Do you want to implement activities that will bring positive change in your neighborhood?
Would you consider working with refugees living in Athens?
Do you want to help create a more sustainable and friendly city?
Residents, citizens' initiatives, refugees who have received asylum and the local authority join forces for the first time to benefit the city.
co-Athens creates the framework within which groups come together to collaboratively design and implement funded activities and urban interventions.
This is a call open to active citizens of Athens to carry out activities with meaningful and positive impact for the city, in collaboration with refugees participating in the European pilot program of the City of Athens, Curing the Limbo.
Selected groups will receive funding and advisory support throughout the program; from the initial concept development stage to its implementation.
co-Athens is being developed within the context of the European pilot program Curing the Limbo and the integration strategy implemented by the City of Athens. The aim is to create an innovative model of cooperation - a model for European cities.
Curing the Limbo (2018-2021) is a European pilot project of the City of Athens implemented in partnership with the University of Athens, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Athens Tourism Development and Development Company (EATA). The program is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the UIA initiative.
Thematic categories of activities
- Interventions in public space
- Promotion of the local tourism product
- Cultural activities in neighborhoods
- Sport and wellness activities
- Environmental protection
- Cleaning and highlighting of surfaces - facades of buildings
Intervention areas of co-Athens
- Kerameikos - Metaxourgio - Kolonos - Platonos Academy
- Victoria – Archaeological Museum - Exarcheia - Neapoli
- Amerikis Square - Koliatsou Square - Agios Eleftherios - Kato Patisia
Co-Athens activities program at a glance:
- They receive multifaceted ongoing support from the Curing the Limbo program.
- They bring together refugees, who have received asylum and reside in Athens, and active citizens of the city.
- They integrate participating refugees into groups that operate with equality and mutuality.
- They are exploring and proposing sustainable solutions to real city challenges.
- They activate local communities and bring positive change across neighborhoods.
- They create and support an innovative model of integration of refugees participating in the Curing the Limbo program.
Cultural exchange activities with a focus on cooking, healthy eating and environmental awareness. The ultimate goal is the employment of the participating refugees in the catering industry, through cooking seminars, Greek language courses and vocational training workshops. Implementing Agency: Zaatar
Moving around the area of Exarchia, Sabar Bar activates the local community, collects and records stories and transforms them into theater events and songs, involving all participants in creative processes for the enhancement of social cohesion. Implementing agencies: oxi paizoume, Fabrica Athens.
The Totem Project lays the groundwork for the creation of a multicultural music community, where all participants are equally involved in music education and intercultural artistic practices, which will result, amongst others, in the construction of a new musical instrument. Implementing agency: Kolonos Residents’ Group.
Sports events, guided tours focused in sports and awareness raising activities aiming at the strengthening of social cohesion, acceptance of diversity and the addressing of contemporary social issues. Implementing agencies: Organization Earth, Diogenis NGO, The Syrian & Greek Youth Forum.
Reading DiversCity is an educational school program that uses the documentary as a tool to narrate the experiences of the refugee children living in Athens, aiming at bridging cultural, religious and racial differences between classmates of refugee and of Greek origin. Implementing Agency: Reading for Others
An academy based around contemporary performance techniques, street theater and acrobatics aiming at social inclusion, the empowerment and skills’ development in children and teenage refugees and locals, as well as strengthening social cohesion through public events. Implementing agency: Anasa Cultural Center
Victoria Square Project invites the local community of its area to co-design a multicultural living-room where products and objects are produced through participatory processes, while the dialogue around contemporary urban matters is strongly encouraged. Implementing agency: Victoria Square Project.
The Bala_Patissia initiative will transform a basketball court of the municipality of Athens into a 5x5 football court where a championship take place including teenagers and adults. Seminars, film projections and discussions will be organized in parallel to the championship, while all the activities will be recorded in a documentary that will be screened at a public event. Implementing Agency: Umoja Union
Athens Niroo Community aims to form an original and sustainable energy community through educational workshops and pilot activities for the utilization of renewable energy sources. Implementing Agency: Electra Energy
