Places of Diversity - Narative report

Narative reportPlaces of DiversityIdea of the project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY - Public spaces as a field of intercultural dialogue and the promotion of social values “ is to inspire those who want to see, in their communities/public spaces, the promotion of desirable social values, such as understanding, support, love, multiculturalism, respect for diversity, etc.

Places od Diversity is a project jointly implemented by three NGOs dealing with public spaces:

EXPEDITIO Center for Sustainable Spatial Development, Kotor, Montenegro; Leaders of Tomorrow, Amman, Jordan; Co-Plan, Tirana, Albania

Duration: 11 months (August 2013 - July 2014)

Intercultural exchange / Jordan, Albania, Montenegro

• Visitof2+2representativesofpartnersfromJordanandMontenegrotoAlbaniaand2+2partnersfromJordanandAlbaniatoMontenegro

• Jointvisitof4(2+2)representativesofpartnersfromAlbaniaandMontenegrotoJordan

ActivitiesPlacesofDiversity

REPORT

“Places of Diversity” Study visit – Albania and Montenegro

27 October-1 November 2013

2 | P L A C E S O F D I V E R S I T Y - S t u d y v i s i t A l b a n i a - M o n t e n e g r o

Introduction

Within the project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY - Public Spaces as Field for Intercultural Dialog and

Promotion of Social Values”, funded by the Anna Lindh Foundation, a study visit to Albania and

Montenegro was organized in the period 27 October - 1 November 2013. The study visit was organized

in the towns of Albania (Tirana and Durrës) and Montenegro (Kotor, Tivat and Perast in Boka Kotorska

Bay).

The project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY - Public Spaces as Field for Intercultural Dialog and Promotion of

Social Values” officially began in August 2013 and it will last for 11 months.

Project partners Partners in the project are organizations EXPEDITIO Center for Sustainable Spatial Development, from Kotor, Montenegro; Leaders of Tomorrow, from Amman, Jordan; and Co-PLAN, from Tirana, Albania. EXPEDITIO is an NGO whose mission is to encourage sustainable spatial development in Montenegro and the SEE region through activity in the fields of sustainable architecture, cultural heritage and urban planning. EXPEDITIO was established by six students of architecture in 1997, after participation in anti-Milošević’s student protests in Belgrade. The idea to establish NGO derived from the desire to work closely with communities on various urban and rural issues. Since 2000, EXPEDITIO is based in Kotor, one of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Montenegro. Leaders of Tomorrow (LoT) is a youth-led NGO, active since 2007 in Jordan and regionally in the Middle East and North Africa. Their mission is to build a community of young Arab leaders who are educated, critical, initiative-takers, and capable of serving their local communities. LoT worked on many projects and initiatives, including EuroMed and YiA exchanges such as Diwanieh (public street debates), FOR9A.com (lifechanging opportunities for young Arabs), FADFED (public commenting), Mstkblna (prepping high school students), and Mo7aka (role-playing retreats) - that address youth challenges in the MENA. Co-PLAN was established in 1997. It has an extensive experience in regard to all aspects of governance and sustainable spatial development, urban and regional planning and development, activities at multiple scales (i.e., the neighborhood, city, regional, inter-regional, and national levels) and with a spectrum of actors such as communities, local and central government, businesses, donors, and civil society organizations. Co-PLAN has collaboration agreement with Polis University from Tirana and is acting as its applied research agent combining the practical live experience with the academic studies.


“PLACES OF DIVERSITY” Project summary In many Mediterranean cities, especially those with less developed democracies, public spaces are often commercialized, or taken up by private capital investments. When planning public spaces the attention is usually devoted mainly to physical appearance, and much less to citizens’ participation in or the messages the space conveys to its users. Bearing this in mind, the project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY” can be an inspiration for those stakeholders who want to see social values promoted in urban spaces in their communities. Although the project will be developed for the towns in Jordan, Montenegro and Albania, the set principles will enable their application in other places. The overall aim of the project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY” is to improve intercultural dialog between youth and civil society organizations from Albania, Jordan and Montenegro, through activities that increase citizens participation in promoting social values in urban/public spaces. Specific objectives of the project are: 1. Increasing citizens awareness on intercultural dialogue and social values by using public spaces as a field to promote it 2. Improving collaboration between actors dealing with urban and social issues in Albania, Jordan and Montenegro, through joint activities in public spaces 3. Increasing participation of youth and CSOs in joint actions on re-thinking public spaces in Jordan, Montenegro and Albania The main project activities include:

1. Informing stakeholders about the activities, objectives and results of the project; 2. Organizing study visits - Amman, Tirana and Kotor - linking, networking and learning from good practices of activism in the public spaces; 3. Organizing creative workshops for young people in order to develop ideas on how to promote desirable social values in public spaces; 4. Realizing creative pilot projects in Jordan, Albania and Montenegro, with the participation of local artists, designers, youth associations, etc. 5. Creating a common web portal: How with small interventions in public spaces we can promote desirable social values?


Study visit - ALBANIA AND MONTENEGRO

The aim of the study visit organized in Albania and Montenegro from October 27 until November 1,

2013 was to visit project partners’ countries in order to meet and network with local actors and

organizations dealing with public spaces, intercultural dialogue and social issues, exchanging

experiences with them and learning from good practices of activism in public spaces.

Participants in the study visit were six representatives of partner organizations from Albania, Jordan and

Montenegro, two from each organization.

1st day - October 27, 2013

The study visit began in Tirana where the participants arrived on October 27, 2013. This part of the

study tour was hosted by partners from Co-PLAN.

2nd day - October 28, 2013

In the morning of October 28, 2013, a public

presentation of the project and partner

organizations’ activities related to public spaces

was held at the POLIS University, beginning at

11.30. The presentation was attended by 68

students of POLIS University and 8 representatives

of project partners.

In the introduction, the partners from Co-PLAN

presented briefly the project “SPACES OF

DIVERSITY”, stating its main aims and objectives

and expressing pleasure in cooperating with


Leaders of Tomorrow and Expeditio. They mentioned a successful cooperation that Co-PLAN and

Expeditio have had so far, especially in a recent project entitled “Revival of City Squares in Balkan

Cities”.

After that, the partners

from Leaders of

Tomorrow held a short

presentation of their

organization, giving a

couple of introductory

information about

Jordan and then

presenting their main

activities in public

spaces: FADFED and

DIWANIEH.

FADFED is a public event involving the placing of white papers in different public spaces and inviting

people to express their opinion, in writing or drawing, on various political or social issues, with the

purpose of making public spaces the places for public expression of opinion and of bridging the gap

between citizens and decision-makers. FADFED documents diverse opinions in public spaces, creating

dialogue that is shared online with” tagged” local community stakeholders on Facebook and Twitter

(#FADFED). FADFED tackles public self-censorship and offers equal opportunities to all members of

society to freely express themselves in public. Instead of controversial local issues remaining hush-hush

behind private doors, FADFED listens to the voices in the street and delivers it to the inbox and

newsfeed of local leaders.

DIWANIEH is a debate program running since 2012. Organized in public spaces, Diwanieh offer

possibilities for young debaters to speak about sensitive social and political issues, providing at the same

time young people with the opportunity to learn debating skills. One of the ideas is also to convert

unused or neglected public spaces into debate stages.

In the final part of the presentation, Expeditio

partners presented briefly their activities aimed

at raising awareness of values of space in

general and public spaces as places where

different values could be promotes. They

presented several actions serving as examples

of more diverse usage of public spaces:

different artistic interventions, mural paintings,

social events, yoga practicing in parks, etc.,

which gathered local community.


The presentation ended with showing a short documentary featuring the project “Revival of City

Squares in Balkan Cities”, which was implemented in 2011/12 in cooperation between Co-PLAN,

Expeditio and KOR (Coalition from Sustainable Development) from Skopje, Macedonia. The project was

aimed at contributing to the revival of city squares as viable public places that foster cultural identity

and promote diversity through enforcement of public policies and active community participation.

In the afternoon, guests from Jordan

and Montenegro were led by hosts to a

specific sightseeing tour of Tirana in

order to see different public spaces in

the city where the colleagues from Co-

PLAN conducted various artistic and

other interventions during the Tirana

Design Week, implemented as a part of

the project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY”.

3rd day - October 29, 2013

In the morning of October 29, the

project partners held a joint meeting in

order to discuss the project activities in

detail. The meeting was attended by six

representatives of project partners, two

from each organization.

At the beginning, the partners expressed

their pleasure at the project being

approved because it offers them with

the possibility to meet partners from

countries with whom they have not

cooperated so far and to network with

other organizations.

During the meeting, the following issues

were discussed:

1. Informing stakeholders about the project and its activities by posting information of partners’

websites and sending press releases to the media.

- Partners agreed on using their usual methods to disseminate information

- Partners agreed to send to Expeditio contacts of stakeholders in their countries in order to create a

mailing list for sending project information and newsletters


2. Study visit to Albania and Montenegro

The partners agreed to circulate photographs and exchange presentations, while Expeditio, in

cooperation with other partners, should prepare a report of the study tour.

- Study visit to Jordan

According to project plan the study visit should last for 6 days.

The following has been agreed:

- The study visit should be planned for the March 2014 (13th or 20th March) in order to coincide with one

of DIWANIEH that partners from Jordan are planning to organize in the town of Aqaba in the south of

Jordan, so that the partners can attend it

- The aim of the study visit is to network with different stakeholders (NGOs, institutions, authorities)

who deal with public spaces, urban planning, etc.

- The study visit should include meetings with representatives of Faculty of Architecture/Spatial planning

to talk about role of education in context of public spaces planning and utilization; with public

authorities; with Anna Lindh network members in order to discuss possibilities for cooperation

- Partners meeting in order to discuss already realized and further activities of the project

- Partners from Montenegro and Albania should check visa procedures

- Partners from Jordan should inform other partners, during January, about final dates of the study tour,

in order to have enough time to arrange for air-tickets and make other preparations

3. Organizing creative workshops with young people in order to develop ideas on how to promote

different social values in public spaces and

4. Realizing creative pilot projects in Jordan, Albania and Montenegro

-Workshops should be organized as one-day events, intended for young people, discussing what social

values are important and meaningful for them and how they can be promoted in public spaces using

small interventions

- Several ideas created during the workshops should be then selected and developed into concrete

interventions in public spaces; Interventions can also be implemented in inner public spaces.

- Partners from Jordan showed interest for the mapping of public spaces, which was an activity

implemented by Expeditio; Expeditio should send them methodology

- Partners from Albania have already conducted this activity during September 2013

- Other partners should implements workshops in the coming period October/November/December

2013, while public spaces interventions should be finished by May 2014

5. Dissemination of project ideas – leaflets, posters, in local languages

- Leaflets and other PR material will be developed jointly by partners

- A joint website – portal of ideas for interventions in public spaces- it should be created as an open

page for putting ideas on how small interventions in urban spaces can promote social values; the

website will be created by Expeditio

- Partners from Albania suggested that instead of creating a completely new website it would be more


useful to open separate pages within the existing websites of partners, because of its sustainability after

the end of this project;

- Project’s logo – partners concluded it would be good to have a project’s logo although it was not

originally planned; the partners can propose their ideas for the logo and it will be designed by Expeditio

In the afternoon of October 29, the partners left for Kotor, Montenegro. The next two days of the study

tour were hosted by Expeditio.

4th day - October 30, 2013

On October 30, in the morning, a meeting was organized at Expeditio office in Kotor with

representatives of three local organizations from Boka Kotorska, “UrbaNova” from Herceg Novi, “Youth

Cultural Center of Herceg Novi / Sinestezija Festival” from Herceg Novi and “Our Action” from Kotor.

These organizations are active in promoting civil activism, working with young people on different issues

and organizing alternative artistic and cultural events in public spaces gathering to a large extent young

people. The idea of the meeting was to establish contacts, exchange ideas, share experiences and

possibly get ideas from some new activities or projects.

“UrbaNova” is a relatively new

organization from Herceg Novi organized

a few months ago. They work with

children and young people belonging to

different vulnerable groups, through

interactive performances and theatre of

the oppressed. They are interested in

networking with other youth NGOs in

order to unite resources.

“Youth Cultural Center of Herceg Novi /

Sinestezija Festival” - Sinestezija

Festival is a five-day artistic event that

has been organized for three years now

in Herceg Novi. The idea is to collect different activities into one and make Nerceg Novi “the town of

artists” again, as it used to be known in the past when many artist (writers, painters, sculptors, etc.)

resided and created in this town. Sinestezija is a themed festival that includes different events, artistic

interventions, music performances, painting and exhibitions, racing up the city stairs (Herceg Novi is,

because of its geographic features, is know as the town of 100 001 steps), all taking place in different

public spaces, many of which are usually unused of in a state of neglect. They managed to obtain a

space, given by a private owner, to create a Youth Cultural Centre. They have around 50 members and

volunteers.

NGO “Our Action”, with a slogan “Work today for a better tomorrow” was established 3 years ago with

the idea to raise citizens’ volunteerism and activism and connect with various organizations. They


organize different actions with

volunteers and events that

include different groups of

people, clean-up actions,

scouts actions, collecting of

money for different charitable

purposes, etc. Three years ago,

they started coordinating the

organization of events

dedicated to Mother Earth

Day, with actions taking place

for whole month in different

towns in Montenegro.

In the afternoon, the partners had a sightseeing tour in the Old Town of Kotor, which is, together with

the whole inner part of the Bay of Boka Kotorska, one of the two UNESCO World Heritage sites in

Montenegro.

The day finished with a visit to the neighbouring town of Tivat where the partners had a meeting with a

newly established informal group of activists called SOVE. SOVE presented their interventions

implemented so far in public spaces in Tivat (yarn bombing in a local park - a type of graffiti or street art

that employs colourful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fiber rather than paint or chalk, garage

sales, story-reading sessions for children in open spaces, artistic installations, etc.). During this ideas and

experience exchanging meeting, SOVE had a chance to learn about activities of Leaders of Tomorrow

and they were very interested in the idea of FADFED and DIWANIEH activities.

5th day - October 31, 2013

On 31 October, the partners meet with the KOMPAS from Kotor, which deals with young people and has

implemented many local actions involving

young people and volunteers.

In the afternoon, the partners visited the

town of Perast, situated within the UNESCO

protected area of Kotor, which is very famous

for its historical and cultural heritage,

especially its baroque palaces and churches

and the islands of St. George and Our Lady of

the Rocks.

In the evening of 31 October, a public


presentation was

organized in the

neighbouring village of

Kavač, in the House of

Free Thought, owned

by the local

organization ANIMA

dealing mainly with

gender issues. The

public presentation

was intended for all

interested citizens and Montenegrin members of the Anna Lindh Foundation network. The presentation

was attended by 13 participants.

During the presentation, the participants had a chance to learn more about Jordan, its history, culture,

economy, gender and other social issues, sharing also information about Montenegro and finding many

similarities between the two countries.

6th day – November 1, 2013

Departure of participants.


APPENDICES

PROGRAMME OF THE STUDY VISIT

Sunday, October 27, 2013 | TIRANA, Albania Arrival of the participants

Monday, October 28, 2013 | TIRANA, Albania

In the morning:

11.30-12.30: Public presentation at the Polis University

In the afternoon:

15.00-18.00: Sightseeing the places of Co-PLAN's inteventions during the Tirana Design Week

Tuesday, October 29, 2013 | TIRANA, Albania | KOTOR, Montenegro

In the morning:

10.00-12.30: Partners meeting at the Co-PLAN's office

In the afternoon: 15.00-22.00: Visiting Durres and Travelling from Tirana to Kotor Wednesday, October 30, 2013 | KOTOR, Montenegro

In the morning:

10.00-13.30: Stakeholders meeting at Expeditio office

In the afternoon: 16.00-17.00: Sightseeing tour of Kotor 18.00-20.00: Stakeholders meeting in Tivat Thursday, October 31, 2013 | KOTOR, Montenegro

In the morning:

09.30-11.30: Stakeholders meeting in Kotor

12.00-16.00: Sightseeing tour of Perast

In the evening:

19.00-21.30: Publuc presentation in Kavač (the House of Free Thought)

Friday, November 1, 2013 | KOTOR, Montenegro

Departure of participants

Report written by

Vesna Leković, project coordinator at Expeditio

REPORT

“Places of Diversity” Study visit to Jordan

11‐16 March 2014

2 | P L A C E S O F D I V E R S I T Y ‐ S t u d y v i s i t J o r d a n

Introduction

Within the project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY ‐ Public Spaces as Field for Intercultural Dialog and

Promotion of Social Values”, funded by the Anna Lindh Foundation, a study visit to Jordan was

organized in the period 11‐16 March 2014. This was second of two study visits planned by the project.

The first one was organized in Albania and Montenegro on 27 October‐1 November 2013.

The study visit to Jordan was hosted by the partner organization Leaders of Tomorrow (LoT), from

Amman, Jordan. The study visit included meetings with NGO stakeholders in the cities of Amman and

Wadi Mousa, visits to LoTs intervention sites in Amman and its vicinity, as well as partners’ meetings.

The project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY ‐ Public Spaces as Field for Intercultural Dialog and Promotion of

Social Values” officially began in August 2013 and it will last for 11 months.

Project partners Partners in the project are organizations EXPEDITIO Center for Sustainable Spatial Development, from Kotor, Montenegro; Leaders of Tomorrow, from Amman, Jordan; and Co‐PLAN, from Tirana, Albania. EXPEDITIO is an NGO whose mission is to encourage sustainable spatial development in Montenegro and the SEE region through activity in the fields of sustainable architecture, cultural heritage and urban planning. EXPEDITIO was established by six students of architecture in 1997, after participation in anti‐Milošević’s student protests in Belgrade. The idea to establish NGO derived from the desire to work closely with communities on various urban and rural issues. Since 2000, EXPEDITIO is based in Kotor, one of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Montenegro. Leaders of Tomorrow (LoT) is a youth‐led NGO, active since 2007 in Jordan and regionally in the Middle East and North Africa. Their mission is to build a community of young Arab leaders who are educated, critical, initiative‐takers, and capable of serving their local communities. LoT worked on many projects and initiatives, including EuroMed and YiA exchanges such as Diwanieh (public street debates), FOR9A.com (lifechanging opportunities for young Arabs), FADFED (public commenting), Mstkblna (prepping high school students), and Mo7aka (role‐playing retreats) ‐ that address youth challenges in the MENA. Co‐PLAN was established in 1997. It has an extensive experience in regard to all aspects of governance and sustainable spatial development, urban and regional planning and development, activities at multiple scales (i.e., the neighborhood, city, regional, inter‐regional, and national levels) and with a spectrum of actors such as communities, local and central government, businesses, donors, and civil society organizations. Co‐PLAN has collaboration agreement with Polis University from Tirana and is acting as its applied research agent combining the practical live experience with the academic studies.


“PLACES OF DIVERSITY” Project summary In many Mediterranean cities, especially those with less developed democracies, public spaces are often commercialized, or taken up by private capital investments. When planning public spaces the attention is usually devoted mainly to physical appearance, and much less to citizens’ participation in or the messages the space conveys to its users. Bearing this in mind, the project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY” can be an inspiration for those stakeholders who want to see social values promoted in urban spaces in their communities. Although the project will be developed for the towns in Jordan, Montenegro and Albania, the set principles will enable their application in other places. The overall aim of the project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY” is to improve intercultural dialog between youth and civil society organizations from Albania, Jordan and Montenegro, through activities that increase citizens participation in promoting social values in urban/public spaces. Specific objectives of the project are: 1. Increasing citizens awareness on intercultural dialogue and social values by using public spaces as a field to promote it 2. Improving collaboration between actors dealing with urban and social issues in Albania, Jordan and Montenegro, through joint activities in public spaces 3. Increasing participation of youth and CSOs in joint actions on re‐thinking public spaces in Jordan, Montenegro and Albania The main project activities include:

1. Informing stakeholders about the activities, objectives and results of the project; 2. Organizing study visits ‐ Amman, Tirana and Kotor ‐ linking, networking and learning from good practices of activism in the public spaces; 3. Organizing creative workshops for young people in order to develop ideas on how to promote desirable social values in public spaces; 4. Realizing creative pilot projects in Jordan, Albania and Montenegro, with the participation of local artists, designers, youth associations, etc. 5. Creating a common web portal: How with small interventions in public spaces we can promote desirable social values?


Study visit – JORDAN

The aim of the study visit to Jordan was to meet and network with local actors and organizations dealing

with public spaces, intercultural dialogue and social issues, in order to exchange ideas on creative ways

in which public spaces places can be improved to the benefit of both local community and visitors and

on how different social values can be promoted in them.

Through site visits and meetings with local organizations and activists the partners had a chance to learn

about challenges regarding public spaces in Jordan, as well as to exchange knowledge on different

perspectives that focus on utilizing unused or abandoned public spaces in Jordan and other partners’

countries.

Furthermore, the partners had a chance to meet with the members of Jordanian ALF network, and

through public presentations and informal exchange, to share ideas of different activities and

interventions in public spaces, ranging from small‐scale to larger ones that can improve the life of local

residents and promote different social values.

The study visit also presented an opportunity for the partners to share the knowledge and experiences

gained during the project implementation, as well as to discuss and plan the implementation of the

remaining project activities.

First Day ‐ 11/3/2014, Amman

The arrival of project partners from Albania and Montenegro to Amman late in the evening.

Second Day – 12/3/2014, Amman

The second day in Amman included many activities. The first knot of the rope was an office visit to

Leaders of Tomorrow headquarters in Mecca Street Amman. This was an introductory session to further

discuss the planned agenda of the study visit’s group activities. Some planned activities were replaced

with others due to unexpected bad weather conditions.


The group first visited the Amman Citadel (Jabal

al Qalaa) which is considered one of the most

important monuments in Amman, being one of

the world’s oldest continuously inhabited

places. It is also considered as a very important

public place since it allows people and tourists

to get engaged with its historical ambience.

Amman Citadel offers marvelous views of the

surroundings, connecting east and west Amman

together.

Jordanian citizens residing in the area of Jabal al

Qalaa consider Amman citadel as a crucial

element in their surroundings, as it provides a

space for them to engage in social get together

events either within its boundaries or on its

outskirts.

The second knot was the Amman Downtown, which is the hub area of Amman, considered a connection

node of public transportation, logistics and central economical trade place for the Amman residents. The

site visit included a visit to one of the oldest houses in Downtown which is considered one of the very

popular public spaces for everyone. The owner provides this space out for artists, photographers and

historians to portray their work and showcase. The group also visited two set of stairs, which gave a

brief idea on the upcoming project intervention LoT is working on. LoT representatives provided a brief

insight about the stairs condition and how they might look after the intervention.

Reviving, reshaping, restructuring staircases is one of the interventions LoT is working on within the

project. The idea behind this activity of public spaces reviving it is to revive abandoned and tucked in,

polluted stairs in Amman. Stairs in Jabal Qalaa and the Downtown areas play a major role in commuting.

They have central connecting locations within neighborhood, connecting different areas and mountains

together.

Given that stairs make a very important element in Amman surroundings, taking good care of them and

putting an effort by architects, designers and urban planners is a must. It is the desire of LoT to help

sustain and beautify the stairs, put up their history in order to make neighborhood residents and users

interact and help preserving them.

The second day site visit created a profound base and gave out a clear and basic idea for the project

partners of Jordanian social, economical, historical and political situation, which clearly states that

people live in a costly economy, and that they suffer from different social constraints on behavior.

Nevertheless, the country boasts an extremely interesting diversity of people, backgrounds and cultural

heritage, formulated during its history and through influences of several dynasties.


Third day – 13/3/2014, Wadi Mousa/Petra

On the third day of the study visit, the group departed for the south of Jordan, towards the great city of

Petra, a historical and archaeological city situated in the southern Jordanian governorate of Ma'an. The

city is famous for its rock‐cut architecture and water conduit system. Another name for Petra is the Rose

City due to the color of the stone out of which it has been carved. On December 6, 1985, Petra was

designated a World Heritage Site.

Initially the plan was for the partners to participate at a diwanieh, which LoT had planned to hold in

Wadi Mousa on 13 March 2014. The idea was for the partners to attend a diwanieh, i.e. a public debate,

as an important example of civic activism providing possibilities for young people to discuss sensitive

social and political issues. However, due to forecast rainy weather the diwainieh had to be postponed

for the following week.

Nevertheless, the partners had the chance to meet up with Mohammad Hilalat and a team of young

activists from different institutions in Wadi Mousa, who are, among other things, interested in

improving public spaces and space revival in their city. They presented their yearly plans and activities

aimed at improving the situation in different spheres of the community’s life, ranging from clean‐up

actions, street activism, planting trees and greening city areas. The partners from Albania and

Montenegro shared their examples of some activities in public spaces targeted at improving them in

different aspects. The group together brainstormed on an idea of the Wadi Mousa activists, by which

they want to set up a small park in the city but are encountered by different obstacles, including those

of ownership and available finances. One of the ideas was that tourists can help supporting the Area by

making an arrangement by which 1 Jordanian dinar of each tourist’s airplane ticket or admission fee to

Perta is dedicated for the planting of a three in the park.

The meeting provided very useful in terms of the exchange of ideas and mutual encouragement to

continue in efforts to contribute to improving the life in our communities, as it had been proved that

even small‐scale actions can mean a great difference for the local people.


Fourth day – 14/3/2014, way back from Wadi Mousa to Amman

A stop on the way back from Wadi Mousa to Amman was used by partners to have a meeting in order to

summarize what activities have been realized within the project so far, what activities still need to be

done and to share experiences of the project realization so far.

The following activities have been realized:

1.1. Informing stakeholders in all partner's countries about the beginning of a project

The partners used different methods, including printed and broadcast media, mailing lists, social

platforms, their organizations’ websites, etc. to inform a wide range of stakeholders (general public,

youth associations, NGOs, universities, professionals, cultural stakeholders, media representatives, etc. )

about the project, its aims and planned activities.

2. Intercultural exchange / Study visit to Albania and Montenegro

The Study visit was organized in the period 27 October‐1 November 2013, and it included the towns of

Tirana and Durrës in Albania and Kotor, Tivat and Perast in Montenegro.

The Study visit included intercultural exchange between the partners, public presentations of project

partners and their activities related to public spaces, visits to sites of public interventions, meetings with

organizations promoting civic activism, working with young people or organizing artistic events in public

spaces, etc.

3.1. Organizing local workshops/focus groups/events to share and collect ideas for promotion of social values in urban space Workshops with young people/students were held by all the partners in the period September 2013‐January 2014. The workshops, which attracted a great interest and enthusiasm of young people, were aimed at examining what social values they hold important and encouraging them to think of creative ways in which these values could be promoted in public spaces. During the workshops, different ideas were developed for small creative interventions in public spaces, some of which were later on realized in public spaces. 3.3. Realizing small creative interventions in various urban spaces engaging youth, artists, graphic designers, architects.... This activity followed workshops with young people, which served to develop ideas for the concrete creative interventions in public spaces. Partners from Co‐PLAN implemented their public interventions in Tirana during September 2013. The interventions entitled “Urban provo[ac]tions” included five actions aimed to affect the public consciousness on urban issues, attracting the attention of the citizens toward some of the problematic aspects of the contemporary city. The tool used to do so, as also noticeable from the title of the event, was a combination of provocation and activism.


Partners from LoT realized one of their interventions in Zarqaa, Russeifah, with a group of young volunteers, who made an effort to embellish their surroundings, coming up with the idea to paint educational and inspirational murals on school walls. The activities to be realized in the coming period: 3.2. Identifying/mapping territories that will be used as grounds for promotion of social values in urban spaces This activity will include the identification of public spaces that are already used or have the potential to be used as public spaces and become grounds for different social activities/events, promoting of different values, enriching thus the life of local residents and visitors. The activity will be conducted in the period April ‐June 2014. 3.3. Realizing small creative interventions in various urban spaces engaging youth, artists, graphic designers, architects.... Partners from Expeditio will realize all of their interventions and partners from LoT their remaining interventions in the period April‐June 2014. 4.1. Producing PR material A promotional leaflet in the form of notepad was printed in 600 copies and distributed to partners. 4.2. Joint web portal of ideas: “How small interventions in urban spaces can promote social values?” The web portal will be realized during April 2014. When the web portal is set up all the partners will regularly update it with information, ideas and good practice examples.


Fifth Day – 15/3/2014, Amman/ Zarqa

The fifth day included a visit to Zarqaa, Russeifah in the vicinity of Amman, where the partners from LoT

realized one of their project interventions, in cooperation with a group of young volunteers gathered

around a local youth centre. These young people put an effort to beautify their surroundings and came

up with the idea to paint educational and inspirational murals on the school walls using quotes and

drawings, such as: “Jordan first”, “Water makes Everything Alive”, “Neighborhood cleanliness, is our

Cleanliness”. During the site visit the partners were accompanied by a representative of volunteers and

the local centre who spoke about centre’s activities and showed them a neglected nursery school yard

which they intend to develop so that it can be used by children. The partners also had a chance to visit

the centre, meet its leaders and learn more about their activities, which, in addition to conducting

voluntary actions, include the hosting of workshops and lectures about important topics directly related

to environmental awareness and recycling.

The partners were particularly impressed by the dedication of young people they met. Their enthusiasm

and willingness to change things for the better proves that among ordinary people and community there

lies tremendous potential to improve things.

In the afternoon a meeting with the Jordanian Anna Lindh network was held in Amman at the Royal

Institute for Inter‐Faith Studies.


The meeting was attended by 24 participants, representative of project partners and members of Anna

Lindh network, who used this opportunity to establish contacts and share their experiences and ideas.

The meeting also included public presentations of the activities of Expeditio and Co‐PLAN related to

interventions in public spaces.

Sixth Day – 16/3/2014

Departure of participants.


PROGRAMME OF THE STUDY VISIT

Developing ideas and implementing creative interventions in urban spaces

• Organizinglocalworkshops/focusgroups/eventstoshareandcollectideasforpromotionsocialvaluesinurbanspace


2 | P L A C E S O F D I V E R S I T Y – L o c a l W o r k s h o p s

Introduction

Within the project “PLACES OF DIVERSITY - Public Spaces as Field for Intercultural Dialog and

Promotion of Social Values”, funded by the Anna Lindh Foundation, creative workshops for young

people were organized in order to develop ideas on how to promote desirable social values in public

spaces.

Workshop in Amman, Jordan

Leaders of Tomorrow

Recreating Reviving and Utilising public spaces workshop took place on the 18th of January 2014. in

news cafe Amman, in Rainbow street.

This Recreating Reviving and Utilising Public spaces workshop was basically organised to benefit,

students, fresh graduates and employees who are interested in the Urban Architecture and planning in

addition to those who are interested in design and graphics.

Activities

A series of activities in this workshop included, an introductory session of participants, followed by an

ice breaking session that was relevant to the actual topic of the workshop. We also presented leaders of

tomorrow and its position towards reviving public spaces in general, which is playing an important role

in our Jordanian Community, in the sense of creating, re-establishing and rediscovering new public

spaces, by utilising them and implementing a variety of different initiatives taking place in the shape of

public debates such as diwanieh, research methodologies ‘white sheets of paper spread around in

different areas’ resembled in Fadfed, in addition to Role playing techniques such as Mu7aka, in different

areas around the kingdom, which also gives people the chance to collaborate and interact with the

public space; inducing it with creativity and absorbing what it has to offer.

Objectives

One of our main objectives for this workshop, was to gather professionals, young initiative

takers, students and enthusiasts about urban planning, architectural surveying and creative

solutions created by young professionals concerned with arts and designs.

We also aimed to gather these young professionals and give them a chance to interact and

discuss social and community problems that faced them during their studies and

implementation of actual projects they worked on and developed. In addition to helping them

raise solutions on such environmental problems, This gave us insight and helped us transform

these ideas and obstacles, into fruitful ideas that we brainstormed about.


Discussions and Training activities

This local workshop was an essential part for the documentation of ideas for the mapping out

out public spaces project, which helped participants identify and produce valid arguments and

efficient artistic and urban solutions.

The training activities were diverse, they began with an ice breaking session associated with the

topic of the workshop. This was followed by an interesting presentation of LOT’s interesting

initiatives that focus on recreating, reviving and utilising public spaces throughout it’s initiatives

that are concerned with exposing the public to spaces that allows them to experience cultural

and social events, in a public manner such as “Diwanieh”; an open space for freedom of

expression and public debates, added to that Fadfed; white sheets spread around areas, that

helps people express their ideas, and create a destination for people towards public spaces.

One of the latter activities was to pick one of the questions raised about Public spaces, sit in

groups, discuss it and come up with WH questions that offers interesting outcomes on the

questions raised. which were; what is a public space?, what are the dominant social norms

forced on a public space? What affects social behaviour in a public space? How do you imagine

your favorite public space would be like?.

Small discussions were formed which resulted in a larger group discussion afterwards. The most

important part of the workshop took part at last where the participants were divided into 5

different groups, each group had to develop their own understanding of a public place and

come up with a set of contemporary ideas on how to revive, recreate and utilise public spaces

in Jordan as a whole.

Conclusion

The ideas were filtered thoroughly, where we came out with the most interesting and

applicable ideas. Concept notes were further developed on these three ideas as follows.

Participants were very eager to start working on these illustrated ideas and evaluated the

workshop as a great experience, in terms of information, activities and the idea behind the

project that they were very eager to work on, they also mentioned that the idea behind

reviving public spaces is much needed for our country here in Jordan.

Acknowledgements

We extend our sincere appreciation to our sponsors and invite you to support these community-minded

organizations. who collaborated in working on the mapping out of public spaces project which are

leaders of Tomorrow, Co plan in Albania and Expeditio in Montenegro, and our Program and project

Sponsor Anna Lindh Foundation.


Concept Notes

Manifesto/ Mural

Leaders of Tomorrow is organising a project called ‘’Mithaq’’ funded by the Anna Lindh

Foundation . The overall concept behind this project is; creation of a 20 metre artwork mural

painted directly on a wall, or other large permanent surface that has to be artistic and

interactive to be set out for the public, featuring people’s input, ideas, words that sheds light

on their sense of belonging to their neighbourhood, area and surroundings ,where they have

the chance to contribute to such ‘’street art work’’ being designed to foster creativity and

engage members of the community to respect their environment.

Who is it for?

This project is aiming at attracting the public’s attention of all ages having an impact on their

behavior, and changing the attitude of passers by, applying it in certain neighborhoods where

people live and work.

Rationale

The direct rationale behind this project is to shed light and address social issues, enhance the

communication of divided community members, provide an area with the aesthetic

improvement, and give them a reason to facilitate their sense of belonging to a space in a

civilized interactive way. This can be used as a method of creating dialogue between these

neighborhood members. in addition to creating a cultural artifact.

Project objectives and strategy

Our first and main objective is to create a resolution landmark for the cultural problems of a

specific neighborhood secondly we want to help beautify the surroundings by designing an

artwork where artists can join their efforts and come up with great ideas in an influential

artwork. Help participants by giving them a space to collaborate their individual ideas in a group

project; in addition to empowering their sense of accomplishment towards their community.

Project activities

To start with, we need to decide on a size for this mural, help building this permanent mural,

come up with an idea, of how to collaborate Artists ideas and community members and passers

by to help adding their input in a simple way that speaks to their minds, using simple tools; to

help avoid future vandalism and help maintain keeping this mural standing as a cultural and a

social landmark.


Thank You for Using me

شكرا ألنك استعملتني

Leaders of Tomorrow is organizing a project called ‘’Thank you for” funded by the Anna Lindh

Foundation. The overall concept behind this project is; utilizing crossing bridges and zebra

crossing lines, and Garbage bins in an artistic way to help motivate Pedestrians and passers-by

to use these public properties. Transform the experience from being very traditional into a fun,

artistic learning experience. By giving them more control over their action and help spread

awareness about safety precautions.

Who are the audience for this project?

Our target audience in this project are basically pedestrians, passers- by, and citizens of the

surrounding areas. To help assist and inspire them in their crossing and garbage disposal

experience.

Rationale

There are many reasons and logics for this specific project. However our very first and main

objective is to Utilise the unused surfaces of Zebra crossing lines, bridges and garbage bins to

inform its users, throughout a visually interesting, and an informative experience about the

bridge, and about the personal individual facilitation of bridges, the garbage bin or the zebra

crossing lines. The second rationale is to spread awareness about the importance of facilitation

and utilisation of the great public properties offered for our safety, and environmental well-

being, that are rarely being used by Jordanian citizens. Thirdly we want to provide for citizens,

pedestrians and passers-by a creative experimentation away from the norm, to motivate them

to use the crossing lines, walk on bridges and not littering.


by creating a visual artistic campaign, that can either be Graffiti artwork on bridges, or stencil

artwork on garbage bins and zebra crossing lines and stairs

Project activities

The main activities requested from participants is to map out some of the main crossing

bridges; spread around vital regions in Amman, target certain Traffic lights; and pick out certain

garbage bins, come up with a methodology of how to apply identifiable forms of artistic

illustrative artwork, to be applied either on bridge sideways, garbage bins surfaces, and Zebra

crossing lines. As a group they need to identify the type of artwork and meet this unrecognized

need of citizens and pedestrians.


Amman Stairs

Leaders of Tomorrow is organizing a project called ‘’Amman Stairs” funded by the Anna Lindh

Foundation . The overall concept behind this project is; to map out vital connecting stairs in

Amman City, which play a major role in its historical value, whereas many stairs are situated in

areas that help the commuter to navigate from one place to another in the same area block.

Who are the audience for this project?

The main target audience of this particular project are basically, passers-by of all ages and

backgrounds. Where they can use the stairs to facilitate them and at the same time, get

healthy

Rationale

In Amman City, stairs are widely spread that are built, but do not serve an actual purpose for

people, because some of them or actually most of them are not identified by people;

concerning their locations and destinations . Many of the stairs are also tucked- away and very

unappealing for the users and are not facilitated for the purpose of climbing them..

Above listed are many reasons to conduct this kind of a project.


the project objective and strategy is basically to rethink the actual approach to stairs by

including several elements to it that help vitalising ,reviving and allows citizens to spot these

stairs, from a distance and be aware of their purpose and their connection destination.

Project activities

Participants are asked to locate some of the main staircases in Amman , that connect several

areas of Amman together, and applying different measures, such as applying carpentry, lights,

or even using music and film projections, to help reviving and attracting people’s attention to

increase stair use.







Workshop in Herceg Novi, Montenegro

Expeditio

The workshop was held in the Youth Cultural Center in Herceg Novi, Boka Kotorska, on Sunday, 15

December 2013. It was intended from young people from all over Montenegro interested in sharing

their ideas of social values (tolerance, love, multi-culturality) and expressing them in different forms,

such as photography, graffiti, paintings, music, acting, web site, blog ... or some other means.

Workshop agenda

9.30h Participanst gathering in OKC Herceg Novi (Kružni tok u Meljinama – Zgrada u

kojoj se nalazi prodavnica MEX, II sprat)

10.00h Public space artistic activities - Tanja Radež, designer from Ljubljana,

Slovania

11.30h Introduction and presenting participants

12:00h About the public space

13:00h Lunch break

13:30h My public space

14:00h Messages in public space

14:40h Creative ideas

15:00 Feedback and closing remarks

The workshop was preceded by a presentation of the designer, Tanja Radez, from Ljubljana, Slovenia,

who presented some interesting examples of her own interventions in public spaces.

The workshop was attended by 20 participants, including 16 high school and university students from

the municipalities of Herceg Novi, Tivat and Kotor.


Announcing leaflet

During the workshop, young people recognized various places, currently mostly unused or used in an

inadequate way, in the towns of Kotor, Tivat and Herceg Novi that could be used for different cultural

events, artistic interventions or gatherings of young people.

They also stated different activities/events that could be organized in public spaces, which is currently

not the case :

- Street theatre, exhibitions, extracurricular activities, artistic residential exchanges, artistic bazaars,

playgrounds for younger children

- Thematic parties, amusement parks, weekend live performances, skate parks, concerts-festivals, public

ateliers, trade shows, presentations of international food, competitions, sports competitions, junk fairs,

etc.

- Workshops, trainings, creative camps

- Spaces for camping, barbequing, for pets, etc.

Young people proposes the following idea for interventions:

- Messages promoting different values in public spaces

- Artistic bazaars in town squares

- Music festival on Mamula island

- Creative camps: developing the society through volunteerism and multiculturalism; exhibitions for

famous and unknown artists in order to spread love, peace, tolerance, etc.








Workshop in Tirana, Albania

Co Plan

The workshop was held by the partner Co-PLAN from Tirana in September 2013 during the Tirana

Design Week. It was held at Polis University, the International School of Architecture and Urban

Development Policies in Tirana. The aim of the workshop was to develop ideas for small creative

interventions in public spaces. Some of these ideas, entitled Urban provo[ac]tions, were later on

realized in Tirana.


Developing ideas and implementing creative interventions in urban spaces

• Realizingsmallcreativeinterventionsinvariousurbanspacesengagingyouth,artists,graphicdesigners,architects....


REPORT

“Places of Diversity” Creative activities Albania

2013

2 | P L A C E S O F D I V E R S I T Y – C r e a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s A l b a n i a

"Urban provo[ac]tions" aimed to affect the public consciousness on urban issues, attracting the

attention of the citizens toward some of the problematic aspects of the contemporary city. The tool

used to do so, as also noticeable from the title of the event, was a combination of provocation and

activism.

In this particular moment of crisis when the youngest generations feel a sense of frustration derived

from the impossibility to directly influence the city, the provocation becomes a mean, not only for

conveying messages but most importantly, for generating feedback from the environment.

In particular there were organized five provo[ac]tions, each one focused on a particular problematic and

all having in common the need to act in misused or disused spaces in the city.

The five main provo[ac]tions where accompanied by a number of smaller interventions in the city,

always aiming to bring back the attention of the inhabitants to the urban issues of the everyday life.

Albania activity #1: The lightway

The first provo[ac]tion intended to deal with the waterfront of the artificial lake of Tirana. The coastline

is only partially part of the Tirana Big Park, neglecting so a big portion of land of immense potentials. The

working group needed to show that activities can be organized even in the misused part of the lake

coastline so they created a movie projection event followed by a debate and concluded by a party

lasting until the late hours of the following morning. Since the main objective was to attract attention to

this area, a 370 meters long, lit rope was used to physically connect the two sides of the lake and ideally

bring together the park and the neglected space. The view of a crowd of people, watching movies and

partying at the far end of a lightway floating on the lake was not an everyday scene for many visitors of

the park that, provoked by this action, joined the event and temporally reactivated a new space in the

city.


Albania activity #2: Missing standards of the sidewalks in Tirana

The second provo[ac]tion needed to bring to light the missing standards of the sidewalks in Tirana. A

very important issue considering that fact because of the not standardized sidewalk, big portions of the

city are practically inaccessible, to a big number of categories. During one evening, the missing ramps,

the dangerous objects and the narrow passages where brought to light in "Komuna e Parisit" street by

painting on the ground a number of signs and icons pointing at the problems. The next day the

participants to the provo[ac]tion conduced a sensitization campaign in the same neighbourhood,

discussing and interacting with the inhabitants.



Albania activity #3: “Gamescape”

The third provo[ac]tion turned an abandoned space, inside a housing block, into a “gamescape”, an

artificial landscape, dedicated to the playing moment as an important event in the contemporary city. In

this case a participatory project was initialized where through the contribute of the children of the

block, a very chip playground was created.



Creative action #4: Pollution created by the chewing gum

The forth provo[ac]tion used an artistic performance as the mean to transmit messages concerning the

pollution created by the chewing gum.



Creative action #5: Creating a space through the new activities

The fifth provo[ac]tion investigated the possibly of creating a space through the input of new activities.

A tunnel, going through a housing block, was painted with a particular paint, able to glow in the dark.

The tunnel so, after dark, turned from a transitory space to a stationary place where the presence of the

music and some drinks managed to gather a big number of people that only needed a good pretext to

gather in a public space and share some time with other people.

REPORT

“Places of Diversity” Creative activities Montenegro

2014

2 | P L A C E S O F D I V E R S I T Y – C r e a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s M o n t e n e g r o

Montenegro Activity #1: History that no more exists

"History That No More Exist" was an artistic project encouraged by the research entitled: "Women Map

of Boka Kotorska", which was realized by the NGO Anima from June to December 2013. The original idea

was to explore the layers of women's history in the Boka Bay, and then present them, creatively, to the

public through artistic intervention in public space. NGO Anima research consisted of resource searching

in libraries and archives (search for original documents and books, newspapers and magazines), and

discussions with a number of individuals.

During the research work on "Women Map of Boka Kotorska" it became clear that in the libraries and

archives there is very little information about women, that information are not integrated or are difficult

to access.

This situation confirmed us a clear division on:

Public sphere that belongs to men - one that is captured, stored and glorified and

Private sphere that belongs to women (the space of everyday life, reproduction) - the one that

remains unheard, implying and, in historical terms - ignored

The lack of information in existing sources during research "Women Map of Boka Kotorska" encouraged

Expeditio to initiate an action titled HISTORY THAT NO MORE EXIST. We felt that, from the personal -

private memories of men and women, it is interesting and valuable to look at how different (wonderful,

horrible, worm, heroic) women's stories there are. How important it is to preserve them from oblivion

and re-evaluate the private sphere in which silently, from generation to generation, these stories

sediment over each other in a long and continuous silence.

On International Women's Day, March 8th, 2014., NGO Expeditio has sent a public invitation to the

citizens to send a scanned photo of their mothers, great-grandmothers, neighbors, friends, teachers,

maid of honor, and another beloved women that marked their lives (and are no longer with us). It was

important to submit a short story along the photo, noting the reasons that person was special. The

invitation was sent to everyone, regardless of gender and age. During the month we gathered over 60

personal stories and lots of photos, some of which you can see on the screens exposed in public areas of

Kotor, which are prepared by designer Tanja Radež from Ljubljana. The exhibition was placed in the

public area of the Old Town of Kotor - Pjaca od Kina (Cinema Square), on 29/4/2014. Unfortunately, in

the form of public space exhibition it was not possible to fully present all material and numerous photos

that we received. Therefore we decided to, after the exhibition, launch a web site "History That No

More Exist" , on which will be published and available to all, valuable material that was collected. The

web site was set on July 8th, which allowed the existing collection of memories to be enriched with new

stories.

Lead partner on this project is NGO Expeditio, in cooperation with the NGO Anima and the designer

Tanja Radež from Ljubljana.


FB Invitation for people to take part in a project

All the exhibiting posters





Opening speech



Montenegro Activity #2: OKC HN

OKC (Youth Cultural Center) Herceg Novi launched a survey "The needs of young people for cultural and

artistic events in Herceg Novi". The study included 179 young people, and they have been involved

within two types of activities:

I - Interviewing students from Secondary Mixed School "Ivan Goran Kovacic" in Herceg Novi

II - Street action "I am from Herceg Novi. In Herceg Novi I want to .... "

94 surveys were conducted (on 11.06.2014.), with youth in mixed Secondary School "Ivan Goran

Kovacic", and with 85 young people at the Skver (on 24.06.2014.), that have filled the card with the

question "I am from Herceg Novi. In Herceg Novi I want to ...".

In OKC (YCC) Herceg Novi, after summarizing the results, was organized a presentation on July 11th.

There was an “exhibition of comments” taken from the survey that young people were filling at the

Skver.





Invitation to the final presentation of the research results





Montenegro Activity #3: PUPPETS IN A PARK

Creative action of making handmade dolls (puppets) in the park in Tivat was held by informal creative

group SOVE in collaboration with NGO Expeditio. SOVE are informal group from Tivat engaged in

promoting local spirit, creativity, products and practices, and the revival of public spaces. The idea

behind the action “Puppets in a park” was to use public spaces more creatively, and also to do some

useful action for the community. All puppets made in the Tivat park, as well as little hand-made theatre,

were donated to the children's department of Kotor Hospital and Children's Center in Tivat. Action has

been organized in cooperation with the Municipality of Tivat.





All the puppets created in the park


Montenegro Activity #4: WE KIDS AND THE “SQUIRRELS”

We kids and the “Squirrels” is the title of an action that was held in Kotor, intended to inspire children

(and all those who feel that way) to spend more time in nature. The action was organized by the Hiking

Club “Vjeverica” (Squirrels) and NGO Expeditio. The action took place on 15 July 2014 (Tuesday) and it

included the following activities:

19:00 h - A hiking tour for children, up the walls of Kotor (gathering point near the church of

Blessed Ozana, Northern Gate of Kotor)

20.30 h - A photo-exhibition “We kids and the Hiking club Vjeverica” - Cinema Square, the Old

Town of Kotor.



Open air exhibition


Hiking tour for kids before the exhibition opening


Setting up the exhibition

REPORT

“Places of Diversity” Creative activities Jordan

2014

2 | P L A C E S O F D I V E R S I T Y – C r e a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s J o r d a n

Reviving public spaces project focuses on utilizing the public space to turn it into something

else by utilizing it and creating change within the environment and members of the society.

Leaders of tomorrow youth initiatives focuses mainly on Reviving public spaces project and

activities provides comparative perspective on Social change in communities, framing cultures

and mobilizing people. The project also helps shedding light on community behavior and

practices, by giving out solutions and actual implementation of creative developing

interventions. In addition to promoting cooperation that occurred between community

members who influenced positive behavior in their surroundings and allowed positive

behavior and practices to flourish, such as preserving their area and coming up with creative

solutions for future development purposes.

Jordan activity #1: Diwanieh

DIWANIEH is an open, free and critical platform for debate. The platform utilizes the streets of

Jordan as a venue for the debates in order to create a feeling of familiarity among attendees

and to maximize dissemination. The initiative encourages Jordanian youth to frequently

organize heated debates that take place in public arenas such as parks, archaeological sites,

roundabouts, abandoned lands and what follows and other high capacity venues, during which

localized pressing issues and contentious sociopolitical issues are deliberated in order to revive

and take full advantage of underutilized public spaces in Jordan.


LOTs last Diwanieh was conducted in Wadi Mousa Governorate on Saturday; 29.03.2014 in

front of Petra entrance. Under the motion "Do Petra Authorities have a positive effect on their

region?" corresponding with the theme of ‘’Petra Region Authority Tourism Development’’, in

front of Petra entrance. Speakers; Dr. Mohammed Alnawafleh, and the Petra Commissioner

and Deputy Head Dr. Imad Hijazeen .

On the other hand, Mr. Ali Raja Nasarat and Mr. Khadr Alnawafleh spoke against the motion

whilst of the founder initiative Dr. Sami Al-Hourani was the moderator of the debate. More

than 500 people attended the debate.

Jordan activity #2: Russeifah Murals

Russaifah is a city in Zarqa Governorate in the Kingdom of Jordan. It had a population of about

280,000, making it the fourth-largest city in Jordan, after Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa. This City

was and still is a refugee place for many Circassians and Palestinians who fled from their

countries. However it’s an underdeveloped area by all means socially, politically, economically

and environmentally. So based on reviving public spaces project we managed to implement

some beautifying murals on abandoned school walls .

This initiative was implemented by young boys and girls, who were excited to indulge in this

momentum and be part of this project in order to benefit from it on a personal level and also

to serve their community in a way that might influence others. This was the result, members of

their community and neighborhood were fully excited to paint and draw, and put their

personal touch on a public property, giving them a feeling of satisfaction that they’re doing

good for their community and are beginning to understand the meaning of a public space and

how to improve it, protect it and utilize it in the best way possible, even when resources are

too scarce and minimal.

Many artistic creative murals were created to raise awareness on the water issue in Jordan

and on the pollution issue that has been happening for the last decade in Jordan and in

Russeifah specifically. They intended to paint school walls because they thought this could be

a powerful method to influence students and send a direct message making them able to

read it anytime during the day.








Jordan activity #3: Mo7aka

LoT’s latest Mo7aka event was held two weeks ago on the 31 of May 2014, in Dana Nature

Reserve, in al Tafila governorate. Mo7aka is a unique initiative run by leaders of tomorrow

organization. It involves the execution of special training workshops during which youth are

exposed to a variety of role playing and simulation activities. A group of young females and

males were projected to a selection of activities run by Dr. Sami hourani on the topic of

Gender, Equality and Women rights in the Jordanian Society. Participants came from all

around the kingdom to participate in this initiative; such as Mafraq, Tafila, Amman, Zarqa,

and Ma’an. These games are being presented to raise awareness on human rights issues, and

having the chance for females and males to exchange their ideas and opinions.

Participants were divided into 4 groups and worked on executing; writing and acting out

written scenarios were each scenario tackles a different societal issue that women in our

society are suffering from. Most of the Scenarios discussed the bureaucracy within families,

the overpowering authority of male figures, Indecisive mothers, Forcing decisions, women

rights, Literacy and University life and obstacles. These four groups executed four different

scenarios that were filmed by professional filmmakers. After each scenario a group

discussion was formed by the actors and the moderator of the discussion Dr. Sami Hourani .

Topics circulated about gender issues and prejudice, in addition to mixing up religious beliefs

with morals and traditions.


Mo7aka also focuses on rejuvenating the area as well as redefining the meaning of a space

by instilling new thoughts practices, ideas and concepts for participants from all around the

region to help them interact with the nature and connect personally with each other on a

social, educational and environmental level. Mo7aka usually take place in rural and distant

areas from the city hub, to help participants disconnect from their daily routine and intake

the absolute value of a space. In addition to that participants get the chance for exposure to

different opinions, mentalities, and discuss various issues that concern women struggling in

a manly society, and gender issues related to prejudice and injustice practiced against

women.


Activity #4: Ajloun Murals

Ajloun Murals were implemented in Ajloun – Anjara Area that were done by a young group of people

from Ajloun itself who were extremely excited to beautify their own city. Ajloun is usually known that it

is the most green city among other cities here in Jordan. However Ajloun is famous for its historical

value, and the youngsters tried to reserve it and at the same time install some joyful colors.

The Murals resembled nature with all its beautiful elements that it offers that ranges from

colorful flowers, birds, trees and sunshine.

This is another Mural that was created in the same area, in between residential buildings

which added vibrancy, harmony and a creative input that drives optimism within people.


The group of youth also took the initiative recently draw on walls of a main roundabout in

Ajloun- Anjara, using drawings that focuses on patriotism hope to the place.


Ajloun youth society had put a great effort into this project and were held responsible of

attaining the sustainability of such a project and promised to implement independent public

space reviving projects that will help on perfecting their city and creating a great image of it.

Public space reviving was kind of a new idea for them and they never imagined that could

make use of abandoned meters of walls or land to recreate something, inspirational,

beneficial that leaves traces of what each of them had accomplished. They said ‘’ it felt really

good to see the accomplishment in real life and feel its tangibility.

Dissemination of project ideas and results

• ProducingPRmaterial


Brochure

Newsletters

Dissemination of project ideas and results

• Creatingandupdatingajointwebportalofideas:“Howsmallinterventionsinurbanspacescanpromotesocialvalues?”;


Creating and updating a joint web portal of ideas: “How small interventions in urban spaces can promote social values ?”

Idea of the website “PLACES OF DIVERSITY“ is to inspire all of you who want to make change in your neighborhoods by implementing creative, short-term, low-cost community driven actions. Through these activities you can send messages about:

• Social/cultural values e.g. understanding, support, love, multiculturalism, respect for diversity, gender equality, social inclusion, healthy lifestyle …

• Environmental issues e.g. cleaner environment, energy saving, recycling, reducing pollution, climate change raising awareness, biodiversity, air/water quality …

• Economic development e.g. job creation, working conditions, economic growth…• Something else that inspires you e.g. activism, playful city....

Website is translated in English, Montenegrin, Albaninan and Arabic. Visit http://www.placesofdiversity.org/

Video

http://youtu.be/bPtH2YfEWa8

Date post:	02-Apr-2016
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