urban media citizenship laboratory
Poland Lab is an urban media citizenship laboratory, launched by Association of Creative Initiatives “ę” and Evens Foundation in medium-sized cities in Poland.
We combine the potential of local NGO organizations working with young people, city activists, and experts in the field of new media and new technology. All this, to increase civic awareness and strengthen the influence of the young people to the space they live in.
2016-2017
The first open recruitment will take place in autumn 2016. We will choose an organization or institution from a medium-sized city. The second one will be chosen in spring 2017.
With our aid, both organizations and/or institutions will form local partnerships consisting of municipal citizen organizations as well as experts on new media and/or new technology.
We will help organizing one-week Media Citizenship Laboratories (one city is the winter, one in the summer edition) for local youth mid-high and high school as the main participant. Together we will work on a social problem/challenge/issue that is important for the local community, organization/institution, youth, and local partners.
Durable, innovative solutions driving change in the city will be developed and implemented. The solution will benefit from using tools natural for young people – new media and new technology.
social awareness
Nowadays, rank-and-file initiatives, non-governmental movements, and citizen initiatives are growing stronger in Poland. They put pressure on the government, fight for citizen-friendly space, flag abnormalities, care for common goods.
School does not encourage such attitude. Being focused on completely different goals, the modern educational system lacks time to develop social awareness in the young people. Such informal educational projects create therefore an opportunity for driving a change.
Poland Lab will make two groups meet and create a synergy. City activists together with mid-high and high school students will design and implement changes in their local society.
innovative solutions
Social change can be driven and enhanced by wise use of profoundly researched new media and technology. Poland Lab focuses on conscious, critical, and creative use of those tools, while reflecting on the needs and challenges of the “real world.” The challenge is to unleash the potential that lies in medium-sized cities. We want to show and strengthen both the processes taking place there, as well as the people who work for local communities.
between small town and agglomeration
The most common definition of a city is a place where the average citizen is mainly engaged in industry and services, runs „urban lifestyle”; a place characterized by a greater density of people, which favours the quantity and variety of interpersonal contacts.
According to statistics, there are approximately 900 such places in Poland: towns, small cities, and large agglomerations. Poland Lab will focus on medium-sized cities, whose population is higher than 20 thousand, but does not exceed 100 thousand residents.
What exactly is a medium-sized city? It is „so-so”, „neither large nor small”, remaining on the margin of important discussion and development processes, taken outside the area of interest and activities of internal and external stimuli to the development *. NGO initiatives are aimed at the village; important cultural projects are being developed in urban areas and large cities. Where are the medium-sized cities? How to fully use their potential? What role in strengthening this potential may aware, active, socially conscious young people have? These questions will be the starting point of our laboratory.
*Magdalena Kubecka „Takie sobie miasta. Kultura średnich miast”, Respublica, 20.07.2011,dostęp 21.09.2016
http://publica.pl/teksty/takie-sobie-miasta-kultura-srednich-miast-3002.html
Since 2002, we have been realizing socio-cultural project all over Poland. We train, give grants, publish books, create and promote new models of activity in the sphere of culture. We carry out projects arising from our passions and the way in which we observe the world. We remain loyal to values, which are important to us: authenticity, high quality of proposals and getting satisfaction out of what we do.
We run a network of animators in the entire country. We have long time partners. Our experience and skills let us experiment, outline new trends, and implement new projects.
Supports projects that promote harmonious coexistence of the citizens and countries of an united Europe. As a part of its multi-annual program „Media”, Evens Foundation initiates efforts to develop media literacy – by raising critical awareness, which indicates the understanding and cultural awareness; and by encouraging the creative use of media. In this way the Foundation helps to educate conscious, active, and responsible citizens.
