theatre festival
The project envisioned a future focused on participatory governance of public spaces, promoting local culture and creativity. It also developed a low-impact cultural tourism model highlighting the region’s diverse identities and offering an alternative narrative.
Key achievement:
•Identified a network of significant sites, blending historical landmarks with new community spaces.
•Co-created a tactical urbanism project, reclaiming part of the main square for pedestrians and social activities.
•Designed a storytelling route in the historic centre with information totems featuring local history, personal stories, archival images, and accessibility details.
•Transformed an abandoned green space into a new venue for social gatherings in collaboration with a local theatre festival
SMOTIES activated - in the 10 pilot areas, small and remote places in 10 EU countries - a network of local stakeholders (mayors, representatives of cultural and social organisations, entrepreneurs and proactive citizens) to gradually step into the context and build relationships with the social context and ease processes to boost local creativity. Each partner has chosen a specific small and remote place to focus their activities, covering various environmental locations (from the top of mountains to the seacoast), dimensions (from 30 to 1500 inhabitants), and distance from the cities. Opening a discussion about public spaces and economic resources in all contexts revived the citizens’ proactivity. These networks have been the beneficiaries and the interlocutors in pilots’ development. The project leverages the diversity of European regions, making it a model for cross-border collaboration and development. In 4 years, we achieved the following: 100 meetings with locals, 57 masterclasses with design students for defining solutions with locales, 55 prototyping studios with locals to experiment and realise the solutions, and 71 travelling talks to set the conversation with stakeholders, communicate the project and disseminate the results.
The involvement occurred through co-design sessions, focusing on collecting meanings (identifying significant words and concepts) of pre-existing usages of the local places while enabling the imagination of new possibilities. The aim is to enhance existing activities and support the emergence of new ones: leisure spaces for spontaneous activations, spaces for performances and cultural events, and elements for signposting and narrating the area through the words of citizens. In all pilots, SMOTIES regenerated public spaces with the involved communities, making indoor and outdoor places that were abandoned or misused into new spaces for gatherings, meetings, local events, performances, training on local crafts, and tourist promotion.
The involvement occurred through co-design sessions, focusing on collecting meanings (identifying significant words and concepts) of pre-existing usages of the local places while enabling the imagination of new possibilities. The aim is to enhance existing activities and support the emergence of new ones: leisure spaces for spontaneous activations, spaces for performances and cultural events, and elements for signposting and narrating the area through the words of citizens. In all pilots, SMOTIES regenerated public spaces with the involved communities, making indoor and outdoor places that were abandoned or misused into new spaces for gatherings, meetings, local events, performances, training on local crafts, and tourist promotion.
In the 10 countries, SMOTIES engaged with 22 non-profit cultural organisations, 10 local and regional institutions, 7 public organisations, 4 private organisations, and 8 local associations of citizens (social cooperatives, local tourist boards, local churches, voluntary associations).
At the local level, the co-creation sessions increased debates and building collaborative capabilities, experimenting with bottom-up governance models and increasing a proactive attitude toward the territory's future. At the regional level, activities enhanced the attractiveness of the territories beyond recognised assets, strengthening a sustainable tourism economy. At the international level, creating a network of remote places avoids the risk of becoming culturally and socially isolated, and opens opportunities for long-term economic development.
SMOTIES increased the creativity, social connections and sense of curiosity of the inhabitants. It created an international positioning of small villages within an EU context and increased local pride thanks to the revitalisation of public spaces that were once forgotten. The project has had a social impact because it allowed people from rural communities to interact with the municipality and external creative professionals to create a better environment for the present and to open new possibilities for the future. Moreover, some local associations and entrepreneurs have applied for calls for new projects and funding to keep up with the growth process triggered by SMOTIES.
All participants declared that the design process increased their understanding of the local culture, and 44% declared that it had increased greatly.
All declared that they believed the project method would contribute to more public participation in other planning and design projects.
89% declared that they would like to have a similar method of design and participation in another project. 78% declared that the design process helped them see new opportunities.
At the local level, the co-creation sessions increased debates and building collaborative capabilities, experimenting with bottom-up governance models and increasing a proactive attitude toward the territory's future. At the regional level, activities enhanced the attractiveness of the territories beyond recognised assets, strengthening a sustainable tourism economy. At the international level, creating a network of remote places avoids the risk of becoming culturally and socially isolated, and opens opportunities for long-term economic development.
SMOTIES increased the creativity, social connections and sense of curiosity of the inhabitants. It created an international positioning of small villages within an EU context and increased local pride thanks to the revitalisation of public spaces that were once forgotten. The project has had a social impact because it allowed people from rural communities to interact with the municipality and external creative professionals to create a better environment for the present and to open new possibilities for the future. Moreover, some local associations and entrepreneurs have applied for calls for new projects and funding to keep up with the growth process triggered by SMOTIES.
All participants declared that the design process increased their understanding of the local culture, and 44% declared that it had increased greatly.
All declared that they believed the project method would contribute to more public participation in other planning and design projects.
89% declared that they would like to have a similar method of design and participation in another project. 78% declared that the design process helped them see new opportunities.
The SMOTIES methodology investigates the physical, functional, and social dynamics of public intervention spaces within their broader contexts. Grounded in urban morphology, urban design, history, environmental psychology, and participatory design, it provides a framework for understanding how people interact with public spaces—where space, people, and actions are deeply intertwined. By integrating these disciplines, SMOTIES strengthens the sense of belonging, ensuring that interventions resonate with local communities and their lived experiences.
At its core, the project prioritizes designing with people rather than for them, emphasizing the role of collective memory, cultural heritage, and social rituals in shaping public space. It fosters dialogical, participatory, and inclusive transformations in rural areas, drawing on local intangible culture to create meaningful connections. The project emerges from local potential, mapping craftsmanship, traditions, narratives, and symbolic ties to shared spaces. This vision takes shape through a series of interconnected activities, including co-creation sessions, co-designed and prototyped scenarios, community engagement on pressing public issues, networking actions, and the promotion of democratic participation. The disciplines of Spatial, Service, and Strategic Design guide these processes, ensuring that interventions are context-sensitive and sustainable.
Additionally, SMOTIES applies environmental psychology to analyze how built and natural environments shape human experiences. This approach generates situated data, informing design decisions and enhancing the alignment between people, activities, and spaces. By deepening the understanding of these relationships, the project strengthens social ties, encourages active participation, and increases the long-term success of interventions.
At its core, the project prioritizes designing with people rather than for them, emphasizing the role of collective memory, cultural heritage, and social rituals in shaping public space. It fosters dialogical, participatory, and inclusive transformations in rural areas, drawing on local intangible culture to create meaningful connections. The project emerges from local potential, mapping craftsmanship, traditions, narratives, and symbolic ties to shared spaces. This vision takes shape through a series of interconnected activities, including co-creation sessions, co-designed and prototyped scenarios, community engagement on pressing public issues, networking actions, and the promotion of democratic participation. The disciplines of Spatial, Service, and Strategic Design guide these processes, ensuring that interventions are context-sensitive and sustainable.
Additionally, SMOTIES applies environmental psychology to analyze how built and natural environments shape human experiences. This approach generates situated data, informing design decisions and enhancing the alignment between people, activities, and spaces. By deepening the understanding of these relationships, the project strengthens social ties, encourages active participation, and increases the long-term success of interventions.
SMOTIES served us to reflect on the role of innovation and the relationship between the city and the periphery.
To design cultural innovations within public spaces in collaboration with stakeholders (SMOTIES aim), we developed an innovative and replicable Methodology Toolbox as a common ground for inclusive social transformations in rural territories. In the Toolbox, scenarios are used to allow actors involved in the decision-making process of a specific remote context to initiate a discussion, compare their views, and hopefully come to shared visions. The Toolbox is meant to provide experts with a refined set of tools to support participatory processes seeking to rebuild shared senses of belonging through public space regeneration in EU remote regions. Public spaces should not be exclusively associated with urban areas; rural communities also harbour squares and green areas as catalysts for social interaction. Rural communities, unfortunately, sometimes lack these and are also deprived of representative spaces where they may identify, assemble, and exercise their rights to participate.
In performing co-design through these tools, we realised that we were stimulating the imaginative and design capacity of the inhabitants based on the experience we gained in urban contexts. We had not realised that these contexts are often familiar but have not yet directly experienced participatory, radical, and horizontal forms of change to imagine significantly different futures. In this sense, the intention was not to find ways to replicate urban models of innovation but to take a step back in reviewing these so-called innovations in the light of a radically different context. We questioned the potentially different perceptions of what to consider innovative: what if the path of innovation does not align objectively with the direction indicated by cities? This guided us.
To design cultural innovations within public spaces in collaboration with stakeholders (SMOTIES aim), we developed an innovative and replicable Methodology Toolbox as a common ground for inclusive social transformations in rural territories. In the Toolbox, scenarios are used to allow actors involved in the decision-making process of a specific remote context to initiate a discussion, compare their views, and hopefully come to shared visions. The Toolbox is meant to provide experts with a refined set of tools to support participatory processes seeking to rebuild shared senses of belonging through public space regeneration in EU remote regions. Public spaces should not be exclusively associated with urban areas; rural communities also harbour squares and green areas as catalysts for social interaction. Rural communities, unfortunately, sometimes lack these and are also deprived of representative spaces where they may identify, assemble, and exercise their rights to participate.
In performing co-design through these tools, we realised that we were stimulating the imaginative and design capacity of the inhabitants based on the experience we gained in urban contexts. We had not realised that these contexts are often familiar but have not yet directly experienced participatory, radical, and horizontal forms of change to imagine significantly different futures. In this sense, the intention was not to find ways to replicate urban models of innovation but to take a step back in reviewing these so-called innovations in the light of a radically different context. We questioned the potentially different perceptions of what to consider innovative: what if the path of innovation does not align objectively with the direction indicated by cities? This guided us.
The methodology is a refined set of tools rigorously tested in the ten pilot contexts (within co-design workshops with locals) and replicable in EU remote regions seeking participatory processes to rebuild shared senses of belonging through public space regeneration, with attention to the careful preservation of future development of rural areas. The Toolbox has been based on interpreting existing data on remote well-being, rural region conditions, and challenges of the CCSs, as well as identifying current challenges and consequent EU strategic missions. It helped the partners to have a coherent approach with local people and to explore scenarios and design opportunities.
The toolbox consists of six kits designed to complement and synergize with each other. By leveraging the tools within each kit and integrating them across the system, project leaders can gain insights, set clear objectives, and evaluate their initiative’s social, cultural, economic, and environmental impacts. The methodology promotes a structured, iterative process that enables informed decision-making and maximizes positive project outcomes.
1. “Assets and challenges” to create a picture of the local relational situation and identify key individuals.
2. “Spatial morphology” to investigate the historical, contemporary, and functional aspects of the remote place’s natural and built environments.
3. “Envisioning futures” to identify opportunities for intervention in the form of scenarios. All scenarios use design-driven innovation to change perceptions of remote places from unproductive to value-driven cultural hubs.
4. “Public space of intervention” to investigate the public intervention space’s physical, functional, and social relations with respect to the broader place of interest.
5. “Vision and mission” to foresee, craft, and systematically shape site-specific futures.
6. “Impact assessment” to identify a project's possible impacts and legacies.
The toolbox consists of six kits designed to complement and synergize with each other. By leveraging the tools within each kit and integrating them across the system, project leaders can gain insights, set clear objectives, and evaluate their initiative’s social, cultural, economic, and environmental impacts. The methodology promotes a structured, iterative process that enables informed decision-making and maximizes positive project outcomes.
1. “Assets and challenges” to create a picture of the local relational situation and identify key individuals.
2. “Spatial morphology” to investigate the historical, contemporary, and functional aspects of the remote place’s natural and built environments.
3. “Envisioning futures” to identify opportunities for intervention in the form of scenarios. All scenarios use design-driven innovation to change perceptions of remote places from unproductive to value-driven cultural hubs.
4. “Public space of intervention” to investigate the public intervention space’s physical, functional, and social relations with respect to the broader place of interest.
5. “Vision and mission” to foresee, craft, and systematically shape site-specific futures.
6. “Impact assessment” to identify a project's possible impacts and legacies.
The SMOTIES TOOLBOX offers a replicable model for value-driven regeneration in marginalised regions, based on the methodology developed and tested. With the conclusion of SMOTIES, all partners reported that stakeholders had set up follow-up initiatives, strengthening its ripple effect beyond its end.
The Toolbox is an open platform for collaboration, and as such, it can be modified and adapted to specific contexts. In fact, this is a guide for project leaders. It has been designed to be flexible and allow for adapting tools and methods to contextual conditions. Therefore, while it is true that any project team can use this toolbox, it is also true that it requires creative abilities and is designed to be used by experts.
It has been prototyped in 10 remote places in 10 countries and in 4 European Higher Education programs.
However, tools can also be mixed and used in different order according to how project leaders intend to structure the design process, adapting it to the different contexts in which it will be applied.
We plan to continue testing it internationally and welcome feedback from professionals in various contexts.
The Toolbox is an open platform for collaboration, and as such, it can be modified and adapted to specific contexts. In fact, this is a guide for project leaders. It has been designed to be flexible and allow for adapting tools and methods to contextual conditions. Therefore, while it is true that any project team can use this toolbox, it is also true that it requires creative abilities and is designed to be used by experts.
It has been prototyped in 10 remote places in 10 countries and in 4 European Higher Education programs.
However, tools can also be mixed and used in different order according to how project leaders intend to structure the design process, adapting it to the different contexts in which it will be applied.
We plan to continue testing it internationally and welcome feedback from professionals in various contexts.
Remote areas are frequently marked by social divisions, or distinct social groups suffer from economic challenges because of local and global crises, such as financial crisis, austerity measures, and the expansion of previously existing rural marginalization during the COVID-19 pandemic. These variables play a crucial role in isolating these places. Nowadays, the primary causes of rural marginalization must be attributed not only to geography but also to the lack of access to resources resulting from a lack of socioeconomic and political connections (“connectivity”), and, hence, of relational remoteness.
Based on long-term thinking, the foresight process translates future global uncertainties detected in the present into future trends and challenges. Looking far into the future, we can understand the challenges of uncertainty and come back with guidelines to develop situated project pathways in present situations. They serve as narrative and thematic lenses through which we can look into the future to regenerate remote places into more liveable environments.
Based on long-term thinking, the foresight process translates future global uncertainties detected in the present into future trends and challenges. Looking far into the future, we can understand the challenges of uncertainty and come back with guidelines to develop situated project pathways in present situations. They serve as narrative and thematic lenses through which we can look into the future to regenerate remote places into more liveable environments.
The fact that around a situated work that has taken a long time to listen, co-design a shared vision, gather local narratives and translate the project into a tangible form, the prompt activation of the experimentation reveals that we have found ways to re-articulate the possibility of a renewed sense of belonging. Here are insights from some pilots to give an overview of how the SMOTIES’ actions improved it.
UK: Oriel Machno (abandoned shop turned into a community place) hosts workshops blending creativity and skill-building, from field recording to 3D printing with river clay. These workshops, tied to local natural and cultural heritage, leave a lasting impact, showcasing results to the village. A local craft group was also established, receiving business and artistic training, and now successfully sells their work year-round, creating tangible economic benefits.
AUSTRIA: As soon as it became clear that the market square would again belong to everyone and not just to motorised traffic as it used to be, the locales codesigned a concept for the square. And the plan is to continue and, above all, to create a permanent situation. A citizen declared: “People want to come and do things in the square. It would have been great when I was still a teenager, doing my things and hanging out with people.” Where did she hang out? “I didn’t.” Now, it is possible again.
ITALY: Here, we collected stories from villagers, plotted them onto maps, and created storytelling walks around places that normally people would not really know without talking with someone from the village. Many important places for the villagers were for outsiders anonymous in the sense that they were like a tree or a field or a specific spot on a specific side of a hill. One villager declared: “SMOTIES approach has led us to consider our small village and ourselves as parts of an interconnected social fabric. This perspective has motivated us to broaden our initiatives to neighbor villages”.
UK: Oriel Machno (abandoned shop turned into a community place) hosts workshops blending creativity and skill-building, from field recording to 3D printing with river clay. These workshops, tied to local natural and cultural heritage, leave a lasting impact, showcasing results to the village. A local craft group was also established, receiving business and artistic training, and now successfully sells their work year-round, creating tangible economic benefits.
AUSTRIA: As soon as it became clear that the market square would again belong to everyone and not just to motorised traffic as it used to be, the locales codesigned a concept for the square. And the plan is to continue and, above all, to create a permanent situation. A citizen declared: “People want to come and do things in the square. It would have been great when I was still a teenager, doing my things and hanging out with people.” Where did she hang out? “I didn’t.” Now, it is possible again.
ITALY: Here, we collected stories from villagers, plotted them onto maps, and created storytelling walks around places that normally people would not really know without talking with someone from the village. Many important places for the villagers were for outsiders anonymous in the sense that they were like a tree or a field or a specific spot on a specific side of a hill. One villager declared: “SMOTIES approach has led us to consider our small village and ourselves as parts of an interconnected social fabric. This perspective has motivated us to broaden our initiatives to neighbor villages”.
