Learning (in/from/the) city: reconfiguration of urban space into a sustainable ‘macro-school’

Abstract

[EN] This paper intends to intertwine the fields of educational space, architecture and urban design, as well as sustainable development, and it is grounded in two main arguments. The first argument is that in recent decades there have been trends of breaking boundaries between independent spatial units within the school building, as well as within the planning/design process, with the ultimate goal of opening the educational environment to public space and public debate. Consequently, as the urban environment is progressively recognised as a canvas of multiple learning experiences, open-air space is approached as an environmental tool for informal/non-formal education and sustainability. The breaking of spatial boundaries within the school building to outdoor spaces and the city renders the city as a sustainable ‘macro-school’. This discussion is theoretically framed in the educational perspective about the relationship between education and the city defended by Trilla (1993); the city as a context for education; as a medium for education; and as an educational subject; and in the dimensions mentioned by Palmer (2002): education about, in and for the environment. Thus, open-air learning space is explored as a tool of environmental education, through participatory planning processes, the co-creation of liveable urban spaces, and their use for spatial literacy, socialisation, environmental action and bottom-up activism. The interpretation of a set of examples of individual urban sites, that cover a diversity of purposes and geographies, brings some insights into this debate and enables us to understand how urban space is being reconfigured into a sustainable 'macro-school'.