How can the spaces around us transform how we learn? This September, the RELATE project brought this critical question to the heart of the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) 2025 in Belgrade. This is Europe’s largest educational research conference, which this year attracted over 2,500 participants and was organized with more than 10 educational and academic institutions in Belgrade. Aligned with the conference theme, “Charting the Way Forward,” our team led a dynamic panel discussion, “When Space Meets Education: Theoretical, Epistemological and Practical Perspectives”.
The session was chaired by Jelena Joksimović (Faculty of Media and Communication, Singidunum University) and featured insightful contributions from RELATE colleagues: Jelena Vranješević (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade) Maša Avramović (Södertörn University, Stockholm) Marta Brkovic Dodig (Faculty of Media and Communication, Singidunum University) Biljana Branković (Faculty of Applied Arts, University of Arts Belgrade). The panelists shared personal narratives of transformative spaces, and examples of inspiring practices they witnessed sparking a rich discussion with an international audience. By exchanging experiences from diverse educational and urban contexts across Europe, the conversation moved beyond theory to outline concrete new approaches to learning. These approaches aim to transcend traditional classrooms, fostering more inclusive, democratic, and community-driven educational environments in urban settings.