Green Surge Conference

Green Surge Conference

I have been to the Green Surge Conference in Malmö and wanted to share some of my experiences. In order to do that I have to start at the beginning

I have been working with data only for some days and had developed some ideas about an article. These ideas I put together to an abstract and I got accepted to present a poster at the conference. I had to work quickly to get these ideas together to create a poster. In the meantime, I realized that a conference is not only to present results it is also to discuss, learn and get to know other research. In this way, I decided to make a poster that invites to comments on what more to do with the data that we have, other theories that can be useful and also invite to talk about my Ph.D. project.

The conference was different than other conferences I have been to. Practitioners, researchers and policymakers were part of the conference and part of the project. Several panel discussions invited all these different people to interact, tell about their experiences in different projects and about different projects all over Europe. 

I think that the conference showed how practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders can work together, it inspired people to engage in improving their cities, engage others into "thinking green" and facilitate space to interact in between disciplines. 

I want to share some impressions of the technical visit to the peoples park in Malmö. I really enjoyed the park and the way it provides a space for all groups, may it be age, interest or beliefs. Different events invite everyone to enjoy the park, creating a unique atmosphere, such like flee markets and color festivals. The management also promotes the park and different elements, through for example Youtube videos on how to do exercises on playgrounds equipment. They also engage actively in discussions with users and developed a food market, which has several benefits: it provides visitors local and cheaper food options thereby converting a neglected area to a more used area. These food stands are also used for festivals. 

All outcomes are available online: greensurge.eu 

The collage shows two images of the park: the urban farming section with the outdoor kitchen in the background and the entrance to that area. The image in the middle was taken in the Malmö town hall at the conference dinner and remember that there are no jackets allowed. The poster session and of course my poster is on the image to the right and the top image represents for me the main point of the conference and I guess of the whole project: Policy, practice, and research a panel discussion.