How can we rethink city, public space, and democracy today? The workshop Identity, Place, Belonging invites participants to reflect on the role of place in shaping identity and citizenship—foundations that once seemed self-evident but are increasingly being questioned today.
Time: October 19–20, 2025, 12 p.mm – 6 p.m.
Location: Ideal Spaces Foundation, Nesslerstr. 16, 76227 Karlsruhe
Participation: Free of charge, available both online and in person
Language: English
Hosted by Ideal Spaces Foundation and Prof. Jason Montgomery (Catholic University of America, Washington D.C., USA), the workshop addresses the increasingly critical and vulnerable relationship between place and identity, citizenship, and their connection to democratic space. The central premise of this workshop is that our ‘classical’ understanding of the connections between physical place, community, citizenship and democracy has either become obsolete, is in a process of cultural erosion and may become obsolete, or this erosion is a temporarily phenomenon that cannot eliminate the (assumed) basic human need for physical place and direct physical contact. This premise is posed to re-access the value or potential of the city as a place for democratic life in the 21st century. This two-day workshop will foreground open discussion, with minimal formal presentations to set the stage for deep and enriching dialogue.
Notes and reflections generated by this dialogue will serve as the basis for a new special issue of Urban Eidos (https://urban-eidos.com/), the journal founded in conjunction with the Ideal Spaces Foundation.
Registration and Program: https://www.idealspaces.org/event/identity-and-place-place-and-belonging-a-workshop-on-citizenship-space-and-community/