Our objective was to support the evolution of cooperative spaces and co-housing solutions for communities of Greece, by facilitating the development of knowledge on sustainable practices of commoning in housing and use of space, and through the establishment of a knowledge network and long-lasting partnerships. In order to achieve this, we involved people with three different levels of engagement: a) individuals already involved in program management and community/cooperative processes, in order to support them in a professional level. b) Individuals from specific communities that are in the process of establishing co-housing spaces and willing to take up executive roles in them, with the goal to support them with the knowledge and networks they need. c) Individuals active within community groups currently running space sharing projects with the aim of familiarizing them with existing models. Their highlighted needs were included in our goal to empower local and refugee community actors to address the needs and challenges in their cooperative projects. Our objective besides developing capacity was to open for them new professional perspectives and opportunities for personal growth.
Communitism reclaims unutilised heritage buildings of Athens to be revived through creative commoning. We consider this an imperative need, deriving from the plethora of abandoned heritage buildings of Athens that affect the quality of our urban fabric, but also the citizens, who have been facing subsequent social challenges for two decades, threatening their basic needs of quality housing and professional conditions. Through the sociocultural center we operate, we involve communities of artists and makers, practitioners of the sociocultural sector into our cause and train them in collective use of space. Yet, if we are to claim more buildings than, we need to level up and educate our members on how this can be solidly practiced. From self-governance practices to collective dynamics , there is a huge spectrum of knowledge to be gained that in Greece we still need to break ground. Association InWole has an experience of 25 years on the topic and a wide network in Germany. For this reason we partnered with associations Ethos and the Greek Network for the Right to Shelter and Housing, both active advocates of social housing, so that we can together educate and empower our members into stepping up to the task.