WeMakeThe.City is the festival that makes cities better. Seven days in a row we tackle urgent everyday challenges that the urban environment faces, together with the audience and experts, across different locations in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. It promises to be an attractive and active program for a wide audience. Not only for Amsterdam and the Metropolitan Area but also for European cities and the rest of the world!
In 2016, Amsterdam was chosen as the new European Capital of Innovation. The main reason for winning this award is the way Amsterdam approaches innovation as a societal challenge. A challenge which requires good collaboration between the municipality, knowledge institutions, businesses and industry and residents.
This ‘Amsterdam approach’ is the starting point for the international festival. First, we shape our cities. Then, our cities shape us. The places we work and live in have a great influence on us. Through these places we influence the city. Worldwide, the urban population is growing fast. The city attracts, seduces, connects and makes us creative. But the city also has the power to divide, pollute and exhaust. The urban environment poses challenging questions.
WeMakeThe.City is created by residents, businesses, scientists, specialists, directors, but also by designers, artists, tech start-ups, social organizations and local and regional initiatives. The festival brings together all questioners, creative minds and thinkers: the audience and the geeks. Expect everything that inspires new ideas and insights. There will be lectures, film screenings, expositions, performances, urban expeditions, games, workshops, expert meetings, conversations, labs and maker spaces, at numerous locations across the city of Amsterdam and the metropolitan region. Something for everybody!