Throughout Europe, civic spaces serve as vital arenas for democratic life… These are the places, the platforms, the events, where individuals and communities converge to engage, organise, innovate, express dissent, and collectively envision the future. These spaces are not fixed; they transform over time, thriving in some contexts while facing constraints from political, social, or economic pressures in others.
Capturing their dynamics demands more than isolated case studies or static snapshots; it calls for a framework that reflects their complexity, interconnectedness, and continual evolution.
The B.RIGHT SPACES CARTOGRAPHY responds to this need, offering a living, interactive, and accessible map that charts these spaces as a shared landscape of civic activity, fostering understanding, visibility, and dialogue across Europe’s diverse communities.
The digital and democratic participation platform Decidim.Barcelona wants to give citizens a voice so that they can decide on the future of their environment. It is a digital space for a participatory process to debate, contrast and collect proposals. The tool is developed with free and open source software, so that it can be reused or improved.
The Comunalitat del Güell promotes a people-centred economy rooted in community ties, social rights, and environmental care across the neighbourhoods it serves. It works to strengthen popular organisations, local economic initiatives, and mutual aid networks by supporting projects that ensure long-term stability and resilience. Central to this approach is the role of urban commons which act as key drivers of a community-based economy focused on people.
The Via Cumiana 15 Collaboration Pact concerns the old abadoned Lancia industrial warehouse, redeveloped as a covered multipurpose square in San Paolo neighborhood. In this space civil society in collaboration with the Municipality and District 3, offers educational, cultural, and sports activities for the local community. Over the years, the co-management of the spaces has also expanded to the adjacent street, which has been pedestrianized, and to the neighboring green areas.
Warsaw Social Innovation Laboratory “Synergy” (Warszawskie Laboratorium Innowacji Społecznych „Synergia”, or WLIS „Synergia”) is an innovative space within Warsaw, aimed at initiating and implementing projects that improve the quality of life. It is located in a pre-war tenement house at 16 Markowska Street in the Praga-Północ district and operates within the structures of the Office of Social Aid and Projects of the City of Warsaw.