A Conference on Co-Creation and Heritage like the FCIC’24 turns out to be a fascinating place to explore connections between past and present, material and immaterial, culture and nature, and the impossibility (or even irrelevance) of these dualities. It was a pleasure to take part in this conference, where I could share research from the Minante project, as well as hold a workshop that explored very similar methodologies as those that will be used for the Mobile Worlds workshops.

The presentation for the Minante project was titled “Tactical Urbanism Goes Rural: co-creating water Heritage in the public space surrounding the Neiva River’s ‘Minante’”. It explored the ways that tactical co-creation can impact a rural area, in terms of reactivating heritage and meaningful relations between societies and with nature, as well as enabling inter-generational connections. For Mobile Worlds these insights are especially interesting in the way that they relate the power of hands-on and inter-generational work, but also the elements that were crucial to making this project a success: the rootedness of the local NGO (Rio Neiva – ADA), the unique beauty and meaningful history of the location for the local population, and the involvement of enthusiastic teachers from local schools. These insights have been crucial for informing how Mobile Worlds can approach its local activities and workshops.

The workshop, about Cultures of Water, used a series of methodologies that will also likely resurface in the Mobile Worlds workshops. These included individual and group sharing of experiences via post-its and storytelling, uncovering imaginaries and utopias for the future, and exploring writing (poetry and narrative) and collage to express all this. One take-away from the experience was the importance of allowing time to connect to the topic in the beginning at a personal level, and to show that there is no judgement among participants. Another important take-away was that the preparation of a wrap-up moment at the end of the workshop is just as important as preparing a good introduction. These take-aways will be extremely useful for the preparation and execution of the Mobile Worlds workshops!

A big thank you to all avid listeners for the presentation and the lively and engaged participants at the workshop! And thanks also to the Conference organisers – there were truly great moments for inspiration.