Involving citizens, communicating mobility issues
CIVITAS ELAN has held a series of trainings right from the start of the project for different groups of citizens in Zagreb. The driving idea behind the trainings has always been that a better model of public participation in local mobility issues needs well informed citizens that feel empowered to get involved.
In the course of the project, ELAN partner organisation ODRAZ organised six workshops with the help of the Tresnjevka Centre for Culture and the city of Zagreb. All stakeholders were invited to participate and very often it turned out that they were not aware of each other's roles and possibilities for collaboration. Working together on case studies, role playing or developing joint project ideas, has all contributed towards a better understanding and realistic expectations from each other. The workshop programme consisted of following topics: Basics of community mobilising and organising: What is participants' idea of an ideal mobility situation in their communities and what is their motivation to work for improvements in their neighbourhoods? What are characteristics of healthy communities? Empowerment for change; How to initiate change; Learning by doing; Assessment of community needs, problems and potentials; Different sectors in society, their roles and contributions; Principles of public participation; Intersectoral partnerships; Role plays and case studies related to mobility issues; and How to formulate ideas and how to communicate. The workshops were held in an interactive way with little lecturing and a lot of room for working in small groups, presentations by participants, role plays and discussing case studies. After each workshop an oral and written evaluation was done, which confirmed that the workshops were very much appreciated and deemed useful.
Author: Pavić Rogošić Lidija
