Last week I was asked to give a short speech at the “Dag van het Stationsgebied” (Day of the central station area) in Nijmegen, the kick-off of the public campaign for a large redevelopment project in the area of the central statin. In this talk about my research within the ‘On the Move’ project I spoke about why active participation is so important in complex projects such as the sustainable redevelopment of the station area. Additionally, I introduced the audience to some forms of participation that might be a bit less dusty then the classic Dutch consultation evening a lot of people might instantly think of.
Although I do not (yet) know the answer to the question what the ‘best’ form of participation is, I do hope there will be a place for everyone to actively think about what their future may look like: whether it is through an intensive citizen summit, an accessible digital participatory value evaluation or an already ongoing neighborhood council. The different creative ways of participation I saw at the “Dag van het Stationsgebied” give me hope for an active participation in a more sustainable future!
Thank you for all the interesting questions and points for discussion, audience and Neeltje van Camp. Additional thanks for the invitation Maike de Lange, Jasper Meekes and Marjo van Ginneken.
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