Mediterranean network of feminist urban planners
Who we are
A group of engaged feminists activists, organizations, and associations working in the mediterranean on the right to the city and spatial justice from a feminist perspective.
Objectives
The main goal is to create and advance towards the consolidation of a network of Mediterranean feminist urban planners working for the right to the city in different metropolises of the region from a feminist perspective or a gender perspective. Through this network we intend to advance in the generation of knowledge, visibility, collection and systematization of experiences and practices that work for the empowerment and equality between women, men and non-binary people in urban planning and, at the same time, contribute to processes of training, dissemination and articulation.
The project has a territorial projection in the Mediterranean but also global, as it proposes the generation of knowledge, the systematization of existing experiences and practices and the training of different agents linked to urban and metropolitan governance in the Mediterranean. The project will also have a localized impact, as experiences will be gathered from Mediterranean metropolises.
The netwok seeks to be a space where feminist urban planners can share spaces of:
- Activism
- Capacity Building
- Share experiences
- Mutual support
- Dissemination
- Research Mentoring
Barcelona
Col·lectiu Punt 6
Col·lectiu Punt 6 is a cooperative of feminist architects, sociologists and urban planners that work to rethink domestic, community and public spaces from an intersectional feminist perspective through community participation. The objective of feminist urban planning is to place people’s needs at the center of urban decisions, moving from a capitalist and patriarchal model of planning to an everyday life model We consider that space reproduces inequalities and for this reason it is important to transformed to make cities spaces of inclusion and diversity, without any discrimination. We develop research, capacity building, awareness raising, urban planning and architecture projects, participatory process and training. We work on mobility, public spaces, housing, community facilities and services, and urban safety. We have been working since 2005 with several public institutions and non-profit organizations mostly in Catalonia, Spain and Latin America.In the last 15 yearrs we have published 6 methodological guides to apply a feminist perspective in different aspects of urban planning and a book in the form of the essay published in 2019 by Virus Editorial: Urbanismo Feminista. Por una transformación radical de los espacios de vida
Blanca Valdivia, Urban sociologist and PhD in Urban and Architectural Management, and Sara Ortiz Escalante, Sociologist and PhD in Urban Planning, are the Punt 6’s members who coordinate the Mediterranean Network of Feminist Urban Planners.
Col·lectiu Punt 6’s recent projects:
- Coordination of the Mediterranean Network of Feminist Urban Planners, 2020-2022
- Sexual Harassment Survey for the Tramvia of Barcelona, 2021
- Consultancy to integrate a gender perspective in the Metropolitan Plan of Barcelona (PDU), 2021
- Strategic Plan from a gender perspective in the municipality of Sant Joan de Mediona, 2021
- Participatory Study about Toilets access in Barcelona, 2021
- Cycling study from a feminist perspective in Barcelona, 2019-2021
- Everyday Life Mobility Guide from a Gender Perspective, with CAF Banco de Desarrollo and Ciudad de Buenos Aires
- Exploratory Walks and Safety Audits in several municipalities in Catalonia
Sara Semlali
I am a Moroccan architect and urbanist who is passionate about cities, but before all, a feminist who believes in equality in all aspects and wants to contibute as possible to making happen.
After graduating as an architect in Morocco and working during a year in an architecture and urban design studio in Tangier, I knew that I needed to take further steps in my professional and personal growth. So, combining my passion for cities, my curiosity for sustainable issues and her search for diversity and freedom, I enrolled for the European Master in Urbanism at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona in collaboration with KU Leuven where I studied a part of her master.
In my master Thesis on the slums in Casablanca, I had the opportunity to discover another reality of Moroccan cities where women were internally identified and confined to the private “domestic” space, for religious and social reasons. In these settlements, women are victims of a true spatial injustice as they are excluded from the urban space, an exclusion of which it is difficult to distinguish to what extent it is imposed or chosen. From then on, I have been very curious and interested in feminist urbanism I would like to explore more this field.
La mirada feminista, AMB
La Mirada is a working group of technical women at the AMB set up in July 2020, who work together to promote a feminist, inclusive and cross-cutting perspective in the activities carried out by the Mobility, Transport and Sustainability Area, through the identification and definition of specific actions that can be incorporated into the services we provide.
We are the driving force behind the “movement” of society, both literally and figuratively (equal opportunities). Moreover, we are a sector that generates stable and quality employment.
The members are Montserrat Cabo, technical architect; Mariona Conill, civil engineer; Ruth Lamas, civil engineer; Anabel Rubio, civil engineer; Laia Soriano-Montagut, urban lawyer and criminologist; and Neus T-Figueras, civil engineer.
Lebanon
Jana Nakhal Public Works
Jana is an urban planner and researcher. She wrote in several Lebanese and regional newspapers and magazines on urban issues and feminism. She is also involved in organizing interactive urban tours, in Beirut and Sour – ‘Capitalism and the City’ and ‘City and Power’ tours- as a tool to make urban issues an everyday concern and find ways to organize local communities around them. Jana is a PhD student at Ljubljana University. She is currently the editor-in-chief of Public Works Magazine.
Morocco
Nadia Naïr, UAF
Retraitée (Université Abdelmalek Essaadi). Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies en Economie Rurale et Agroalimentaire (Université de Montpellier,
Zohra Sghiyar, UF
L’UAF est une organisation non gouvernementale sans but lucratif dont le siège est à Rabat. Elle dispose d’une vingtaine de sections régionales à travers le Maroc (Tanger, Tétouan, Larache, Kénitra, Fès, Meknès, Rabat, Marrakech, Casablanca, Safi, Errachidia, Agadir, Settat, …). Créée en 1987, l’association œuvre pour la promotion des droits humains des femmes dans une société moderne, démocratique, avec ses composantes culturelles et linguistiques et fondée sur l’égalité, la justice sociale et les droits humains.
Pour atteindre ses objectifs, les moyens d’action sont multiples : sensibilisation, conscientisation, formation, mobilisation, plaidoyer et lobbying. Et ceci dans des domaines variés : la lutte contre les violences faites aux femmes, la représentativité politique des femmes, l’autonomisation et le renforcement des capacités des femmes, l’éducation à la culture des droits humains, etc.
L’UAF a réalisé plusieurs actions au niveau national et au niveau local. Dans la Section de Tétouan, nous pouvons citer quelques projets :
- Réalisation d’un Diagnostic Participatif, Formation et Capitalisation d’un Projet sur le Bienêtre et la Sécurité des Femmes dans l’Espace Public dans la Commune Urbaine de Tétouan (Maroc) en partenariat avec Col·lectiu Punt 6.
- Mars 2020 – Juin 2021 : Projet « Souk des femmes, souk des droits », financé par l’Union Européenne dans le cadre du Programme « Moucharaka Mouwatina » (Participation citoyenne).
- Septembre 2019 -Juin 2021 : « Fonds des Femmes pour l’égalité sans réserves – FFER », financé par l’Agence Catalane de Coopération au Développement (ACCD).
- 2016 – 2017 : « Contribution à la promotion des droits des femmes dans la région de Tétouan, avec une attention particulière au milieu rural », financé par l’ACCD.
- 2010- 2013 : « Lutte contre la traite des femmes entre la Jordanie, le Maroc et l’Egypte », financé par UNIFEM.
- 2004 – 2011 : « Promotion des droits des femmes auprès des étudiants/es de Droit dans la Province de Tétouan », financé par l’Union Européenne dans la Phase I et le Gouvernement des Iles Baléares dans la phase II.
- 2004 – 2010 : « Accès des femmes aux Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication », financé par le Gouvernement des Iles Baléares.
L’UAF est représentée dans ce Réseau par Halima Laarabi (Secrétaire Générale de la Section de Tétouan et responsable syndicale nationale, cadre dans les Travaux Publics), Fatima Zohra Sghiyar (Vice-Secrétaire Générale, professeure de français et artiste performeuse) et Nadia Naïr (Trésorière, retraitée de l’enseignement supérieur et consultante en genre et droits des femmes).
Gabès – Tunisia
Khaoula Lassoued (Tunisie)
Architecte urbaniste diplômée en 2007 de l’École Nationale d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme de Tunis (Université de Carthage, Tunisie), titulaire d’un master en « Paysage, territoire et patrimoine » en 2013 (Université de Sousse, Tunisie) et d’un doctorat en « Étude des paysages et développement des territoires » en 2019 (Université de Sousse, Tunisie) après la soutenance de ma thèse intitulée « Des regards architecturaux et paysagers de la côte orientale de Gabès : dichotomie entre actions aménagistes et qualités territoriales ». Enseignante depuis l’année 2010 dans plusieurs institutions nationales des Arts et Métiers dans le domaine du design des espaces. J’ai travaillé en tant que spécialiste en développement local et gouvernance locale dans le Projet ADDL (Appui à la décentralisation, à la gouvernance et au développement local) au sein du PNUD (Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement) en Tunisie entre 2019 et 2020.
Saloua Hamrouni (Tunisie)
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Turkey
Cansu Yapici, Istambul (Turkey)
Architect and membre of the Chambers of Architects in Istambul, Turkey.
Bahar Sakizlioglu
(Turkey – Netherlands)
I am an urban sociologist and feminist. My passion lies in understanding and contesting injustices involved in everyday (re)making of cities.
I completed my PhD research entitled ‘A Comparative Look at Residents’ Displacement Experiences: The Cases of Amsterdam and Istanbul’ at the Urban and Regional Research Center, Utrecht University, the Netherlands, in 2014. Later on, I received H2020 Marie Curie Individual Research Fellowship, working as a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Geography, Leicester University, UK. During this comparative research entitled Gendered Geographies of Gentrification, I sharpened my feminist urban lens looking at experiences of displacement from a social reproduction perspective.
My main research interests are gentrification, displacement, housing, social reproduction, comparative urbanism and feminist urban studies at large. I have published papers on the politics of gentrification and displacement experiences of disadvantaged groups in gentrifying neighborhoods and on gender-gentrification nexus. My most recent work is on social reproduction and displacement. I have been active in housing and feminist movements in all cities I lived and trying to embed activism in my academic work.
Melis Oğuz
(Istanbul, Turkey)
Having graduated from Sankt Georg Austrian College in 2001, Oğuz pursued her undergraduate studies at Middle East Technical University (METU), respectively in City and Regional Planning (2005) and Sociology (2006). Oğuz took her graduate degree from the Department of Social Policy at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) with her thesis titled “Re-generating Gypsy Neighborhoods”. She completed her PhD on the public space use and urban mobility of migrant women within the framework of double doctorate protocol signed between Berlin Technical University and Istanbul Technical University in 2016. She earned her title of Associate Professorship in 2021. Currently Oğuz is employed as full time academic staff at the Department of Industrial Design, Beykent University. She is coordinating and broadcasting the weekly discussion program on urban studies and research, Mekan ve İnsan at the online platform, Medyascope. She is pursuing her undergraduate studies at Istanbul University, Faculty of Open and Distance Education, Exercise and Sports Sciences Programme. Urban sociology being her major field of study, her recent works mainly focus on informality, urban transformation, paratransit systems, gender studies, public space, locative media, interfacial spaces, green settlements and social and economic sustainability.
In her PhD thesis, Oğuz aimed to understand the limitations of migrant women that affront their inclusion into the city where they have migrated. The purpose was to search the circumstances of the extension of the limited urban space of migrant women and to leave an applicable road map for local administrations on this matter. In this way, migrant women capable of only limited mobility within the home and neighborhood centreline can take part in public spaces, which enable people from various social circumstances to meet in new crowds. Within this context, the research focused on two parameters, the use of public space and urban mobility, as measures of the social inclusion of migrant women in their place of immigration. Fields to apply PATET (Participatory Action towards Experience Transfer, a mix-method uniquely developed for and applied in this research) have been chosen as Neukölln in Berlin (Germany) and Kartal in Istanbul (Turkey). Synchronically, Oğuz has worked in these two fields. Berlin hosted the field study as the source of experience for the investigated “best practice” model, whereas Istanbul was the pilot study area. The pilot project, on which the thesis is built, has been financed by Scientific Research Project Fund of Istanbul Technical University; and the field studies in Berlin have been financed by DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst). As the most powerful local actor, the participation of Kartal Municipality has been crucially important in this process. Oğuz, for the purposes of her PhD study, has signed a cooperation agreement with Kartal City Council (KCC). Thus a voluntary experience transfer has been ensured between the two cities by neighborhood-level administrative units. This experience transfer involved primarily a one-way flow of knowledge from the researcher to the practitioners (to KCC on behalf of Kartal District Municipality). However, this study also took into consideration that there is actually multiple movements of knowledge between researchers, practitioners, and migrant women in Kurfalı, as well as the participants, coordinators and leaders of the project scrutinized in Berlin, Stadtteilmütter (StM) Neukölln, and the current and former StM.
Egypt / Canada
Menna Agha
Architect and researcher who has recently been coordinating the spatial justice agenda at the Flanders Architecture Institute in Belgium. She joins the Azrieli School to promote pedagogy and research in the newly established area of Design and Spatial Justice. Menna holds a PhD in Architecture from the University of Antwerp, and a Master of Arts in Gender and Design from Köln International School of Design. In 2019/2020, she was the Spatial Justice Fellow and a visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon. She is a third-generation displaced Fadicha Nubian, a legacy that infuses her research interests in race, gender, space, and territory. Among her publications are: Nubia still exists: The Utility of the Nostalgic Space; The Non-work of the Unimportant: The shadow economy of Nubian women in displacement villages; and Liminal Publics, Marginal Resistance.
Napoli – Italia
Teresa Boccia
Architect, feminist, has worked on the topics of equal democracy and women empowerment. She is professor of Urban Planning of the Federico II University of Naples and leads a course of urban issues with a gender lens called Gender, Right to the city, Urban safety: social innovation practices for urban project. She is Founder and the Scientific Director of URBANIMA, an interdisciplinary studies centre dedicated to women, cities, sustainable development and gender issues within the Interdepartmental Research Centre (L.U.P.T.) of the University of Naples Federico II (Italy).She is member AGGI (Advisory Gender Group on Gender Issues)of UN-Habitat and the co-chair of the WPCG- Women’s Group in the GAP and she played an active role during the Habitat III process with the rich experience working on gender issue . She is also the Co-coordinator of UNI Habitat Gender Hub and Honorary President of the International Association AFEM (Association Femmes Europe Méridionale), which groups associations and networks of associations from countries in the South of the European Union, with the aim contributing to building a social Europe founded on the respect of the human rights, and above all, of the equality among women and men. As dialogue facilitator between women’s associations, grassroots, academia, and institutions, she has been coordinating many projects for regional and local governments in urban and rural areas with a focus on gender and sustainable development. She is member of the Scientific Advisory Committees of many European and International project.
Patrizia Palumbo
Activist, Equal Opportunity Expert, Resource Management. President of Dream Team Association Women in the Network for Urban Re-Vitalization APS. President of the Women’s Soccer Team “Dream Team ArciScampia”.Representative Territorial Presidium LIBERA Scampia “Antonio Landieri” innocent victim of the Camorra. (Libera, Associations, names and numbers against the mafias is an association of social promotion, coordinates more than 1600 national and international realities that deal in various ways with the fight against organized crime. Among the aims of the association: to promote the rights of citizenship, the culture of democratic legality and social justice; to enhance the memory of the victims of mafias; to contrast the mafia domination of the territory). Responsible and coordinator of the Anti-Violence Center Dream Team Women in Network, accredited by executive order of the City of Naples. Member of an ATS that currently manages the Anti-Violence Centers of the City of Naples.
During many years as an activist on the territory of the urban area of Naples, has coordinated and designed a series of projects of equal opportunities, women’s empowerment, adolescent empowerment, Re-Vitalization and Urban Re-generation. She has been President of the Council of P.O. of the Municipality of Naples Municipality 8 and Vice-President of the Council of the third sector of the Municipality of Naples Municipality 8. Currently coordinates the projects: Dream Team Arciscampia, women’s soccer as a tool for social inclusion, D.E.A (Women Empowerment and Autonomy), Feet Heart Head and Hands (for the empowerment area Families and Adolescents) and intervenes in schools of various grades in training and prevention of gender violence, equal opportunities and education to feelings and paths to legality.
The Association Dream Team – Women in the Network
The Association Dream Team – Women in the Network in its operational headquarters in Scampia manages with a staff of professionals, a daily desk of reception, listening, guidance to work, psychological support is an Anti-Violence Center accredited with executive provision of the City of Naples, E ‘Presidio territorial LIBERA Scampia dedicated to” Antonio Landieri “innocent victim of the Camorra.
It has a series of courses for self empowerment, psycho-physical well-being, vocational training and sports for adolescents as a tool for social inclusion, to give women in the north of Naples opportunities, but above all dignity and rights, accompanying them in processes and projects of re-generation and cultural, economic and social revitalization. In schools it intervenes in training and prevention of gender violence, equal opportunities and education to feelings and paths to legality.
It promotes and organizes, in network with the associations of Scampia, cultural events: literary cafes, reading marathons, seminars, concerts, art symposia, photo exhibitions, contemporary art exhibitions, sporting events and film forums.
It is part of the Project Pangea-Scampia the garden of the five continents and non-violence, with the adoption of a flowerbed called “Continent Asia”.
Headquarters: Via Galileo Galilei n.5 – 80144 – Naples – Tel. 081 0489241 327 5423293
email : ass.dreamteam@gmail.com pec : associazionedreamteam@pec.it
www.associazionedreamteam.eu Fb :Associazione Dream Team donne in rete
D.E.A. PROJECT (Women, Empowerment and Autonomy)
The project stems from the need to network actions to combat gender violence, strengthening the forms of reception and support for women who suffer violence and their children and promoting the development of a culture of violence prevention, through meetings with the actors of the network that deal in various capacities with the phenomenon.
PROJECT ” DREAM TEAM ARCISCAMPIA, Football as a Tool for Social Inclusion “.
The project stems from the idea of offering girls and young women of the territory the opportunity to live and cultivate their passion, to accompany them on their path of growth. Our project uses soccer as a tool for social inclusion, to combat gender stereotypes and discrimination, allowing a group of girls and adolescents in the area an experience not only of sport, but of exchange and comparison of life experiences, expectations, desires and difficulties. Soccer is intended as an opportunity to get involved and a means through which to “train” for social living.
REAL CONNECTION” PROJECT
The project in partnership with two other associations is aimed at combating the phenomena of bullying and cyberbullying through the implementation of support, training and information, prevention, aimed at different target groups directly or indirectly affected by the phenomenon: adolescents, families, teachers. educators and operators. The association Dream Team Donne in rete is involved in the activation of a Help line and a listening desk and in the realization of socialization experiences on the territory with volunteer work.
Greece
Eva Grigoriadou
Urbana (Greece)
Architect by the Technical University of Crete (2013), Master of International Cooperation, Sustainable Emergency Architecture by the International University of Catalonia (2016) and current PhD candidate at the department of Architecture of the Technical University of Crete. My research focuses on the analysis of public spaces of Athens from a gender perspective, contemporary inclusive urban planning practices, and participatory methodologies. I am co-founder of the feminist architecture group URBANA. Previously I have worked as a researcher in various research and pedagogical programs of the Municipality of Athens in collaboration with the Technical University of Crete, as well as in European programs.
Palestine / Berlin
Natasha Aruri
Urbanist and researcher [Dr.Phil, MSc, M.Arch, B.Arch]. Her work focuses on cities of exasperated insecurities; spacio-politics of and resistance to (neo)colonialism; and facing uncertainties through people-based, dynamic strategies of spatial design. Currently she is a Postdoctoral Researcher at K LAB, TU-Berlin working on two research projects that look at the intersection of critical mapping, socio-environmental transformation, and new municipalist movements; and she is the City Research Team Lead for Ramallah in the “Urbanization, Gender and the Global South: a transformative knowledge network” – GenUrb project. She was Visiting Professor of Urban Planning at Dessau Institute of Architecture (DIA) between 2018-2020, and was Guest Lecturer in a number of European universities. She is co-founder and -director of UR°BANA, a collective concerned with urban research, design and action.
Mai Albattat
Holds a Bachelor degree in Architectural Engineering from Birzeit University. She also completed a course in “Heritage Conservation and Management” which was organized by ICROM and The Welfare Association in 2016. Moreover, she completed a three-month internship in Bethlehem with the “Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation”, and participated in several tours with the “Urban Sketchers Group” in villages around Ramallah. In addition to this, she undertook two consultancy contracts with the GIZ in two of their programs that focused on creating safe spaces and placemaking, she has also been involved in organizing a number of art exhibitions in Ramallah.
In conjunction with her work as a consultant and a researcher with UR°BANA’s research project: “Urbanization, Gender and the Global South: A Transformative Knowledge Network” (GenUrb), Mai recently moved to Berlin as a guest researcher with the Reiner Lemoine Institut on their research project “Global Berlin in the 21st century”. In addition to this, Mai is involved in a number of community groups, most notably a youth group called: ‘Nabd’, an agricultural in Ras Karkar and a youth-run Café cooperative in Birzeit.
Mai is passionate about conservation and likes to sketch out old structures.
With support of
