Community Engagement in Zagreb & Eskişehir: How to Include Different Communities in Culture & Arts Venues

The project "Community Engagement in Zagreb & Eskişehir, Turkey: How to Include Different Communities in Culture & Arts Venues" will be coordinated by Puruli Culture&Art, a Turkish organization from the city of Eskişehir dedicated to promoting the availability of cultural events and spaces.

The project was funded as a part of the program THE:PLACE - Türkiye Hand in hand with Europe: Program for Local Authorities and Civil Society Exchange, which is supported by Mercator Foundation, ALDA - European Association for Local Democracy, and MAD - Mekanda Adalet Derneği. THE:PLACE program is designed to build sustainable networks between NGOs and local authorities in Turkey, building their capacities through collaborative projects.

With the exchange of knowledge and mutual learning in the areas of accessibility and community engagement between Puruli Culture&Art and Pogon, the intention is to explore and implement strategies that strengthen the inclusion of different communities, especially young people and people with different disabilities, and thereby contribute to the creation of more inclusive and accessible cultural programs and spaces in the two cities. Through a series of online meetings and two workshops in Eskişehir and Zagreb, Puruli Culture&Art will support Pogon with expert knowledge on the principles of accessibility, providing guidelines for the adoption of an inclusive approach in the organization of events, use of space, as well as communication channels. This will include practical tools such as space accessibility checklists, as well as the application of good practices such as audio description and subtitles, autism-friendly projections and the use of inclusive language.

On the other hand, Pogon will share its experiences of managing the premises of the former Jedinstvo factory, engaging young people and building an active community. Pogon's innovative model of civil-public partnership, a pioneering example in Croatia, as well as the document "Ethical Codes of Civil-Public Partnership", will be translated into English and Turkish and presented to Eskişehir City Municipality during the workshops.