Day of the Good Life Citizens Reclaiming and Designing Public Space What are the main ingredients for a ‘good life’ and how can we make cities the place where a good life is possible? What would happen if there were enough platforms for all the ideas that citizens have about their neighbourhoods, districts, and cities? Moreover, how to best empower and enable citizens to take an active role in designing public spaces that reflect their needs and are sustainable and inclusive? The project ‘Day of the Good Life’ in Wuppertal offered one such framework for citizens as well as actors from civil society, business, culture, politics and administration to come together in fostering a movement for a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable city. An increasing number of initiatives are active in the city of Wuppertal, focusing on goals such as climate protection, sustainable energy supply and better mobility, community engagement, regional food supply, and integration and social interaction. The Day of the Good Life project was focused on galvanising this activism and taking it one step further towards making the city a sustainable and fair home for everyone. The project also aimed at making civic initiatives more visible and tangible in the Wuppertal’s urban community. As a project partner, the CSCP drew on its core expertise in sustainable lifestyles and project design to contribute to making the vision of a good life a reality in the city of Wuppertal. The CSCP also worked on leveraging local initiatives and citizen’s engagement towards implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a local level. During visioning workshops in several neighbourhoods in Wuppertal, citizens created their ideal quarter. This vision was creatively brought to life as a prototype, supported by local artists. At the same time, citizen engagement strategies helped motivate neighbours in the Ostersbaum quarter, where the Day of Good Life took place, to shape their environment. Regular network meetings involving diverse actors looked into developing ideas for how a city should look like in order to enable the good life. The event ‘Day of Good Life’ took place in June 2021 at the Platz der Republik in Wuppertal-Ostersbaum. Streets were car-free and citizens as well as various initiatives enlivened the square and the surrounding area with a variety of interactive programmes. The visions, ideas, and concrete suggestions stemming out of the event will be communicated to local political decision-makers in order to inform and guide a sustainable city-planning process. The Day of the Good Life was a joint project of the CSCP and its partners, the Nachbarschaftsheim Wuppertal e.V., Idealwerk and the FSI Forum für Soziale Innovation gGmbH. The project was funded by the Stiftung Umwelt und Entwicklung NRW. For further information, please contact Alexandra Kessler.