TURNIPS

The interdisciplinary, mixed-methods, comparative, and participatory methodology combines qualitative and quantitative methods, diverse analytical approaches and digital tools with hands-on experimentation in streets. Phase 1 “Understanding contestation” maps stakeholders, relationships, institutional pathways and narratives of past conflicts through case studies in five living labs; probes modes of participation; studies how hegemonic narratives and platform dynamics shape discourses; and analyses social media and participatory-platform data to identify discourses, networks and the role of generative AI in spreading or countering mis/disinformation. Phase 2 “Anticipating and transforming conflict” co-develops and trials a contestation audit and discourse foresight tool; an agonistic approach to street experiments; an AI tool to support conflict understanding and transformation; an AI-supported visualisation tool for expected changes in public space, and an inclusive online communication “how to” guide.

Five Urban Living Labs in Amsterdam (NL), Haarlem (NL), Brussels (BE), Bregenz Region (AT) and Sabadell (ES) will provide policy contexts in which the tools will turn conflicts around street transformation into negotiated spaces for co-creation. A common evaluation framework will assess transferability, social learning and conflict transformation.

TURNIPS will advance understanding of why street redesign and public space reallocation generate conflict and how such conflicts can be transformed constructively. Comparative research across five cities will provide new evidence on stakeholder dynamics, institutional pathways, public perceptions, narratives and digital contestation. Building on these insights, the project will deliver the practical TURNIPS toolkit, combining methods to anticipate contestation, understand conflicting perspectives, support inclusive communication, improve street experimentation and visualise potential transformations. Policy guidelines will help local and regional authorities embed more inclusive, conflict-sensitive approaches in decision-making. Living labs, learning formats with municipalities, and a summer school will strengthen institutional and professional capacities and support knowledge transfer. Overall, TURNIPS will enable public authorities, practitioners and civil society organisations to manage disagreement more productively, improve participation and legitimacy, and deliver more inclusive and socially robust street transformations.