WECARE: Environmental Commons in Action, Research and Education

This paper describes the WECARE project and its methodology, as a framework for urban regeneration through the urban commons. The methodology combines research (i.e. urban and socio-environmental analysis, literature review, on-site visits and questionnaire surveys) with education on different levels and artistic actions & performances. It proposes a paradigm shift from “ecosystem services” to “ecosystem commons”, emphasising community stewardship. Through Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Service-Learning, the study investigates postwar housing estates in Barcelona, Krakow, and Bucharest. The project identifies “latent commons” by mapping quantitative geodata alongside situated qualitative knowledge. On a second stage, it implements collective artistic interventions that may lay the basis for “soft infrastructures” of solidarity, fostering social cohesion and environmental agency. The results are a replicable methodology for community empowerment, proving that sustainable urban regeneration is a relational and cultural process. The findings can be useful for research & educational actions conducted in multicultural districts (which involves both: students and local communities), especially the postwar prefabricated housing estates in various European countries. As well as during the participatory planning processes organized within such areas.