The Placemaking Fresk: A Collaborative Tool for Sustainable Urban Planning

Why collaborative urban planning matters ?

Cities today face complex sustainability challenges that span environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Despite increasing awareness and commitment from stakeholders, effective collaboration across sectors remains elusive. Urban departments typically operate in silos, while external stakeholders—from businesses to community organisations—bring diverse perspectives but often struggle to align their efforts. This fragmentation leads to missed opportunities for synergy, conflicting initiatives, and inefficient resource allocation. 

The need for integrated approaches to urban sustainability has never been more urgent. Yet without a common language and framework, stakeholders often talk past each other, operating with different terminologies, timeframes, and priorities. This communication gap hinders the development of truly sustainable cities that can address climate challenges while meeting community needs. 

What is the Placemaking Fresk? 

The Placemaking Fresk is an innovative workshop methodology developed as part of the Horizon 2020-funded project, PROBONO, designed to bridge abstract sustainability concepts with concrete urban planning actions. Inspired by the successful Climate Fresk, this interactive tool enables diverse stakeholders to collaboratively map and explore urban sustainability elements using the internationally recognized ISO 37101 framework. At its core, the Placemaking Fresk utilizes a matrix-based system that represents the 12 areas of action and 6 purposes of sustainability outlined in ISO 37101. Participants work in small teams to place cards representing various urban elements (such as transportation, housing, energy, and public spaces) on this matrix, visualizing how these elements contribute to multiple sustainability purposes simultaneously. Through guided facilitation, teams identify connections between elements, discover potential synergies, and develop a shared understanding of their city's sustainability challenges and opportunities. 

Key Benefits

The Placemaking Fresk offers several distinct advantages for urban planning processes. First, it creates a common language for sustainability discussions. By translating the technical ISO 37101 framework into visual, accessible (playing) cards, it enables participants from different backgrounds to engage meaningfully with complex concepts. This shared vocabulary helps overcome one of the primary barriers to cross-sector collaboration. 

Second, the methodology promotes systems thinking. Participants visually map how different urban elements interconnect, helping them understand how actions in one area affect others.  

Third, the workshop format fosters genuine dialogue between diverse stakeholders. The collaborative, hands-on nature of the activity encourages participants to share their expertise while learning from others, breaking down silos and building relationships that extend beyond the workshop. 

Finally, the Fresk bridges theory and practice. By connecting abstract framework concepts to tangible urban elements, it helps participants move from high-level sustainability goals to concrete, actionable strategies specific to their local context. 

Real-world Applications 

The Placemaking Fresk has been tested with various groups, including urban planning students, city officials, community leaders, and other groups. Feedback has been consistently positive, with participants stating it to be "very effective" or "extremely effective" in enhancing their understanding of urban sustainability. 

One participant noted: "The Fresk opened my eyes to connections I hadn't seen before. Seeing how our transportation initiatives could support both environmental goals and social cohesion has completely changed how I approach project design." 

The PROBONO Living labs are trialling the methodology, particularly for neighbourhood revitalisation projects and climate resilience planning. The visual mapping has proven especially valuable for identifying potential conflicts and synergies early in the planning stage. 

Getting Involved

The Placemaking Fresk is being continuously refined through feedback and practical application. Urban planners, sustainability professionals, community organisations, and academic institutions interested in hosting a workshop or learning more about the methodology can contact the development team. 

Training programs for facilitators are also being developed to scale the methodology's impact. Additionally, a companion card game and digital platform extend the learning experience beyond the initial workshop, allowing for wider dissemination of these important concepts and continued stakeholder engagement. 

By making sustainability frameworks accessible and actionable, the Placemaking Fresk represents a promising step toward more collaborative, integrated, and effective urban planning processes. 

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