Miskolc city has a large Roma population, about 30 000 Roma (definite data is not available). About 70% live in segregated, peripheral districts; around one-third of them are not registered residents in the city. The newly elected city council is open to starting the development dialogue. Our initiative is to build the bridge between the Roma communities and the municipal institutions. We go to Roma people and empower them to be able to create their voice and to act for their better life.

Miskolc, BAZ County, northeast Hungary, the segregated districts (21) of the city

Miskolc, the city in the northeast (about 160 000 inhabitants, 20% Roma), as a former socialist heavy-industrial center went through on a deep and long-lasting economic crises in the 90-es and still has not stabilized economically. The main social challenge is the high number of disadvantaged inhabitants, the majority of them are Roma, living in more than twenty segregated districts in different parts of the city. About a third of them are not registered residents in Miskolc. The reason is that different development decisions last years generated migration waves of Roma families from downtown and from rural areas to segregated parts of the city. This year these segregated communities are the first to feel the impact of the pandemic - the unexpected economic/job market crises.

A special moment in the life of our city: the new local council is committed to an inclusive local development process. But the target Roma communities are isolated, lost their trust and self-confidence; self-organization and experience in democratic decision-making is very weak. To be able to practice active citizenship, it is needed to encourage and empower them. We have started to build the bridge between the Roma society and the municipality to strengthen democratic processes. Our idea is to implement (1) community mobilization and (2) 'learning by doing'-type of capacity development processes aiming to coach local Roma communities in identifying their development needs and ideas, to create their self-help organizations to act and to take equal part in the local development dialogue.

Our target groups; (1)Figures about each group we are going to work with; (2)Indirect beneficiaries:

Inhabitants in segregated Roma districts& representatives of the local Roma organizations; (1) min. 200 members of the district level Roma working groups that we plan to establish; (2) 30000 Roma inhabitants in Miskolc

Local council, representatives of all relevant municipal departments, local institutions, - NGOs. Relevant: housing, education, health, job, social services&development, infrastructure, public transport, culture, employment

University of Miskolc

Citizens of Miskolc – We will build communication between the isolated Roma communities and other local citizens and facilitate common actions (1) About 100 activated non-Roma local citizens; (2) 160000 local citizens

Steps: Forums and fact-finding visits in each Roma district; Activate communities’ members; Establish Roma working groups in min. 6 districts; Implement capacity development tools with help of our partners; Identify & implement the first community actions at district level; Link the Roma working groups to the institutional taskforce, facilitate their common work. Parallel to these: Communication campaign/actions at the city level to sensitization of the local citizens; Build the local stakeholder network and partnerships. Share the lessons learned in social media, exchange experiences on a workshop targeting other municipalities and on a conference with media involvement. We use a holistic, sustainable and participatory approach; the community coaching and the learning by doing methods.

Roma communities will be activated and strengthened in Miskolc. They have their democratic voice, contribute to local decisions, and take active part in the local development process for inclusion. The relevant local stakeholders will be better organized; they work on a synergic way in partnership; their network is strengthened and they agree on a common vision and the action plan for local Roma inclusion. Citizens of Miskolc are more open to taking action for building an inclusive local society.

Roma people shall be equal members of the community of Europe. Our willingness and contribution is strengthening Roma communities to become active European citizens, those who we live together.
It is important to underline that we follow the EU approach in our inclusive development work: we target Roma communities especially but not exclusively.

We see a moment in Miskolc that does not come so often: the institutional bodies are open for the dialogue with Roma communities and committed to finding concrete solutions to improve the living conditions in Roma districts. Our association is motivated to contribute to the activation and strengthen of the Roma communities to be able to use this important moment on an efficient, democratic and sustainable way.

Office expenses - 3000 EUR (self-contribution)
Travel & accommodation - 3000 EUR
Personnel total - 31000 EUR, including:
3 Community coaches - 18000 EUR
Project manager - 4000 EUR
Professional project leader - 6000 EUR
Training/capacity development (partner org.s) - 3000 EUR
Financing 10-15 small community actions identified by the Roma target communities - 9000 EUR
Public relations, communication campaign - 2000 EUR
Closing workshop and networking/lessons learned comference - 5000 EUR

Any content oriented advice, feedback and question is welcomed to improve our idea!