SKATEHOLDERS

Or skateboarding belongs in the public space of the city

What is SKATEHOLDERS?

SKATEHOLDERS focuses on connecting architecture and design interventions in public space with education and social work. In doing so, it creates an ideal city for skateboarding and other roller and urban sports. The flat terrain of Budweis creates suitable conditions for the development of roller sports. The project aims to make the city a popular destination for skateboarding and other urban sports throughout Europe. This goal will be achieved through a series of artistic and architectural interventions. Studio U/U, for example, will each year transform an unused or neglected public space into a unique place that will serve both for skateboarding and as a quality space suitable for social interaction.

The project will also expand two development modules. SKATEHOLDERS FORUM will focus on establishing partnerships with local and international organizations that use skateboarding as a tool to educate and support disadvantaged social groups. SKATEHOLDERS FORUM will organise an annual international skateboarding festival packed with competitions, lectures on the social benefits of the sport or film screenings that will introduce Budweis to the whole of Europe as an ideal city for skateboarding. SKATEHOLDERS SCHOOL will focus on providing cultural skateboarding lessons for the wider public and disadvantaged children and the young.

Why is the SKATEHOLDERS project part of Budweis 2028?

Skateboarding is an activity that brings a new function to public space. Like other street activities (street art, graffiti, parkour, BMX, urbex... ), skateboarding is part of our culture and therefore affects architecture and urban planning. Its promotion leads to the revitalisation of spaces and thus to the creation of new interactions that improve the quality of life in the city.

Skateholders, through architectural and artistic changes, create space for urban outdoor and urban sports for the wider public. The aim is to complement the existing and planned infrastructure and make Budweis one of the European capitals of urban sports, where young people from all over Europe will meet.

Finding the potential of urban spaces

Martin Hrouda, architect and co-founder of Studio U/U, spoke about the search for the potential of places in his lecture for Skateholders. "There are playgrounds for children in public spaces, outdoor gyms for adults are becoming more and more common. Do teenagers also have a nice space to spend their free time? We've found they don't. And we want to change that."

During his lecture, Martin Hrouda showed photos of many places in Europe that have been given a new dimension thanks to their bigger or smaller interventions. Underpasses in Prague's Vltavská, a sports complex in Cheb, an urban park in Bratislava and many others. The places are designed to serve the widest possible group of inhabitants. In addition to skateable elements, there are also relaxation zones with cosy seating and drinking fountains.

The main goal of the architects is to create a place that serves for meeting, interaction and sport.
As part of Budweis 2028, we want to reinforce the potential positive impact of urban sports, and skateboarding is part of it. The urban sports have been shown to lead to the inclusion of young people (especially those at risk of social exclusion) and to enhance their healthy lifestyle.

SKATEHOLDERS FORUM

The Skateholders Forum is the second phase of our project to connect with the global community of organisations using skateboarding for education and development/social work. The Skateholders Forum will be the main event in the skateboarding section of Budweis 2028 this year. A week packed with skate jams, panel discussions, exhibitions, workshops and evening entertainment, all with interesting guests from several European countries.

SKATEHOLDERS SCHOOL

The last part of Budweis 2028 project called "Skateholders SCHOOL" is dedicated to a skateboard-education programme with an emphasis on better integration of children and youth, especially from socio-economically disadvantaged families. Within the years 2024-2028, volunteer projects of the so-called social sport will be gradually introduced. Erasmus+ sport projects will focus on linking up with corresponding activities abroad, including in Germany or Middle East regions where such initiatives are very successful.

Links with local institutions and organisations

Jakub Novotný, who has long been involved in topics such as enriching cultural and sporting events and improving the integration of socially disadvantaged children and youth, spoke more about the vision of Skateholders. All these topics are to be covered by the Skateholders project.

There are several concrete paths to this goal - cooperation with local institutions and organisations such as schools, leisure and low-threshold organisations, or sports and cultural associations. "The skatepark functions as an environment where it is normal for girls to enjoy the space as much as boys," Novotny names one of the impacts of skateboarding on Middle Eastern society.

"Non-profit organisations have been particularly influential in motivating children through skateboarding, and (not only) thanks to this the sport is no longer viewed as vandalism by the public," Novotný adds.

Project curators:

Martin Kalenský - martin.kalensky@budejovice2028.cz
Jakub Novotný - jakub.ntl.novotny@gmail.com