Why & How

Why & How

Kathréptis: Why & How

February 27, 2015, 7:07 pm
20 November, 2015
Athens | Greece
Athens | Greece

Kathréptis (mirror, in Greek) is an international gathering held in Athens on November 20 to discuss culture, people and cities in a groundbreaking way.

A group of varied people (from Athens, other European cities and beyond) worked together one full day to look for new, innovative and potentially disruptive answers to an ambitious, timeliness and universal challenge:

How engaged people in culture and citizenship can come together to enhance the life of those living in the city?
And how this can happen in the historical moment we are living in?

Some guests – intensively engaged in transforming their cities – acted as “mirrors” in specific moment of this process in order to provoke imagination, not to give solutions.

The gathering spirit is “cut and try” – more than simply “copy and paste”.

PROGRAMME

 

THE AIM
To gather a group of varied people (from Athens, other European cities and beyond) willing to look for new, innovative and potentially disruptive answers to an ambitious, timeliness and universal challenge:
How engaged people in culture and citizenship can come together to enhance the life of those living in the city? And how to create them in the historical moment we are living in?
Cities today represent the front-line of all tensions, possibilities and hopes. It is where the battle for sustainability will be won or lost. We believe culture (not limited to artistic expression) has the indisputable potential to help develop those capabilities that make human beings able to deal with this societal and historical transition.

THE FOCUS
To collectively answer questions such us: what kind of cultural life do cities (and citizens) need today? What are the conditions that facilitate it? What kinds of relationships are necessary to make it happen? How do they need to be developed and structured? With what objectives, patterns and elements?
The answers that come from the Athenians’ radical needs and imagination can be essentials both to Athens itself and to the whole Europe.

THE PEOPLE
Anyone who is highly involved in the cultural life of the city (both from Athens and elsewhere, from the cultural sector or from the broader civil society, from the grassroots, the Academia, the institutions…) is invited to participate and contribute. Some inspirational guests from other experiences and cities of the world (Europe, Central and South America) have been invited to join and will work hands-on with others to answer the questions at the core of this gathering.

Participation is free. However, to ensure the best conditions for a collaborative work, some rules of engagement must be respected by all participants. Read them here before registering.

THE FORMAT
The process and the programme are being designed around the principles of collaborative problem solving and discovery-driven learning. They will allow heterogeneous people from different backgrounds to contribute taking stock of their own experiences. Participants will be involved in small groups working sessions, as well as large group discussions. Inspirational guests will incite dialogues, share their stories and support the group in the sense-making activity. Everyone will be asked to contribute in a very active manner.
The architecture of the gathering results of an intense period spent on the ground in Athens, in which we met cultural practitioners, theorists, urban planners, sociologists, activists, citizens and many more.

CAE_people_working
Kathreptis

Auspices


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