Fairville. Facing inequalities and democratic challenges through co-production in cities

Fairville is a collaborative project funded by Horizon Europe that wants to establish new knowledge and explore new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution. It belongs to the Cluster 2 - "Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society" of Horizon Europe that aims to meet EU goals and priorities on enhancing democratic governance and citizens participation, on the safeguarding and promotion of cultural heritage, and to respond to and shape multifaceted social, economic, technological and cultural transformations.

Fairville project intends to address embedded urban inequalities and the challenge this poses to democracy in large cities and urban regions. It will do so by intervening in low-income neighbourhoods that face a growing distance to the institutions and processes of representative democracy. Fairville reimagines the long-term impact of various inequalities on democratic participation, and will use knowledge co-production and participative democracy as strategies of spatial justice to address urban inequalities affecting cities in Europe, and two other mirror cases in Africa. 8 pilot cases (Fairville Labs), implemented in low- income urban areas, will be launched worldwide to demonstrate the capacity of co-production to tackle inequalities and reduce democratic gaps: Brussels, Berlin, London, Călărași, West Attica, Marseille, Giza and Dakar. The Fairville Labs will be places of reinvigorated local democratic engagement between four main kinds of partners: 1) civil-society organisations, CBO’s and ordinary residents and users 2) academics and researchers; 3) third party facilitators and advocacy organisations 4) local authorities.

Fairville is coordinated by the CNRS France. Project partners include: ULB - Laboratory LoUIsE, University College London, University Aix-Marseille, University of Regensburg, K&I, Commom Space, EGEB, Frontal, UrbaSen, Just Space, NSCE, Un Centre Ville Pour Tous, APPUII, ICLEI Europe, Ixelles Municipality, Attica Region and University Paris 8.

For more information visit https://www.fairville-eu.org/