Peacekeeping Missions in the City – Design for Legacy
The development of a peacekeeping base in the area in which a stabilisation mission is conducted could provide more than ‘just’ protection and seclusion to the forces and means stationed at the base. Why not use that same base as a part of the overall solution by building relationships and confidence with the local population, and even as a means to create some of the effects the mission seeks to achieve? Can we re-think the relationship between the base and the city? What if that same base could also strengthen crucial functions such as education, employment and innovation – during the period of the mission and possibly beyond?
The session Design for Legacy is based on a research and design project initiated and led by Malkit Shoshan. It aims to turn the spotlight on contemporary peacekeeping missions as urban phenomena. As peacekeeping operations unfold on a large scale in hundreds of cities around the world, their bases become long-term features within their urban fabric. At the intersection between the base and the city, it is pertinent to rethink the role of the future base in processes of peace-making, peace-keeping and peace-building. This is especially relevant as current missions are mostly located in conflict areas, inside often fragile and resource-scarce urban areas.
The base can become an intrinsic component of the city if we re-think its relationship with its urban environment. Can an inclusive design approach play a role in the empowerment of the local community through engagement processes? Can the base strengthen crucial civic functions such as water and food supply, education and health, employment, and innovation? If the legacy of the base is taken into account in advance, the exchange of resources and capacity building can start early on in the mission. This approach will leave behind, after the mission ends, a stronger city and more resilient community. In this breakout session, cross-disciplinary ideas on how to design bases for multiple goals are shared and discussed. Partners at the Ministry of Defence and Malkit Shoshan’s Design for Legacy initiative will share projects and long-term research that show possibilities to create bases that not only have defence value, but also added societal value for the local population during the mission and afterwards.
Contributors
Contributors to Design for Legacy: Debra Solomon/URBANIAHOEVE, Erella Grassiani/University of Amsterdam, Henk Ovink, Joel van der Beek/Econovision and Economists for Peace and Security, Maaike Groot/East-West Seeds, Malkit Shoshan/FAST, Robert Kluijver, Samir Bantal. Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Charlotte van Baak, Eran Nagan, Marleen Monster, Renilde Steeghs Dutch Ministry of Defence: Lt. Col. Alex Jansen, Maj. Erwin Marx, Col. Kees Matthijssen, Col. Norbert Moerkens, Maj. Marcel Rot, Cpt. Thomas Boonen, Cpt. Wouter Eidhof
The event is invite-only, however there will be a report of the breakout session.
Speakers
Malkit Shoshan
Malkit Shoshan studied architecture and urban planning at the IUAV (Venice, Italy) and at the Technion (Haifa, Israel). She is the founder of the architectural think-tank FAST, the Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory. Her work explores and highlights the relations between architecture, politics and human rights. She is the author of the award-winning book Atlas of the Conflict, Israel-Palestine (2010), and of Village (2014). Under the auspices of Het Nieuwe Instituut, Shoshan was the appointed curator of the Dutch Pavilion at the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2016.
Joel van der Beek
Joel van der Beek is part of Design for Legacy, together with Malkit Shoshan and Erella Grassiani. He is a board member of Economists for Peace and Security and is the Chief Economist at EconoVision economic research and GM at EconoTalent staffing solutions.
Puck van Dijk
Puck van Dijk works as a philosophical facilitator, moderator and trainer in the public and commercial sectors. She studied philosophy at the University of Amsterdam (BA) and the Vrije Universiteit (MA). She also works as a professional theater director and drama teacher (Amsterdam School of the Arts, 2008). Puck is the co-founder and artistic director of PLAY productions where she creates interdisciplinary performances which consist of film, theater, venue, music and new media.
Debra Solomon
Debra Solomon is an Amsterdam-based artist and researcher, founder of Urbaniahoeve Social Design Lab for Urban Agriculture. Urbaniahoeve (which translates to ‘the city as our farm’) has developed food-system infrastructure at several public space locations in the Hague and Amsterdam, transforming the existing landscape architecture, whilst prioritizing eco-system health, and implementing in situ topsoil production.
Erella Grassiani
Erella Grassiani is an anthropologists and assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam. She is the author of Soldiering under Occupation processes of Numbing among Israeli soldiers in the Al-Aqsa Intifada.
