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Civic classroom | Civic Europe
Community development

Civic classroom

We aim to encourage informal forms of citizens' organization and to educate society leaders and members on project writing so they could contribute the community.

Creators

Who is behind this?

Association Prospero

https://www.udrugaprospero.org/wordpress/

Croatia

Idea

Idea pitch

The aim of the project is to encourage the democratization of society and citizen participation in community development, to educate users about civil rights and obligations, tools for community participation and writing and implementing projects. We will finance and implement the best projects through civic initiatives and thus influence the activation of citizens in the community.

Where will your project idea take place?

Gračac, Zadar county, Croatia

What is the specific societal challenge faced by this region?

The municipality of Gračac is a multicultural environment that has been exposed to transition for many years due to the war that is taking place in this area. It has a low density of civic cohesion and few opportunities for civic and political learning and engagement. Divisions among people are so ingrained that people live in clans, there is no mutual contact and socializing between members of other cultures. The current political scene is only contributing to divisions and the problem is getting bigger. Locals are disinterested, unmotivated and excluded from participating in community management. With this project, we will influence the reduction of interpersonal divisions and build civic activism.

Who are you doing it for?

Target groups are community members who are interested in education and participation in the improvement and progress of the community, which will be the foundation of democracy. As the ultimate goal of education, users will write a civic initiative project, and the three best will be funded by the Civic Europe project. The final beneficiaries of the project are all residents of Gračac who will benefit from the project - Civic Initiatives, which will enable Gračac to become a better place for young and old to live, and will work together to improve and organize the municipality.

How do you plan to get there?

We will work on mapping everyone who is interested in project. After finding interested beneficiaries we will hold motivational meetings with them. We will also use citizen tools to provide feedback from users what they are satisfied / dissatisfied with and what civic initiatives they suggest. We will send questions and suggestion personally to the local government and request answers and clarifications. We will conduct educations on beginner project writing and the users will work on their project - a civic initiative, with the help of a mentor. We will publish them on the Facebook page and enable the residents of the Municipality to vote for the most interesting initiative. After selecting a project we will organize civic initiatives and implement the project.

What are the expected results?

The end result of the project is the creation and implementation of civic initiatives, which citizens themselves will be able to launch and write through education. Citizens will become active and learn about their rights and opportunities, participate in the work of the community and promote democratization through joint decision-making and participation.

How does your idea strengthen active citizenship at a local and community level?

Using various tools for surveying citizens we will learn about the problems plaguing the residents of Gračac and present them to representatives of local and regional government in order to begin to address them. By mapping community leaders and educating them on how to write a project proposal and how to implement it, we will encourage citizens to participate more actively in order to solve problems independently and seek answers to questions that bother them. Through the mediation between citizens and local government, the association will form a mini Information Center. Through civic initiatives funded through the project, we will strengthen democracy and activate citizens. We will work to improve the community and build interpersonal relationships.

Why is this idea important to you?

The mission of the Association is to activate the citizens in the community, to create prosperity and pleasant coexistence. Since Gračac is a multicultural environment, it is important to bridge differences and involve members of all cultures and nations in decision-making and governance. The mission of this project is that every resident of Gračac feels that he belongs to the community and that he has an important place in deciding on the future of the community. It is important to encourage the desire of citizens to be active and motivate them to stay active and set a good example to their fellow citizens. In order to ensure that people from different cultures or backgrounds participate, we will select representatives of each culture to participate in the education.

€ 50000,-

Total budget

€ 50000,-

Funding requested from Civic Europe

Major expenses

Public relations 500,00 EUR
Personnel costs 22.200,00 EUR
Educator costs 1.645,00 EUR
Civic initiative 20.000,00 EUR
Indirect costs 3.330,00 EUR
Refreshment 2.325,00 EUR

What do you need from the Civic Europe community?

We will be grateful to receive advices on conducting educations, choosing the best projects and access to citizens and activate them to participate in the community.

Team

Udruga Prospero

Idea created on May 13, 2020
Last edit on May 18, 2020

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