Learning Villages – Civitas was the host of the 4th study trip
Written by civitas Friday, 07 October 2011 10:27
24-26th of September 2011, Odorhei region
The 4th study trip in Learning Villages project was organized in Odorhei region. Civitas Foundation has the opportunity to show how the rural communities from our region organize themselves in a sustainable way. Our partners had the opportunity to learn and know different models of community development, community organizing, community-based local economy. 24 person, representatives of the partner organization (Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Hungary), professionals and volunteering learners (the biggest group of the project history) visited the following projects:
-
Fruits of Traditions (Lupeni). This is a community-based economic development model developed and implemented by Civitas Foundation in Odorhei Region. The main activity of this project includes the development of a strategy to get value out of the many varieties of cultivated and wild fruit in the area. Not only to get an income out of it, but also to take care of some varieties which are threatened to disappear, and of the knowledge of the local, mostly elderly people about the fruit varieties. Civitas and 27 steering local members established the Szekelygyumolcs Association and thought about their strategy: the education of the local farmers, the manufacturing way and the marketing. They constructed a fruit processing manufacture which is still expanding. Last year 350 farmers made use of it by manufacturing 180 varieties. They developed an interesting way of membership in Association which includes voluntary work. Now they are thinking about some other related project.
-
Partnership for sustainable development of Unitarian rural communities (Bențid). In the beginning of the 90’s Romania had to develop a whole new citizenship, a civil society. This project is a small, but effective answer on this big challenge. It is also a special model of partnership between an NGO and a church for local development. Civitas has found end educated almost 20 volunteering Local Development Agents (LAD’s) in Unitarian rural communities. These persons have as main tasks to contribute to the sustainable development of their village and to develop and start participative processes in their community. Krisztina, the LDA and Ildiko, the priest of Bencéd, a village of 160 inhabitants, presented some of their achievements. A few examples: they renovated their community house, provided internet for all the inhabitants, disseminate a monthly village’s newspaper, organize an ecological-English youth camp etc.
- Odorheiu Secuiesc Community Foundation. Nowadays is "Corporate (Social) Responsibility” a hot topic. The ’Community Foundation’ model however, has a tradition of 120 years in the USA. One can define it as grantmaking based on local economy to support local communityprojects. In Odorheiu it exits since a couple of years. Not all of the grants come from te local community, there is some external, internatioanl funding, but a significant part does: people donate it, the foundation sells sometimes things (e.g. a foto and storiesbook made by input of the inhabitans) and there is ’communitycard’. Every time inhabitants by some particular local products they get a reduce of 5 till 10%. But more important: 1% goes to the community foundation. Every time the foundation has 5000 euro of more, the community can indicate projects and decide which they want to support, e.g. the construction of a waiting and practice room for a doctor who can come one a month to an isolated village, the construction of playgardens etc.
The group had a short visit also to the 3rd Fruit Festival (part of Fruits of Traditions project) and to Dârjiu where they met the representative of Homoród-Rika-Küküllő LEADER Action Group.
