I was one of the local hosts during the RiverCity International Workshop. We were a group of 11 university student volunteers and each of us was responsible to assist one of the participating teams during the workshop.
Bellow I present my personal reflections on this workshop:
First impression
Our roles as local hosts were not totally clear. This was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. So my strategy to deal with such a situation was to be a perfect listener in the first day in order to evaluate the situation and find my place. So I made no comments of any kind and just helped with whatever I asked to do. I was almost invisible. That actually helped a lot since the situation was totally different than what I expected.
I was assigned to work with West8 team. Two of this team’s members were from White Architects in Gothenburg. They were totally familiar with the city and the project. Besides, they had already started thework with a bicycle tour all around the project areas the day before the workshop started. In addition, all the members had prepared fifteen-minute presentation of their area of expertise and proposed preliminary solutions for the problems. It seemed there was going to be no place for me in that team. The problem seemed so serious that I even asked Adelina, our coordinator, if I can work with another group where I could be more useful. Fortunately, later that proved to be totally unnecessary.
But how? Well, I changed my strategy. From the next day I dived into discussions which I found interesting. I had nothing to lose. Surprisingly, it worked and by the last day of the workshop I became part of the group, commenting in the discussions and even producing illustrations for their final presentation. I could even use my previous knowledge from my master thesis. It was actually about the same topics discussed in the workshop. The skills I developed during my education in the field of architecture and urban design also came in handy.
How teams worked
It was interesting to see how different teams had different composition of various expertises and how different approaches they used resulted in wide range of viewpoints on same issues. West8, the team I was working with, consisted of two urban designers from Netherlands, one architect and one professional environmentalist from Gothenburg, a traffic planner from Spain, a sociologist from Denmark and two specialist in scenario making and investigating future of cities from Norway and Stockholm. Such a composition, in my opinion, was a very wise choice and helped them to cover all range of issues and problems raised during the workshop. As I mentioned before they started the work with a bicycle tour over the project areas the day before the workshop started and in the first day of the workshop each member of the team presented his/her ideas on the project. Every day they started early and worked until late at night. They were very competitive and ambitious. But unfortunately, it was not possible for them to present all their ideas in just 10 minutes. Hopefully, they will make up for it in the report.
Project group and organization of the workshop
I learned so much and had such a rewarding experience. This would have been impossible without the support from the project group. I believe they did a brilliant job in terms of successfully organizing the workshop itself as well as the side events such as boat tour along the river, dinner at Eriksberg, evening seminars at Älvrummet and the farewell party in the last day.
The chosen venue for the workshop, Rådhuset, was perfectly suited for such an event. It is well situated in the center of Gothenburg and it has this great hall which well accommodated all the groups. There are also rooms around the big hall which used as a backstage space. The project group staffs were very helpful and friendly. You could always find someone to answer your questions or help you handle an unexpected situation. However, one could still wish for more facilities such as some computers for local hosts, more internet connections for teams and local hosts, or even special sketch pens.
In addition, the events organized beside the workshop were as important and effective as the workshop itself. The bout tour along the river in the first day helped everybody grasp a thorough picture of the project areas and understand the situation quickly and accurately. Four evening seminars at Älvrummet presented by the members of advisory board were also in my opinion very successful in terms of attracting and involving those from the field of urban planning and design who are interested in the future of their city but did not have the possibility to attend the workshop.
Strong points and weaknesses
One of the strongest points in the workshop was active presence of the advisory board. I believe it played an important role in the success of the workshop. Without them this workshop would have turned into a big cruel competition where everybody tries to just please the politicians and forget about the important issues in the city.
Moreover, full-time presence of the experts with wide range of competencies shows municipality’s high level of commitment to Centrala Älvstaden project and this workshop. This means that Gothenburg’s politicians most likely are determined to take the results into account. However, that should not prevent us from questioning the absence of politicians in the final presentations and discussions.
Where to go from here
I believe organizing this workshop was the first step into creating an inclusive city. Two years ago I know a little about this city, but by attending this workshop I am now more than ever interested in Gothenburg’s future. From now on I will follow all the news and discussions about the development of Gothenburg’s center, no matter where I live. I bet many others feel the same. However, the second step is as important as the first one. It is the continuation of this approach that in my opinion makes Centrala Älvstaden a real success. Otherwise, it would be just another project in the archive, like many others. So far Centrala Älvstaden was successful in attracting the attention of those who are already in this business i.e. Urban planning and design. The critical issue is to convince the public and more importantly the politicians that what experts are trying to say is actually good for everybody and it worth investing on.
Looking forward to a bright future for Gothenburg and other cities which follow Gothenburg’s footsteps
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