Next Network

Next Network is rated 3 out of 5 in the category public policy. Read and write reviews about Next Network. The Next Network is an international group of urban experts working in the field of participatory urban development and co-creation. “Firstly, we need to change a city in the mind of people” - with this motto an urban planner Julian Petrin founded “Nexthamburg”, the first German citizens' think-tank for participatory urban development. The aim of Nexthamburg is to provide a “safe room” for citizens' ideas and to facilitate a constructive and balanced dialogue between various urban actors. Gathering citizens' ideas and giving a stage for previously “no-go” urban topics, a “Hamburg 2030: Citizens' Vision” was created out of more than 700 citizens' ideas. In autumn 2014 the second stage of Nexthamburg process – “Stadtmacher” crowd-resourcing platform – was developed, enabling every citizen to become an active city-maker and to implement her or his project with the help of community. Meanwhile, the bottom-up co-creation approach, shaped by Nexthamburg, resonated in other German cities as well as internationally. The open innovation and smart knowledge transfer laid a basis for creation of the “Next Network”, bringing together active citizens and urban experts with the knowledge, experience and belief in urban co-creation. At the moment, the Next Network is present with projects in the following cities: Hamburg (Germany), Kassel (Germany), Lisbon (Portugal), Bangalore (India), Belgrade (Serbia), Istanbul (Turkey), Zuerich (Switzerland).