What is the Masterclass?

The COurban Masterclass brings together leaders from governmental and nonprofit organisations, as well as stakeholders from around the world  for an immersive week of fieldwork, tours, lectures, presentations, and workshops. Participants study world-renowned public spaces and public life in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmö, Sweden, providing inspiration and strategies to bring back home.

The urban sphere is complex, and it can be difficult to account for the different voices affected by urban development. At COurban, we believe that an interdisciplinary lens is crucial to understanding all facets of the urban environment. The professional world offers countless conferences and classes aimed at furthering careers and projects, but it can be difficult to effectively infuse the new knowledge back into your work. COurban’s goal is to bridge this gap by engaging delegations of professionals in hands-on learning experiences in Copenhagen and Malmö, as well as providing additional consulting upon arrival at the home city. Together, we co-create tools that shed new light on the experience of urban space and expand participants’ understanding of their own projects.

Why Copenhagen?

Copenhagen is a global leader in the study and cultivation of public life, which has been systematically tracked and studied there since the 1960s. This work has led to public-realm enhancements that support physical and mental health, economic vitality, and environmental sustainability. Masterclass participants will hear from professionals whom have influenced Copenhagen’s public spaces and will learn how evidence-based practices and institutional decision making in the public realm helped the city become one of the world’s most liveable urban environments.

COurban has vast experience in sharing knowledge and understanding by utilising one-to-one practical learning methods. The COurban Masterclasses will enable participants to actively facilitate change by teaching concrete and tested tools for how to plan, design and build a liveable city. This masterclass is open to policy-makers, politicians, urban planners, urban designers, or any professional working on a project that tackles aspects of liveability in the urban environment.

COurban has hosted two masterclass programs during spring and summer 2018 and one in summer 2019, working with participants who focused on urban design issues in Bellingham, Tacoma and Seattle, Washington. Read more about the Tacoma  to Puyallup connection masterclass here, the masterclass with the City and Port of Bellingham here, or the Capitol Hill Housing masterclass here. The masterclass programme is generously supported by Scan Design Foundation.

Are you interested in attending a masterclass as an individual or with a delegation? Don’t hesitate to send us an email!