"I've got a hundred million reasons to walk away" or "Something about this place"- we live between those two lines by Lady Gaga. With your support we will create a meeting center for interactive collaborative local initiatives. With this project we want to create an idea-lab for grassroots actions and ideas by individuals, informal groups, NGO's and public bodies. By implementing small-scale projects in a friendly setting, various actors will engage in civic activism, learning and conversation.

Banovci, Vukovar-Syrmia County

There is complete absence of local capacities and resources on how to implement local initiatives. At the same time, there is abundance of will and ideas in local community which we want to support. With the establishment of our legal entity, and with our knowledge of administrative procedures and foreign languages, we can engage with people like you and build the bridge which will empower local sustainable initiatives. This is unique opportunity to empower community which was effectively excluded for decades in the aftermath of the War. We will provide administration, translation and legal personality (legal interaction) for the best local ideas and initiatives and we will additionally redirect resources into them. We will offer them to individuals, informal groups, NGO's, public bodies..

We will reach rural population in depopulated and underdeveloped region. We will focus on individuals, informal groups, local NGO's (or their local chapters) who have ideas they want to implement. We believe that younger generation will be the most interested in this initiative, but we will make sure to be open for anyone with good ideas and positive attitude. We will make sure to do everything to ensure accessibility of our facilities to individuals despite their particular needs. It will be space of zero tolerance for discrimination, exclusion or hate speech of any kind (be it ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, race, age or other category based).

We want to create an physical space which will serve as a hub for our activities. We want to provide necessary facilities+ training for implementation of ideas by our local partners. There is a couple of existing facilities which are currently not used and to put them in use would be relatively easy. Our municipality is regularly willing to provide its space for symbolical financial compensation (sometimes below 2 € per year). We are already engaged in constructive dialogue with our municipal authorities in Nijemci (where Banovci village is part of). We believe they will be happy to help us in networking with a variety of local actors they interact with on a regular basis. As it is a quite small municipality (up to 5000 inhabitants in all 8 villages) it's actually quite easy to communicate and to find time for necessary exchange.

We will use formal and informal communication to spread the word about facilities. We will explain how local initiatives can benefit from them. We will translate necessary materials, explain priorities and facilitate idea development, fund them and help in administrative burdens. We will also promote idea of active citizenship as a part of our core values. We will therefore also require from all of our partners to have a clear element of engagement into conversation with local community in their mini projects which will help them develop new skills.

The main expected result is that there will be a space which our community can use. It will be inviting and welcoming place where people will learn, work and spend time together talking about thing that matter. It can have positive effects for citizenship and for mental wellbeing. We also want to enable implementation of at least 15 local ideas via "permanently" open call. They will all serve as an trigger for activism, conversation and for positive change.

In shortest, by considering active citizenship as an option and by facilitating it. In the total absence of civic engagement and education we will look how to turn grassroots ideas and yearnings into implementable actions. This will give voice and empower members of our local community. By implementing their ideas with our support, our users will build their activist credentials and with new confidence they will probably look how to continue with some other partners as well. They will also develop critical capacities and wage alternatives in cooperation with different stakeholders.

In our team we recognize our rich regional and NGO experiences and knowledge as a form of responsibility towards our community. We want to contribute to the transfer and building of knowledge and capacities useful to the local community. We particularly want to work with people who are at higher risk of socio-economic exclusion and to empower their "subject" activities. We recognize and appreciate the cultural diversity of eastern Croatia and seek to promote trust building and cooperation among different stakeholders. We celebrate diversity and the right to diversity within each group. We worked on our region's history and communities in educational, professional and activist context.

Preparation of working space (renewal, furniture): 2800 €
Unavoidable administrative costs (bank account, financial reports): 165 €
Center leader (preferably local resident in higher risk of exclussionX12 months): 9000 €
Equipment and materials (laptop, projector, seminar materials): 1000 €
Fund for grassroots collaborative mini-projects in the center (15 projects): 9000 €
Travel / contract expenses (guests trainersX4): 1600 €
Running costs (utilities, cleaning, refreshment): 425 €

We would like to hear from you about your experience in this form of grassroots facilitation activities. We believe that you have a lot of experience and are familiar with tools which can help us in our work.