The blog is part of a project titled “Making and managing Ljubljana’s urban squats: inclusive and participatory practices”, which is funded by the BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants (SRG1819\1904000) and supported supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Our project investigates the way Ljubljana’s squatted areas Tovarna Rog and Metelkova Mesto are used and managed by both the official institutions and their communities of users, aiming to understand the power dynamics that emerge in their everyday running and the plans for their future. Place making and place management as emerging areas of academic interest seek to bridge the gap between various and often opposing voices with respect to the use of place.
We examine how regulatory uncertainty can be replaced by inclusive and participatory forms management that do not jeopardise the places’ autonomous characteristics. We wish to highlight the places’ status within the city and consider communicative attempts between the institutional channels and the squatters’ communities with respect to the places’ use and management.
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We are
Dr Jenny Kanellopoulou
Senior Lecturer in Law, Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr Nikos Ntounis
Lecturer & Senior Research Associate, Institute of Place Management, Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr James Scott Vandeventer
Lecturer in Management, University of Huddersfield
Mr Domen Žalac
Student of Sociology, University of Ljubljana
Making and managing Ljubljana's urban squats 