“Community Constellations” project

Project title: Community Constellations (UP.04.2.1.11.0217)
Call for proposals: Strengthening the capacity of CSOs to respond to the needs of the local community (UP.04.2.1.11)
Users: Shadow Casters
Partners: Local Democracy Agency Sisak, Association for promotion of healthy lifestyle and quality life improvement Luč
Project duration: 01.01.2022. – 01.01.2023.
Grant value: HRK 488,565.53
Amount co-financed by the EU: HRK 415,280.70

Project summary:
The project „Community Constellations“ is a kind of a hybrid, pilot project of community „healing“ by strategic planning and community activation through psychotherapeutic and artistic-creative tools in a time of crisis.

The purpose is to strengthen the civil society organisation’s (CSOs) capacities in the area of the Sisak-Moslavina County (SMC) for community work by development of the innovative tools and methods for working in the time of crisis. Its starting ground is the junction of art, creative work methods and encouragement and revealing resources and knowledge of the local people.

The main problem is currently insufficient capacities of the local CSOs to offer activities corresponding to the needs of people living in towns of Sisak, Petrinja and Glina, related to the crises caused by the earthquake, but by other actual crises as well, such as the pandemic, global economic crises and depopulation.

The first step in solving this problem is providing support to CSOs in SMC in the strategic planning process and creation of the most suitable activities for their beneficiaries. Further on, strengthening for advocacy in crisis situations, especially lobbying and negotiation for securing direct support for new CSOs activities by the local, national and EU funding.We are focusing on the CSOs from Sisak, Petrinja and Glina working with people at social risk, such as youth, elderly people, women, people with disabilities, etc. We want to move people from their current traumatic situation and jointly create and implement diverse creative and psycho-social interventions for their beneficiaries, finding the best solutions for work in the crises. These will be done through cooperation, knowledge exchange, peer learning and implementation of different theatre and other performing methods having and therapeutic effect (verbatim, theatre of oppressed, psycho-drama).

The second problem the project is focusing on, is the lack of tailored-made psychosocial support to the CSOs beneficiaries, also one of the project target groups.In cooperation with the CSOs, we will organise creative psychosocial workshops of the expressive art-therapy offered to their beneficiaries. These methods are proven as efficient in working with trauma in general, but especially in traumas related to catastrophes, such as the earthquake. The organisations will be encouraged to create new activities through experiential work at the creative workshops, networking with the other CSOs and answering to their beneficiaries’ needs.

This innovative process presents gradual “healing”, not only better connecting CSOs and beneficiaries, but strengthening the whole community as well.

Objectives and expected results of the project:

The project objective is building capacities and strengthening the CSOs for implementation of activities in accordance with new realities and needs of their beneficiaries, using innovative tools and methods of community work during the crises, connecting art, creative community healing methods and knowledge and skills on the people living in the SMC. Based on the research of the local CSOs needs, the chosen three will go through the strategic planning process and create their strategic plans, same as the project ideas database. People of the SMC will have the opportunity to get involved in creative and art workshops, art therapy and psycho-social counselling and individual psycho-social support for the ones suffering trauma, stress and/or lost in the crisis situation.

Contacts:

Boris Bakal (author of the project); bacaci.sjenki@gmail.com; 098 165 8186

Jelena Mihalj (project manager); jelena.bacacisjenki@gmail.com; 091 9727 827

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The project is co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund. 

The project is co-financed by the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs.

For more information about EU funds, see www.esf.hr and www.strukturnifondovi.hr

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