First partner meeting in Minsk for the “Trialog for Participation in Urban Development” project
From the 26th – 30th May the first partner meeting between the Belarussian Architects Union (BUA) and the HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform (HVGP) took place in Minsk, Belarus to discuss the current urban development challenges of the city.
The project “Trialog for Participation in LocalDevelopment” between the Belarussian Architectural Union (BUA) in Minsk and the HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform (HVGP) in Berlin aims to facilitate an exchange on urban development. After recording the problems and opportunities for action in Minsk and Berlin, experts in the field of urban development and for citizen participation will participate in a 3-day Trialog in Minsk in Autumn 2019. Together with stakeholders from civil society, politics and business, the Trialog will provide a space to discuss sustainable urban development.
The first project partner meeting consisted of organized meetings with politicians from the city council and civil society, the Committee of Architects and the Board of the BUA. Vitaly Kukharenka – Chairman of the Board of the “Arhprosvet” Commission within BUA, led Melanie Kryst (HVGP project manager for urban development) and Milena Kula (HVGP project- and communications assistant) through Minsk. Kukharenka presented a floor plan of the Stalinist architecture that characterizes the city landscape and examined problematic buildings with the project partners. Anna Kanopatskaya, Deputy for Economic Decisions in the National Assembly of Belarus and her assistant Viktor Yanchurevich (former urban development activist), expressed their support for the project. Furthermore, the program, as well as relevant urban development topics for the Trialog in autumn, were set.
Through the Civil Society Cooperation Program, the Federal Foreign Office of Germany promotes bilateral projects between German and East European civil society to facilitate long-term relationships between these political actors. The aim is to encourage an exchange through which project partners can draw inspiration from each other and mutually communicate best practice methods to improve the policy work of these organizations in their respective countries.