PROFIL PRACOWNIKA: Błażej Filanowski

PhD in the humanities, researcher, lecturer, publicist, public relations and communication specialist, art critic, and cultural events curator.

His research focuses on cultural processes in cities facing transformation challenges, social communication issues, and the relationship between art and science.

He teaches academic courses in areas such as public relations (organizational communication), image creation, design thinking, place marketing and placemaking, self-presentation, stylistics, and visual communication.

Author of dozens of interviews and popular science publications in journals such as obieg.pl, EXIT. New Art in Poland, design.pl, Purpose, Kronika Miasta Łodzi (editorial secretary 2015–2018), Dziennik Łódzki, Kalejdoskop, Arterie, Liberté!, as well as essays accompanying cultural events.

Curator of exhibitions, concerts, and panel discussions. Co-founder of FabrySTREFA – a space for artistic initiatives operating from 2008 to 2012 in a former factory at 138 Piotrkowska Street (now Off Piotrkowska). He completed an internship at the cultural institution 0047 (Oslo, Norway), focused on the relationship between design, architecture, and visual culture. From 2013 to 2016, he worked in the Promotion and Marketing Department of the Museum of Art in Łódź; he co-created the documentary film series Ms Opus and curated his own series of meetings on the relationship between art and the city.

• Urban studies

• Artistic events as a factor engaging stakeholders in urban transformation

• The involvement of cultural institutions in urban regeneration processes

• Immersive communication
• Place design: site-specific artistic actions, creative placemaking, place marketing

• Visual communication (photography)
• Innovative organizational culture (adaptation to change, social communication)

Research projects:

• Communication Broker in the Science Hub UNIC edition project We are UNIC! – Supporting Innovation and Cooperation within the European University Alliance, NAWA, 2024–2026, University of Lodz.
• Team Coordinator in the project Performative Research in the Face of Civilizational Challenges, funded by the state budget (Ministry of Education and Science, “Science for Society II” program) and the City of Łódź, 2024–2027, University of Lodz Foundation.
• Principal Investigator of the project Artistic Performance as a Form of Post-Industrial Urban Transformation. A Comparison of Selected Cases in Central Europe, National Science Centre, PRELUDIUM, 2020–2024, University of Lodz.

Awards and distinctions:

• Individual Second-Degree Research Award of the Rector of the University of Lodz for the book Artistic Events as an Impulse for Urban Transformation: The Case of Łódź after 1989 (2024)
• Distinction (with Dr. Tomasz Ciesielski) in the 50 Most Creative People in Business 2024 ranking by Brief magazine for the PEREBEL method (2024)
• Team Second-Degree Teaching Award of the Rector of the University of Lodz for the publication Research Methods in Communication and Media: Theoretical and Analytical Perspective, ed. A. Barańska-Szmitko (2022)
• Winner of the Golden Pen Award named after Jerzy Katarasiński for journalistic activity (2017)

Selected professional activities:

• Member of the Program Board of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Studies at the University of Lodz (operator of the Centre for City Futures UNIC)
• Member of the Program Board of the International Urban Regeneration Congress (co-organized by the University of Lodz and Open Eyes Economy)
• ECTS Coordinator for the Journalism, Media, and Social Communication program