Oxford policy engagement workshop 1: How can an opera transform an abandoned public space?

This is an interactive workshop organized by Juan López-Aranguren and Jonathan Reyes from The Democratic Society (DemSoc).

Listening is a central element in our practice when it comes to uniting wills and aligning objectives, impacts and resources. Listening processes require a more emotional than cerebral approach, which means that collaboration dynamics initially focus on more cultural and artistic fields than technical ones: music, dance, or performance are essential tools on many occasions.

These processes are not free of conflicts (quite the opposite), but they are conflicts that invite and lead to a change in routines and the cancellation of prejudices.

At the end of the night no one wants to dance alone.

The workshop is divided into two halves. The first part involves an interactive presentation, allowing us to get to the heart of the debate. Participants will be invited to present themselves and express themselves with their bodies. Then, there will a presentation of the theoretical framework, as well as of good practices where listening, dancing and music are the main working method.

In the second part we will divide into small groups to address 2–3 questions posed for discussion and the conclusions will be presented through graphically.

There will then be an opportunity to chat with other participants from both the morning and afternoon workshops over lunch.

10:00–10:30 Tea/coffee

10:30–11:15 Interactive presentation by Juan López-Aranguren and Jonathan Reyes

c. 11:15–11:30 Short break

11:30–12:30 Discussion of questions in small groups and conclusions

12:30–13:30 Networking lunch

Presenter information:

Juan López-Aranguren graduated in architecture from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Madrid, although he took 14 years to finish the degree.

Those 14 years, he says he has invested them well. He has traveled the world with friends carrying out projects that are difficult to catalog and that have been the object of study from areas as diverse as architecture or anthropology and that include, among their partners, institutions such as the German Ministry of Culture, the neighborhood association ZOFIO, La Caixa Foundation, the CSIC, the World Design Capital or the Guggenheim of New York, among others. He has led programs such as Autobarrios, Trashlation, Solid Urban Waste or In love We Trash, awarded and published both nationally and internationally.

Juan has developed community architecture works in favelas and peripheral neighborhoods, in Sao Paulo, Lima, Madrid or Niamey, putting into practice methodologies of social action and innovative qualitative intervention.

For two and a half years, he has been coordinating the Imagina Madrid program for the Madrid City Council: a program of public and community art, which explores new forms of intervention in the urban space through processes of collective creation between citizens and the artistic network of the city.

Based in Spain, Jonathan Reyes graduated as an architect and urban planner and began a journey early on to unlearn the way cities, their planning, and governance are organized, to seek innovative solutions capable of fostering collective intelligence and bringing more “disorder” and creativity to create more vibrant, democratic, equitable, and lively cities.

His career blends activism, entrepreneurship and civic design guiding and accompanying public, private and citizen-lead organizations in the creation of collaborative and purpose-driven solutions, tools and communities for the common good.

Currently Jonathan is a member of the NetZeroCities EU Mission Team, where he is supporting cities in their journey towards climate neutrality,

The workshop takes place on Tuesday 18 June between 09:30 and 13:30 at Merton College, Oxford.

To attend, please email Naomi Waltham-Smith no later than noon on Friday 14 June.