Vestvolden, "the west fortifications", were built over 100 years ago to defend Copenhagen and have been renovated in recent years. In autumn 2016, arki_lab did a co-creation project at Vestvolden to create awareness and explore further possibilities for Vestvolden's future, together with local students and residents. We designed and facilitated workshops with students from the local high school, followed by a public event in Tingbjerg.

The high school workshop
The students from Nørre High School played a version of our citizen involvement board game arki_nopoly. They took a field trip to various parts of Vestvolden, observing its spatial characteristics and interviewing locals. The students not only got to experience the historical context, but they also collected local knowledge from the users. Based on their observations and collected data, the students developed solutions for the future renovation. Ideas ranged from preservation to converting the building to a haunted house.

The community event
On a rare sunny Saturday arki_lab organized a community event in Vestvolden, where locals from all ages could participate in different activities and discuss the future of the area. The activities ranged from a treasure hunt and a bouncing castle to local food by Tingbjergs Kvinder (a local neighbourhood women's group). The treasure hunt ended at the municipality’s tent, where children could vote for the activities they felt should be included in the future Vestvolden. This was a great way to let children explore the area and input ideas and opinions about the future development. The local event demonstrated the added value of citizen involvement, especially when developing areas that house a diverse range of user-groups.

You can read more about Vestvolden here: http://www.befaestningen.dk