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Launch: publication "Delta Atelier as innovative knowledge and action platform"

31. Oct 2021
Cover publication "Delta Atelier as innovative knowledge and action platform". Photo + Design: Vrints-Kolsteren

The Delta Atelier facilitates the setting up of new domain and sector alliances for major social and climate challenges. The intermediate results of the Delta Atelier are reflected in the publication 'Delta Atelier as innovative knowledge and action platform: building on 3 years of experiment' (NL). In this publication, we look back on the past period and look ahead to the next decade. 

The publication does not address the many themes and substantive insights that have been developed up to now within the Delta Atelier - that would have been possible. It is the process that is at the centre! We draw lessons from this about the role that incubator spaces can play in realising ambitious (inter)national objectives. They bring people and ideas together, establish connections between competences and provoke breakthroughs. Without the meticulous process of setting the agenda, initiating, stimulating and matchmaking, no successful implementation projects. Without the invisible preparatory work, no measurable results. The experiments involved are described in this publication, in which the Delta Atelier is situated as such a productive breeding ground. It is a practical example in a field that has yet to be explored in terms of incubator environments, Third Spaces, action platforms and in-between spaces. And yet the global challenges we face require the accelerated development and rollout of such platforms. The 8 experiments that structure the publication are an incentive to discuss the practical aspects of this new field.  

Delta Atelier launched in 2018. It was able to flourish within the 'cultural freespace’ formed by the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) and You Are Here (YAH) in Brussels. Thanks to the support of the Ministry of internal affairs in Flanders, the Delta Atelier has been able to develop an intensive working relationship over the past three years and has manifested itself in a great amount of meetings, discussions, workshops, brainstorms, debates, working papers, research, designs, conferences, exhibitions, etc. The results are numerous and diverse: local breakthroughs, acceleration programmes in the Netherlands and Belgium, spin-offs and new cross-border collaborations.  

 

The publication can be viewed via this link.  

Would you like to receive a printed copy? For 20 euros excluding shipping costs (within Belgium and the Netherlands) we will send the book to you. Please fill in your details via this link. 

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WORKROOM

Since 2010, Architecture Workroom Brussels has focused on the future of our living environment. The organisation began as a safe haven to address the link between space and societal transitions, aimed at fostering a futureproof design practice, commissioning and building culture.

It has now become evident that the transformation of our streets, neighbourhoods, and landscapes is both a prerequisite and a lever for achieving societal goals in synergy. Yet we observe that these transformations remain difficult to imagine and implement. They span so many sectors and involve so many actors that responsibility falls on everyone, and therefore, ultimately, on no one.

That is why we make it our mission to create the space that connects them. And with this refined mission comes a new name: WORKROOM, House for transformation. WORKROOM is the shared space where the future of our living environment is not only imagined but also organised.

We are currently taking the lead on three mission-driven transformations:

  • SOCIETAL INCUBATORS - By 2030, stakeholders from the youth, culture, sports, care and education sectors will join forces to create renewed societal spaces that tackle loneliness and counteract the fragmentation and pressure on public infrastructure.
  • FOSSIL-FREE NEIGHBOURHOODS - By 2030, at least ten neighbourhoods will be underway with the transition to fossil-free energy in an inclusive and affordable way, with a view to completely phase-out fossil fuels by 2040.
  • SPONGE LANDSCAPES - By 2030, we will have achieved our water, agriculture and nature goals through a single, coherent approach at catchment area level, in which strong regional coalitions collectively enhance the landscape's sponge capacity.

To make these transformations a reality, WORKROOM works shoulder to shoulder with pioneering designers, local authorities, organisations and businesses, governments, knowledge institutions and impact investors.

Through co-creative design, we imagine shared pathways to the future in exhibitions, publications, innovation programmes and public programmes. These are the workrooms where we connect the actors capable of realising these transformations. From there, we design shared ownership and the organisational, funding and policy models that lead to real change.

The name is simpler. The stakes are higher. WORKROOM is the shared space where we tackle the social and spatial transformations that no one can achieve alone. In an era of polarisation, compartmentalisation and instability, that is perhaps the most radical thing we can do.