On March 11-13, 2024, the participants of the programme met in Cork, Ireland, for the fifth step of the programme. The title of this working session was “From short term to long term”. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the implications of transitioning from short-term placemaking interventions to a more strategic, long-term, and comprehensive approach. Over the course of these three days of workshops, we examined various timeframes and time cycles within which we operate. We tried to define the long term values we are striving for and also explore what short term actions we can take now to achieve these long term goals, and what attitudes and behaviours are needed from us to create sustainable change. Furthermore, we delved into the transformative potential of placemaking and explored methods to effectively measure and define its impact in a manner that signifies meaningful and valuable transformation.
The objectives for this workshop were:
- to discuss the differences between short-term and long-term placemaking approaches;
- to identify the key elements of a comprehensive, long-term placemaking strategy and explore how placemaking (thinking) can help to sustain attitudinal and behavioural change over time;
- to develop a basic framework for moving from short-term to long-term placemaking approaches;
- to identify how to measure the transformative impact of placemaking and conduct an evaluation of placemaking interventions.
In addition to the working sessions, we also explored the city of Cork. Cork is Ireland’s second largest city, and a busy port, a hub of industry, located in the south-western corner of the country. It is home to 2 Universities, 2 Cathedrals, countless Dragon boats and an annual Marathon. Cork is an exciting place to work, live, visit and study. Project Ireland 2040, the National Planning framework for Ireland, identifies Cork as a key urban growth area, with ambitious targets of at least 50% growth between now and 2040. This presents a challenging task for the city planners, but also for the multi-disciplinary teams and stakeholders. The current Cork’s development is focussed on maintaining its status not only as a WHO Healthy City and UNESCO Learning City, but also as a City of Welcomes, where newcomers and long-time Corkonians feel safe, heard, included and cared for in our City.
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