The network day, jointly sponsored by ACHI and CUS, between urban scholars based at the social sciences and humanities, was, to say the least, an energetic experience! After a convivial start around the lunch table we were treated with an exhilarating torrent of one-minute presentations of the research engagements of all those present. Plenty of commonalities and complementarities became instantly and literally apparent. We went on to explore these in three rounds of one-to-one ‘impromptu networking’, followed by a plenary discussion. Themes for further discussion were generated. After a well-deserved coffee break we went on to work on these themes in mixed teams of social scientists and humanity scholars. The dynamic at the tables was great and impossible to summarize, but the posters can give an impression. Ideas for future collaborations emerging from the exchanges ranged from articulating an incipient ‘visual turn’ in urban studies, to developing an interdisciplinary methodology to study the urban commons, jointly reflect on the meanings and materialities of urban infrastructures, ways to expose and cultivate instances of de-commodification in the contemporary city, construct an historical perspective on citizen participation, map the big data traces of people in cites, and integrate soft and hard sources in hybrid geographical historical information systems. What more could you wish for? Not much, and so it was time for thanking those organizing and facilitating the event (above all Jelke Bosma (CUS) and Romy Beck (ACHI)), and of course, for drinks!
We are now ready for the next step: a joint seed grant call to bring further these ideas for collaboration, or other ideas that might have arisen since. Here you can find the call text. Take your chance!