On the one hand, we seek to promote international dialogue on social change and “urban pioneers” in Eastern Europe, in particular on the region’s social and geographic periphery. Participants will present current interdisciplinary research, questions and methods, and discuss the possibilities and limitations of different approaches and their combined application. The Siberian city of Novosibirsk has emerged as a common reference point that several researchers have approached from different angles. Social science research into cities, youth and collective action is particularly relevant here. Our aim is to bridge distances between different disciplines and methodological approaches and promote international dialogue.

On the other hand, the conference has a practical purpose, as it will seek out relevant approaches for applied research in Eastern Europe and suitable applications for the further training of urban activists and young experts in the region.

The structure of the workshop, with two panels, corresponds to this dual objective:

1. Research methods and recent studies into urban youth and urban activism in East Europe; and
2. Applied urban studies and participatory spatial planning together with urban interventions and activism.

10:00–10:30 Uhr Registration and coffee

10:30 Uhr   Welcome and introductions
Tsypylma Darieva (ZOiS Berlin), Alexander Formozov (CISR Berlin e.V.)

10:45–13:00 Uhr

Panel I – Plurality of research methods. Empirical studies of urban youth and social change from bellow

Chair: Tsypylma Darieva (ZOiS, Berlin)

Discussant: J. Otto Habeck (Universität Hamburg)

Tatiana Golova (ZOiS, Berlin), Speaking with the activists (offline) vs. watching them interact (online) – how to learn more from the combination of qualitative interviews and social network analysis on SNS?

Félix Krawatzek (ZOiS, Berlin), What surveys can(not) reveal: Understanding the potential for change amongst Russian youth

11:40 Uhr Coffee break (10 min.)

Christian Buchner (Universität Hamburg), ‘Following the tropes’: multi-sited, long-term participant observation within the young urban middle class of the Novosibirsk agglomeration

Michail Rozhansky (Irkutsk), Sociological research in the context of urban development projects

13:00–14:00 Uhr Lunch (Catering at ZOiS)

14:00–16:30 Uhr

Panel II – Plurality of Practices. Applied urban studies, participative processes and interventions

Chair: Oleg Pachenkov (CISR, St. Petersburg)

Vitaly Kukharenka (BSA, Minsk), Analysis of civic activists’ participation in urban conflicts in Minsk and its dynamics

Anatoliy Breslavskiy (IMBT, Ulan-Ude), Are suburbs of major cities becoming centres of urban life in modern Russia?

15:00 Uhr Coffee break (10 min.)

Oleg Pachenkov and Lilia Voronkova (CISR, St. Petersburg), Horizontal project management in urban activism in Russia: requests, strengths and limitations of a "peer to peer" approach

Julia Korshunova (Open Bridge Project, Murmansk), “Attention, Please!” Cultural Activism vs. Polar Night

19:00 Uhr Podiumsdiskussion

Urban Pioneers: Change "From Below" in Russia

with Anatoliy Breslavsky (IMBT, Ulan-Ude), Alexander Formozov (CISR, Berlin), Julia Korshunova (Open Bridge Project, Murmansk) and Félix Krawatzek (ZOiS)
Chaired by Tatiana Golova (ZOiS)