First, we're sure that many of you - as we are - are deeply shocked by what is happening in Ukraine at the moment and our thoughts are with all those affected, both there and in conflict zones all around the world.

Secondly, we have some news which we hope may cheer you up...

With International Woman's Day around the corner and the return of in person events, we take this opportunity to invite you to our first live Expo since 2020! To mark the occasion we are returning to the same location as our last live expo - the Schieblok in Rotterdam - thanks to the kind hospitality of Nina van Hoogstraten van Re:sponse.

We are excited to host two speakers Magda Szczypka and Francesca Ranalli. Both architects and urban designers, who will talk about alternative ways of working in contrast to regular office employment and building a sense of community in newly developed neighbourhoods.

Magda Szczypka is an architect and urban designer. She graduated in 2008 from Silesian Technical University in Gliwice, Poland, and since then has worked at various design offices in the Netherlands, as well as at her own practice. She will be sharing her thoughts about the search for alternative ways of working: one more aligned with personal strengths, talents and values. This search led to an idea for a social and professional support network to help connect with likeminded people, exchange practical information, offer support and share expertise. These ideas are mostly questions! How could this network be built up and organised? But most importantly - what kind of support would we like to find there?

Francesca Ranalli is an architect and urbanist. She established her own firm in Italy and started exploring the social outcomes of designed places. This led her into the world of research – first at TU Delft and now at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). She is going to share with us her doctoral research at UvA, carried out in partnership with the municipality of Almere, that analyses how urban design and participatory planning can help build a Sense of Community in newly developed neighbourhoods. Her action-based methods earned her the Isaac Roet Prize and CUS Grants for her work. She would like to discuss with the Urbanistas how her research can be applied in urban practice.

Our evening session of pitches & discussions will start at 19.30 and we hope to wrap it up around 21.30, after which there’s a chance to have some more drinks & snacks (included in your ticket!) and some more conversations.

We can't wait to see you all (in real life!) next week!

Team Urbanistas RDAM

Kate, Laura, Margot, Anna, Azraa, Marina K, Nilofer, Juliana, Olga, Francesca, Kim, Tenesha, Janine, Zacharoula and Marina S

ps: Just a reminder that our Expos are women-only - sorry men, you are very welcome to our other events!

Urbanistas RDAM Expo #15