Short-term Artistic Missions: culture at work in urban transformation

The Re-Value Short-term Artistic Missions (STAMs) explore how artistic and cultural practices can support climate-neutral urban transformation by creating new forms of dialogue, participation, and collective reflection within the Waterfront Pilots. Integrated into the broader Re-Value methodology, these missions contribute to the project’s Innovation Cycles and its process-oriented approach to climate-neutral urban transformation. Inspired by the exchange-based approach of the Short-Term Scientific Missions developed in European research networks, the STAMs translate this methodology into an artistic and cultural setting connected to the New European Bauhaus vision.

The missions strengthen alliances between municipalities, citizens, artists, cultural organisations, and local stakeholders around shared urban transformation processes. Their purpose is to make the transition towards climate neutrality understandable, accessible, and meaningful for local communities, recognising culture as an active contributor to urban change.

Each mission grows from the local context, combining the experiences of visiting partners with the cultural, social, and spatial realities of the host city. In Ålesund, cultural activities and temporary activations in the harbour area opened new ways of reimagining waterfront spaces through artistic engagement, storytelling, youth participation, and community events connected to Kulturhavna and the historic harbour environment. In Písek, the long-term work of Sladovna with participatory culture and children’s creativity offered inspiration for creating inviting and regenerative environments where people actively spend time together.

Through workshops, performances, temporary installations, exhibitions, storytelling activities, and site-based explorations, the STAMs contribute to Story-building processes that help cities reveal local narratives, shared ambitions, and future possibilities for their waterfronts. They also create opportunities for exchange during Re-Value Study Visits, Consortium Meetings, festivals, and local cultural initiatives, reinforcing connections between cities while strengthening local cultural ecosystems.

In this way, the STAMs support Re-Value’s broader ambition of developing urban transformations that are sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful, while fostering long-term civic engagement and stronger connections between people, culture, and place.

About the partners

Teatret Vårt is the regional theatre of Møre og Romsdal in Norway, based in Ålesund. Through performances, participatory projects, and cultural collaborations, the theatre connects artistic practice with local communities and contributes to wider societal transformation processes.

Sladovna Písek is a cultural and creative centre in Písek, Czech Republic, internationally recognised for its participatory and child‑centred approach to culture. It develops interactive exhibitions, artistic programmes, and community activities that foster creativity, inclusion, and active engagement with place.

Publishing date: 9 May 2026

Authors: NTNU Norway

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