From September 23 to 26, 2025, Reggio Emilia hosted the Placemaking Europe Week, the most important international event dedicated to the future of public spaces and the role of communities in their transformation.
For four days, urban planners, designers, placemakers, and administrators from across Europe exchanged experiences, practices, and innovative visions to make cities more welcoming, sustainable, and livable.
What is Placemaking Europe Week?
Placemaking Europe Week is an international event that fosters dialogue between communities, professionals, and local governments. Its goal is to share tools and working methods, bringing together diverse perspectives to create more human and inclusive public spaces.
Each edition takes place in a different city, highlighting symbolic locations and connecting local history with global urban challenges.
The 2025 edition unfolded across some of Reggio Emilia’s most representative venues: from historic monasteries to neoclassical theaters, from regenerated factories to innovation hubs. A setting consistent with this year’s themes, which included cultural heritage, social innovation, environmental sustainability, and community participation.
Studio SHIFT’s contribution
Within this context, alongside other professionals (see the full program here), Studio SHIFT contributed with a workshop on playfulness and co-created urban playgrounds, focusing on the perspective of children and young users.
The session took place at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, renowned worldwide for the Reggio Emilia Approach, which promotes experimentation and educational research for all ages and cultures.
Here, we shared how participatory design of urban play spaces can become a powerful tool for regenerating cities, stimulating inclusion, creativity, and a stronger sense of community.
The Reggio Emilia workshop was also inspired by a broader project concluding in October 2025 in Sicily, involving residents, children, and families in the creation of a temporary playground during the “Gibellina and Beyond” festival.
From Reggio Emilia to Gibellina: temporary playgrounds and active communities
As we also presented during Placemaking Europe Week, in Gibellina—a city rebuilt after the 1968 earthquake and now facing new urban regeneration challenges—we will co-create a temporary playground with children and families during the two-day festival.
This initiative will activate local communities, foster dialogue between professionals and citizens, and bring life back to a forgotten yet central space of the city.
The project aims to transform a remote and overlooked area of Gibellina Nuova, rebuilt 15–20 years after the 1968 earthquake with a unique artistic vision that integrated works of architects and artists into the urban landscape. After a period of cultural prosperity (1980–2000), Gibellina is today seen by some as a ghost town. However, in 2024 it was named Italy’s first Capital of Contemporary Art (2026), thanks to the project “Portami il futuro”.
The festival will unfold as a two-day action-research experience, during which members of the Bosch Alumni Network (of which Studio SHIFT is part) and local communities (children, youth, seniors, schools, associations) will co-create temporary urban interventions, experimenting with concrete forms of participatory placemaking.
The methodology is bottom-up, designed to leave behind a replicable legacy for other communities with real, measurable impact.
In addition to practical design, the festival will include moments of dialogue and knowledge-sharing with international experts, strengthening professional networks and fostering cross-disciplinary skill exchange.
It is not about pursuing an “idealistic future,” but about shaping a realistic present made of civic spaces that are usable, enjoyable, and tailored to people’s needs.
Why talking about placemaking matters today
Studio SHIFT’s participation in both Placemaking Europe Week in Reggio Emilia and the Gibellina Festival gave voice to our conviction that the city of the future must be co-created.
Rethinking public spaces through the lens of communities—and especially younger generations—means shaping places that are not only functional, but also meaningful, playful, and inclusive.
For Studio SHIFT, placemaking is an invitation to imagine and build new urban scenarios together. Events like these are valuable opportunities to strengthen networks, share visions, and experiment with transformative practices.
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Make a Shift is Studio Shift's e-magazine, focused on design and social innovation, where you can find articles and case histories of our projects.
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