Membership of OurCluj
An initiative of Fondation BOTNAR, OurCluj is a novel approach to urban innovation that activates values of care and trust in urban transitions. It is called a Values-Based Urban Living Laboratory (VBULL).OurCluj design and research experiment was created with the goal of exploring these values. It is a geographically localized innovation cluster of projects that takes the shape of a multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary “living laboratory”. It is optimized for the enhanced well-being of the city’s young residents, who are considered to hold the key to a better future. Living laboratories are usually focused on specific innovations like transport, energy systems or tourism – but in Cluj we center on the values of trust and care in project work. We find that prioritizing these values is a requirement for creating policies and programs that are optimized for outcomes such as enhanced well-being.
The ArtiViStory collective emerged during the design of OurCluj initiative. Part of the social research project (in)VISIBLE, artists created a space for collective imagination, or what is called civic imagination. This active imagination, shared with a community of people, can serve to hold together different stakeholder groups and communities with a common purpose.
Visual research
OurCluj ecosystem
Artist: Horațiu Coman
Artist: Teodora PredescuLogic Model
Artist: Melinda Ureczki
Artist: Zsófia BernátActivity mapping
Artist: Evelina Grigorean
Artist: Lucian BarbuInterviews
Artist: Lucian Barbu
Artist: Melinda Ureczki
Artist: Evelina GrigoreanCluj Atlas Workshops
Artist: Lucian Barbu
Artist: Evelina Grigorean
Artist: Teodora Predescu
Artist: Lucian BarbuReinterpretations
Artist: Lucian Barbu
Artist: Teodora Predescu
Artist: Horațiu Coman
Artist: Melinda Ureczki
Artist: Melinda Ureczki
Artist: Evelina GrigoreanStudy
In the framework of the (in)VISIBLE research project and OurCluj initiative, the ArtiViStory Collective took part in the in-depth research study of OurCluj, entitled Activating Values in Urban Transitions - a novel approach to urban innovation in Romania lead by Eric Gordon (Emerson College, Engagement Lab and MIT) and Barbara Bulc (SDG CoLab). The study was supported by Fondation Botnar and launched in May 2022.
