A talk and a walk to present the Ras Beirut neighborhood and the case of Jeanne d’Arc Street that was rehabilitated in 2018 as a model for an inclusive pedestrian friendly street in Beirut. The project was proposed and designed by the AUB Neighborhood Initiative and the Center for Civic Engagement and Community Service and was implemented by the Municipality of Beirut for 3M$. We brought together residents and businesses, urban designers, accessibility advocates and government officials in a collaborative and participatory design process. Discover with us through the 1st workshop all the sustainable socially-inclusive interventions that we implemented!

What makes a street pedestrian-friendly? Can we reclaim the streets as a public space, not only to pass through it but as a social space for interactions? Can our streets hold our common identity and collective memory? How can we activate neglected or contested spaces? What makes a neighborhood more inclusive? More livable? More diverse? Find out all about it by taking this workshop!

In the 2nd part of this workshop, we will walk around the Ras Beirut neighborhood to discover its unique people and places, its pigeon trainers and fishermen, its stairs and hidden jewels. We will experience Jeanne d’Arc Street that was rehabilitated as a model for an inclusive pedestrian friendly street in Beirut in a collaborative and participatory design process. We will look at different artistic interventions that activate the neighborhood and engage the community to appropriate the public space and reconstruct our collective memory.