Description
There are many active neighbourhoods in Tallinn, but resident activity has not yet reached the panel house districts. The project aims at approaching the multicultural dialogue through topics of community development and improving living environment in the biggest panel house district in Tallinn - Lasnamäe. During the six months of the project the people, civic organisations and local businesses interested in raising the residents' activity into a network will be gathered. The target groups will be interviewed, several workshops and spatial interventions will be organized, the process will be blogged. As a result a more detailed action plan for activating Lasnamäe will be drafted. The project helps to strengthen the awareness of local residents about participating in shaping their living environment and to increase the collaboration spirit of the target groups. A broader aim is to create a community development model for other panel house districts in Estonia. The project is coordinated in collaboration with NGO Kontakt that aims to improve integration in Estonia.
Summary of project results
There are many active neighbourhoods in Tallinn, but resident activity has not yet reached the panel house districts. Therefore, the main goal of the project was to activate the residents of Lasnamäe panel housing district and test the possibilities of community initiatives. For this a network of already active residents and others who were interested in improvement of Lasnamäe living environment was formed. These people were actively engaged in the discussions and decision-making throughout the project. Two public events were organized – the LasnaPicnic during which we invited people from all over Lasnamäe and discussed hot topics of Lasnamäe development in an open outdoor forum with outdoor games, exhibition and picnic itself; and the LasnaColours which was an inclusive action, where all the residents could take part in improvement of their environment by painting one of the huge grey pedestrian stairs with bright colours. For the group of activists that has been formed during the project both of these actions served as an example and motivation how easily ideas can be realised and people brought together for a common purpose. Estonian and Russian speaking residents were successfully united in the project proving that language barrier isn’t an obstacle when there is a strong and shared common goal – improving their living environment.
Summary of bilateral results