Symposium - Community Co-Creation

Where are spaces of encounters in our communities? Are these spaces similar in rural and urban areas or do they even exist in our local environment?

We welcome you at the library in Grófin after an exploration journey around Iceland that included stops in libraries, museums, cultural centers, and artist residencies in urban and rural regions. At the symposium you will get to know the partners and their experiences in the project Community Co-Creation, where they explored the possible impact of art methods in working with immigrant communities.

14:00-15:00 - Co-Creation in Public Spaces

• Aija Burdikova, Muncipal Library of Akureyri, Akureyri
• Elísa Elíasdóttir, The Library of Rangæinga, Hvolsvöllur
• Vaida Bražiūnaitė, The Museum of Everyday Life, Ísafjörður
• Lara Hoffmann and Anna Wojtyńska, project managers from the University of Iceland and researchers of the project Community Co-Creation, present findings from the exploration journey around Iceland´s cultural spaces.

15:00 - 16:00 Transforming a Space into a Place - Placemaking

Jesper Koefoed-Melson from Vidalocal in Denmark introduces his placemaking method – a co-creative process with communities to transform spaces into places for people. Jesper will go into the different phases of the placemaking to give us an idea of how to build sustainable cities through community. One example of being the Kulturdistriktet – that is a vision, an urban area and an organization that creates art and cultural experiences in Copenhagen.

This symposium is a unique opportunity to reflect and re-evaluate the purposes and usage of public spaces like libraries, museums, cultural centers, and artist residencies in urban and rural regions. How can cultural institutions in the context of mobility and migration become spaces of encounters especially in some rural areas where there is a lack of meeting spaces

Partners contributing to the exchange at Reykjavík City Library

• Amtsbókasafn Akureyri
• Blábankinn á Þingeyri
• Bókasafn Héraðsbúa - Egilsstaðir
• Bókasafn Húsavíkur
• Bókasafn Ísafjarðar
• Héraðsbókasafn Rangæinga - Hvolsvöllur
• Hversdagssafn á Ísafirði
• Westfjord Residency - Þingeyri
• Sláturhúsið á Egilsstöðum

The project is conducted in collaboration with the University of Iceland and was supported by Bókasafnasjóður and Byggðarannsóknasjóður.

The Facebook-page of the event