We all know we need to rethink and redesign the way we build our streets. But the real challenge is – how?  How to make them accessible, livable and safe for all? How can we transition to a more human approach in city-making? What are the drivers of change and the accelerators of transformation?

For five years now, we have been developing and leading the summer school Remaking The Street, a shared initiative of Humankind together with the Technical University of Munich and EIT Urban Mobility.

The program consists of four modules: two online and two in-residence in Munich, Germany and in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. During the programme, students learn about best practices in street transformation, experiments and urban innovations, as well as different methodologies of change management and citizen engagement. The sessions are varied: expert-led lectures on mobility, the 15-Minute-City, proximity-centred accessibility and several other cutting-edge topics in urbanism; hands-on street experiments, locally-led city tours in Munich and Rotterdam, practical workshops and after-hours fun.

The programme is aimed at providing a holistic approach to the challenge of “remaking a street”, which is not an easy objective – and certainly not one that will be tackled solely with technical expertise. Over the years, we’ve witnessed how soft skills are making their way into the urbanism field, as challenges get more complex and the social aspects of planning become more and more unavoidable.

Humankind’s approach to the Summer School is anchored in the belief that a mixed approach to urbanism is key to creating change – and that technical innovations alone won’t bring that. Over the years, we’ve devoted the Rotterdam part of the curriculum to engaging with change from the local context (through Citizen Experience) and to mastering different change methodologies (Theory of Change and Transition Management), advocating for a multidisciplinary approach and defying simplicity and one-size-fits-all solutions.

/ Image selection from 2022-2026 by different photographers including George Liu and Yifey Wang.