We greatly enjoyed a vibrant weekend with the European cities, commencing with Fab City Linz’s state of the city. The weekend also encompassed a ARS Electronica PostCity tour, an inauguration of the CENTRINNO Fellowship Program’s first module, and facilitating valuable connections within the context of the Distributed Design Platform.

Last weekend were joined by many of our European cities including Hamburg, Barcelona, Ausburg, Ljubljana, Paris, Amsterdam and Südburgenland and hosted by the gracious Fab City Linz. On the event’s first day, cities convened for a warm welcome by Kathrin Obernhumer and Franz Doehler, who introduced them to Linz’ strive towards becoming Austria’s most innovative city, through a plethora of social and sustainability strategies. Tomas Diez, Director of Fab City Foundation, joined us online to present the current State of the Network. 

Subsequently, the city representatives embarked on a guided tour, hosted by Kathrin, of the Tabak Fabric, a sprawling hub for makers, entrepreneurs, architects, designers, and social innovators with at its core the incredible Grand Garage, an immense 3.000 m2 maker space with virtually every tool imaginable. The day concluded with an informal gathering, where cities shared insights, reflections, and explored collaborative opportunities.

The following day, participants had the morning to explore Ars Electronica’s main venue, POSTCITY, where ‘The Next Renaissance Launch Event,’ promoting transdisciplinary convergence, gave a futuristic perspective of how the creative and cultural sectors can be a catalytic driver for optimistic futures. Later, an inspiring guided tour introduced some of the festival’s highlights.

A pivotal part of the day featured the first module of the CENTRINNO Fellowship Program, expertly organized by Vasilis Niaros and Daan Sonnemans. This first of three parts of the Full-Stack bootcamp illuminated the Full-Stack framework, aiding cities and regions in comprehending the Fab City challenge and its implementation across multiple scales and ecosystems. Leveraging on the European Meet Up of Fab Cities, we invited DDP Co-Founders from Barcelona, IAAC, to exchange on distributed design & innovation learning methodologies. Inspired collaborations, insightful tours, and the commencement of the CENTRINNO Fellowship Program marked a successful event. With renewed vigor, we look ahead to future collaborations and sustainability endeavors.