Another Generation of Young Professionals Successfully Completes the “Planning Cities of the Future” Summer School

The main objective of the CLIMove Summer School was to educate participants on planning and implementing measures aimed at sustainable mobility in cities, with an emphasis on transport and spatial planning and participatory processes in urban planning. Over several intensive days, participants, with the support of mentors, combined thematic lectures, practical workshops, fieldwork, discussions with users and team development of solutions. Šibenik served as a real learning space – a kind of outdoor classroom where ideas were immediately connected to a concrete urban context.

We started the summer school on Sunday when the students who had already arrived had the opportunity to get to know each other during an informal get-together at the St. John’s Fortress, where we were also joined by the ChargeUp 2.0 summer school participants.

The first working day began with an introduction to the participants, mentors and the summer school program, as well as introductory thematic presentations that opened up key issues related to sustainable mobility, public space, urban development and citizen involvement in planning.

The participants then brainstormed in teams to envision the city of the future and defined what a quality, accessible, safe and sustainable urban space means to them in the context of the challenge they had chosen.

They then learned about the design thinking approach and methods focused on understanding user needs through an interactive workshop. The teams then defined the areas of work, methodology and participatory methods they would use during the field research.

The second day was dedicated to communication skills and fieldwork. The morning part of the program was held at the Polytechnic of Šibenik, where we again established cooperation with the ChargeUp 2.0 summer school, and the participants participated in an interactive workshop on public speaking, pitching and presentation skills. The workshop helped them to structure their messages more clearly, adapt them to different audiences and present their ideas more confidently.

This was followed by a study tour. The participants took a bus to Jadrija, and then returned to Šibenik by boat, observing different forms of movement and spatial relationships in the city and its surroundings.

The teams then independently explored the selected challenges – mapping the space, recording observations, talking to users, and analyzing the way people use public space and different forms of mobility. The collected findings served as a starting point for further analysis and development of the proposal.

The third day of the summer school was dedicated to analyzing the collected data and intensive teamwork. With the support of the mentors, the participants systematized field observations, interviews, and notes, and identified key needs and problems. They then defined the next steps and began to design solutions that respond to the identified challenges.

The fourth day was reserved for further development of solutions and preparation of final presentations. Participants finalized their proposals, created visuals and practiced how they would present the results of their work to the public. The emphasis was on ensuring that the solutions were clearly argued, understandable and linked to the findings of the field research.

The fifth and final day was dedicated to presenting the results, exchanging experiences and jointly reflecting on the future of sustainable mobility in coastal cities. At the public event “Coastal Cities Mobility Renaissance – Insights from Young Professionals: Case Study Šibenik”, teams of young experts presented their solutions for specific transport and spatial challenges of Šibenik:

1. Enhancing Climate Resilience of Šibenik
2. Inclusive Public Space: Rethinking the Riva, Šibenik
3. Urban Link: Šibenik’s Multimodal Hub
4. YoUlica: Living street – street as a place for all
5. Ctrl + S treets: Living street – street as a place for all

Conclusion

The CLIMove Summer School demonstrated the value of non-formal education based on working on real challenges and direct contact with the space and its users.

Over the course of several days, participants not only gained new knowledge about sustainable mobility and urban planning, but also developed skills in collaboration, communication, critical thinking and co-creation of solutions. Such an approach is especially important for future professionals who will face increasingly complex challenges of cities, climate change and mobility in their work, which require cooperation between different disciplines, sectors and stakeholders.

• See the photo gallery HERE.
• Find out more about the public event “Mobility Renaissance in Coastal Cities” HERE.
• Find out more about the CLIMove project HERE.

The summer school was organized by ODRAZ, Transport Research Center and Center for Environment as part of the CLIMove project. The project is financed by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).