ATLAS co-creation lab at De Pianofabriek and CFS / Coordination des sans-papiers in Brussels
Text by Shila Anaraki
In December 2024 and January 2025, the Brussels ReROOT team, in collaboration with the research group ATLAS, organized a series of workshops to collectively explore desirable future housing in Brussels, particularly for people without legal status or those living in precarious conditions.
The workshops brought together a diverse group of participants, including residents without Belgian citizenship, individuals in temporary or insecure housing, activists, and members of civil society. The workshops consisted of two parts. The part was divided into two groups over two days and held at the De Pianofabriek community centre, with 15–20 participants in each group. The second part brought both groups together at the Collectif Formation Société (CFS), in collaboration with the Coordination des sans-papiers.
We applied the method called Dragon Dreaming to structure the sessions. The first part focused on collective dreaming ‒ creating a space for participants to share imaginative, hopeful visions for Brussels. To shift the participants’ focus from immediate concerns to longer-term possibilities, we first facilitated an eyes-closed exercise in which participants visualized a walk through Brussels, first in the present, then in a future shaped by their experiences and dreams.
We then all answered the generative question: How would people be housed in Brussels in 20 years so that you can say: Yes! It could not be better? One participant quickly responded: “Why in 20 years? That’s too far away.” This reaction underscored the urgency of the present and challenged the premise of imagining distant futures. In response, we opened up the timeframe and invited participants to define their own horizons.
Text by Shila Anaraki
In December 2024 and January 2025, the Brussels ReROOT team, in collaboration with the research group ATLAS, organized a series of workshops to collectively explore desirable future housing in Brussels, particularly for people without legal status or those living in precarious conditions.
The workshops brought together a diverse group of participants, including residents without Belgian citizenship, individuals in temporary or insecure housing, activists, and members of civil society. The workshops consisted of two parts. The part was divided into two groups over two days and held at the De Pianofabriek community centre, with 15–20 participants in each group. The second part brought both groups together at the Collectif Formation Société (CFS), in collaboration with the Coordination des sans-papiers.
We applied the method called Dragon Dreaming to structure the sessions. The first part focused on collective dreaming ‒ creating a space for participants to share imaginative, hopeful visions for Brussels. To shift the participants’ focus from immediate concerns to longer-term possibilities, we first facilitated an eyes-closed exercise in which participants visualized a walk through Brussels, first in the present, then in a future shaped by their experiences and dreams.
We then all answered the generative question: How would people be housed in Brussels in 20 years so that you can say: Yes! It could not be better? One participant quickly responded: “Why in 20 years? That’s too far away.” This reaction underscored the urgency of the present and challenged the premise of imagining distant futures. In response, we opened up the timeframe and invited participants to define their own horizons.
© Photo by Luce Beeckmans.
The workshops generated a wide range of perspectives, grounded in lived experiences. At the end of the first workshop, several participants reflected on the need for greater influence on policy making.
“We must emphasize the right to housing - everyone is affected, not just undocumented people.”
“Policy makers should visit people’s homes, see how they live, what they lack. They need to come to the places themselves.”
“How do we share what we’re doing? Through social media? By inviting them to the workshops?”
In the second part, participants divided into four groups to begin developing project ideas and a Karrabirdt - a project plan based on all shared dreams, objectives and expressed concerns.
“We must emphasize the right to housing - everyone is affected, not just undocumented people.”
“Policy makers should visit people’s homes, see how they live, what they lack. They need to come to the places themselves.”
“How do we share what we’re doing? Through social media? By inviting them to the workshops?”
In the second part, participants divided into four groups to begin developing project ideas and a Karrabirdt - a project plan based on all shared dreams, objectives and expressed concerns.
© Mieke Groeninck.
The Dragon Dreaming workshops created a space for co-creation, strategic imagination, and horizontal exchange on housing justice. They marked a step toward collectively imagining futures for housing in Brussels, offering a moment of reflection on the present, fostering non-hierarchical collaboration, and inspiring for continued engagement by providing concrete steps toward Doing Otherwise.
The Dragon Dreaming workshops created a space for co-creation, strategic imagination, and horizontal exchange on housing justice. They marked a step toward collectively imagining futures for housing in Brussels, offering a moment of reflection on the present, fostering non-hierarchical collaboration, and inspiring for continued engagement by providing concrete steps toward Doing Otherwise.
