The SMOTIES network is a partnership of ten design universities, research centers, creative agencies, and national associations. Each partner selected a small and remote place in their country to benefit from the design of cultural and creative regenerations within public spaces and in collaboration with local stakeholders.

The project is part of the Human Cities network, a platform for interdisciplinary exchange, examining and acting to improve the livability of indoor and outdoor public spaces to incubate innovative processes for social cohesion through participatory design.

• Features projects in Portugal, Poland, Wales, Italy, Iceland, Estonia, France, Austria, Slovenia, and Greece
• Regional promotion and safeguarding of quality of life and work
• Best practice: learning from exemplary models

With contributions by

Michael Dumiak, Independent reporter and editor

Valentina Auricchio PhD, associate professor, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano

Elisa Bertolotti PhD, assistant professor of Communication Design, Art and Design Department, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Madeira

Beatriz Bonilla Berrocal, PhD candidate, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano

Helen Charoupia Researcher, Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering within Complex Systems and Service Design Lab, University of the Aegean

Alexandra Coutsoucos, Research fellow, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano

Annalinda De Rosa PhD, researcher, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano

Davide Fassi PhD, full professor, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano

Susana Gonzaga PhD, assistant professor, Art and Design Department, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Madeira

Nina Goršic, Architect and researcher, urban renewal, cultural heritage and accessibility, Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia

Frank van Hasselt, Chief executive, Clear Village

Astrid Lelarge, Historian of urban planning, Alternance Architecture and Urban Planning, assistant professor, Faculty of Planning and Design, Agricultural University of Iceland

Vanessa Monna, Post-doc research fellow, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano

Chiara Nifosì, PhD, assistant professor of Urban Planning, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano

Matej Nikšic, Architect, urban planner, lecturer in urban design, Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia

Cristina Renzoni, PhD, associate professor of Urban Planning, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano

Anwar Samara, Student of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana

Noemi Satta, Independent consultant and expert in cultural innovation and strategic and participatory planning

Isabelle Vérilhac, Strategic designer, founder of Design With Isabelle