Urban Studies Summer Institute 2025
- Maria Lindmäe
- Jul 14
- 2 min read
Between 7 and 11 July I participated in the Urban Studies Summer Institute organized by the University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Ghent University, KU Leuven and The University of Manchester.
A very thorough program awaited us in three different cities: Brussels, Leuven and Ghent where we attended plenary sessions by speakers like Ayona Datta who shared her recent work on informational peripheries, and Wangui Kimari who gave us some insights on her new project “African in the Antropocene”.
In addition to the plenary sessions there was also room to talk about questions around publishing and the academic job market. Insights were given by Kevin Ward who is the editor in ehief of Urban Geography and Ben Derudder, editor of Regional Studies.
The daily activities also included field visits like the “sensory safari” that showed us Leuven Smart City through the guided visit of a very enthusiastic city council worker. We also visited several urban renewal project sites in Ghent, including its former harbour area and yet-to-be-trasnformed public spaces. This particular trip was concluded with drinks on one of the city's central squares and with a hike back home, resulting in 17+ km of walking altogether.
For the benefit of all the 25 participants, beer, waffles and fries were not missing from the program either, as one would expect from social scientists aiming to study “the social”.
It was very lovely to chat with other early career scholars from all over the world, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Canada, Chile and other places, to share our outlooks and to start discussing potential future collaborations.
Below are a few photos illustrating the 5-day event. Thanks again to Kevin Ward, Ben Derudder, Bas van Heur and Gert-Jan Put for the effort of organizing the whole event, and to all the other participants who turned it into such a pleasurable gathering.
