{"id":35859,"date":"2025-12-01T13:48:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/?p=35859"},"modified":"2026-09-30T11:07:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:07:49","slug":"transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/2025\/12\/transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"NSL Colloquium: Working on Transformation \u2013 An International Forum on Urban Planning as Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

12 & 13 March 2026 | ETH Z\u00fcrich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Spring 2026 NSL Colloquium Working on Transformation \u2013 An International Forum on Urban Planning as Learning<\/em> will bring together specialists from various disciplines to reconceptualise urban planning as a process of collective learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can urban planning be understood not only as the projection of a desired future, but as a shared learning process that unfolds over time? Urban planning is often understood as an individual\u2019s or group\u2019s ability to envisage a certain future and integrate it into the present. However, even if this process is informed by other disciplines, participation, dialogue, collective imagination, and learning rarely lie at its heart. This forum will explore urban transformation as a series of open-ended learning moments that evolve alongside the project itself, enabling agile responses and the constant evolution of the initial question or brief. It will also explore how design education can model such processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The forum aims to expand and refine the range of tools and approaches used by architects and urban planners to guide and design processes. It will offer new perspectives from other disciplines and encourage reflection on the role of the architect as a facilitator and mediator. The forum is based on the premise that we can design and develop more inclusive and livable environments by creating a continuous feedback loop between learning and planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various formats will be combined, including keynote lectures offering diverse perspectives on learning, site visits and experimental workshop sessions in which concepts and insights will be applied to case studies. There will also be moments of active reflection. Through these different formats, the forum itself will create learning moments and insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Programme<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thursday 12 March 2026
ETH Z\u00fcrich, H\u00f6nggerberg, HIL H 40.4 (Plaza), Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, 8093 Z\u00fcrich<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong>
09:00 Introduction: Urban Planning as Learning; Lukas Fink, Michiel van Iersel, Freek Persyn
10:00 Learning as Festivity; Kat\u00eda Truijen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

10:30 Break \/ Exercise<\/p>\n\n\n\n

META FRAMING
<\/strong>11:00 Collective Imagination; Tania Zittoun, Universit\u00e9 de Neuch\u00e2tel<\/a>
11:25 The Avuncular Institution; Darren O\u2019Donnel, Mammalian Diving Reflex<\/a>
11:50 On the Relationship between Learning and Changing; Elena P. Antonacopoulou, American University of Beirut<\/a>
12:15 Q&A; Tania Zittoun, Darren O\u2019Donnell, Elena P. Antonacopoulou<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12:30 Lunch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EXAMPLES FROM PRACTICE<\/strong>
13:30 Countermapping as a Tool for Collective Learning; Omar Nagati \u2013 Cluster Cairo<\/a>
13:55 Two Adaptive Infrastructure projects by 51N4E; Dieter Leyssen<\/a>
14:20 Play the City; Ekim Tan<\/a>
14:45 Q&A; Omar Nagati, Dieter Leyssen, Ekim Tan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15:00 Coffee
15:30 Travel Time<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16:00\u201318:00 SITE VISITS<\/strong> (in 3 groups)
\u2013 Site Visit 1: Europabr\u00fccke: Landscapes of Adaptive Infrastructure
\u2013 Site Visit 2: D\u00fcbendorf: Densifying An Accidental Garden City
\u2013 Site Visit 3: Between Food Production and Public Space: Agroecological Transition in Zurich<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AP\u00c9RO AND BOOKLAUNCH<\/strong>
19:00-20:30 Ap\u00e9ro Riche & Book Launch \u201cNegotiating Infrastructure\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday 13 March 2026
ETH Z\u00fcrich, Oerlikon, ONA E7 (Fokushalle), Neunbrunnenstrasse 50, 8050 Z\u00fcrich<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

WORKSHOPS<\/strong>
09:00 Coffee + Gipfeli
09:30 Introduction of the Day; Re-cap Previous Day
10:00 Workshops (in 3 groups, choose same as site visit)
\u2013 Case 1: Europabr\u00fccke: Landscapes of Adaptive Infrastructure
\u2013 Case 2: D\u00fcbendorf: Densifying An Accidental Garden City
\u2013 Case 3: Between Food Production and Public Space: Agroecological Transition in Zurich<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12:00 Lunch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REFLECTION & OUTLOOK<\/strong>
13:30 Reports from the Workshops
14:30 Panel: Planning as Learning
16:00 Reflection on the Two Conference Days and Outlook to potential next steps
16:30 Coffee\/Ap\u00e9ro<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More information on the site visits will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"NEWROPE,
NEWROPE, \u201cA Room of Entanglements\u201d, designing moments of exchange between students and the Zurich urban planning administration, Zurich, 2022. Foto: Philip Frowein \u00a9 ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"NEWROPE,
NEWROPE, \u201cPerformative Mock-up\u201d, creating 1:1 tests and interventions of collective learning in a car factory, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 2022 \u00a9 ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"NEWROPE,
NEWROPE, \u201cTasting Tools of Transformation: The Curated Dinner as a Planning Instrument\u201d, Freiburg, 2022. Foto: Jana Slaby \u00a9 ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Palle
Palle Nielsen, \u201cThe Model \u2013 A Model for a Qualitative Society\u201d, Moderna Museet Stockholm, 1968 \u00a9 Palle Nielsen. Source: https:\/\/img.macba.cat\/public\/document\/2020-04\/palle-nielsen-doble-eng.pdf<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

12 & 13 March 2026 | ETH Z\u00fcrich.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20],"tags":[],"departemente":[138,159,189],"keywords":[],"newsletter_ausgabe":[615],"class_list":["post-35859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kolloquium","category-veranstaltungen","departemente-departement-architektur-d-arch","departemente-institut-fuer-landschaft-und-urbane-studien-lus","departemente-prof-freek-persyn-institut-fuer-landschaft-und-urbane-studien-lus","newsletter_ausgabe-nl-68"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35859"},{"taxonomy":"departemente","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/departemente?post=35859"},{"taxonomy":"keywords","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keywords?post=35859"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter_ausgabe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.nsl.ethz.ch\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter_ausgabe?post=35859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}