The School of Walking: Vienna investigates the potential power of walking as a form of deliberation brought together in an activity that is resilient, productive and progressive.
As of October, Vienna has been voted Europe's most democratic city for a year. It is also seen as the most liveable city. What do these words mean in a city that is getting hotter and experiencing increasingly extreme weather conditions? Humanity is being challenged and forced into radical systemic change, with democracies also changing ‘en passant’ on the way to this common goal. The School of Walking highlights citizens' investments, pressing democratic questions and questions of law. Experts in these fields are invited to lead a walk to a location that harks back to these urgencies, taking into account promises embedded in language such as Zukunftshof, Freies Mitte, Klimarat and the potential meaning of ‘being grounded’.
Bik van der pol invited Martina Handler and Laura Grossmann to lead a walk. As part of the organizing and facilitating team for the Austrian Climate Citizens' Assembly Klimarat they focused on Lobau, a contested site with ongoing protest for many years against a scheduled highway project.
Architects and urban planners Lina Streeruwitz and Michael Klein led the group to the public park Freie Mitte, part of the master plan for the urban development area ‘Nordbahnhof’; a plan that claims free space for experimentation, unresolvedness and openness. (image page 15/16: StudioVlayStreeruwitz)
As Vienna was voted as European Capital of Democracy of 2024, the district Alsergrund is part of the climate team. Democracy expert Tamara Ehs and researcher and activist Barbara Laa discuss the connections between democracy, participation and successful measures against the climate crisis.
Is there a future for Zukunftshof? This walk, lead by snail farmer Andreas Gugumuck, curator and architect historian Karoline Mayer and Klaus Schafler, director of Kunsthaus Exnergasse, critically addresses the tensions and conflicts between the future of farming, and urgent housing needs in Vienna's urban development plans.
School of Walking is commissioned by KÖR Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Wien (Public Art Vienna) in cooperation with dérive - Society for Urban Research and kex—kunsthalle exnergasse as part of Urbanize! Int. Festival for Urban Explorations, Vienna, October 2024. urbanize! 2024 explores the possibilities of an environmentally and socially just energy transition and its potential to democratise energy production and use.
