Description
The project seeks to create a 100-family cooperative community in the Baktó, Petőfi-telep neighbourhood of Szeged that combines the traditional values of the village lifestyle with novel environmental and health aspects, fostering authentic human relationships and cooperation as well as strengthening social safety net (integration) within the community in order to achieve a self-supporting, ‘green’ lifestyle in the locality. Project outcomes will include a ‘Kindness Circle’ and an exchange scheme of tools and sparetime capacity, supported by a web interface.
Summary of project results
In order to mitigate the effects of poverty among comunities living in less-developed semi-urban environments the project created a community based equipment store in the Baktó district of Szeged integrated with an emerging town wide alternative local exchange system. The store provides local residents access to a wide sortiment of (altogether 123 items of 36 types) gardening and food processing equipments and machinery enabling them a higher level self reliance. Borrowing is possible not for real currency but for alternative local money that allows even low or no income residents to access such goods while they can still do something for the community in return. The promoter also conducted a personal ("person-to-person") communication campaign holding 12 community worshops and presentations in Szeged reaching about 700 residents with the aim of direct recruitment and community building, and gave 32 presentations at other events reaching about 1900 people directly to present the project and promote dissemination.
Summary of bilateral results