Sites of Culture of Regeneration - Curating Regenerative Practices and Relations with City Sewage and Soil in Wrocław, Poland

Due to escalating climate changes, urban wetlands and wild spaces are receiving growing attention from urban researchers, scholars in social sciences and humanities, and artists, who are all inspired by these spaces to (re)imagine ecosocial normality and future of their cities. This article is a case study of the curatorial practice of Katarzyna Roj, deputy director of the BWA Dizajn Gallery in Wrocław (Poland), closely entangled with a site known as Wrocław Irrigation Fields (WIF). In short, the studied practice aims to affect dominant visions of urban habitation, nature management, and more-than-human relations. The study, grounded in practice theory, combines sociological research methods with environmental humanities in order to analyse how, where, and why the curatorial practice in Wrocław aims to engage with and regenerate the city’s Irrigation Fields. Adopting a transdisciplinary approach, the authors explore the interplay between human agency, material arrangements, and the emergence of meaning within specific contexts of actions, understood as ‘sites of practice’. Drawing on ethnographic research, media reports, and interviews, the article discusses the theoretical framework of practice theory and its relevance in understanding the complex socio-environmental dynamics of urban spaces and regenerative curatorial practice. The findings highlight the practice’s transformative potential in regard to (re)imagining urban landscapes and fostering more liveable ecosocial realities.