Liveable cities - why, where, what, who?

Cities across the Baltic Sea Region, and beyond, are facing increasingly complex challenges, from climate adaptation and social fragmentation to declining trust and pressure on public services. At the same time, municipalities are expected to respond in more collaborative, inclusive, and sustainable ways. The Liveability project was created to support cities in addressing these challenges through new ways of working, learning, and governing together. Rooted in Public Interest Design (PID), the project explores how municipalities can strengthen resilience and adaptability through strategic thinking, co-creation, experimentation, and continuous learning. At the centre of this work is the Liveability Design Approach (LDA), a capacity-building framework developed within the Liveability project that connects long-term visions with practical urban action.

As part of this work, we warmly invite you to participate in a two-part online workshop series exploring the Liveability Design Approach and its practical application. Participation is free of charge. While the two workshops together connect the strategic conditions needed for transformation with practical tools and methods for testing and implementing change. It is possible to register for them independently.

Workshop 1

The Charter: Creating an Enabling Environment for Change

Date: 18 May 2026
Time: 14:00–15:30 CET
Online: please register https://eveeno.com/779352979

The first workshop introduces the Liveability Design Approach (LDA) and focuses particularly on the Charter for Designing Liveable Cities as a strategic framework for transformation. It will highlight how cities can use the charter for strategic conversations and practical examples will be shard in a workshop format how the charter can be implemented.

With contributions from: Sanna Aaltonen & Harri Sippola, City of Pori), Mārtiņš Eņģelis, Urban researcher, spatial planner and Riga city councillor, Andrea Cederquist, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung SH

Workshop 2

Seeds of Change: From Experimentation to Transformation

Date: 08 June 2026
Time: 14:00–15:30 CET
Online: please register https://eveeno.com/363310482

The second workshop focuses on the practical implementation of change through urban practices, experiments, and pilot projects, the “seeds” of transformation. Building on the Liveability Practice Guide and the Liveability Training Programme, participants will engage in an interactive design sprint exploring how co-creation methods and how small-scale interventions can support long-term systemic change.

With contributions from: Jörn Frenzel, Professor of Service Design and SDSI Local Programme Director at EKA (Estonian Academy of Arts), together with partners from the Liveable Cities Network.