Empowering communities through creativity

How can we unleash the creative potential of marginalized urban communities? Urban policies and practices rarely lead to creative economic and community development in the context of marginalization. Collaborative governance can bring in the creativity of all actors, if they work together on an equal footing and on challenges important to local communities. It requires valuing often invisible local knowledge and practices and a frugal perspective on what creativity entails. To be creative and inclusive requires reciprocity. Such collaborations not only address specific urban challenges, but also create new insights into creative processes within and with marginalized communities.

This session discusses the main values and ways of working in different contexts, based on creative experiences from Egypt, Kenya and the Netherlands.

The Ministry of Social Solidarity and the Sawiris Foundation present experiences in developing local creative economies in Egypt.

Shack Dwellers International (SDI) shares experience in collaborative bottom-up governance with marginalized communities in Kenya. A range of creative tools have been developed in community-based upgrading of Mukuru, Nairobi, Kenya. In another informal settlement in Nairobi, the Mathare Special Planning Area Research Collective (MSPARC) furthers these tools, aiming for inclusivity.

In Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the Community Research Hub connects marginalized communities and scientists in seven pilots in various districts to collectively create innovative approaches for inclusive development. It focuses on topics that residents deem important, such as a healthy living environment, poverty, homelessness, social safety, climate change, sustainable housing, and participation of youth in neighborhoods.

The event is structured in two parts. The first part introduces the topic and practices with presentations from Egypt, Kenya and the Netherlands. The Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme of UN Habitat relates these to the growing body of international experience, followed by a short discussion.

The second part comprises an interactive fish bowl session around the question how to unleash the creativity of marginalized communities through the creative economy and creative community development.