People, especially young ones, are increasingly staying in their apartments where they spend time on smart gadgets. Social contact between people is very limited, sometimes only possible through online networks, nowadays even more because of corona . With an outdoor kitchen, we would like to encourage people to spend more time with their friends outside in nature, in good company, with good home-cooked food breaking stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination and being a great medium to socialize.

Savinjska region, Celje, Northwesteren Slovenia

The idea for the project originated in our youth center, located in the center of the block settlement, with a culturally very diverse and mixed character. The spatial design of the environment is typically urban with few opportunities for socializing on the open green areas. People thus stay in apartments or in smaller groups, based on their nationalities. In daily basis we are witnesses of conflicts of these groups because of theirs differences, social background, nationalities. Leak of education has defeated their desire for integration, empowerment and better life.

Young people that are visitors of our youth center and can’t find place in society to fit in, to be part of local community and are not interested in being active citizens and help in development of their enviroment. Also, the target group of the outdoor kitchen are the residents of the block settlements in the vicinity. It is very important that young people and their families reconnect, so that we can create a quality intercultural community in which the emphasis is on socializing and living together through this open kitchen project.

A successful project requires good publicity and, above all, the dedication of everyone involved in the project. It is precisely for this reason in the first phase with European funds like to employ a person-coordinator of activities. This persons job would be to connect with the parents and also with the rest of the population of the area through the children - visitors of the center. The coordinator would take care of connecting all the set goals and manage the further development of the project - from the beginning of construction and planning, to the creation of themed afternoons and evenings with
different topics, in which they will participate, and this will help us to gain more trust and cooperation from immigrants. When local people notice the good integration of immigrants and their contribution to the local community, we believe that they will accept them more easily and with greater trust.
In the second phase, we would start setting up and start building the kitchen itself.
The third phase would consist of a few promotional days before the start of the project, and proceed with the opening night and the very beginning of the operation of the kitchen. We are aware of the fact that in the start-up phase of a project, promotion or advertising is very important so that people get to know and love the project, and start to actively participate in it.

The project would help increase social cohesion between children and parents in the local community. We expect parents to have a proactive role of mentor in this, thus deepening intergenerational cooperation. An open-air kitchen would enable young people to learn independence and responsibility, while at the same time developing their creativity and acquiring new knowledge; at the same time, the kitchen would also be an additional educational preventive measure within the program of the already existing youth center.

Given that our urban environment is dominated by immigrant families from other Balkan countries with their specific culture, the project could help to break down the prejudices and stereotypes that locals have towards immigrants. We already have a great history of working together with local authorities with which we solve immigration problems on several levels. The immigration problem has its own specifics, therefore the solution for this problem is very complex. Local authorities perceive this problem but do not have all the resources available. We provide qualified staff and space for programms and they provide us with partial finnance suport and assistance. We think that in this way this project could further connect the local community and boost self-confidence of participants.

The team behind the idea is great group of people which works with youth every day. We know exactly what are the needs of community therefore, we know how to activate and include people to achieve best results. Through this project, we could further implement our mission and our work.

Project management 16.500 €
Material costs 5.000€
Running costs of the kitchen 5.000€
Promotion of project 1.500€
Project office 500€
Use and arrangement of space 5.000€

We would like to get a feedback from you. We will be happy for any idea and suggestion for upgrading our project, so that we can be even more successful.