Acts of care: active citizenship, daily experience and urban ecosystems

WALKING (THE) TRAJECTORIES: VENICE AS A MODEL FOR THE FUTURE? is a series of free itinerant conversations, taking intimate groups of “talking walkers” through the Venetian lagoon. Organized by the Ocean Fellowship Program of TBA21–Academy, these nomadic tours are scheduled to take place throughout June and July 2020. They are inspired by the trajectories charted by Territorial Agency from their upcoming exhibition Oceans in Transformation (27 Aug–29 Nov 2020) at Ocean Space in Venice.

WALKING (THE) TRAJECTORIES: VENICE AS A MODEL FOR THE FUTURE? brings together a diverse array of local guests and experts, and operate as a physical, mobile extension of the interdisciplinary conversations held in digital space by the Ocean Fellows around a series of Tavolas (tables). All walking talks (1 hour 30 ca.) depart from the steps of Ocean Space, housed in the former church of San Lorenzo. The walking talks invite all participants to engage in free-flowing conversations along the waterways, concluding at unexpected points along the water’s edge, chosen by each invited guest, as they coincide with a critical point of observation.

ACTS OF CARE: ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP, DAILY EXPERIENCE AND URBAN ECOSYSTEMS

In what way does scientific understanding measure and map a city? On the other hand, how does the direct involvement in city life give it form, and at the same time, create in its inhabitants an idea of the place in which they live? On their own, neither of the two images can completely convey the understanding of a human landscape, whether it be natural or urban.

Venice Calls, an organization of young people started in 2018 to rethink Venice as a living space designed for the future, has hundreds of participants dedicated to the survival and daily evolution of the city, its islands and its lagoon. In May 2018 they collected waste and removed plastic from the canals, in 2019 they were among the various associations that coordinated and welcomed the requests for help from the community after the acqua granda severe flooding, and in spring 2020 they created a dialogue with older residents, bringing them groceries during the pandemic.

These acts of care draw an alternative map of the city, not always evident, based on reciprocal support and on the lives of those who live here. We talk to the young members of Venice Calls, retracing their steps through the places where they’ve intervened, starting with their local experience of critical and dynamic moments in the city, and their involvement in them.

The meeting point is at Ocean Space, Church of San Lorenzo, on Friday July 17 at 6.30pm.

The event is free with a reservation, send an e-mail to info@ocean-space.org by Thursday July 16. The event will last around 1 hour 30 minutes.

Venice Calls is a non-profit organization started in 2018 stemming from a group of friends’ idea to create a project to safeguard the lagoon area and create new opportunities to meet with and engage the local community. There are three key points at the core of the organization: the local area, the community, and innovation.