CITYMIX

Empowerment is about people taking control over their lives: setting their own agendas, developing skills, solving problems and increasing their self-confidence. Group building and urban plannng projects are ideal platforms (and tools) to empower individual citizens and communities. Institutions can facilitate this by providing an environment that encourages and appreciates public participation.

Public participation is both a means and an end. As a means, it is a process through which citizens and communities cooperate to provide input into programs and projects. As an end, it empowers citizens and communities through the acquisition of skills, knowledge and experience. In itself, involvement in public life is a positive outcome as it contributes to a strong civil society. It also means decision and policy makers can utilize the contributions of citizens. Participation ranges from the provision of information, to involvement through consultation, collaboration, decision-making and implementation.

The CITYMIX mission is to support self organisation of engaged urban communities and networks, in particular by creating ‘open source’ urban development processes.

CITYMIX projects are inclusive. Citizens who care enough about their community and environment to contribute to the decision making process are the essence of a more participatory society. We mostly work with participant groups of cultural entrepreneurs (artists, designers, traditional businesses, service providers and technical experts), directed on living and working together for synergy effects. In these projects there is also room for groups, that partly constitute a subculture, with their own economy, that is not in the first place directed on commercial success. 

CITYMIX solutions are culturally innovating, more sustainable (people, planet, profit), and they are more enjoyable because it’s your own thing. Participatory development means that value creation will benefit the participants in the first place.