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Description
Citizens and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are detached from decision-making on urban development. The way in which spatial development policies are drawn up and implemented is fragmented, responding to the spatial and managing restrictions of local governance. The culture of participation and inter-municipal cooperation between decision-makers is weak. There seems to be a need for an interdisciplinary approach to participatory planning, where citizens interact with decision-makers in a common place. The objective of the project is to accept a challenge and conduct an experiment: to invite the SCOs and decision-makers to participate in the implementation of an original, inter-municipal methodological approach to urban development. The methodology will be tested at an underground, Roman monument, of inter-municipal spatiality and of supra-local significance: the Hadrian Aqueduct. By creating a "community" of different actors and citizens around the aqueduct, the project seeks to bring together diverse civil groups, raising awareness on the importance of utilizing such an urban resource and urban development. “Ohi Pezoume” NPO in collaboration with “AoHAthina” will facilitate and coordinate citizens, CSOs, and decision-making entities for the development of:
- a community with the aim of activating those actors around the Aqueduct, and the development of structured dialogue, and joint decision-making and management of the urban resource.
- a toolkit of innovative methods (performative, educational, embodied) to strengthen the stand of this community in the public debate
- political will for inter-municipal collaboration
- political culture that favors and integrates bottom-up decision-making processes in urban development
The project is going to provide "tools" in the hands of citizens, the CSOs and policy makers with a vision of equal cooperation as well as a sustainable and inclusive city.
Summary of project results
Since the beginning of their journey, Walkers on Water have been attempting to "walk" and reduce the distance that often exists between citizens and civil society actors and residents on the one hand, and decision-makers regarding urban development on the other. Within a context where the issue of participation meets multiple obstacles at different levels, the aim of the project was to make an experiment: to challenge the above to participate in the implementation of an original, trans-local approach to participation in urban development. Drawing elements from artistic and cultural practices, the project focused on the participatory design of activities aiming to highlight and inspire the good use of a unique cultural and water resource that passes under their feet: the Hadrian Aqueduct of Athens. The Hadrian Aqueduct was built in 140 AD. and it is the only Roman Aqueduct - of this type and length - created in Europe that still carries water! It is over 20 km long, underground and connects the neighborhoods of Acharnes, Metamorfosis, Kifissia, Heraklion, Chalandri, Maroussi, Filothei-Psychiko and the municipality of Athens. It is an urban resource of unique value in terms of environment(water), culture (monument) and urban networking (network).
With a course of 22 months, numerous internal meetings, 24 open activities and evaluation meetings and with the company of more than 300 participants and 1 Hadrian community of "Hadrian Lovers", Walkers on Water tested their goals in real conditions and ended up with an original Methodology of participation and community development. The Methodology aims to support individuals and organizations that deal with projects and processes requiring participation - especially in cases that go beyond the scale of a neighborhood - and is available to anyone interested: Civil society organizations who want to strengthen the community and the level of engagement around an specific issue, decision makers who want to add a preparatory stage for more successful public participation processes, educators who want to draw ideas for creative participatory educational tools .Except for the goal of methodological testing in real conditions, the Walkers’ on Water journey included a series of recreational processes - online and in-person - with elements of participation and structured dialogue, with autonomous value: "Serious" games, dramatized presentations and guided tours, festivals and workshops put together the puzzle of the steps of the project, which managed in less than two years to educate and inform more than 220 people of which a small group developed into a network of friends of Hadrian''s Aqueduct and the project, called "Hadrian Lovers ". With a core of 4 dedicated people, we jointly set up the "Little Hadrian Festival", a festival of visioning and getting to know the aqueduct. Also, a wider circle of participants/members of the Hadrian community with frequent presence in our activities was created (10-15 people ) and of course, an even wider audience of stakeholders, basically coming from the field of citizens and city dwellers. Due to the relatively large scale of the project (8 different municipalities) and the restrictions of the pandemic, some actions were carried out online, but most were done live, bringing in some cases interesting interactions and collaborations: A playful guided tour in collaboration with Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (under through which the aqueduct passes), live discussions with schools around the aqueduct and organizations with related activities, but also meetings with the New Metropolitan Attica in order to investigate the use of the methodology in view of the I.S.I. (Integrated Spatial Investment) for the Hadrian aqueduct.
The main purpose of the project was to contribute to strengthening participatory planning in the decision-making and policy-making processes for urban development, promoting an inter-municipal model of cooperation, with the active participation of the CSO and with 223 people as direct beneficiaries and 5,350 as indirect beneficiares who were informed and motivated about the said project. Although the cooperation with representatives of the public administration had faced many challenges, however, the methodology produced based on the experience of the CSO, has already been sent to decision makers, while it is planning to meet with the development department of the Region of Attica to present it in more detail.
At the same time, the set of actions implemented as well as the project presentations (e.g. at the Harokopio University "Geographies" conference and at the Europe Placemaking Week 2022 in Spain), there is a strong belief that the project has contributed to fostering a culture that considers participation important and seeks to educate individuals towards claiming and participating in the commons.