CrAFt Think-Do Tank Milan 2024: Sensing our surroundings

This student-driven event invites you to reimagine our city environments through a sensory lens by focusing on our perceptions and experiences in our day-to-day surroundings. Join us in envisioning new possibilities for enhancing our surroundings and fostering a deeper connection to our city by collective experiencing, ideating and implementing. This student-led event aims to inspire fresh perspectives on how artistic practices can impact our urban landscapes and communities and encourage thoughtful engagement with the same.

In a world dominated by smartphones, tablets, constant entertainment and endless scrolling, have we lost our ability to think critically about our surroundings? Have you ever taken a moment to truly sense the spaces you use in your daily life? Those often-overlooked details hold the power to influence not only our experiences in and with the environment but also the connections we build with the people we encounter in these spaces.

“Sensing our Surroundings: A Think-Do Tank for Experiential Care Practices in our Everyday Spaces” in Milan is an event organised by the interdisciplinary and international group of students of the CrAFt Core Group. It aims to investigate how we can use sensorial input to deepen our understanding of urban spaces and how they impact us. We will dive into the possibilities that arise from artistic interventions to reshape our experiences in a given environment —could such a thing be possible?

This Think-Do Tank serves as a common ground where ideas collide, intertwine and evolve into innovative and sustainable solutions for our cities. It is an exciting opportunity for experimentation, reflection and collaborative reimagination of our urban environment. We are excited to see you on 19 November!

“Sensing our Surroundings: A Think-Do Tank for Experiential Care Practices in our Everyday Spaces” is an event for students. Still, it is open to anyone who is interested in co-designing actionable solutions to real-world urban challenges through teamwork, with the desire to provide ideas for conversation and reflection.

This event offers a unique opportunity to:

• Meet fellow students from Milan and nearby universities
• Cooperate to create actionable solutions to real-world problems and gain valuable insights and knowledge to help you in your future careers
• Be part of an interdisciplinary and internationally connected environment
• Expand your network
• Engage with inspiring topics

Doors open: 10:00
Start Programme: 10:30
End: 17:00

Free lunch will be provided to all participants at the event. The complete programme will be available soon.

The CrAFt Core Group of students is an interdisciplinary, international group that creates knowledge to drive cities towards a more sustainable, beautiful, and inclusive future.

We work through conversations and collaborations to connect student communities with academia, European cities and their stakeholders, and the New European Bauhaus.

The Core Group is part of Creating Actionable Futures (CrAFt), a 3-year project funded by the European Commission to support the transition to climate neutrality by promoting collaboration among cities and their citizens, policymakers, artists, and academia.

In collaboration with 70+ cities, CrAFt is researching, testing and sharing collaborative local governance models to harness the value of inclusiveness, aesthetics and sustainability towards climate-neutral cities.

CrAFt is part of the New European Bauhaus (NEB). This European Union initiative links the European Green Deal to our living spaces and experiences. The New European Bauhaus invites us all to think and create together a sustainable and inclusive future that is beautiful for our eyes, minds, and souls.

A CrAFt Think-Do Tank takes inspiration from the following core values provided by NEB: sustainable, beautiful and inclusive. By combining these elements, you can create a holistic exploration of how cities can evolve, embracing both environmental considerations and the well-being of their residents. 

The Think-Do Tank aims to be a platform for student voices, ideas, and creativity. It allows students to be part of a student-led experience and experiment in practising interdisciplinary collaboration. The Think-Do Tank focuses on:

• Exploring how to foster green connections  
• Collaborating among students, academics, and city stakeholders to create positive change.
• Engaging in forward-thinking discussions on urban transformations
• Reimagining cities by practising interdisciplinary skills and getting knowledge for future cooperation initiatives.
• Shaping the future of cities by actively participating in transformative talks.
• Experiencing interactive, participatory, and collaborative brainstorming and creation formats. 

Take a look at what we did during our previous Think-Do Tank!

The event is free of charge and includes lunch. Spots are limited, so make sure to register on time! The deadline to register is 14 November.

Date: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Venue: NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Room G0.4
Address: Via Carlo Darwin, 20, 20143 Milano MI, Italy

Accessibility: We strive to create an accessible event space and activities where everyone will feel engaged, respected and empowered. Everyone is welcome with any educational background. Should you have any specific accessibility needs (such as transport assistance, support from a staff member, or a printed programme in large letters), you can indicate this in the registration form or contact us. 

This event is supported by ELIA and hosted by NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, as part of the pre-programme of the ELIA Biennial Conference. ELIA and NABA will make greener choices when organising the conference. For instance, our lunch will be entirely vegetarian. We invite participants to join us in this effort! This is what you could do: 

• Walk, cycle or take public transportation in Milan to come to the event
• If you are coming from outside of Milan, consider travelling by train
• Bring your own reusable water bottle!

IG account: craft_core_group
e-mail: craftcoregroup@gmail.com