How can the people who are to play an active role in shaping a new educational and community space be involved right from the outset – and what conditions are needed to make this happen?
Halle-Neustadt is a neighbourhood with a unique history – originally conceived as a socialist urban development project and now characterised by structural challenges. The new campus is intended to address precisely these issues – as a place for young people from diverse educational backgrounds to meet, develop their skills and experiment.
A place of learning that does not yet exist – but is already being shaped
The campus building does not yet exist. And that is precisely the starting point for this supporting work: what does participation look like when the place in question is not yet tangible? Alongside other academic colleagues, the JTC is supporting the campus’s initiation phase, focusing on stakeholder participation and co-creation – through dialogue between the city, as the initiator, and the stakeholders who will bring the campus to life in the future. An initial stakeholder workshop has already taken place; two further workshops are planned for 2026. In addition, the campus will be presented to the public at the SILBERSALZ Science & Media Festival 2026 – as an invitation to the wider community to get involved in the planning process at an early stage.
Key questions guiding this work:
How can genuine participation be achieved in a process where decisions are often already made before stakeholders are involved?
Which stakeholders are seen as relevant – and who is still missing from the table?
How can a space initiated by the local authority be created in such a way that it is also supported by those who will later use and shape it?
What does co-creation mean when institutional logics and civil society ideals clash?
