(This event will be held in French)
Co-producing the city?
In a context marked by the withdrawal of the state and the widening of inequalities, the question arises: is it still possible to share resources, knowledge, and power?
A forthcoming dialogue in Brussels explores the idea of co-production and its multiple meanings across social sciences, practices, and territories. Rather than being a fixed concept, co-production takes different forms depending on contexts, experiences, and institutional settings.
The initiative considers co-production not as an end in itself, but as a way to address social inequalities and strengthen democratic processes, particularly in areas such as housing, environmental issues, and risk management. In a time of shrinking public resources and increasing disparities, new forms of sharing between citizens, civil society and academic actors, as well as between these actors and public institutions, appear necessary, yet complex.
Important challenges remain. Some perspectives highlight the need to build power relations in order to enable meaningful cooperation, especially with public authorities. Others emphasise strengthening the autonomy of grassroots collectives, while some advocate for closer collaboration with institutional frameworks. These different viewpoints reflect both the richness and the complexity of the debate, across multiple scales.
The event offers an opportunity to take stock of these questions in the Brussels context, drawing on the learnings of the Horizon Europe Fairville programme as well as other local and Belgian experiences. It is conceived as a moment to continue learning collectively, by exchanging knowledge and practices and by exploring how local forms of co-production can be put into action.
Beyond reflection, it also opens up more concrete perspectives. Could such exchanges lead to the development of shared positions, such as a manifesto for fair and democratic housing at the Brussels or Belgian level? Could they contribute to linking questions of social justice and environmental sustainability? At a time when risks are increasing, including environmental ones such as flooding, the event also raises the question of how these risks might be collectively understood and appropriated.
The discussion further points toward the possible emergence of a broader dialogue network at the regional or national level, connected to similar initiatives developing across Europe. In this sense, the gathering is not only about reflecting on co-production, but also about imagining its future trajectories and collective forms. A review of this co-produced meeting by EGEB, IEB, CNRS, ULB and UCL will be published in the September 2026 issue of Bruxelles en Mouvement.
The dialogues are open to residents, activists, academics and professionals, as well as to other stakeholders from civil society organisations and local authorities.
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