The best way to discover a city is through walking. The 14+Budapest project provides an opportunity for high schools in Budapest, Hungary to create a tailor-made walking tour in their own neighbourhood. During the programme students participate in a series of educational lectures and workshops about architecture and urbanism and a private architectural tour. The outcome is a thematic tour created and led by students, documented in a foldable map for the school to hand out.
Local
Hungary
Budapest
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: János Last name of representative: Klaniczay Gender: Male Nationality: Hungary Function: Project manager Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Bartók Béla út 10-12. Town: Budapest Postal code: 1111 Country: Hungary Direct Tel:+36 30 549 2204 E-mail:varosisetak@kek.org.hu Website:http://kek.org.hu
The 14+Budapest project initiated by KÉK – Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre started in 2019. During the programme high school groups have the opportunity learn more about the built environment and discover the urban heritage of their own neighbourhood from a new perspective. High schools have to apply with existing groups to participate in the programme.
The structure of the project is divided into six separate events. Firstly, students attend a public lecture about architecture and the city. Secondly, the groups participate in an architectural tour, led by the experts of KÉK in the neighbourhood of the school. The third event is again in lecture format, where students are introduced to the world of architectural research by showing them online tools to discover the built heritage of the city. After these introductory events, workshops are held in the schools by one of the mentors, where the thematic focus of the tailor-made walking tour is decided and elaborated. Students then distribute the tasks among themselves connected to the organisation and guiding of the walking tour. The main event of the project is the thematic tour led by students, for their schoolmates. Finally, a common closing ceremony is held for all participating schools to present results, and discuss lessons learned.
The walking tours are documented in foldable maps, printed out and given to the schools to hand out in the future. The tour is repeatable during school events, such as open days or celebration programmes.
Built environment education should be an essential part of the curriculum in high schools, especially for institutions situated in an urban context, but the rigid school syllabus leaves nearly no space for such themes to be integrated. The 14+Budapest project initiated by KÉK provides a creative and playful opportunity to discover the urban heritage near the school while educating about architecture and creating new place identity for a new generation of citizens.
Architecture
Thematic walking tour
Built environment education
Urban heritage
Place identity
Understanding the built environment is essential for a sustainable urban future. If citizens are more aware of the built heritage that surrounds them every day, they can be more invested in the maintenance of the heritage. In turn, a well-maintained city will draw more recognition from visitors that can boost local economy.
In the post-pandemic world the concept of 15-minute cities is widely talked about, but for a neighbourhood to function the local population does not only require amenities and services reachable in a short distance. They also need to like the neighbourhood, need to enjoy the streetscape, need to appreciate the built heritage.
Themes and stories make the architectural fabric of a city more legible, that is the reason why guided tours are popular among tourists. But if we take this experience format and apply it to locals the results may have lasting effects on place identity and place attachment.
The 14+Budapest program uses this methodology of local walking tours for the next generation, who will need to take care of our cities. Students who participate will have learnt how to inspect and see the architecture of the city, and will have a more sustainable approach when thinking and talking about the built environment. Schools have also a lot to gain by participating, as the tailor-made walking tour integrates the presence of the institution into its neighbourhood. With the foldable maps these tours can be repeated and disseminated later as well, possibly making the school a sustainable cultural and educational catalyst on a neighbourhood scale as well.
This model of local walking tours for high schools can be an exemplary initiative for a social and urban sustainability by activating and engaging young generations to be invested in their neighbourhood and maintain the built heritage.
The 14+Budapest project’s main ideas revolve around Built Environment Education, therefore our objectives are closely related to the aesthetics of the urban context. The course’s original idea is rooted in the realisation that the curriculum of the public education system leaves little to no space for a good quality of visual education. The extracurricular course was designed in a way to not only focus on the neighbourhood scale of urban heritage and place identity, but also integrate an aesthetic educational scope into the programme. The presentations during the plenary lectures are designed in a fresh and captivating way so students have an occasion to see quality presentation designs in an educational context.
The architectural walking tour that each student group participates in showcases the best examples of the built environment seen through a thematic lens and through the eyes of an architect. This experience-based educational event shows students how every house is interesting and how one can critically observe the city and its fabric. Furthermore, students can recognise the cultural values of architecture, especially in their own neighbourhood.
The technique of presentation during a walking tour, including the rhetoric of the guide or the composition of visual aids such as pictures shown during the tour, is talked over in detail during the dedicated workshops in the schools.
The tailor-made thematic tour made for the school has the benefit of creating a sense of place for students about their own neighbourhood through a fun but educative experience. The foldable map format given to the schools about their own walking tour also represents a good quality of graphic design that can be passed around, making the experience of discovering the urban heritage available for a much larger audience.
This complex and interdisciplinary approach in built environment education is unique in the way the younger generation is involved in all steps of the project.
One key objectives of the 14+Budapest project is clearly to include the younger generation in the formation of neighbourhood identity. As explained in the sustainability and aesthetic aspects of the initiative the valorisation process of the urban heritage has a self-generating effect once locals are involved. The inclusion of local high schools can be an exemplary way to approach potential developments aiming at a 15-minute city. Schools are already established as part of the local identity in neighbourhoods, but as closed institutions their opportunities to interact with the city are rare. The walking tour methodology provides a novel way for the high schools to participate in the everyday urban life.
Furthermore, the programme is designed in a fashion that it can be applied in any given urban situation, be that in the historic downtown or in a more rundown neighbourhood. In 2022 out of the five participating high schools one was in the poorest and most stigmatised districts of Budapest. Students could discover the hidden values of their neighbourhood and the recent urban rehabilitation projects as well during the course. Another participating group came from a socialist mass housing estate, having doubts about the possibility of finding interesting aspects of the built environment at all. At the end of the course, they all agreed that their neighbourhood was much more valuable than they expected.
The 14+Budapest project received a grant from the National Cultural Fund, so high schools could participate free of charge in the programme.
The methodology of the project is open source, and the outcomes are disseminated on various platforms.
To generate change on a neighbourhood level, the involvement of locals is essential, and bottom-up initiatives such as the 14+Budapest project need to offer an affordable solution for inclusive programs to help in the valorisation process of the built environment and the urban heritage.
In the framework of the 14+Budapest: Walking Tours for High Schools project the main target audience are the students of Budapest. The participating high schools selected the most motivated students to partake in the course. The main model of the programme allows the participating groups to get a better understanding of the built environment of the neighbourhood the school is situated in. It is important to consider the younger generation as well when talking about citizens in the context of the neighbourhood scale. After finishing attending the lectures and the walking tours, the students acquire a knowledge not often taught between the walls of the school: what is the city, what are the values of the neighbourhood and how to critically investigate any given urban fabric. This critical thinking is essential to have active and motivated citizens, who will be able to maintain the urban heritage in the future.
The other target group of the project is the teacher community, who, despite their very low income in Hungary, do their best to provide a contemporary education for their students, including sustainable and inclusive aspects. The teachers have a very profound knowledge of how to organise and motivate student groups, their involvement in the project is essential. In return, they also learn new skills to talk about the built environment, which can be later integrated into their curriculum and teaching methods.
The printed foldable maps of the tailor-made student thematic tours, received by the schools in hundreds of copies for free will have an impact on the whole community of the school. The lasting effect is that they can use the maps to recreate the walking tour for special school occasions and celebrations.
Since the new walking tours are shared on the internet, the local civil society can also benefit from the knowledge of the high schools.
The program has a very clear scope of dealing with the high schools of Budapest but can be adapted to any urban situation. In the 2022 edition the timing of the program was designed in a way to be integrated into the autumn semester of the schools. In August an open call was launched for schools to join with student groups. The social media campaign reached out to parents to tell their kids’ teachers to sign up. The students were called upon to motivate their teachers in joining. And of course, the teachers were called upon to not miss this opportunity and participate with their classes. The open call was also sent to high school secretariats, who forwarded the call to their staff in the beginning of the school semester.
The main stakeholders were the students and the teachers who participated in the creation of their own walking tour. They were engaged in several formats, such as plenary lectures which all participating schools attended together, private walking tours led by architects of KÉK, and workshops in small groups at the school to create the tailor-made tour of the students.
The project has the potential to reach out to even larger audiences. In the spring new public versions of the school walks are being planned. During the planned continuation of the project further local stakeholders, especially district municipalities will be engaged.
Built environment education is an interdisciplinary task, therefore the 14+Budapest project had several disciplines that were integrated and discussed during the programme. The principal focus was on Architecture and Urbanism. During the first plenary lecture a presentation about the world of the built environment was given to the students. Architecture is by far one of the most multidisciplinary professions, therefore the presentation included aspects of social inclusivity, spatial design, landscape architecture, questions about living conditions, urban sprawl, and heritage valorisation as well.
The professional walking tours led by architects introduced new themes to the students in an urban context. And it was also an opportunity to see the methodologies of the Guiding profession in action.
During the research methodology lecture the groups were presented with the aspects of Architectural and Urban Historic Research, acquiring new skills to become researchers themselves. The tools presented included free online platforms and public databases that allow students to conduct research in their own neighbourhood from home.
During the walking tours and the workshops students were also tasked with taking photos of the buildings, introducing Photography as a new discipline into how we perceive the built environment. When organising their walking tour the students had to carefully plan the Dramaturgy of the event as well, distributing tasks among each other and choosing the right locations to stop and speak.
In general, the whole process was a new educational practice, a new methodology in Pedagogy to educate about the built environment.
The organising team included architects, landscape architects, cultural managers, doctoral researchers and an art historian as well. Among the participating schools the teachers came from different fields of study as well, like history, literature, drama or languages.
Walking tours are a popular way of discovering a foreign city. Tourists often participate in guided walks, usually in the tourist-historic centre of the city, visiting the main attractions and monuments. This model of mass tourism has seen a new tendency, when visitors attend “alternative” walking tours, in less frequented neighbourhoods, usually led by locals. These thematic off-the-beaten-track walks provide the sense of authenticity that visitors are looking for. This new phenomenon, the need to behave like locals and to feel authentic started a new paradigm in urban tourism.
Consequently, local walking tours appeared in Budapest as well, not exclusively for visitors, but rather for the local citizens as well who grew more and more interested in discovering their own city. Today, more than a dozen walking tour companies operate in Budapest who focus on providing walking tours for locals. This tendency can be found in other European and American cities as well.
The novelty of the 14+Budapest program is the methodology to use the experience of walking tours in built environment education of high school students. Recent studies show that co-creating an experience creates more profound memories. By organising walking tours for the young generation of high school students, the actual citizens who are the users of the urban fabric are engaged. Furthermore, the participating school will be much better integrated into the life of their own neighbourhood, and can participate in local events with their educational and innovative action, eventually becoming local ambassadors of place identity and culture.
The methodology of 14+Budapest can be very easily adapted to other places as well. The program provides a framework to engage high school students about the built environment in an experience-based way. Most of the elements of the program can be replicated or transferred to other places.
As demonstrated by the 2022 edition any urban situation can be interesting enough for local high school students to discover and create their own walking tour focusing on local urban heritage. Currently there are two adaptations which will implement the project in small and middle-sized Hungarian cities in the framework of other larger scope projects.
The methodology of how to use walking tours for high school students to learn more about the built environment of their neighbourhood can be repeated in any urban context around the world.
Furthermore, the target audience for this educational methodology need not be limited to high schools. Even though the program was designed for the age group of 14-19, but with small modifications it can be transferred to older generations as well. Universities, local cultural institutions, municipalities or even private enterprises can all benefit from having a stronger root in the neighbourhood. Providing place identity forming experiences for employees can have lasting effects on the city area.
The 14+Budapest initiative could be, and should be replicated in other places and for other groups, as it is a simple methodology to engage complex matters of the built heritage.
The methodology of the project consists of the combination of frontal educational formats and the experience-based involvement of the participants in the co-creation of their own walking tour. The programme is made up of six elements, in a time interval of ideally every two-three weeks, so it can be integrated into a school semester.
The involvement of teachers to motivate the students is essential for the success of the project. Since this educational course is an extracurricular activity for participating students it is important to provide fun but useful programs, and not to require too demanding tasks.
The methodology described in previous answers consists of the following steps:
- Open Call for high school groups
- First plenary lecture about architecture and urbanism
- Professional walking tour led by an architect for each school
- Research methodology session during a second plenary lecture
- “Walkmaker” workshops at the schools for each group
- Writing, editing, and designing the foldable map of the tour
- The walking tour of the students
- Final ceremony to receive feedback from participants, to conclude the project and to hand out the printed maps.
The main principles of the project rely on the methodology to integrate walking tours in built environment education for the high school generation.
Bottom-up initiatives usually deal with local problems, but can address global challenges as well. It is also the case with the 14+ Budapest project. The question of place identity has become a subject in recent years for the development of urban areas. Especially with the lockdowns that affected all European cities during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the challenge of how to discover our own neighbourhood came into focus. Walking tours are very useful tools for such challenges and provide a methodology to discover the built environment and the urban heritage that surrounds us.
The concept of 15-minute cities is becoming widely accepted and adapted by municipalities around the world, aiming at a neighbourhood scale development area where citizens have access to all important amenities and services. The 14+ Budapest initiative aims at involving high schools, who have the possibility to become ambassadors of culture in their own neighbourhood. By creating the tailor-made walking tours of the students, the participating youth has the opportunity to discover their neighbourhood’s urban heritage and architectural values, thus strengthening their sense of place.
Lastly, the built environment education of the younger generation is a global challenge on which the Union International des Architectes (UIA) has been focusing for the past decade with innovative actions and initiatives in the framework of the working group “Architecture & Children”. The scope and aims of the 14+Budapest project aligns with the goals set by the international educational community, implementing the project on a local scale.
The 14+Budapest initiative has already been implemented in two seasons. The first season in 2019 served as a pilot year, during which three high schools participated in the series of events designed for creating their own walking tour of the neighbourhood. In this first edition of the programme around 40 students were actively engaged, and three new walking tours were created. Due to the pandemic the project was put on hold, since the methodology of the course required the in-person workshops for the students.
In 2022 the second edition of 14+Budapest project was launched, with an open call for high schools to join. Funding allowed for five schools to participate in the programme. A total of 120 students were engaged during the lectures and workshops, and 87 students participated actively in the making and organisation of the walking tours. At the end of the project five new walking tours were created and disseminated in the foldable printed map format in hundreds of copies in the participating high schools.
The initiative has the aim to implement a new multi-disciplinary curriculum for high schools. Furthermore, the pedagogical methodology of the programme serves as a good practice example for engaging students and teachers about the built environment. The toolkit presented during the project is useful for teachers, as they will be able to use the same methods during their teaching practice in the future.
The continuation of the project is planned for 2023 in multiple formats. An interdisciplinary intensive summer course is planned for the summer, inviting students from different high schools to jointly participate in the making of neighbourhood walks. The adaptation of the project is under way in two smaller Hungarian cities in the framework of university architectural education and as part of the programme series of the European Capital of Culture 2023. The third season of the project is planned to start in 2023 fall, given the proper funding can be acquired.
The 14+ Budapest project works on the scope of urban an social sustainability in the context of cities. With the interdisciplinary program of experience-based built environment education new competences are developed for the young generation and for their teachers as well.
