Agency. To determine meaning and make choices freely. It's crucial to understand the effects of practicing autonomy, as it impacts one’s access to a dignified life; to be seen, heard, and enabled. Perhaps, human agency as a fundamental right is how we cut across exclusion.

I reflect on my conversation with Yasmeen Lari at the UIA World Congress of Architects, who emphasises through her community-driven approach, a model of decolonising, replacing formats of charity with systems of empowerment. Relatedly, should agency be upheld as one of the factors identifying basic human needs?

Creative realms can be both altruistic and inclusive, starting a domino effect of empathy, expression, and enablement. This week’s issue deliberates on equity, place, and agency, sustaining a cycle of doing 'for' while doing 'with'—Fiza Khatri's practice revolves around care, repair, and space-making; the Ukrainian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2023 convalesces war-torn wastelands; Gabriel Massan's game design subverts the player as the protagonist, pushing us to re-imagine our systems of creation through reflective action.