QQure was the first in a series of events organised by the ExNurb (Exchange Network on Urban Studies) Community of Practice, a combination of research training and joint research workshops. It was designed to approach the divide between qualitative and quantitative epistemologies often felt in contemporary urban studies. The live event, which took place on 15–16 May 2025 in Vilnius, was dedicated to walking as a research method.
In this seminar, researchers received training from Dr Natalia Martini, who introduced related research techniques. She also shared how walking with homeless people helped her better understand urban spaces. With Natalia’s guidance, participants of the workshop practised walking-research together in guided walking sessions through the streets of Vilnius. They used this experience to get better acquainted with each other and to ignite discussions about the assumed and the real differences in research practices. The walks were meant to stimulate the participants’ imagination. This energy was then used to help each other develop raw research ideas.
These two days felt like a researcher retreat where the enjoyment of the process was really important. Walking is one of the core ways in which we learn about cities. Thus, even if some of the participants did not intend to use walking methods in their research practices, walking together helped to get to know each other as researchers or simply as people interested in cities. Current workloads rarely allow researchers time to reflect on their practice or new research endeavours. QQure was the cure for that – it was a time away from teaching obligations and department relationships, which helped researchers to reconnect with their work as well as connect with the ideas of others. Based on this inspiring experience, a similar event titled “VisUrb: Workshop on Visual Methodologies in Urban Research” is taking place at the University of Wrocław in 2026.
