A year and a half after the start of the project, the MET foundation, active in the field of preservation and revitalization of Romania’s cultural and natural heritage, draws a line and returns with the results obtained in 2022 within the framework of the community project The Barn – Experiential Laboratory for Inclusive Civic Engagement.
As part of this, the MET foundation has begun restoration work on a traditional barn, which will be transformed into an event and workspace for the residents of Archita who want to get involved civically, and at the same time a learning space for the children and young people of the village.
Currently, the bran is almost ready, this autumn the electrical installation, the sanitary part, and the installation of the doors and windows were completed. As part of the project, it is the first year that Archita organizes Harvest Day on October 1st, a celebration with music, craft workshops, dances, and local products that took place in front of the evangelical church. The Harvest Day was organized by the Archita Discovery Association and brought together many residents of Archita, but also visitors from nearby areas and tourists in Transylvania. The foundation hopes that once initiated, the celebration will become a tradition and will be organized by the locals even after the completion of the current project.
In addition to the fact that it brings cohesion to the community and generates additional income in the village, Harvest Day is a good reason to present the village with its most beautiful villages to the general public interested in culture and authenticity. A result of the collaboration between MET and Discover Archita Association was the opening of the Haferland Festival that takes place in this village every year, an occasion where the locals take pride in their local products.
The trust wants to create a critical mass among the young generation who act motivated and responsible for the common good. Thus, another result of the project is the enrollment of 40 children from the village in the BARN Civic Activism Club, who will be involved in the development of a sports field and a thematic path in the garden of the BARN. The foundation also continued the non-formal program of inclusive civic education consisting of 5 days of educational workshops organized in October 2022 in which 40 children participated. The topics addressed were: health education and healthy habits, respect for oneself and those around you, strengthening self-esteem, and topics relevant to increasing the degree of understanding of the civic role through role-playing games, skits, creative activities, music, dance, and motion. Several 10 external volunteers and several local people were involved in the project activities. Another 17 children from the village formed a modern dance troupe, rehearsed, and danced for the first time in their lives on Harvest Day in front of an audience. The foundation mobilized the community in a civic engagement activity: 50 volunteers from the village took part in teams to spring-clean a good part of the village and then stayed together around a cauldron to celebrate. During the civic involvement workshops, the foundation’s team discussed with the village residents about the possibilities of involvement in decision-making and carried out practical exercises with the residents on writing requests to the municipality’s Town Hall, choosing relevant topics for the advocacy campaign that MET will initiate next year.
Because the foundation believes in the importance of a constant process of education, within the project not only the village of Archita develops, but also the skills and competencies of the foundation. Thus, the MET team went through a training process to learn how to fundraise and organized the Open Day with three craft workshops and over 50 children who participated together with locals from Sighisoara to broaden the public’s knowledge about the activity of a heritage NGO.