Workshop (1.3)

Poznan | January 2021

The research workshop at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland took place from 22nd to 26th February 2021. Due to the covid-19 pandemic situation in Europe the workshop was organised as fully online event. The workshop aimed to present and discuss the following topics:

  • overview of the shrinking cities processes and outcomes in post-socialist countries,
  • discussion on case studies of shrinking cities in East-Central Europe,
  • comparative analysis of case studies from various institutional contexts (cases from Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, North America, Russia, China).

In order to cover above-mentioned topics the following guest speakers were involved:

  • Maria Gunko (Russian Academy of Sciences)Manuel Wolff (Humboldt University of Berlin)
  • Chung-Tong Wu (University of Western Sydney)
  • Szymon Marcińczak (University of Łódź)Vlad Mykhnenko (University of Oxford)
  • Chung-Tong Wu (University of Western Sydney)
  • Agata Zysiak (University of Warsaw)
  • Philip Laurie (Three Words, Detroit)
  • Steven Oliver (Three Words, Detroit)

The research workshop was organized in three main parts. The first part was a PhD colloquim, which served as a follow-up to the previous event in Dortmund, which focused on research design and case study methods. ESR presentations included a concise summary of the updated research design and case study selection strategy in addition to a discussion of select quantitative or qualitative research methods. The second part of the research workshop consisted of theoretical presentations and specialist lectures. Invited speakers were focusing on drivers, specificities and geographies of urban shrinkage in post-socialist Europe, as well as strategies and tools for dealing with shrinking cities in the ‘Global East’ (China and Russia), as well as smart shrinkage solutions. In the third part, the ESRs attended break-out sessions and analytical training Break-out sessions and analytical training on environmental justice in shrinking cities and on designing resilient cities. In addition to the main parts of the workshop, a screening of the documentary film “After the factory” comparing post-industrial life of two shrinking cities: Detroit (USA) and Łódź (Poland) was organised followed by the discussion with film creators and experts. Before the workshop, a meetings of the Project Coordination Team and Supervisory Board took place.

Agenda

Impressions of the Event

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 813803