Students from HSE and Brest State University Develop Proposals for Development of River in Brest

© HSE University

The Vysokovsky Graduate School of Urbanism at the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development, together with the Department of Urban and Regional Development at Brest State Pushkin University, held a summer school in Brest, Belarus. Over ten days, students from Russia and Belarus studied the Mukhavets River—one of the city’s main natural axes—and developed concepts for its integrated development.

Despite its central location, the Mukhavets River and the green areas along its banks remain largely on the periphery of urban life. Residents swim in the river in summer, go fishing, and walk along nature trails and the embankment, but the river itself is more often perceived as a natural boundary than as an element that connects the city. The participants were therefore tasked with viewing it not as a collection of separate public spaces, but as a single urban system.

The aim of the summer school was to understand how the Mukhavets either constrains Brest’s development or, conversely, contributes to it, and then to propose principles and projects that could unlock the potential of the river and the surrounding areas.

From Field Research to Project Proposals

The school brought together students from the HSE Graduate School of Urbanism, Brest State University, and Brest State Technical University. The work was organised into three interdisciplinary teams, each of which studied different layers of the territory rather than focusing on a particular section of the river. This holistic approach was one of the school’s key principles.

Sofia Voinovich

‘During the field trips, the students compiled a database of different practices and activities in the area. Some of them even went paddleboarding to see the river from a different perspective, while others found local guides and explored routes around the city,’ said Sofia Voinovich, urban researcher, visiting lecturer at the Graduate School of Urbanism, and tutor at the summer school.

The programme included introductory lectures and excursions, five days of field research and data analysis, then two days of project development and the preparation of final presentations. During this time, the students used a wide range of research methods, including retrospective and normative analysis, rapid and in-depth interviews, mental mapping, the go-along method, discourse analysis, visual assessment of the urban environment, and GIS analysis of connectivity, pedestrian flows, and accessibility.

Diana Kodzokova

‘The students managed to draw attention to the Mukhavets as a single, important element of the urban fabric and examine it simultaneously from historical, social, urban planning, and environmental perspectives. As our Belarusian colleagues acknowledged, this area is usually analysed in separate sections, which makes its integrated development more difficult,’ said Diana Kodzokova, Deputy Dean for Research at the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development and one of the school’s directors.

Ksenia Yermak

‘When all the analysis was brought together in one presentation, we saw how much information we had managed to collect and how thoroughly we had studied the Mukhavets River,’ said Ksenia Yermak, second-year student at Brest State Technical University. ‘Dividing the tasks between the groups proved to be very effective.’

Work with Brest residents, regional representatives, and experts also played an important role in the school. Discussions with local residents helped the students understand how the river is perceived today and what expectations people have for its future.

Sergei Singilevich

‘While developing the project, we fully appreciated the importance of the waterway’s role in shaping the city. We realised that water is not simply an obstacle that needs to be crossed. It is a powerful factor and driver of urban development, capable of bringing people together and revitalising urban space,’ said Sergei Singilevich, first-year student at the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development.

International Teams—A Shared Perspective on the City

One of the distinctive features of the school was joint work by Russian and Belarusian students. The participants were divided into three interdisciplinary teams comprising urban planners, urban studies specialists, and architects: six students from the HSE Graduate School of Urbanism, three from Brest State University and four from Brest State Technical University. The mixed teams brought together different professional approaches and knowledge of local and global contexts. For many participants, the interdisciplinary format was the school’s most important discovery.

Elizaveta Grechman

‘Meeting colleagues from Belarus—from Brest, Minsk, and other cities—allowed us to learn about approaches to working with urban green spaces in Belarus and gain a much deeper understanding of the local context,’ said Elizaveta Grechman, a first-year student on HSE University’s Master’s Programme in Urban Development and Spatial Planning. ‘These two weeks in Brest were a great trip for us and left us with many fond memories.’

Each of the three teams proposed its own development scenario for the Mukhavets River and the areas along its banks, based on different values and different ways of integrating the river into the city.

Garlachyk: Preserve Nature and Improve Accessibility

The Garlachyk (‘Water Lily’) team proposed creating a botanical garden, extending the existing nature trail, establishing a new recreational area, and installing art objects along the river. All the projects were conceived as interconnected elements of a single system that would both preserve the area’s natural value and make it more accessible to residents.

Viosly i Masty: Turning the River from a Barrier into a Connection

The members of the Viosly i Masty (‘Oars and Bridges’) team interviewed local residents and concluded that the Mukhavets largely fragments the urban fabric and remains a spatial barrier. Their project sought to turn the river into a connecting element of the city. The team explored ways of extending existing transport and pedestrian links, improving access to the riverbanks and allocating different functions to waterfront spaces so that recreation, fishing, natural areas, and economic activities would not conflict with one another.

Return to the Source

The third team, Return to the Source, proposed viewing the Mukhavets as the foundation for a new urban identity. The authors suggest telling the story of Brest through the history of its river, restoring its role as a space for everyday journeys, recreation, and sport, developing a continuous network of cycling and pedestrian routes, bringing back river-based activities such as boating and paddleboarding, and adding small public spaces, viewing platforms, and an events programme along the waterfront.

Arina Evdokimenko

‘For me, the main outcome of the school was not just the final project, but the process of developing it,’ said Arina Evdokimenko, a second-year student at the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development. ‘It became absolutely clear here how much the analytical stage determines the framework and meaning of any project proposal. Field research, interviews, mental mapping, and work with documents provided a foundation without which the project simply would not have had a solid basis. But what I will remember most is communicating with local residents. We have continued to keep in touch with some of them even after the school ended.’

‘All the participants were developing projects for the same area and working from a shared dataset that we had collected together. There were disagreements along the way, and the participants certainly did not always see eye to eye. As a result, the projects turned out to be completely different. Of course, there were common themes and problems identified by several teams. In my view, that is also extremely valuable: when different groups independently arrive at similar conclusions, it provides serious food for thought, including for the city authorities,’ said Ekaterina Osokina, architect, visiting lecturer at the Graduate School of Urbanism, and school tutor.

Ekaterina Osokina

Each team managed to develop its own narrative, concept, and key idea. ‘Some focused on the environment, others on connectivity, and others on the historical value of the area,’ she explained. ‘Listening to the final presentations, you could even have thought that they were talking about completely different places. And I think this is one of the most interesting outcomes of the school and an important experience for the participants.’

What’s Next

Following the school, the teams developed concepts for the development of the area along the Mukhavets. Despite their different approaches, all the projects shared a number of common ideas: to bring the Mukhavets back into the life of the city and highlight the river as a vital part of the urban fabric while preserving its natural character and ecological value.

Kirill Puzanov

‘The proposals received high praise from the chief architect of the Brest Region. In the near future, the school team plans to present the results to the city authorities and continue discussing the possible implementation of individual proposals,’ said Kirill Puzanov, Associate Professor at the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development and one of the school’s directors and tutors.