Kortrijk, Belgium | 31st Aug to 8 Sept 2024 | Free
Apply to Living Repairs before May 1st!

Apply here!

About:

The Living Summer School (LSS) is a yearly week-long educational program promoting social and territorial innovation in and around the city of Kortrijk, Flanders. Young creatives, designers, and entrepreneurs collaborate with a network of local partners and experts. Together, they envision social impact concepts and design prototypes addressing relevant local territorial challenges.

The LSS offers its participants a short but intense immersive experience in the heart of Flanders, establishing a network of young practitioners that work on geography-specific issues. Within a week’s time the participants create innovative prototypes, service blueprints and concrete social interventions.

For more information about the summer school, see here.

Theme:

This year's theme revolves around the concept of repairs as a transformative force for sustaining and rejuvenating environments. In a global landscape marked by finite resources and escalating environmental degradation, the notion of repair assumes paramount importance.

In 2023, 30 participants from across Europe came together in Kortrijk to design and build makeshift interventions in 3 different sites. One year later, new participants will be back in the same locations to expand on our previous experience, intervene on the pre-built constructions after a year of use by our local partners, and reflect on the practices and philosophies of repair.

Building upon last year's exploration of makeshift interventions, which sought to inspire immediate action through participatory, minimally designed interventions, our focus now shifts towards repairing and sustaining these structures and interventions. By doing so, we endeavor to delve into innovative solutions to socioenvironmental challenges while nurturing a culture characterized by resourcefulness, adaptability, and resilience, emphasizing ongoing care and engagement with the communities and environments impacted.

Sites:

For the upcoming edition, participants will return to the 2023 sites, repairing, hacking, improving, moving, cleaning, deconstructing, upgrading and maintaining constructions. Participants will have freedom in designing and engineering these interventions, think of the social and environmental performance of the projects, design community blueprints or even lead communication strategies. The idea is to assist our local partners in enhancing their practices and providing them with out of the box ideas.

For more information about these sites see 2023: Makeshifts.

1. Wildebras

#LZSB is a Kortrijk collective which creates playful interventions and experiments in the public space. They turn their cargo bikes into means of creating “situations” that connect people and nature.  They organise outdoor parties and film screenings, run microadventures,  rewild the city, coordinate a wild swimming collective and much more!

Wildebras is their series of experiments on wild and outdoor play for children. As Wildebras, #LZSB, took over the island within the “Brothers Van Raemdonck” park in Kortrijk. They run it as an adventure and construction playground where only children are allowed to roam freely. Children can play and build what their imagination suggests under minimal supervision of a few “playworkers”. Through peer learning and play, children and playworkers teach each  other how to use hand tools such as saws, hammers, drills... 

2. Bolwerk 

Bolwerk defines itself as a cultural freeport fostering creation, encounter, wonder and ecology. Bolwerk is located along the Bossuit–Kortrijk canal, in an industrial area that was once dedicated to the production of cotton. From the industrial site, once you cross the big wooden gate you enter into the haven of makeshifts. The two brothers who founded Bolwerk, Ruben ad Servaas, built the place together with Kortrijk’s community from the bottom-up with an ecological vocation.

Bolwek welcomes a multitude of people, spirits and attitudes, which slowly shape and build its reality. Below the big industrial hangar and outdoors and indoors bars are situated to welcome visitors and all sorts of events such as exhibitions, concerts and parties. Within the hangar a huge workshop produces literal car-pools, giant marionettes and tiny houses. Kortrijk’s communities, especially the youth can always find their space in Bolwerk by organising events, learning how to build their crazy project and taking part in the production through the “Jongbloed” group.

3. Heerlijkheid Van Heul

The Heerlijkheid Van Heule is an historical farmstead surrounded by water. Its historical buildings and natural environment create an ecological oasis within Heule. The Heerlijkheid is not just a farm, in fact, its organisation pursues a social vocation by using ecological farming as a connection to vulnerable groups, especially vulnerable youth, and more broadly to its surrounding neighbourhood. Every morning and noon employees, visitors and volunteers gather around in a circle in the heart of the farm and distribute the daily task in an equitable way according to everyone’s vocation and capacity.

The Heerlijkheid Van Heule in its community represents a space for radical inclusion and collective experimentation amongst people and nature.

Selection Process:

Selection for participants in the summer school will occur throughout the month of May. The process will be a collaborative effort involving the Living Summer School team, along with our local site partners Bolwerk, Heerlikheid Van Heule, and Wilderbras, as well as our esteemed education partners Constructlab, Fablab Torino, and Forecast.

In evaluating submissions, we will consider the motivation of applicants, the skills that they would like to acquire during the summer school and how they would fit in with the rest of the team. Participants will be able to rank their preferred projects they would like to work on during the week and the LSS will organise them into the different working groups based on complementary skills and expertise.

Eligibility:

Age: Applicants must be younger than 30 years old at the time of the application.

Academic and professional experience: We welcome applications from all levels of professional and academic experience, and from any field of study ( architecture, art, urban planning, biology, sociology, engineering, environmental studies etc.)

Residency: Applicants must be residents of European Union countries during the duration of the summer school. 

The Summer School will be in English, but extra support will be provided for Dutch and French.

Costs & Expenses:

It’s all free!

Housing: All participants will be housed in DOK 27, a scouts housing next to the lake of Harelbeke. Participants can organise alternative housing for themselves, but this will not be covered by the LSS. 

Travel: The LSS will provide financial assistance for travel to and from the summer school. Only European destinations will be covered, extra-european destinations cannot be covered by the summer school. Participants will purchase their tickets themselves, and the LSS will reimburse part or all of their travel shortly after the end of the summer school. The total travel assistance will be communicated when participants are notified of their acceptance.

Food: We will cover all food and beverages for the entire duration of the summer school. Cooking will be managed by a local chef, and participants will volunteer to cook in turns for the entire group, learning great recipes in the meantime!

Bikes: rental bicycles will be provided for each participant for the entire duration of the summer school. Participants are expected to bike during their stay. Exceptionally special transportation for people with limited mobility can be organised upon request BEFORE the start of the summer school.

Participants will have access to Harelbeke’s lake, swimming suits are highly recommended!

Application Requirements:

- Motivation (250 words, this will help us understand the motivation behind applications)

- Bio (250 words, this will help present selected participants in online and printed comunications)

- Profile Picture (only used internally for administrative reasons)  

- Portfolio of relevant work, link to social media

Deadlines and submission process:

- Application registration open: 1 March

- Deadline to submit application: 1 May

- Acceptance notification: 15 June

- Arrival in Kortrijk: 31 August, meet at Kortrijk train station at 17:00

- Summer School: 31 August - 8 September 

- Departure from Kortrijk: 8 september 

For more information, contact: elena@livingsummerschool.com

Apply to Living Repairs before May 1st!

Apply here!

Every year we create an informal learning experience for a diverse group of youth exploring different aspects of territorial innovation. The third edition to be held in September 2023 will explore emerging building processes. 

Since the industrial revolution, our cities have been expanding exponentially. In 2018 alone, 4.2 % of European land cover was lost to construction: that’s an average of one basketball court per resident.

In light of the imminent dangers that this poses to the planet, the European Commission has declared a "zero net artificialization" policy for 2050. This means that new development projects will be limited to available built-up areas. This will be a radical shift from the expansionist urbanisation of the last century. Failing to meet this objective will accelerate the current climate crisis and also make us less resilient to the change it will bring about.

We need to shift the way we make space by using what is readily available.

This is not an easy task. The production of space involves many actors from different sectors with varying expertise, imperatives and visions of the future. During 10 days, we will try to deconstruct hardwired common-practices to investigate more sustainable, emergent life cycles for our buildings, from design to build, maintenance and deconstruction.

Participants will receive lectures and site visits by inspiring designers and leaders from across Europe. They will explore ideas and get hands-on experience in making scale 1 interventions with local partners. Together, we will discover new approaches to the production and construction of space. We will occupy different building sites across the territory and test methods in constructing, maintaining and deconstructing the spaces that surround us.

#LZSB is a Kortrijk collective which creates playful interventions and experiments in the public space. They turn their cargo bikes into means of creating “situations” that connect people and nature.  They organise outdoor parties and film screenings, run microadventures,  rewild the city, coordinate a wild swimming collective and much more!



Wildebras is their series of experiments on wild and outdoor play for children. As Wildebras, #LZSB, took over the island within the “Brothers Van Raemdonck” park in Kortrijk. They run it as an adventure and construction playground where only children are allowed to roam freely. Children can play and build what their imagination suggests under minimal supervision of a few “playworkers”. Through peer learning and play, children and playworkers teach each  other how to use hand tools such as saws, hammers, drills, …



On specific occasions, Wildebras runs playdays dedicated to specific topics such as building floating structures or cooking on a campfire. Given the secluded nature of the island, different excursions in the city are organised to bring the wild play and the Wildebras spirit outside the limit of the moat.

The wild play, however, has one major drawback: it’s decreasing the biodiversity of Wildenis, the adventure playground. The variety and quantity of plants is decreasing even though the soil is mostly trodden by the light steps of children and children have grown to respect and nurture their play environment. Therefore Wildebras and its children would like to work with the Living Summer School participants to co-design a series of interventions/games/structures/… that can mutually support wild play and rewilding.

Relevant Research Questions

• How might we create design interventions that are mutually beneficial to the environment and children?
• What can children teach us about re-generation and rewilding? How can we define multi-species design through play?

Bolwerk defines itself as a cultural freeport fostering creation, encounter, wonder and ecology. Bolwerk is located along the Bossuit–Kortrijk canal, in an industrial area that was once dedicated to the production of cotton. From the industrial site, once you cross the big wooden gate you enter into the haven of makeshifts. The two brothers who founded Bolwerk, Ruben ad Servaas, built the place together with Kortrijk’s community from the bottom-up with an ecological vocation.


Bolwek welcomes a multitude of people, spirits and attitudes, which slowly shape and build its reality. Below the big industrial hangar and outdoors and indoors bars are situated to welcome visitors and all sorts of events such as exhibitions, concerts and parties. Within the hangar a huge workshop produces literal car-pools, giant marionettes and tiny houses. Kortrijk’s communities, especially the youth can always find their space in Bolwerk by organising events, learning how to build their crazy project and taking part in the production through the “Jongbloed” group.



The city of Roeselare and its youth group want to build a movable space to support the cultural and social activities of youngsters in the city’s skatepark. And who better to join them in this creative journey than Bolwerk? The Living Summer School participants will work along Bolwerks expert builders, the city of Roeselare and its youth group to refurbish an old caravan and turn it into a movable centre for creativity and exchange.

The primary focus is the skatepark , but the caravan’s purpose extends to achieving multiple goals, such as improving the quality of the neighbourhood. Multiple layers will be analysed and will be incorporated in the building layer

1. Initially, we address the physical dimension: Can children and young people safely utilise the space? (Is it secure? Are there facilities for play and gatherings? Do these facilities offer accessibility to all individuals? And so forth.)
2. The next layer involves the experiential aspect: Do children and young people feel drawn to using the space? (Is the area tailored to their requirements and preferences? Does it cater to the needs of all users? Is it inviting and appealing? And so forth.)
3. The third layer encompasses all social aspects:  Are children and young people granted permission to utilise the space? (Are they considered equal users? Are there specific codes of conduct they need to adhere to? Are these guidelines transparent? Do these behavioural norms resonate with their living environment and life stage? And so forth.)

Relevant Research Questions

• How might we co-design a movable social space in collaboration with the Roeselare youth group?
• How might we bring Bolwerk’s spirit of wonder on a movable structure?
• What are the key principles for a sustainable design in materials, maintenance, engagement and youth-involvement?

The Heerlijkheid Van Heule is an historical farmstead surrounded by water. Its historical buildings and natural environment create an ecological oasis within Heule. The Heerlijkheid is not just a farm, in fact, its organisation pursues a social vocation by using ecological farming as a connection to vulnerable groups, especially vulnerable youth, and more broadly to its surrounding neighbourhood. Every morning and noon employees, visitors and volunteers gather around in a circle in the heart of the farm and distribute the daily task in an equitable way according to everyone’s vocation and capacity.

The Heerlijkheid Van Heule in its community represents a space for radical inclusion and collective experimentation amongst people and nature.

 

As part of their mission, they want to create a movable and modular installation around human waste and sanitation. The installation will be built on top of a car trailer that can be moved by their trucks, so that the installation can be moved around the surrounding neighbourhood to be used by other communities and during events. The installation should have  different components:

• A “sanitation unit”: two sets of composting toilets that can generate fertilising material for the farm, this is the main and most important component of the installation. What is considered “human waste” should re-enter the environment in a way that is beneficial to the man-managed ecosystem.
• A “water wall”: a transparent water reservoir that can power a sink and a shower. The latter has already been built using industrial water containers. For this component it’s important to showcase the water consumption of the community to raise awareness on its usage.
• A “worm and waste wall”: a place where a (visible) vermicomposting container processes all sorts of human compostable waste. This component should also be integrated with a recycling station.
• A “message wall”: a place where the community can leave positive messages to each other.

Relevant Research Questions

• How might we build an installation that integrates positive cycles amongst different agents of Heule’s ecosystem?
• How might we encourage a transition to different sanitation norms in South West Flanders?
• How might we challenge the current designs around waste management to provide hygiene whilst creating a positive impact on the environment?

Our world is changing at an unprecedented rate. The network of social spaces that define our territories need to evolve to face increasingly challenging and complex circumstances.

Participants will reflect on and design modular and sustainable future blueprints of Kortrijk’s social spaces. They will also be required to bring them to life through different situated experiments.

Participants will work in team on one of the following briefs.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

Climate Displacement

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In recent years we have witnessed the devastating consequences of climate change at an unprecedented rate globally. According to the Sixth Assessment published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, most of the glocal land regions are experiencing more extreme and prolonged heat waves, which are often paired with devastating rain events and storms. In October 2021 Flanders was hit by a terrible storm, the so-called “water bomb”, which affect up to 100,000 according to some sources. With an ever-increasing number of extreme weather events these incidents are due to increase in numbers and affect more and more people, leaving some without shelters for limited or extended periods of time.

Can we still find ways of inhabiting the territory with such extreme weather conditions? Or is it too late and we need to find drastically different alternatives and fabricate more habitats for the displaced population?

How might we design adaptable housing  to respond to extreme climate events?

FluidiCity

FluidiCity is a series of artistic socio-ecological experiments that wants to capture citizens' imagination to consider their built and social borders in a different light. By embracing the concept of fluidity, what was perceived as “invasive”, it now constitutes an opportunity for learning, play and lightness.


FluidiCity is een reeks artistieke sociaal-ecologische experimenten die tot de verbeelding van de burgers wil spreken om hun gebouwde en sociale grenzen in een ander licht te zien. Door het omarmen van het concept van vloeibaarheid, wat als "invasief" werd ervaren, vormt het nu een kans voor leren, spelen en lichtheid.

JUST AROUND THE BLOCK

Local and Sustainable Tourism

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In 1936,paid vacation leave allowed French and Belgian citizens from all social classes to enjoy tourism. What started out as local explorations of beaches and mountain routes, expanded into international and intercontinental trips across the planet, relying mostly on aeroplanes as a means of transportation. Tourism has since grown into a trillions dollar world economy that many cities and countries rely on. However, as the recent pandemic has brought to light, in response to the ongoing climate crisis a new breed of responsible tourism needs to reemerge in our social traditions that maintains our right to vacation while dealing with the emerging risks that are associated with it.

The city of Kortrijk is currently looking into encouraging local tourism within its territory by creating value in man made and natural attractions aiming at captivating local and alien residents. For the last 10 years it has been rebranding itself while seeking out of the box experiences for curious travellers.

How might we encourage tourism that cares for the environment and people?

Omnipresent

“Omnipresent” is a proposal for a distributed and grassroots gallery for the City of Kortrijk. As Kortrijk is working towards becoming the European capital of culture, Omnipresent makes use of the abundant empty retail space around the city to showcase local artists. Additionally, by subverting an “omnipresent” artefact: the retailers advertising bollards, it gives the opportunity to up-and-coming artists to exhibit their artworks around the city in cooperation with real estate agents. 


Omnipresent brengt een voorstel voor een gedeelde, lokale galerie voor de stad Kortrijk. Omdat Kortrijk bezig is met zijn kandidatuur voor de Europese culturele hoofdstad, maakt Omnipresent gebruik van de vele lege winkelruimte in de stad om lokale kunstenaars voor te stellen. Door een van de meest banale zaken in te zetten, namelijk de reclameborden van winkeliers, geeft het bovendien de kans aan opkomende kunstenaars om hun kunstwerken in de stad tentoon te stellen in samenwerking met vastgoedmakelaars. 

BLOCKED IN

Building Care     

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The average age in Belgium, currently 42 years, is expected to rise to 44.8 years in 2050 and 45.5 years in 2070. The age group of 80 and over is expected to double by 2070, this life-expectancy increase will also imply that more people will live in collective households (such as residential care homes).

In Kortrijk, Buda Eiland has the highest density of elderly care homes of the entire city and the oldest average population. These demographics are in contrast with the city planning which would like to turn Buda into a creative and artistic spot. In recent years historical art establishments like the Budascoop (cinema), were joined by new projects residing on the island such as BK6, hosting DURF2030, the Buda Arts Centre, Designregio Kortrijk, and the Buda Tower amongst others. This dichotomy between an ever-ageing population paired with top-down efforts to attract more young people can be found across the entire city. In fact, Kortrijk has been trying to establish itself as a cultural and youth pole through education, by opening new university campuses,  and by improving the lifestyle for young families. We are left to wonder who is left behind in these projects and if it would be possible to have more inclusive approaches across all ages.

How might we better accommodate the needs of elderlies in our cities?

Beehive

Beehive is a platform, online and physical, that wants to connect all the actors and entities that provide care to Kortrijk’s community. It comprises visual materials that can help care volunteers, organisers, workers, …  to reach out to people in need through events,  long-term programmes, safe spaces and kind gestures. Different prototypes, physical and digital, were tested with the community to gauge its potential for connecting needs.


Beehive is een platform, online en fysiek, dat alle actoren en entiteiten die zorg verlenen binnen de Kortrijkse gemeenschap wil verbinden. Het omvat visueel materiaal dat zorgvrijwilligers, organisatoren, werkers, ... kan helpen om mensen in nood te bereiken via evenementen, langetermijnprogramma's, veilige plaatsen en vriendelijke gebaren. Verschillende prototypes, fysiek en digitaal, werden getest met de gemeenschap om het potentieel ervan voor het verbinden van behoeften te peilen.

BLOCKED OUT

Affordable Housing

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There is a popular expression in Belgium which goes: “all Belgians are born with a brick in their stomach”, meaning that owning or building a house is a lifetime goal for most of the Belgian population. This is reflected in the current legislative structure that facilitates house ownership. This approach has been driving inequalities across the country, both in the capital Brussels which has  about 6.5 million square metres of unused real-estate space, and in smaller urban centres. A short walk in the city centre of Kortrijk, can reveal to an attentive eye the copious amounts of unused space, which stands in stark contrast to the new residential luxury developments along the Leie river. This is a clear signifier of gentrification and of raising housing prices. In fact, the lack of affordable housing is very present in Kortrijk, where about 1300 people have been censored as ‘homeless’ across the province. However, rough sleeping is only the tip of the iceberg, with many more people in precarious housing situations, getting by daily with temporary accommodations. A third of this group is constituted by children, young adults and women. CAW and W13 have been trying to address this situation with multiple projects to promote better social inclusion. How could art and design support them in this mission?

How might we tackle unequal access to housing through design?

Title

“Title” is a citizen engagement and advocacy project that plays on Belgian culture to offer affordable housing. The project’s main goal was to popularise the idea of incremental housing: a “half-built house” that could be finished and personalised according to its inhabitants' desires and needs. This seemed like a promising idea given the Belgian love for building and making homes. The team set out to test this assumption by creating a postcard and prototypes for this initiative.


"Title" is een project voor burgerbetrokkenheid en belangenbehartiging dat inspeelt op de Belgische cultuur om betaalbare woningen aan te bieden. Het voornaamste doel van het project was het idee van incrementele huisvesting te populariseren: een "half afgebouwd huis" dat kan worden afgewerkt en gepersonaliseerd volgens de wensen en behoeften van de bewoners. Dit leek een veelbelovend idee gezien de Belgische liefde voor het bouwen en bouwen van huizen. Het team ging deze veronderstelling testen door een postkaart en prototypes voor dit initiatief te creëren.

CONNECTING THE BLOCKS

Connected Lifestyles

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In light of the recent Covid-19 pandemic, we have all been growing accustomed to a lifestyle that accommodates both in-person interactions and digital ones. Both our leisure time and work hours are increasingly spent online. This has had huge impacts on the mental health of the global workforce, with millions of people reporting benefits given by more flexible work arrangements, but also an increase of burn outs due to the isolating work modalities has been found. As the Global Mobile Workforce Forecast suggested 1.88 Billion  will be working remotely by 2023, comprising 43.3% of the total global workforce. What are the implications of these global trends for a mid-sized city like Kortrijk?

In recent years the municipality has been trying to attract and retain younger crowds, by opening new university campuses, which offer digitally-focused study programs (like the Digital Arts and Entertainment at HOWEST), and by initiating projects to welcome young families. With a more digitally-savvy and mobile population, Kortrijk’s social fabric will inevitably change. How could digital nomads contribute to strengthening the social fabric of the city? Will they be drivers of gentrification? How could a mid-sized town offer new models of sustainable connectivity to its inhabitants?

How might we envision new models of connectivity for Kortrijk’s professionals?

Platforming creative communities

“Platforming creative communities” is an anthropological exploration of Kortrijk’s social infrastructure which manifests in an installation. The team’s curiosity focussed on the fact that the post-pandemic professional network in Kortrijk appeared close-knit, and yet there were still opportunities to create deeper and meaningful professional connections. After mapping out the state of connectivity in Kortrijk the team’s insights were showcased in an installation with an interactive component to allow audience members to connect during the Living Summer School closing event.


"Platforming creative communities" is een antropologische verkenning van de sociale infrastructuur van Kortrijk die zich manifesteert in een installatie. De nieuwsgierigheid van het team richtte zich op het feit dat het post-pandemische professionele netwerk in Kortrijk hecht leek, en toch waren er nog mogelijkheden om diepere en betekenisvolle professionele connecties te creëren. Na het in kaart brengen van de staat van connectiviteit in Kortrijk werden de inzichten van het team getoond in een installatie met een interactieve component om het publiek in staat te stellen contact te leggen tijdens het slotevenement van de Living Summer School.

WATER & SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

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WATER & RESOURCES

How might we infiltrate and reuse water in a more sustainable way 

within an urban context?

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Water is the most important resource for humanity.

WATER & FARMING

How might we mitigate the consequences of climate change for local
farmers in a sustainable and community focused way?

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HEERLIJKHEID VAN HEULE

The Heerlijkheid Van Heule is anecological farm surrounded by water with a social and ecological vocation, which welcomes its neighbourhood to join in their
activities, through events, programs and volunteer work. 
︎︎︎ Heerlijkheid Van Heule & Het OranjeHuis

STADSBOERDERIJ

Stadsboerderij is a network that connects farmers and citizens, city and countryside by creating a fair market for regional organic agricultural production. They work with a wide network of local producers on the territory of Kortrijk to achieve their vision.
︎︎︎Stadsboerderij Kortrijk

How can we restore the connection between citizens and the waterscapes they live in,  in playful and meaningful ways?

A modular floating structure that parades along the canals surveying swimmable spots whilst teaching about water safety to curious citizens in a playful way.

The week of the summer school might have been the warmest week of this Belgian summer. During our breaks, we were in need of a place to cool down from the heat.
In Switzerland, during summer, people in cities such as Basel, Geneva, Zurich and Bern, meet each other at the river to swim, to play, to relax. Strikingly, Kortrijk has a lot of beautiful water landscapes that could serve as swimming places.

However, it is forbidden to swim in the open water. Inspired by the Swiss bathing culture we want to change a risk avoiding mindset that is specific to Belgian culture.

After a week of research, we developed a proposal for an artistic interventionin the form of a floating parade that travels around the waters of Kortrijk.

With this intervention we aim to make the waters of Kortrijk accessible in a playful and conscious way. We wish to reconnect the people of Kortrijk by creating an enjoyable experience at the water, while at thesame time creating awareness on the challenges of these waters, and the risks and responsibility that come along with swimming in the wild.

How might we mitigate the consequences of climate change for local farmers in a sustainable and community focussed way?

A model for using a nature-based filtration systems to collect and reuse rainwater, accompanied by a sculptural fountain to engage and activate citizens.

Our project proposes a potential future where we take the people along an experiential journey of functional green spaces that act a spaces of leisure but also teaches the people of the issues surrounding this area and how simple sustainable solutions can help sustain green spaces in an urban context. From green islands that promote natural infiltration techniques to depressed pools of water that catch rainwater before it runs off a nd evaporates.

Each landscape is connected to the sculptural tap that further filters the rain water caught in this connected system to be distributed to the public for free, but controlled to educate the public
on how high quality drinking water is not an infinite or readily available resource.

When water falls in Kortrijk it is met with mixed emotions of anxiety and relief.

From a region with a history of both drought and urban floods when current systems are overwhelmed. These dual realities open up conversations on how the city’s infrastructure manages excess rainwater and criticises the culture of relentless and unsustainable urban development and its effects. Our journey this week took us all over the city and culminated at the Broeltower steps where concrete landscapes of leisure have left the public unsatisfied with the lack of nature and greenery.

How might we mitigate the consequences of climate change for local farmers in a sustainable and community focussed way?

A modular system for cleaning and filtering water around the farm, paired with a suspended playground which doubles down as a net to catch leaves (main source of water contamination).

When we visited the Heerlijkheid Van Heule, we felt like the quality of water is the main concern for the people working there. One of the workers told us that his dream was to be able to swim in it.

They already tried making a filter made from scrap materials like the barrel of a washing machine, but it broke recently. Because filtering is an important aspect of keeping water healthy, we wanted to make sure our concept had a natural filtering system. We came up with a sustainable floating filter system. The main function would be to filter the water with local water plants, stones and other natural materials.

We also designed extra modules like walking decks, cleaning decks for the crops, decks to catch and clean up the leaves and to play on sunny days. We wanted to bring together the local community and other stakeholders to help work on the project as a social project for the neighborhood to create a fun place to learn, create and play.

Participants