Why the Kaunas manifesto?

The manifesto and the related workshops and gatherings are organised within the T-Factor project as activities of the T-Lab “Citizen-led smartness” in the pilot city of Kaunas (Lithuania).

Rooting its action in urban regeneration pilots across Europe, T-Factor develops new knowledge, tools and approaches to temporary urbanism that can contribute to inclusive and thriving futures in cities. The “Citizen-led smartness” T-Lab is led by Futuribile and supported by the Service Design dept. of AAU. The Lithuanian leading partners are KTU and Design Library. Our work is part of the urban regeneration process of the AIIP area in Kaunas. This ancient military helicopter factory site will turn into an Innovation Park.

In the regeneration process, we are challenged with transitioning the area's identity from a soviet military connotation to an “innovation sandbox” while activating participatory processes that allow citizens to appropriate and transform the site's legacy, identity and physical space. Since the area presents a variety of legal and infrastructural constraints for exercising established temporary urbanism tactics, we look into digital placemaking as means to provide a viable meanwhile strategy for engagement and sensemaking.

The T-Lab aim is to explore how the collective and inclusive elaboration of novel digital territories twinning urban regeneration areas can support placemaking. Our approach combines technology expertise with citizens’ expectations. We will engage international and local experts in defining the theoretical and design framework while rooting the principles in the local context with a participatory process engaging local communities of citizens to build a collective imaginary for a potential Kaunas metaverse, utilising AIIP as a land of opportunities.