Funded by

Citizens Equality, Rights and Values programme (CERV)

Information
  • Length: 2025 - 2027
  • Lead Partner: Municipality of Parma (IT)
  • Members Involved: City of Trollhättan (SE)
  • Other Partners: Municipality of Daugavpils (LV), City of Zadar (HR), City of Lublin (PL), Municipality of Amadora (PT), City of Seinäjoki (FI)
  • Priority Area: #InclusiveCommunities #ActiveCitizenship
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Contacts
laura
Laura Avanzi
Project Officer - SERN

RETHINK

Enhancing all citizens' participation in rethinking the city as an inclusive, sustainable and beautiful place through art and culture

About the project

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, cities have experienced a decrease in trust and participation in public spaces, especially amongst vulnerable groups.  While constructive conversations, free speech and expression, are crucial starting points for finding the democratic common ground needed, the partners have found a lack of attractive public spaces for this kind of free expression. Building sustainable, beautiful, and inclusive meeting places is a crucial way to counter polarisation and exclusion, and at the same time increase safety in cities, trust between members of society, and supporting the participation of vulnerable groups in the creation of a sustainable society. RETHINK will, through creating opportunities for active participation, be promoting the principles of the New European Bauhaus and contribute to the initiative’s goal of creating spaces that promote well-being and a sense of community. Knowledge about European values, on which initiatives such as the New European Bauhaus are based, have however found to be lacking, a need which RETHINK also seek to counter.  

Objectives

RETHINK aims to promote the co-creation of inclusive, creative and beautiful meeting spaces in the partnering cities. The general objective of the project is to strengthen all citizens’ (particularly vulnerable groups and minorities) participation in rethinking the city as an inclusive, sustainable and beautiful place through art and culture. This objective draws directly on the objectives of the New European Bauhaus Initiative. 

Specifically, RETHINK aims: 

  1. To define and improve a set of strategies for active participation, with the purpose to rethink city living spaces on the principles of the New Bauhaus Initiative.
  2. To engage all citizens at a local level in creating a feeling of community, particularly involving young adults, minorities and vulnerable people in the community.
  3. To increase safety in the cities involved, through the ideation of art public spaces, co-created by vulnerable citizens and strengthening the democratic resilience and freedom of speech through these cultural initiatives.
  4. To promote networking among public authorities, local associations, and stakeholders at local and European level to promote and implement projects to reach an inclusive, sustainable and beautiful city.

Activities

Activities as part of RETHINK will consist of: 

  • Training on New European Bauhaus initiative and links to the partners practice, through a plenary training session in Parma. 
  • Training on inclusion and active participation strategies for young people, minorities and vulnerable groups with links to partners’ practices, through plenary training session in Lublin, creation of work groups, and workshops.  
  • Collection and exchange of practices and identification of guidelines and common criteria for the local activities. A seminar will be held in Trollhättan, in addition to the establishment of work groups. 
  • Planning and creating participatory art projects along with local stakeholders in each participating city.  
  • Online meetings to present the participative process and projects.  
  • Evaluation of the local activities and preparation of the presentation of the final project products, in a coordination workshop in Daugavpils. 
  • Presentation of the project results through workshops in Zared. 

Results

The project will result in: 

  • Participatory art projects aimed at including vulnerable groups, leading to an increased interest in and sense of ownership of the city. 
  • Shared sense of community amongst local stakeholders and a shared conception of and a feeling of common responsibility for society and European values.  
  • Increase in knowledge of European values and principles behind initiatives such as NEB
  • Creation of collaborative networks, and an increase in active collaboration, amongst stakeholders at all levels: politicians, civil servants, citizens, locally as well as on a European level. 
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