Street Values (Straatwaarden) is a research project initiated by the Reinwardt Academy in Amsterdam and Sustainism Lab, carried out in cooperation with the Lectorate of Civic Interaction Design. Over the last few years, many institutions in the fields of art, culture and heritage have seen their surroundings change considerately. Their position as cultural authorities is no longer taken for granted; societal changes as well as changing expectations of audiences have led them to reconsider their role. How can they remain relevant as institutions in the 21st Century?

In that context, Street Values looks at the relation between heritage and placemaking and the role that heritage professionals could take in a network society. The starting point is the socially sustainable ‘sustainist’ perspective, developed by Michiel Schwarz. The interest for the Lectorate of Play & Civic Media lies in the potential for citizen empowerment in these processes. Could citizens be given a greater role in the production of heritage? Or, the other way around: can heritage professionals make heritage productive in the context of civic issues? The project has resulted in two publications, in which the main findings, as well as an agenda with input for the future development of the heritage sector, have appeared.

Event: Research Ateliers

The changing relationships between heritage, space and community and civic organization were explored in three research ateliers, each centring on a different theme: placemaking, commons and co-design. Various actors from the sectors of heritage, social design, the arts and civic organization presented their experiences with opening up the ‘making’ of heritage to broader audiences and discussed what that shift meant for their profession.