Urban Collaboratory: Constructing Learning Infrastructures

Viadrinicum is an annual summer school at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), devoted to the countries of the Eastern Partnership and the larger context of Central and Eastern Europe. Building on the discussions around the notion of learning city during the last year’s edition, in 2024 the school focuses on urban space as the space for various (un)learning practices, activating different modes of knowing, sensing and being/becoming together.
It invites students, young researchers, civil society activists, artists and cultural workers to critically reflect upon the experiences of (un)learning as a vehicle of urban transformation through constant re-imagining of the cityscape contours and trajectories. Attentive to the promises of participatory pedagogics and spatial aspects of knowledge production, the school looks into the ways how learning infrastructures are constructed through institutions of formal and non-formal education, as well as into their potential for creating diverse and transgenerational learning communities.
Following the idea of experiential learning, a combination of academic and nonacademic formats will allow the participants of the school to actively explore the possibilities for a dialogue between different kinds of knowledge from academia, civil society and the arts.
In a more practical sense, the school offers opportunities for applied experimentation in the setting of a participatory urban intervention engaging local communities in the heart of the German-Polish twin city Frankfurt (Oder)-Słubice. This happens in the frame of three lab.workshops (Community.Lab, Doc.Lab, Planners.Lab), where the participants will be able to develop their own small (team) projects with the assistance of facilitators from the respective fields.
Besides that, the school‘s program features round tables with researchers from the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS, Berlin), film screenings, public events, and Open Space sessions, where participants will have a chance to discuss their own academic, civic or cultural work.

Course leader

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Target group

Students and young researchers from any discipline, civil society activists, artists, cultural workers and practitioners from any field (up to 35 y/o).

Application requirements:

• You are a student, a PhD candidate, an NGO activist or an artist up to 35 y/o;
• You have a genuine interest in transsectoral and transdisciplinary approaches to the topics of the school;
• Your knowledge of English is sufficient to take an active part in discussions.

Course aim

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Credits info

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Fee info

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Scholarships

Successful applicants will be able to receive a travel scholarship. Accommodation costs will be covered by the organizers.