Water is an integral part of urban landscapes across Europe. It often covers around 5% of a city’s surface, and in places like Amsterdam, this figure can soar to as much as 35%. As urban spaces become increasingly congested, it’s essential to rethink how we utilize these aquatic areas, particularly for cultural and creative purposes aligned with environmental sustainability. The recent Fluctuations report by VibeLab, prepared for the Fluctuations Festival, dives into this subject, examining the potential of urban waterways as creative spaces.

The potential of waterways in urban landscapes

Water bodies within cities are not just scenic spots but are spaces that hold immense potential for cultural activities. These areas can serve as venues for community activations, concerts, art installations, performances, and more, questioning urban rivers’ prime function as traffic routes, claiming them as areas for recreation and environmental regeneration. The Fluctuations report highlights how thinking of these water bodies as accessible spaces for more mixed use is crucial, especially as land surfaces become increasingly scarce for cultural uses. At the same time, these sensitive biospheres challenge cultural organisers and audiences to adapt their practices in consideration of the natural environment.

Key findings from the Fluctuations Report

VibeLab’s study is the first to compare cultural practices on water across multiple European countries. Conducted in five countries and encompassing research on 36 cultural vessels, the report provides a comprehensive overview of how different cities and nations approach the integration of water into their cultural frameworks. Here are some key insights from the report:

• Stakeholders: The report gives an understanding of the variety of stakeholders involved in creative river transformation; from boat operators, event organisers, waterfront venues, and NGOs to local governmental institutions. 

• Infrastructures: The infrastructure, especially mooring spaces at sites suitable for social gatherings, plays a significant role in the feasibility of hosting creative activities on water. The concept of ‘cultural harbors’ is presented in detail.

• Policies and Governance: The report examines existing policies and governance structures that impact cultural activities on water. It suggests that current regulations disregard and often restrict rather than facilitate creative uses of waterways.

• Creative River Policies: To better utilize these spaces, cities need to develop dedicated policies that encourage and support creative activities on water. This includes innovating waterway infrastructures and simplifying permit processes. 

• Climate Change Considerations: With extreme heat becoming more common due to climate change, waterways are becoming increasingly attractive as cool retreats for urban residents. This trend underscores the importance of developing regulations that not only protect these areas but also promote their use for cultural and recreational purposes.

For more information, consult the Executive Summary of the report. 

The role of water in shaping urban creativity

As Nicolas Dhers, CEO of the Fluctuations Festival, points out, “One result of climate change is that extreme heat will continue to increase in Europe and citizens will seek out areas by the water to cool down and spend their free time. Instead of developing regulations that merely restrict, we should understand them as tools to shape, to incentivise good practice and to go with the times.”

This perspective is crucial as cities look for innovative ways to integrate water into their cultural and creative landscapes.

The post Exploring Water as a Creative Space in European Cities: Insights from VibeLab’s Fluctuations Report appeared first on NIGHTTIME.ORG.

This year, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion at the ‘South by Southwest Conference and Festival – SXSW’ titled “The Transformation of Nightlife for a Sustainable Tomorrow” – how exciting!¹

But besides this exciting opportunity, besides the fact of being able to travel to Austin, to meeting interesting people and to talking on a panel; over the past years the topic grew closely to my heart.

I genuinely believe, that linking the environmental transition a lot of cities worldwide pursue, with culture and nightlife could benefit both worlds drastically. And guess what – I’m not alone!²

Good panel, good Conference, good mood – let’s go :)!

But let’s go step by step – how did this all start?

Back in the days in 2022, when I started working at Fraunhofer IAO, I took over a project called the Nighttime Innovation Network from my predecessor Jennifer: A series of workshops aimed at resolving conflicts between different interest groups in urban nights. Participants included artists, representatives of nighttime advocacy groups, public authorities (public order office), police, firefighters, security personnel, club and bar owners, and city officials, including Stuttgart’s first Night Mayor.

Due to former engagements as waiter, bartender and kitchen helper several local venues, and due to some of my volunteering activities, I had hands-on experience on how nightculture can look like from both ends. And the issues that may come with it. Now in this workshop, even my city’s first Night Mayor participated. All was pretty exciting for me!

The workshops (all online due to Covid-aftermath) followed a consistent structure: Intro done by Hendrik Meier from Vibelab³ and me, then breakout sessions in different groups, then discussion in big group. Then Hendrik and me synthesising the findings on paper.

Over time and over multiple workshop sessions together we went through identifying overarching themes and subtopics. To then be able to identify related challenges and possible solutions⁴. This process yielded a long list of possible ways forward, from which we compiled a more general and concise version in the form of policy recommendations. I could present the findings at the about pop conference on night-culture and we received a positive feedback⁵.

However, one thing stayed with me — during the discussions, also the one during the conference, it was challenging to keep myself and everyone else ‘on track’. We were constantly tempted to switch between different layers of the problem — switching seamlessly talking about individual and specific examples to the ‘bigger picture’ and general implications – back and forth. Localised and individual best-practice examples and overall policy implications were being discussed at the same time. Nevertheless, we managed it and the outcome was useful and well-received! In hindsight this experience proved to be very insightful for me.

The project finished, and sadly, no follow-up funding was secured, so in my working days the Nighttime Innovation Network was naturally replaced with other projects. But I still thought about the topic. I began reading mostly on nocturnal insects and their relationship to light ⁶ and I could get hold of the newly published book Managing Cities at Night: A Practitioner Guide (see p. 110 for explicit mention and call for action sustainability-nighttime; throughout the book only minor role)⁷.

At NOEK conference – talking about how the night is hiding in plain sight

A nocturnal Aha-Moment

It wasn’t until 2023 that I was invited to speak on a panel titled ‘The Night – The Forgotten Time in City Development’ at the NOEK Conference in Mannheim⁸. Just by reading the title, it clicked. I saw what I did not see before: All the projects I was involved with at Fraunhofer dealt with cities, and all the frameworks and initiatives within them dealt with cities, yet none of them touched on the topic of the night.

My thinking went like this:

• “Aha… day and night are roughly equal in duration, yet our projects primarily focus on daytime…”⁹
• “Hmmm, but we had the Innovation Network that happened for the night…. Wait a second… funding ran out and everybody went their way. Inside my other projects I am not asked about the topic…
• It came to me that during the Nighttime Innovation Lab, there was the exclusive participation of socioeconomic actors, without the ecological or environmental view present. The topics are covered only in parallel – either the ecological/sustainable city’s perspective or the nocturnal-socioeconomics side..¹⁰”
• All the discussions I had with colleagues and friends on the topic came back to me, wow!
• And attending NOEK reinforced my understanding, how common this theme is

Morgenstadt Twilight Innovations – Moving forward and trying to find a way

Happy times at SXSW, Photo shot by Andrea Escobar

In the aftermath of this conference I intensified my reading with the texts by Kevin J. Gaston, Vibelab and Jordi Nofre.

And then – it was all magic – I reached out to Lutz and to Jordi, I enthusiastically travelled to SXSW, met many like-minded people, and experienced many new ‘click’ moments. One statement from the panel by Lutz resonated with me: That due to rising temperatures, urban life will likely shift towards the evening and night, making the topic ever more crucial to address.¹¹

I thought to myself: “Well – how more important can it all get?!”

As 2024 goes on, with the help of my supervisors we could set-up a consortium on green soundproofing and start with the development of the ‘Industry Network -Smart City @ Night-‘. Several other ideas are in the pipeline and I’d be so happy to share and possibly get -you, reading this text- on board :).

I will continue with the concepts we came up with in my next blog post – Thanks for reading; btw – this is my first blogpost, yay!

1. Thanks to my sponsors allowing me to participate at SXSW – Lutz and Vibelab for the invitation and the ongoing inspiring discussions. And to The German Center for Research and Innovation New York for the financial support. See also description of our panel. ↩
2. First and foremost Lutz from Vibelab. As well Jordi Nofre who replied my mails and took time talking to me. Jordi’s research helped me a lot in understanding the topic better. E.g.: “The Urban Ecological Transition and the Future of Europe’s Nightlife Industry” (2023),doi: 10.1080/16078055.2022.2162112; Side note: I couldn’t find Jordi’s Article on Sci-hub.That’s why I reached out to him and that’s why we are in touch until today. Sometimes barriers can create connections :)…. Also Kevin J. Gaston’s work helped me very much, e.g.: “The Nocturnal Problem Revisited” (2019), doi: 10.1086/702250 and “Anthropogenic Changes to the Nighttime Environment” (2023), doi: 10.1093/biosci/biad017; ↩
3. Hendrik was Germany’s first publicly elected night-mayor. He was working in the city of Mannheim. A nice place. At the time of the workshop he was affiliated with Vibelab. ↩
4. See the slides. ↩
5. about pop conference and festival Stuttgart. A special thank-you to Stuttgart’s first night mayor Nils Runge for saving us a spot in the agenda for our discussions. ↩
6. See this recent paper: Fabian, S.T., Sondhi, Y., Allen, P.E. et al. Why flying insects gather at artificial light. Nat Commun 15, 689 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44785-3. ↩
7. Book, released just in the right time for me: Acuto, Michele, et al. Managing Cities at Night: A Practitioner Guide to the Urban Governance of the Night-Time Economy. 1st ed., Bristol University Press, 2022. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv22jnkcq. (see p. 110 for explicit mention and call for action sustainability-nighttime; throughout the book only minor role) ↩
8. By happy coincidence – initially my supervisor was invited to go but hat a conflicting event. Link to NOEK Conference Mannheim. ↩
9. Writing this makes me feel kinda silly – this is all so obvious, right?! ↩
10. please note: This is simplified and reflecting my personal journey. I am trying to target the bigger picture with my argument and I do not want to discredit initiatives that already move in this and in bridging both worlds. What I personally observed is that in this context, topics related to sustainability are often approached from the cultural/societal sphere’s vision and concept, not as someone from the ecological or city-development sphere might frame them. This goes vice-versa. I vividly remember a discussion between an lighting-experienced ecologist and a cultural/societal night-time advocate, where finding common ground was extremely difficult. ↩
11. You can already see this happening in the real world. See an article from September 9, 2023 in the Washington Post – “Extreme heat is forcing America’s farmers to go nocturnal”(paywall). ↩

The post My personal Night-Shift: Finding Out about the Importance of a Topic appeared first on NIGHTTIME.ORG.

This is what we found out.

Malmö is Sweden’s third largest city boasting the reputation as a cultural hub with notable demographic diversity and a history of grassroots nightlife. However, issues of social and employment exclusion persist in the city. The report, which features a feasibility study and visionary outlook for the future of Malmö, was conducted by VibeLab in collaboration with Transversal Project on behalf of the City of Malmö Department of Business and External Relations.

“I hope that this study serves as an inspiring first step in sparking conversations on how nightlife can promote Malmö’s continued growth while creating a safer and more sustainable city,” – Harald Stjerna, project manager for the City of Malmö

The report was produced using a combination of qualitative research methods including an in-person needs analysis focus group which generated community-driven insights into Malmö’s non-commercial nightlife.

The following three themes were identified during the needs analysis due to their importance and the present challenges that exist for the community:

• Space for nightlife is essential but it is limited. Without safe, accessible, and affordable venues, nightlife actors cannot thrive. 

• Funding is viewed as an integral support for the nightlife industry but awareness of such opportunities is limited and seen as inaccessible, especially to younger members of the community.

• Capacity building through skills sharing and meaningful engagement between the city and its nightlife community are both needed to enhance trust and understanding.

The report concludes with key findings related to the future aspirations of nightlife in Malmö and spotlights good practices from other cities around the globe. Discover more insights into Malmö’s nightlife through the full report.

Stay tuned!

The network of cities contributing their experiences and knowledge to nighttime governance is growing, regardless of their size or global positioning.

The post VibeLab and Transversal Project joined forces in research for Malmö appeared first on NIGHTTIME.ORG.

We at VibeLab curated the collectives and programmed the run of the show for this wild party for Absolut that took place in Cologne last weekend.

Bringing an unforgettable night of creativity, collaboration, and celebration of club culture. The event was brought together by local Cologne-based emerging collectives Schleuse Eins and E.P.I.Q alongside Absolut and took place at Helios 37, which was transformed into a dynamic canvas.

At Born To Mix, guests experienced way more than just drinking and dancing. The event showcased the groundbreaking interdisciplinary talent and local gems across one main floor and an ambient floor, celebrating the multi-dimensional facets of club culture. Guests were not only entertained by music but had the opportunity to experience various art forms, including visual arts, installations, and performances.

Born To Mix, is not just about entertainment. It also aims to encourage co-creation and raw creativity. The event provided a platform for artists and creatives to come together and exchange ideas, fostering an environment that promotes collaboration and experimentation.

Furthermore, Born To Mix, offered free entry for those who arrive early to meet others from the nighttime industries. This provided an excellent opportunity for networking and learning from fellow professionals and enthusiasts.

Born To Mix is an ode to the unforeseen, co-creation, and encouraging raw creativity. It promises to be an unforgettable night celebrating club culture and multi-dimensional art forms.

More about the collectives:
Schleuse Eins

Schleuse Eins is a community-based off-location event series based in Cologne. Our focus is to create a high-quality nightclub experience in extraordinary places.

E.P.I.Q 

E.P.I.Q. is a group of eight DJs based in Cologne whose mission is to combine their eclectic tastes for musical journeys through the night. They join forces with other artists, chefs, screen printers, etc for wholesome events with the local scene. From soul to hip-hop, R&B to world pop, house to breakbeats, bass to UK garage and more, they provide cute B2B2Bs, loving energy, and booty shaking all night long.

Line-Up

Aaro

Bashkka

Huemmecke

Hyperlove Collective

Magnus

Max Scholpp & Lemsn (live)

Momentum (live)

Muzu

Pájara

Sarah San

Specials: 

Keybumps

Sisters of Fate

Tooth Gems

The post Born to Mix: A Celebration of Unforeseen, Co-Creation, and Emerging Creativity appeared first on NIGHTTIME.ORG.

Last autumn, the Berlin Senate awarded multinational media news brands Axel Springer and Penske Media millions in funding for planning and implementing a multi-day culture & technology festival modelled on SXSW to take place in Berlin. 

After heavy public criticism, the Berlin senate withdrew the funding, and plans for the festival have been postponed until 2024. 

Berlin’s local creative scene is the heart and soul of the city’s artistic expression. The talent, passion, and unique perspective of the people that live and work there make Berlin a vibrant hub of creativity that captivates the world. Therefore, it is only fitting that they should be entrusted with designing a festival that celebrates the city’s creative spirit.

Transnational media companies may have the resources to organise events on a large scale. Still, they cannot capture the essence of Berlin’s local culture like the artists, designers, musicians, and creators who live and breathe it daily. 

 As an association of different actors in the cultural and technology scene, the Berlin Club commission has gathered all interested people and organisations to discuss the necessity of such a festival and develop frameworks for festival planning. 

The Berlin Club commission invites Berliners to share and discuss their ideas with the other participants at two town hall meetings and attend keynote speeches by experts and thematic inputs on the current planning state. The findings will be documented and made publicly available afterwards:

#1 TOWN HALL MEETING

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Start at 8 pm, admission from 7:30 pm.  

please note the location change to:

Betahaus Berlin,
Rudi-Dutsche Strasse 23

Register here

#2 TOWN HALL MEETING

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Start 7 pm, admission from 6:30 pm  

Säälchen Holzmarkt 25

Holzmarktstraße 25, 10243 Berlin

Register here

In addition, ClubComission has written an open letter. They will send this “letter of interest for a planned creative festival” to the Berlin Senate Department for Economy, Energy and Enterprises.

Empowering the local creative scene to lead the festival’s design ensures that it reflects the city’s authentic voice and showcases the diversity of talent that makes Berlin’s creative scene unique. Furthermore, entrusting the festival’s design to the local creative scene has a positive impact beyond the event itself. It strengthens the community’s sense of ownership and pride in their city’s cultural heritage, fosters collaboration among different artistic disciplines, and provides opportunities for emerging talent to showcase their work on a larger stage.

For a festival that genuinely celebrates Berlin’s creativity, we must look to those who embody it daily: the local creative scene. Their vision, passion, and artistic excellence make Berlin a global cultural capital, and they should lead the way in designing a festival that reflects the city’s true spirit.

Sign now Spread the word! Share on social media! 

The post <strong>“Berlin’s Local Creative Scene Urged to Champion Festival Celebrating the City’s Creativity”</strong> appeared first on NIGHTTIME.ORG.

XP Music Futures is a 3-day music conference in Riyadh taking place 28-30th November 2022, that creates new pathways for music industry professionals.

The conference, established in 2021, has been laying the building blocks to create a thriving music industry in MENA. It’s one of the main pillars of MDLBEAST as it aims to empower the regional scene and develop talents in music, art and culture, and technology. 

Vibelab has been instrumental in supporting the XP team in, developing the strategy and programming for the conference since it started last year, expanding pathways for music industry professionals of all backgrounds – enabling artists, designers, entrepreneurs and policy-makers to shape their music futures-  with workshops, panel discussions, networking opportunities and multiple nightlife activations. 

“Through XP, we are able to promote the region and accelerate positive change in diversity and gender equality through advocacy groups, research and knowledge-led insights,” said MDLBEAST strategy director Nada Alhelabi

Over the last ten years in Saudi Arabia, dance music has grown into one of the most popular music genres, blossoming from a semi-legal past time practice of cosmopolitan youth, into state-supported events that are aligned with the Saudi Vision 2030. Since 2019, the country has had a huge overhaul of its entertainment sector, with new regulations that have meant local people have the opportunity to enjoy nightlife and music in public with their friends. In 2019, under a royal decree, Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) announced that music was now permissible in licensed establishments. The mandate is part of the Kingdom Vision 2030’s objective to “develop and diversify entertainment” as part of the quality of life program.

Liberation for Saudi women has also had a huge impact on the country’s cultural and art sectors. Since 2018 women have been allowed to drive and the state-enforced control that women no longer need their male guardians to approve their travel or paperwork. There are no longer the notorious religious police enforcing their beliefs that challenged the development of creative expression or imposing gender segregation in public spaces.  If you’re interested to learn more about the process that underpinned this transition then listen to this interview. 

In recent years we have seen an outburst of cultural and creative scenes mostly because It’s no longer forbidden to play music in public spaces. Electronic music is one of the key drivers behind the growth of the creative industry being the most popular genre for youth culture. There are pop-up events and raves happening in remote places. Nightlife always had a place in Saudi culture but it was very underground and in small volumes. Now you see it everywhere and young professionals have the opportunity to come out of the shadows and to host their own events publicly. The diversity and quality of life for so many have changed drastically.

The conference program aims to highlight and bring attention to and grow this progress in the country

Here are some of VibeLab’s highlights: 

For VibeLab it was important to create awareness and access for everyone to participate in XP. As part of the overall strategy, a Call for Submissions was put online. Out of 70 submissions, three tech start-ups made it to the program and they will have the chance to present and connect with a legendary electronic music icon, Jillionaire. 

Startup Campfire with Jillionaire

Jillionaire

DJ, Music Producer and Tech investor. Best known for being a former member of the American electronic music group Major Lazor along with Diplo and Walshy Fire. 

Session description: 

Technology creators have the opportunity to present their business ideas to Jillionaire to get his advice on the innovation itself, their potential challenges, suggestions on how to improve, and what to do to spark the attention of potential investors.

Call for submissions: 

• Sound Sauce (Cairo)
  Nirvana Bebars is a creative entrepreneur based in Cairo.
• Bump (Los Angeles)
  James Jones is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bump
• KNZLAB records (Riyadh)
  Omar Agha is the co-founder of KNZ
  

Women Who Lead

In this session, we invite key women from across the industry who are leading their businesses, companies, and teams to greatness. This panel-styled discussion will explore the inspiring stories of women who are not only breaking barriers but continue to set the bar higher and higher. Our successful and forward-thinking panellists will discuss the challenges and opportunities that come with being a woman in the music industry, how they help it thrive, and what they are doing to change the game. This promises to be a lively and thought-provoking discussion that will leave attendees with a renewed sense of inspiration.

From men to mentors to allies, empowering women to take the front seat is crucial to gender equality in the global music industry. In this session, we discuss the tools and advice for anyone who aims to create a more balanced scene.

• Georgia Taglietti: Founder & CEO, International Consulting Network for the Arts and Culture (ES)
• Sybel Vazquez – Head of Cultural Programming, The Arts Club Dubai (UAE)
• Shermine Sawalha – CEO, Malahi Entertainment (JO/CA)

Breaking the Cycle: How Music Festivals are Leading the Way to Greener Events

In this session, we showcase best-in-class music festivals and what they do to create awareness and lead by example when it comes to building a more sustainable live events industry. Kickstarting an industry in a sustainable way is a huge challenge, especially in an emerging music market. Pioneers in the field will join this panel to not only give practical advice but also demonstrate how sustainability can become a distinct selling point.

• Ragahd Fathaddin – Founder & CEO, Sangha “Estidama Hub” (KSA)
• Jiggs Thorne Festival Director (SZ)
• Camille Guitteau Co-Founder & Director, Bye Bye Plastic Foundation (NL)
• Lydia Laws Founder, Lydia Laws PR (UK)
  

The post XP in Riyadh – expanding and diversifying music futures appeared first on NIGHTTIME.ORG.

When and where:

Wed, November 2, 2022, 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM EDT

Location:

MTL 24/24 7250 Rue Clark #001 Montréal, QC H2R 2Y3 Canada

Creative Footprint Montréal: focus group on music and nightlife futures

Join the Creative Footprint team for a focus group discussion on critical issues, challenges, and opportunities in Montréal’s music and nightlife scenes.

• Address 📌 MTL 24/24 Offices, 7250 Rue Clark #001, Montréal H2R 2Y3
• Date 📅 Wednesday 2nd November 2022
• Time ⏰ 17:30-20:00pm Montréal local-time (EDT)

About the focus group discussion

The Creative Footprint Montréal process is made up of both focus groups and interviews. In this third and final focus group, we’re seeking your input on a range of factors that impact Montréal’s music and nightlife, including access to funding, using public space for events, your experiences with city decision-makers and policing nighttime transit and mobility, and more.

If you are a Montréal-based DJ, artist, venue operator, community leader, activist, event organizer, promoter, journalist, or anyone embedded in Montréal’s nightlife scenes — Creative Footprint welcomes you to participate. Discussions will be conducted in English and French.

Know others who should be there? Please feel free to pass this invitation on. Space is limited; register today!

Questions, or want to support CFP another way? Contact Shermine Sawalha (she/her) at shermine@vibe-lab.org

Please note: the venue is not wheelchair accessible.

About Creative Footprint

Creative Footprint (CFP) is a research project by VibeLab, Berlin-Amsterdam-Sydney-based night-time research, and advocacy agency, in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania’s PennPraxis. CFP surveys communities and maps the spatial distribution of creative spaces to study nightlife and its cultural impact on cities. Creative Footprint has previously researched the music and nightlife scenes of Berlin (2017), New York City (2018), Tokyo (2019), Stockholm (2021), and now Montréal (2023).

CFP Montréal aims to identify the current needs and challenges of Montréal’s nightlife scenes and communities. By empowering emerging and established voices, this research project will inform policy- and decision-makers in Montréal on how to best support creative spaces and communities for future generations. Your insights from the focus groups will inform the findings and recommendations provided in the Creative Footprint report to be published in Spring 2023.

–

Creative Footprint Montréal is a research project by VibeLab in partnership with PennPraxis and is funded by MTL 24/24. More information on the project can be found below:

• https://www.creative-footprint.org/
• https://www.vibe-lab.org/
• https://www.mtl2424.ca/

// French Version

Creative Footprint Montréal : Groupe de discussion sur l’avenir de la scène musicale et de la vie nocturne.

Rejoignez l’équipe de Creative Footprint pour un groupe de discussion portant sur les principaux enjeux, défis et opportunités que font face les scènes musicales et nocturnes de Montréal.

• Adresse 📌 Bureaux de MTL 24/24, 7250 rue Clark #001, Montréal H2R 2Y3
• Date 📅 Mercredi 2 novembre 2022
• Heure ⏰ 17:30-20:00pm Heure locale (EDT)

À propos du groupe de discussion

La démarche de Creative Footprint est composée à la fois de groupes de discussion et d’entretiens. Dans ce troisième et dernier groupe de discussion, nous cherchons à recueillir votre avis sur une série de facteurs ayant un impact sur la scène musicale et la vie nocturne à Montréal, notamment par rapport à : l’accès au financement, l’utilisation de l’espace public pour des événements, vos expériences avec les décideurs municipaux et les forces de l’ordre, le transport et la mobilité nocturne, et plus encore.

Si vous êtes un·e DJ, un·e artiste, un·e exploitant·e de salle, un·e leader communautaire, un·e activiste, un·e organisateur·ice d’événements, un·e promoteur·ice, un·e journaliste ou tous·tes autres personnes impliqué·e·s dans les scènes de la vie nocturne de Montréal, Creative Footprint vous invite convivialement à venir participer.

Les discussions seront menées en anglais et en français.

Veuillez noter que le lieu n’est pas accessible aux fauteuils roulants.

Vous connaissez d’autres personnes qui devraient être présentes? N’hésitez pas à transmettre cette invitation. Les places sont limitées ; inscrivez-vous dès aujourd’hui!

Vous avez des questions, ou vous souhaitez contribuer à la démarche de Creative Footprint d’une autre manière? Contactez Shermine Sawalha (elle) à l’adresse suivant : shermine@vibe-lab.org

À propos de Creative Footprint

Creative Footprint (CFP) est un projet de recherche mené par VibeLab, une agence de recherche et de défense des intérêts des noctambules basée à Berlin-Amsterdam-Sydney et en partenariat avec PennPraxis de l’Université de Pennsylvanie. CFP enquête sur les communautés et cartographie la répartition spatiale des espaces créatifs dans le but d’étudier la vie nocturne et son impact culturel sur les villes. Précédemment, CFP a étudié les scènes musicales et nocturnes de Berlin (2017), New York (2018), Tokyo (2019), Stockholm (2021) et maintenant Montréal (2023). CFP Montréal vise à identifier les besoins et les défis actuels des scènes et des communautés nocturnes montréalaises. En permettant aux voix émergentes et établies de s’exprimer, ce projet de recherche informera les décideurs et les responsables publics sur la meilleure façon de soutenir les espaces et les communautés créatives, et ce, pour les générations futures. Les résultats et les recommandations découlant du rapport de Creative Footprint, qui sera publié au printemps 2023, s’appuieront sur les idées recueillies lors de ces groupes de discussion.

--

Creative Footprint Montréal est un projet de recherche mené par VibeLab en partenariat avec PennPraxis, et financé par MTL 24/24.

Vous pouvez trouver davantage d’informations sur le projet ci-dessous :

• https://www.creative-footprint.org/
• https://www.vibe-lab.org/
• https://www.mtl2424.ca/

The post Creative Footprint Montréal: focus group on music and nightlife futures appeared first on NIGHTTIME.ORG.

MTL 24/24 is collaborating with VibeLab in partnership with PennPraxis and announces Creative Footprint: Montréal.

Over the next several months, VibeLab will research Montréal’s ‘Creative Footprint’ to identify the current issues, needs and challenges of communities embedded in Montréal’s music and nightlife scenes. By empowering and amplifying emerging and established voices, this research project will support MTL 24/24 and urban policymakers in best planning for and supporting creative spaces and communities in the city’s nightlife scenes for future generations.

Through a series of focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and analysis of Montréal’s 200+ music and nightlife venues, Creative Footprint will culminate with a report highlighting key findings and recommendations in Spring 2023.

How to get involved in Creative Footprint?

If you are a Montréal-based DJ, artist, venue operator, community leader, activist, event organiser, promoter, journalist, or anyone embedded in Montréal’s nightlife scenes — Creative Footprint invites you to participate in a one-hour online focus group discussion on the value, issues and threats surrounding Montréal’s fabric of music and nightlife venues hosted via Zoom (in English and French).

Register to participate below on:

• Wednesday October 12th, 2022 at 11am – 12pm (noon) Montréal local time (EDT)
• Thursday October 13th, 2022 at 4pm – 5pm Montréal local time (EDT)

About Creative Footprint

Creative Footprint is a research project by nighttime consultancy agency VibeLab in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania’s PennPraxis that researches creative spaces and communities to study the cultural value and impact of music and nightlife in the city. Creative Footprint has previously been conducted in Berlin, New York, Tokyo, and Stockholm.

FRENCH:

Creative Footprint : Annonce d’une étude sur les scènes musicales et de vie nocturne de Montréal

MTL 24/24 collabore avec VibeLab, en partenariat avec PennPraxis, et annonce Creative Footprint : Montréal.

Au cours des prochains mois, VibeLab effectuera des recherches sur l’« empreinte créative » de Montréal afin d’identifier les besoins et les défis actuels auxquels font face les diverses communautés intégrées aux scènes de la vie nocturne de Montréal. En mettant de l’avant à la fois les voix émergentes et établies, ce projet de recherche unique soutiendra MTL 24/24 et les décideurs urbains afin d’avoir une meilleure planification et un soutien des espaces créatifs et des communautés propres aux scènes de la vie nocturne de la ville davantage adéquat pour le futur.

Grâce à une série de discussions de groupe, d’entretiens approfondis et d’analyses de plus de 200 lieux de musique et de vie nocturne à Montréal, Creative Footprint aboutira à un rapport mettant en évidence les principales conclusions et recommandations au printemps 2023.

Comment participer à Creative Footprint?

Si vous êtes un·e DJ, un·e artiste, un·e exploitant·e de salle, un·e leader communautaire, un·e activiste, un·e organisateur·ice d’événements, un·e promoteur·ice, un·e journaliste ou tous·tes autres personnes impliqué·e·s dans les scènes de la vie nocturne de Montréal, Creative Footprint vous invite à participer et à présenter votre point de vue sur la vie nocturne de la ville.

Inscrivez-vous ci-dessous pour participer le :

• Mercredi 12 octobre 2022 de 11 h à 12 h (midi) heure locale de Montréal (EDT)
• Jeudi 13 octobre 2022 de 16 h à 17 h heure locale de Montréal (EDT)

À propos de Creative Footprint

Creative Footprint est un projet de recherche de l’agence de conseil nocturne VibeLab, en partenariat avec PennPraxis de l’Université de Pennsylvanie, qui étudie les espaces et les communautés créatives afin d’évaluer la valeur culturelle et l’impact de la musique et de la vie nocturne dans une ville. Le projet de recherche Creative Footprint a déjà été mené à Berlin, New York, Tokyo et Stockholm.

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You might have seen cool kids hanging out at shabby bars or pubs lately – and you are not alone. Be it because of hype, part of what is usually described as gentrification, or a necessary alternative to expensive nights due to staggering inflation, are dive bars experiencing a revival?

The urban dictionary defines a dive bar as “a well-worn, unglamorous bar, often serving a cheap, simple selection of drinks to a regular clientele. The term can describe anything from a comfortable-but-basic neighbourhood pub to the nastiest swill-slinging hole.” The colloquial use of the word dive to describe a “drinking den” or “other disreputable place of the resort” comes from the fact that these types of establishments were originally housed in cellars or basements, into which “frequenters may ‘dive’ without observation”, according to a citation of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Let’s look at some concrete cases in three big urban areas across the globe.

New York

In February of this year, a local news outlet featured an interview with the owner of the Pearl River Hotel in New York State, which he does not consider a dive bar himself, although he appears to be thankful for the latest rising interest among visitors. This was not the first time a news outlet in New York reports about dive bars. In fact, this has been a recurring topic in The New York Times, at least until 2021. 

The common thread is apparently how puzzling it can be for both owners and journalists in the sense of why would younger people nowadays choose such places. However, the opposite also exists: visitors who do not understand the trend and have different expectations when told it is supposed to be a “cool” place – see this funny comment from a dive bar owner to a 1-star review on Yelp.

Berlin

The southeast district of Neukölln, known as a melting pot and home for many creative workers, is arguably the area where there is a higher concentration of such bars and pubs becoming popular. In Schillerkiez, the latest neighbourhood to undergo a similar transformation comparable to Prenzlauer Berg years before, places like the former Syndikat are swiftly being replaced by fine dining restaurants and bars serving natural wine or craft beer. 

The bar Bechereck, on the contrary, in its privileged corner with a big terrace caters to those who still seem to prefer the real deal – the so-called Berliner “Kneipe”, serving mainly different homemade liquors, cheap long drinks and local draft beer. Other comparable examples in the surroundings are Warthe-Eck (in Warthestraße) and Stammtisch (in Weserstraße). Usually, it is allowed to smoke inside and it is common to find a slot machine (or two), as well as pool tables. Random music is often part of the appeal, just like the unmatching furniture.

Sydney

In order to confront the recent news on Time Out listing the best dive bars in Sydney and to compare the situation there with Berlin, we conducted a short interview with Nicolas Tsirimokos** who is Australian and lived several years in Sydney before relocating to Berlin 10 years ago. When referring to notable examples of dive pubs like The Marrickville Hotel and the Unicorn Hotel, he tells us that:

“The traditional Aussie pub has forever been a part of our culture, for people of all ages. It’s the place you meet your friends for lunch or your colleagues for a beer after work. For nearly as long as I can remember there has been a trend of rich men in the restaurant and entertainment business buying run-down or historical pubs and transforming them into more glamorous, hip establishments with prices to match. 

Similarly, many traditional pubs have retained their classic look and feel but added on fancy food options or specialise in things like Korean chicken or dumplings for example. Whilst the food is obviously delicious – it’s often at a particularly lavish price point. You have to ask yourself, is this what pub and bar culture are all about? Shouldn’t a local pub serve the whole community? 

Obviously, some pubs still operate like this, but I have been to a few in areas like Newtown, where actually I lived for a long time when some were still relatively hidden gems and meanwhile have changed completely.”

The concluding remarks are, therefore: 

• Can this influx of younger and wealthier generations (often referred to as yuppies or young urban professionals) help these bars and pubs survive? 

• Or are these instead losing their authentic character, by adapting their offer to what their new demand expects versus the initial customers?

For more detailed information about the nightlife vibrancy of these cities, read the Creative Footprint reports on Berlin and New York, as well as Sydney’s “Future Proofing” Report by VibeLab Asia Pacific.

**Nicolas Tsirimokos (a.k.a. artist Nicolas Sàvva) has over 10 years of experience in music strategy, curation and artist relations at companies like SoundCloud and Beatport. He enjoys educating the creator community on how to build and grow their careers. He also works as a composer and sound artist and has scored works for the Stuttgart Ballet and The Czech National Ballet. Moreover, he has presented Face The Music with Nicky Böhm every month on Refuge Worldwide: showcasing, amplifying and celebrating intersectional stories from voices across the music industry.

The post Diving into the dive bars and pubs of New York, Berlin & Sydney appeared first on NIGHTTIME.ORG.

Yale psychologists have wondered if modern-day secular gatherings that emphasise creativity and community can serve a broader purpose.

The research team, led by M.J. Crockett, an associate professor of psychology at Yale, conducted field studies of more than 1,200 people attending multi-day mass gatherings in the United States and the United Kingdom: Burning Man, Burning Nest, Lightning in a Bottle, Dirty Bird, and Latitude, all events that feature art, music, and self-expression.

They found that people who reported transformative experiences at the gatherings felt more connected with all of humanity and were more willing to help distant strangers.

“We’ve long known that festivals, pilgrimages, and ceremonies make people feel more bonded with their own group,” said Daniel Yudkin, a postdoctoral researcher and first author of the paper. “Here we show that experiences at secular mass gatherings also have the potential to expand the boundaries of moral concern beyond one’s own group.”

Read the full report writen by the researchers in the journal Nature Communications.

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