My Soft City: From Flaneur to Entrepreneur is a project that aims at bettering cities’ youth dimension. In our quest to preserve cultural heritage by helping youth to become more fond of their patrimony we came to the conclusion that cities which are more youth-friendly have more chances to develop as united and proactive communities. This project offers youth a voice in what concerns their city’s cultural heritage and encourages them to become cultural and social entrepreneurs themselves by exposing them to such an environment that fosters educational, cultural and urban growth. By creating in the project framework, a book about real, successful stories of social and cultural entrepreneurs from the partner countries, we offer youth the motivation and inspiration they need to become change-makers themselves. As described by Michael Dear, expert in Urban Studies, “the soft city is full of humanity, invention, and fun, totally unlike the “hard” city with its ponderous monuments, commemorative namings, patrolled spaces, and formal geometries ” (6). Starting with this statement, the project wishes to create an illustrated map of the soft city seen by youth aged 16-22. In order to give the younger a voice about the strengths and weaknesses of their city and also to make their communities more youth-friendly and more innovative we will let youth draw their own buildings, places and streets that portray the real city. Youth will work closely to experts who will guide and support them. The subtitle, From Flaneur to Entrepreneur, reflects the fact that a passer-by can become a change-maker in their community through proactivity and an entrepreneurial spirit. While in the 19th century, the flaneur was a stroller , observing and enjoying the architecture and atmosphere of the streets of Paris, we invite youth to become from observers into active actors of the social and cultural urban sphere. The subtitle also emphasizes the fact the the project aims to combine the old and the classic with the new and the innovative: the digitalization and gamification of cultural heritage by young people which further aims at preserving and promoting the urban patrimony of Europe. The project is cross-sectorial and combines youth work, social work, heritage, art and entrepreneurship in order to deliver interdisciplinary outputs and outcomes that improve and innovate the activity of youth workers and that help youth learn in an alternative way. The main aim of the project is: Foster employability and social inclusion and cohesion through an educational, participatory, inclusive and intercultural approach to European Cultural Heritage. The specific objectives of the project are: 1.To create innovative non-formal tools and methods for youth workers in the field of culture and heritage through international cooperation. 2.To digitalize and promote urban heritage through youth engagement. The project aims at five main results: 1. At least 160 trained youth workers and 400 trained youth, out of which half are youth with fewer opportunities; the creation of an innovative cartography of social and cultural entrepreneurs and their successful stories, as a model of good practices. 2. A methodology of innovative non-formal Tools for Cultural Heritage Education for Social Inclusion: - "8 Game Ideas for Cultural Ambassadors" Book - 4 sets of illustrated cards: "Dérive City Cards" which will serve as a non-formal education tool. 3. Digitalized Cultural Heritage through the creation of 4 online illustrated maps (of 4 European cities: Constanta, Funchal, Nimes and Lund), free-for-use and for download, created by and for youth. 4. Visibility and Dissemination of the project outcomes and of European cultural heritage among youth, youth workers, stakeholders and local communities especially. The partnership is uniting 4 countries and 8 partners for a duration of two years and a half, in which they will implement the Soft City initiative. ---- Note: Dear, Michael J. “Creativity and Place.” GeoHumanities: Art, History, Text at the Edge of Place. Ed. Michael Dear. New York: Routledge, 2011. 9-18
Through this project, we aimed, and successfully achieved to unite various organizations, institutions, stakeholders, artists, teachers, youth workers, young people and experts in various fields, in order to celebrate European heritage, to raise awareness on its history and on its future and to promote culture for the sake of youth. The project worked with the expertise of 8 organizations and with the creativity of young change-makers (16-22 years old) who notably improved youth tourism locally. The project developed on a cross-sectorial cooperation on more fields: mapping, entrepreneurship, creativity, youth work, non formal education and art. The main aim of the project was achieved: To foster urban regeneration, employability and social inclusion and cohesion through a creative, educational, participatory, inclusive and intercultural approach to European Cultural Heritage in Nimes (France), Constanta (Romania), Funchal (Portugal) and Lund (Sweden), during 3 years. The specific objectives of the project were achieved: 1.To train youth workers and to create innovative non-formal tools and methods in the field of culture, heritage and social entrepreneurship through European cooperation among the project partners. 2.To digitalize and promote urban heritage from the 4 partner cities of the project, through youth engagement. 3. To develop youth's competences in the project fields.
The core of the My Soft City project is an exchange of good practices and development of innovation through team work (a team of countries) that can convince youth to feel more European and to appreciate heritage as being both similar and different from one country to another. Moreover, the input of various perspectives of experts from different countries, made the partnership achieve high quality standards by delivering out-of-the box results. We have successfully addressed common needs of our project's target groups: TG1: Youth aged 16-22 from the partner regions, needed to - raise their awareness on the importance of European cultural heritage preservation - develop competences in cultural heritage, art, digital illustration, entrepreneurship, soft skills, creative writing, language skills and other digital skills. - engage and involve them in social and cultural actions together with youth with fewer opportunities - feel more European - improve their chances of employability - develop entrepreneurial spirit and competences TG2: Youth Workers from partner regions needed: - methodology in the field of cultural heritage education - an intercultural and international network of people interested in cultural heritage and cultural actions - innovative and youth-friendly tools in the domain of youth work and mobility TG3: The communities of the project partner cities needed: - preserve and promote local, regional and European cultural heritage - include youth in culture-related activities