Leuven Collective Against Poverty launches walk in ErfgoedApp
October 17 was declared International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and Social Exclusion by the United Nations in 1992. On this symbolic date, the Leuven Collective Against Poverty annually highlights a number of actions to give people living in poverty a voice. This year, this was done with the support of the Leuven Heritage Cell. We visited the city archives together, provided input for the historical part of the Walk Against Poverty, and created a digital version in the ErfgoedApp. It was a fascinating process by, for, and with people living in poverty. Because, unfortunately, poverty is still a pressing issue.
Walk against poverty: a co-creative process
Back in 2020, the Collective Against Poverty came up with a walk as an alternative to the annual parade, which could not take place due to COVID-19. Using a paper brochure, interested parties could follow a walking route on their own. This was so successful that the collective wanted to create a new walk for October 2021. A working group from the collective collaborated with the Leuven Heritage Unit on the new concept. Based on the approach of 'social participation', we opted for a walking route along current locations that are open to people living in poverty. In addition, we searched for historical information together, so that the route would provide an insight into poverty in the past and today.
Visit to the city archives: surprisingly relevant
During the creative process, we visited the Leuven City Archives with some of the initiators from the collective. We were given a VIP tour of the archive repository to get a feel for what an archive preserves. The archivists had also set up five themed tables in the reading room with various original historical sources on poverty in Leuven: from death registers from the medieval Augustinian hospital to files and images of the 19th-century night shelter and public bathhouse Remy-Devleeschouwer.
The visit sparked interesting conversations and encouraged reflection on the links between poverty in the past and today. The historical sources and accompanying explanations immediately captured the imagination and were also closely linked to the group's own experiences. With these sources as a basis, the stories for the walk took definitive shape and could be beautifully illustrated thanks to striking archive images and photos. In short, a great success!
The historical and contemporary stories fit together perfectly like pieces of a puzzle, and the four-kilometer circular walk was complete.
Sven, Birgit, and An also tested the walking route. The tour starts at the Grote Markt and takes you along some beautiful hidden paths and green oases in Leuven, such as the Kruidtuin and the Dijlepark. Accessibility for strollers and wheelchairs has been taken into account, although you do have to contend with some cobblestones here and there and a steep slope up to the next stop.
Scenario in the ErfgoedApp
In addition to the paper walking brochure, we jointly determined the scenario for the digital version in the Erfgoedapp: an audio walk along ten locations. This digital version aims to expand the scope of the walk and can appeal to new target groups, making the subject open to discussion among a wide audience.
The clips were recorded by volunteer Reinilde and provide additional information at each stop. In Riddersstraat, for example, she talks about the open workshop of Compagnie Tartaren, a social-artistic theater company that creates fascinating performances based on their own lives. But at this stop, she also tells us more about life in the past in the nearby Peterseliegang:
In the19th century, factory workers earning a pittance had no choice but to rent a small house in a gangske. Living conditions were appalling: there was no running water or electricity. The Peterseliegang was located at 77 Riddersstraat. Even in 1975, the mismanagement in this alley was still being denounced: a police report recommended that the city health department intervene because a man had been found in a house full of lice..."
Would you like to explore?
Download the ErfgoedApp the App Store or Google Play and select this walk:
