The ‘Public Transport as Public Space’ (PUTSPACE) project is pleased to announce the project’s Summer Symposium, taking place in Görlitz/Zgorzelec, Germany/Poland, on October 27 – 31 2021.
The symposium focuses on ‘Diverse Narrations, Experiences and Contestations of Public transport in European Cities’. The five-day event brings together experts, early and mid-career researchers, artists and practitioners engaging with public transport from diverse more-than-engineering perspectives to understand the public space qualities of public transport (PT). Public transport is positioned at the frontline of contesting what is, can be, or should be public in the city. The symposium brings participants together with four objectives in mind: to critically conceptualise and analyse what kind of public space PT is; to understand urban transformations by attending to PT as one of the most intense and contentious public spaces; to offer a localised and historicised perspective on transformations of public space by examining narratives, experiences and contestations over PT in different European cities; and to contribute to PT-related research and practice in civic mobilisation, planning and policy.
Participants will be invited to engage in inter- and trans-disciplinary debates on the more-than-engineering perspectives on PT, reaching beyond a solely academic audience. Hence, the programme envisions a broad range of workshops and public discussions with the aim of improving participants’ research, communication and activist skills.
The symposium will also engage actively with the local public transport system in the city of Görlitz/Zgorzelec. Conducting small fieldwork trips and public events, the aim is to actively trace the multi-sited assemblage of the local binational transport networks characterised by regulatory challenges, available and anticipated infrastructure, political pitfalls and cooperation practices, citizens dialogues and struggles.
The organisers offer travel grants to selected applicants.
