Report on the Regions in Recovery e-Festival 2022: General Reflections

Report on the Regions in Recovery e-Festival 2022: General Reflections on the Festival “Regions in Recovery Second Edition 2022: Re-imagining Regions”

By Andreea-Loreta Cercleux, Associate Professor PhD Habil., University of Bucharest, Romania

Between March 21st – April 1st 2022 I participated at the e-Festival “Regions in Recovery Second Edition: Re-imagining Regions”. The event was organized by Regional Studies Association and included next to plenary sessions, 27 special sessions that explored different areas of research interest. My objectives in the participation in the festival focused mainly on the challenges of today and tomorrow in cities, including designing future development solutions, in order to increase their sustainability. Therefore, I attended several sessions in which I discovered some very interesting and enriching approaches in these topics.

As proposed as part of the framework of the festival, I organized and chaired a special session entitled Street art for sustainable and liveable cities. This session was planned to have participation of researchers and academics from various fields research, invited to present their papers on different approaches in relation to the street art phenomenon, among which: Street art as part of cultural and creative industries; Street art in multicultural areas; Communication and messages conveyed by street artwork; Street art, identity and local heritage; Urban regeneration and street art role, a new tool for urban planning; Community participation in street art projects and programs; Street art for communities and neighbourhoods. The papers registered and presented in this special session placed street art in relation to identity dimensions and urban heritage.

In the past, I have already participated in different scientific events organized by Regional Studies Association, starting from my first involvement in 2009. My participation to the E-Festival “Regions in Recovery Second Edition 2022: Re-imagining Regions” was very valuable for my professional career, an extraordinary opportunity to learn more about the wide-ranging context of various issues in different territories, challenges of the moment and projects for the future.