Patterns of Participation

Kodra is not starting from zero. This participatory process is already moving on the ground, with real people, real expertise, and real care for the place. The BAUHAUS4MED activities at the former Kodra camp are inviting residents to step into the site itself and engage with it in a practical way—like the participatory workshop on the empirical recording and assessment of trees. It’s a perfect example of the tone of this whole process: hands-on, open, and focused on what makes Kodra special, starting with the living landscape.

What’s striking about participation around Kodra is how quickly it becomes concrete. People don’t just describe an abstract “future park.” They talk about what they want to be able to do there, how they want the space to feel, and what values should guide the transformation. The proposals submitted through the platform echo the same energy: a clear insistence that this place should become greener, more accessible, and more connected to everyday life. The language varies, and the formats vary—some proposals include attachments, others are short messages—but the direction is remarkably consistent. Kodra is seen as a chance to reclaim a large public space for nature, wellbeing, culture, and community.

This is where the online and offline parts of the process meet. A workshop focused on trees is not only an environmental action; it’s a way of learning the site together, building shared knowledge, and strengthening a sense of collective responsibility. The proposals show that many participants already feel that responsibility. They return again and again to themes like green space, paths, biodiversity, and the need for places where children can play, people can walk and cycle safely, and the city can breathe. It’s not “hidden” at all—participation here is openly rooted in lived experience. People are describing what’s missing in the urban fabric and what Kodra could offer if it is treated as a true common good.

There is also a strong awareness that Kodra’s identity matters. Many contributions mention the former military camp explicitly, as if to underline what is at stake: this is a place with memory, but it should no longer be defined by closure or abandonment. The participatory process brings a different story into focus—one where the camp becomes a civic landscape. And that story is not only told through big visions. It is told through practical questions: what can be reused, what needs care, how movement works through the space, where shade and rest should be, how activities can coexist without excluding anyone.

Cultural life appears naturally inside this vision too. Participants imagine Kodra not just as green space, but as a setting for gatherings, small events, learning, and expression—something alive and shared, rather than manicured and passive. Even when proposals suggest very different uses, they often share the same underlying principle: Kodra should be open and welcoming, designed for people of different ages and needs, and shaped through collaboration rather than imposed as a finished object.

What this process is demonstrating—online and offline—is that participation can be both imaginative and grounded. It can hold big aspirations while staying close to the reality of the place. By inviting residents to map, record, and evaluate what already exists, and by creating space for proposals that reflect everyday needs as well as long-term visions, Kodra’s participatory journey is building something more than a list of ideas. It’s building a shared language for transformation: one that connects nature and culture, care and creativity, local knowledge and expert guidance. And that’s exactly the kind of foundation a meaningful change of this scale needs.