Sense the place
A crucial step in transforming places is to sense the place. Touch, feel, smell, listen, and see. Activating feelings and senses fosters a deeper connection with a place, which makes people better equipped to truly engage with the place. Sensing the history and the presence of a place enables you to dream and envision the future of this place.
Artistic and designerly practices play a crucial role in helping communities engage deeply with a place. Not art as art pieces, but art as an approach. And not just the place, but nature and different species. This approach is very impactful as it helps people relate and connect to the needs of a place by evoking emotions and nostalgia.
Engage with the non-humans
What are the plants' or the birds' perspectives? What if a lake had the same legal rights as humans? How would you treat a tree if this was your family member?
Green spaces are crucial for the well-being of both human and non-human life. Nature cannot be separated from the process. There is a desire to reach a point where the relationship between residents and green areas is built on respect, acceptance, and well-being of multiple life forms. Therefore, ask yourself what the perspective of non-human species of the space, place, or city you are transforming would be. And incorporate those answers into your transformation process.
Prioritise local anchoring
When transforming places, you need actors who already hold deep care and empathy for the place. Prioritising the locals is therefore crucial. It is beneficial to collaborate with local organisations, companies, and institutions like kindergartens, elderly care centres, football clubs, etc. – entities that have local commitments.
When employing artistic approaches in the transformation process, choose a local artist who relates to the site. Identify and utilise site-specific assets and resources of the local area.
Always look for potential
Keep exploring your site and/or context to add to the possibilities of transforming the place, and be open to new opportunities that might appear along the way. To truly be empathic to your place at hand, you need to stay curious about the place.
Do not see this exploration as something exclusive to the beginning of a process – revisit and use these 'deep' touchdowns as something that can qualify and validate your process along the way.
