RESHAPE URBAN PLACES project

The project will take place in Brasov, Romania and it will involve 4 European volunteers(from France, Germany and Lithuania) for a period of 11 months, between 1.10.2014 and 31.08.2015.

Reshape Urban Places is a project through which we want to increase awareness about traditions and handcrafts and bring them into the city life (for ex. rethinking the green parks with constructions made of wattle, flash mobs with gypsy dances, getting trees or buildings dressed by popular crocheted texture, community craft workshops, organize urban gardens with local vegetables etc.). Meanwhile we want that people in the city get the chance to participate at workshops in order to learn almost forgotten traditions or handcrafts. And not only participate, but be aware of the fact that traditions and local ways of living or preparing clothes or food or others can develop the community in a sustainable and more „fair” way.

As for the craftsman we will provide different workshops so they can increase their competences for promoting best their crafts. The EVS volunteers will also have a huge contribution to finding ways and helping local craftsman or producers to promote themselves (through different events or activities, through establishing a partnership between them and urban „consumers” etc.).

Our main aim is to increase awareness about such values and also tolerance between different people (for example a lot of crafts are still practiced by Rroma community or by people form rural or isolated communities). Nevertheless we want to enrich the people who are still practicing crafts with competences so they can promote them and their work. (for ex. we help them organise events or activities with people from urban areas in a sense of responsible tourism; we stimulate the relationship of urban people to the nature by organising gardening events in the town or at the people from rural areas etc.).

PROJECT AIMS :

A. Raising awareness about traditional values and products from local communities around Brasov:
- spreading traditional values among young people from Brasov and promote them as up-to-date
values;
-  re-thinking and adapting these values to the contemporary needs and demands;
-  developing promotional activities for traditional values and products.

B. Increasing tolerance between different communities and reducing exclusion of different marginalized
groups:
- promoting artisans from discriminated communities and integrating their products in the urban
space;
- facilitating inter- cultural contact and promoting diversity as a developing resource, and not as a
danger;
-  stimulating entrepreneurship competences for members of discriminated communities.

C. Stimulating youth active involvement:
- stimulating their participation in activities for animating and redecorating urban places;
- encouraging their participation in ecologization campaigns around the spaces that will be used;
- increasing learning opportunities and competences development (e. g. Traditional handicrafts
workshops, inter-cultural workshops).

D. Developing entrepreneurship competences and abilities for local artisans:
- developing a partnership between local artisans and people from urban communities;
- developing competences necessary for promoting traditional product;
- developing people capacity for organizing events and for networking.

E. Promoting the idea of sustainable and healthy development:
- facilitating the contact of people from urban communities with forgotten crafts and re-defining their
utility;
- raising awareness regarding the advantages offered by certain traditional techniques/ products in
community sustainable development (e. g. Urban gardening activities)
- encouraging community initiatives in order to embellish urban space.

We are happy to offer you more details about the project:

Maria Găvăneci
Project Coordinator
Telefon: +40 786 071 726
E-mail: maria.gavaneci@mirakolix.org

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