[ecrea] CFP RGS-IBG 2014 Utopia and the City: imagining futures through a co-production of thought and practice

Utopia and the City: imagining futures through a co-production of 
thought and practice

Sponsored by HPGRG


Dr Matthew Collins (University of Sheffield)


How can we break down barriers between academia and the wider civic 
sphere, in order to forge a collaborative series of utopian visions and 
hopes for the future? This session has two sections: a series of papers 
that reflect upon the thought and practice of co-production; and a 
roundtable discussion between academics and artists that will explore 
issues of co-production between them, and how such an approach might 
help to invigorate the urban civic realm. The session will have a 
strongly urban focus, including contemporary and historical content. 
Papers are sought from anyone engaged in – or reflecting on – the 
process of co-producing knowledge with communities, artists, activists 
or any other civic actors in cities.


Papers should speak to one or more of the following themes:

·         The theory and concepts underlying co-production

·         The practice of co-production of knowledge in cities (for 
example, with the aim of reimagining urban life or bringing to light its 
injustices)

·         The effects of co-producing knowledge on the co-producers’ 
ways of thinking about civic society and utopia

·         The potentials of co-producing arts, art-related knowledge and 
arts practices for urban societies

·         The co-production of knowledge about urban materialities and 
architectural forms with those who live through/within them

·         What a co-produced utopian city would look like and how it 
would work

·         The importance of hope, and its co-production, in times of 
austerity and inequality


The roundtable will involve participants from the project ‘Imagine: 
connecting communities through research”, including artists and 
academics from its Sheffield-based strands 
(http://www.imaginecommunity.org.uk/project3), as well as an external 
discussant. Roundtable participants will be invited to reflect on their 
experiences and conceptualisations of co-production, and their visions 
of minor or major utopian urbanisms. The debate will speak back to the 
papers from the first session as well as looking forward to future 
questions.


Please send a 250-word abstract and your contact details to 
(matthew.collins /at/ northampton.ac.uk) by 7th February 2014.

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