Loading…
Creating better cities together.
← Back to schedule
Neighbourhoods as Living Labs: Communities Experimenting with Urban Futures
Wednesday September 23, 2026 2:30pm - 3:45pm CEST
William H. Whyte Room - Wroclaw Congress Center (RCTB)
Cities are glorious ecosystems, engines of innovation, places of reinvention and human connection. But meaningful change rarely starts at city scale. It starts at neighbourhood level where private, public, third sector and residents collaborate to experiment and shape their places together.


This session brings together organisations from London and Wroclaw, each taking a different path to the same conviction: that communities must be at the heart of how neighbourhoods evolve.


We will share real-life examples of neighbourhood experimentation. From London's Bankside, where a Victorian viaduct is being reimagined as a place for enterprise and connection, a business decarbonisation programme has scaled up from pilot to strategy, and an Alchemist in Residence is testing cultural interventions.


From Wroclaw, discover how collaborative cultural programmes and business–NGO hubs, led by Emma Foundation and its &BeyondLab Social Problem‑Solving Lab, are bringing together cultural institutions, municipalities, NGOs, businesses and residents to use futures‑oriented, design thinking and participatory foresight methods, turning shared visions into joint actions.


This session is not just about our stories. You will experience a compact futures literacy workshop, taking your own neighbourhood's vision and working backwards to identify today's actions. With a particular focus on how to meaningfully include those with limited systemic power so their perspectives influence real decisions.


You will leave with adaptable tools to use in your own place, and proof that when communities are given agency, neighbourhoods can become powerful laboratories.
Speakers
avatar for Nicole Gordon

Nicole Gordon

CEO, Better Bankside
Nicole Gordon is a senior place leader, with 20 years industry experience in shaping city districts. As CEO of Better Bankside, one of the UK’s longest established Business Improvement Districts, Nicole leads innovative economic, environmental and social action in the neighbourhood... Read More →
avatar for Aleksandra Bolek

Aleksandra Bolek

CEO, Emma Foundation
Placeholder
avatar for Donald Hyslop

Donald Hyslop

Chair, Better Bankside
Donald Hyslop is an Urbanist and consultant working across the world oninnovative social and urban developments. He has held long termleadership roles at Tate Modern and Borough Market and is Chair of BetterBankside. He advances the regeneration, reinvention, economic and socialdevelopment... Read More →
ES

Ewa Suchozebrska

Project Manager, Emma Foundation
Placeholder
Wednesday September 23, 2026 2:30pm - 3:45pm CEST
William H. Whyte Room - Wroclaw Congress Center (RCTB) Wystawowa 1, 51-618 Wrocław, Poland
  Sandbox City: the Courage to Experiment, workshop
  • global Y

Attendees (15)


Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule, view media, leave feedback and see who's attending!

Tweet Share

Get help with the event

Contact event planner Event login
View support guides Find upcoming events
Create an event you'd love to attend!
Explore why organizers choose Sched • Success stories
Event App • Event scheduling • Event registration • Event ticketing • Sched forms • Call for papers • Badges • Conferences
© 2026. SCHED LLC - All rights reserved - Helping events since 2008
Event Planning Software • Privacy • Terms
Share Modal

Share this link via

Or copy link