Mihai Eminescu Trust – What’s next for the project “ȘURA-Laboratory of experimentation and inclusive civic involvement” in 2022
Sighișoara, Mureș County
January 20, 2022
At the beginning of the year, the Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation from Sighișoara is presentsing the main activities of the project focused on strengthening the community, creating the necessary infrastructure for civic involvement, organizing extracurricular activities and the socio-cultural inclusion of vulnerable groups. The project runs for 36 months in Archita village, Vânători commune, Mureș county, and is developed by Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation, with the financial support of Active Citizens Fund Romania, a program funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through EEA Grants 2014- 2021. The slogan of the program is We work together for a green, competitive and inclusive Europe. The total financing of the project is 270,804 Euro, of which the financing of EEA Grants is 240,804 Euro, to which is added a co-financing of 30,000 Euro from the Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation.
In 2022, the restauration works of the barn will continue, which will be transformed, at the end of the summer, into a multi functional community space, designed for the development of extracurricular educational activities and cultural events. The Barn will host community activities, in a welcoming space, which the community will perceive as a place it shares in common.
The project plans three volunteer actions with the community, in spring, summer and autumn, greening the village and landscaping in its central part, and five meetings with community members to prioritize the needs of the Strategic Development Plan. Also in this activity, called “Democracy on the Grass”, study visits will be organized to GAL Târnava Mare Saschiz and APIA Sighișoara, together with 15 adults from the community, from vulnerable groups and from the „Descoperă Archita”Association. Another ten people will carry out two exchanges of experience in Viscri, at the Viscri Association begins, and in Mălâncrav, at the Apple Festival.
A community brunch will be held in the summer, and the first edition of an event for and about the community will take place in the fall: “Archita’s Day”. An online event to promote the progress of the project will follow and at the same time an event will be organized for the inauguration of the BARN, in the presence of the members of the civic activism club with the same name.
In February, March and April we will be organizing a series of activities with children and young people from Archita, activities coordinated by volunteers, in which we will invite 30 children and young people to participate in activities designed to encourage them to develop their civic spirit and become members of the Club.
In the second part of the year, we will organize six civic involvement workshops in which we estimate that 70 children and young people will participate, and by the end of the summer we will organize the long-awaited summer camp.
In activity 8, “Organizational development”, a fundraising course will be organized at the beginning of the year, and two months later, the fundraising plan of the Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation will be prepared. Also in 2022, towards the end of the year, an advocacy course will be organized.
Regarding activity 9 – “Organizational development, improving the external communication of MET activity” a summary activity report will be published and the event “Open Day at MET” will be organized. In addition to all this, we are planning an interaction event with the NGOs in the area within the “Intercultural Cafe” as well as a new edition of the “MET & Friends” event, at the Apple Festival in Mălâncrav, in the middle of autumn.
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The BARN: Experiential Laboratory for inclusive civic engagement is intended to be a model that can be replicated in the future in other villages in the area and which transposes the conviction of the Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation that a society is much stronger when its citizens are actively involved in development their communities to become active actors of change.
The Active Citizens Fund Romania program is financed by the EEA Grants 2014-2021. The overall objective of the Grants is to reduce economic and social disparities and to strengthen bilateral relations between the 15 beneficiary states and the donor states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway). The program is administered by the consortium composed of the Foundation for Civil Society Development, the Partnership Foundation, the Resource Center for Roma Communities, the PACT Foundation and Frivillighet Norge, which acts as a Fund Operator designated by the FMO – Grants Financial Mechanism Office EEA and Norway. Active Citizens Fund Romania aims to strengthen civil society and active citizenship and increase the capacity of vulnerable groups. With a total allocation of EUR 46,000,000, the program aims to develop the long-term sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector, intensifying its role in promoting democratic participation, active citizenship and human rights while strengthening bilateral relations with donor states Iceland. , Liechtenstein and Norway. For more information about Active Citizens Fund in Romania, please visit www.activecitizensfund.ro For more information about EEA and Norwegian Grants, visit www.eeagrants.ro
The Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation has its headquarters in the Cojocarilor Tower in Sighișoara. Mihai Eminescu Trust has over 20 years of experience in revitalizing and invigorating communities, Transylvanian cultural and natural heritage and has implemented so far over 1300 restoration projects, community development, afforestation, non-formal education for children and courses vocational training for adults.
Communication Manager Michaela Türk, Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation
mtuerk@mihaieminescutrust.org