June was a busy month for Linnalabor. We hosted the annual international INURA conference and also the international Grundtvig LLP workshop „Urban Activism in Post-Socialist Cities“ which took place on 14 – 20 June 2012 in Tallinn, Estonia. There were 15 participants from 15 different countries in the workshop, aiming to share their experiences and explore the questions and issues of urban activism in the post-socialist context in Estonia and other European countries. The workshop consisted of lectures and excursions in different local neighbourhoods in Tallinn, for example Northern-Tallinn, Uus-Maailm, Kadriorg and Lasnamäe. The participants also had the chance to attend some lectures on the INURA conference. To put their experience and knowledge into practice, the participants were given the task to come up with ideas, interventions or solutions how to make the urban life more active in three ’less active’ districts in Tallinn. The participants worked in three groups and presented their ideas within excursions to the chosen areas – namely Rotermanni Quarter, Lasnamäe and Keldrimäe. The possible solutions included for example a strawberry picnic in Keldrimäe, a call for local inhabitants to reclaim their space in Keldrimäe and a discussion over ’privatised’ public space in Rotermanni. As the main outcome of the workshop the participants learned new ways to stay active and encourage urban activism in their local surroundings.

You can read the reports from the group works and see the photos on the project's home page . Also, architect Elo Kiivet will give an overview of the workshop in the next urbanists' newsletter U.

Linnalabor would like the thank all the participants and the lecturers for an active and inspirng week together, and also the Grundtvig LLP programme for making this workshop happen!