Sparkling Spaces
My role in the Sparkling Spaces national pilot project
I have been the project leaderof the pilot project Sparkling Spaces-Arendal ( Levende Lokaler- Arendal) in 2017 and 2018 and have also contributed to reflections and actions related to the follow research led by NIBR.Many small and medium-sized cities have experienced that parts of the city center have been characterized by several empty store premises and vacated commercial premises. DOGA Design and Architecture Norway wanted to reverse this negative development and launched the national pilot project “Sparkling Spaces” ( Levende Lokaler /LL) in three different municipalities in the spring of 2016: Tromsø, Lærdal and Arendal. The participating cities and DOGA wanted to test out how to empty premises and buildings could be activated and revitalized, and investigate which businesses, actors and activities had to be present in order to create new life in these empty “ spaces”, and ensure long-lasting solutions for the projects and businesses involved. New forms of collaboration and new methods for connecting and motivating actors such as landowners and entrepreneurs, and identifying investors, were central in this action based work. Furthermore, it was important to see which barriers one had to overcome, how we could come up with new concepts, and develop collaborative forms and methods that could contribute so the municipalities and the actors in the center were motivated and had enough knowledge for innovation and new approaches, but without throwing tradition and historical identity on the scrap heap. The project sought new knowledge that could give an increased understanding of the complexity of the situation, and an understanding of the various stakeholders’ standpoints, interests and room for maneuver. I was engaged as a project manager in the spring of 2017 in a 50 percent position that the municipality of Arendal has paid for, after the project manager unfortunately was sick-sick during the start-up phase. I had been a partner from the very start of the project through my leader position of the network With a Heart For Arendal. In Arendal we established an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral partnership group in addition to professional groups internally in the municipality, which also contributed to the project management. The partners were Arendal municipality, With a Heart For Arendal, the city center company Arendal By AS and Arendal Kulturforum / Arendal Cultural Forum. In addition, there were a number of ad-hoc working groups in the city, where cultural- and business actors contributed, along with newly arrived refugees, Arendal Adult Education, and organizations in the city.DOGA has provided guidance and advice throughout the project, and they have coordinatedthe common activities between the three pilot cities, and the exhibitions at the end of the project, together with the local project leaders.I also participated with DOGA’s project management in a working group that assisted with the establishment of a network of cities that participated actively and followed the pilot cities closely in the project. Doga operated this network of 23 other participants and municipalities. The Sparkling Spaces project ( Levende lokaler- Arendal) is now part of my PHD research which deals with 4 cases in Arendal, where one of the cases is the City Center where the Sparkling Spaces project area is included. I continue to follow up on topics related to this project through my further research.