Levente Polyak

Levente Polyak


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

8Years (2019-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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25 February 2022 in Sustainability
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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Hanna SzemzőHanna Szemző
Hanna Szemző
Jorge Mosquera SuarezJorge Mosquera Suarez
Jorge Mosquera Suarez
LPLevente Polyak
Levente Polyak
LHLukács Hayes
Lukács Hayes
Civil society actors engaged in social innovation supporting activities provide crucial services that address unmet social needs and empower communities. Yet, creating a resilient framework that not only supports their activities but helps to sustain them as an organization is often difficult. It necessitates resilience strategies that help them survive and overcome crises even without former institutionalization. The paper identifies three distinct strategies that can be followed: adaptability, diversification and ecosystem building. While all three represent different ways of resilience, the latest provides the most complex safety net, allowing bottom-up organizations and partnerships to share resources, develop complementary services and sustain social innovation. Choosing the time of the first COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown for the analysis, the paper illustrates with eight selected case studies how these strategies enfold during a crisis. The paper analyses the activities of different civic initiatives, gauging their capacity to adapt flexibly to radically new situations. While doing so, it brings together the concept of social innovation and resilience and enriches resilience studies with a less frequently found focus on small, civic initiatives.

31 May 2019 in The Journal of Public Space
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
JLJeroen Laven
Jeroen Laven
ABAnna Louise Bradley
Anna Louise Bradley
LPLevente Polyak
Levente Polyak
The importance of public space as a foundation for good cities is recognised across Europe at a policy level and also amongst practitioners. Placemaking Europe, previously known as the European Placemaking Network, is a fresh network connecting a growing number of practitioners, academics, community leaders, market parties and policy makers working on public spaces in ways that give due consideration to placemaking and the City at Eye Level. Through this approach, Placemaking Europe shares knowledge, exchanges ideas, and actively shapes collaborative projects.