Lively Făgăraș: Civic Appropriation of Latent Spaces in Shrinking Towns

Finished

The project “Lively Făgăraș: Civic Appropriation of Latent Spaces in Shrinking Towns” was implemented by MKBT, in partnership with the Țara Făgărașului Community Foundation and the Norwegian organization OPEN Transformation, between March 2021 and August 2022. Its goal was to engage young people in identifying and revitalizing unused spaces in their city. We did this through creating contexts in which citizens, especially young people, learnt to see potential instead of abandonment, understand the decisions behind the city’s development, engage in such decisions, and become confident in their ability to influence change in their cities.


Similar to many small and medium-sized towns in Romania and Eastern Europe, the city of Făgăraș is experiencing severe demographic decline and a challenging process of economic restructuring. Over the past three decades, the city has lost nearly a quarter of its population. The effects of these socio-economic dynamics are reflected in an oversized built environment, with many underutilized or abandoned spaces. There is also a growing mismatch between the needs of the community, on the one hand, and the condition, functionality, and location of various elements of the built environment, on the other. Trust has also been eroded. People have lost hope in the city’s potential for recovery, and this sense of helplessness is fueled by the appearance and feeling of abandonment that characterizes much of the city’s built environment.

However, sparks of hope are everywhere. The local community foundation has, over recent years, brought together numerous civic groups, local leaders, and young NGOs eager to expand their activities and increase their visibility and impact. For these entities, as well as for the community in general, our research showed that finding and accessing physical infrastructure to carry out their activities is difficult, even though there are many unused or abandoned spaces in the city. This untapped potential for connection is what we aimed to address through “Lively Făgăraș”


The project was inspired by the concept of urban commons, often tested and applied in community initiatives across other European countries. This concept promotes the idea that latent spaces in a city (abandoned, underused, or underutilized) hold potential and can be activated through the active involvement of the community, even when the owner lacks the resources (with the owner’s consent).

Throughout the 18-month project, young people participated in workshops focused on civic education and engagement, to learn how to get involved in the city’s development and build confidence in their ability to bring about change. The latent spaces in Făgăraș thus became research material for the youth through a participatory method designed and tested within the project. This method engages citizens in the process of Discovery, Idea Generation, Activation, and the development of co-governance tools (the DIG Method) to bring new life to abandoned or underutilized spaces.

The DIG method began with participatory mapping and the prioritization of abandoned, unused, or undeveloped spaces in Făgăraș that had potential for functional repurposing. It then moved on to the ideation phase, where ideas for revitalizing these spaces were shaped based on community needs. This was followed by mobilizing the community to take action on these spaces and developing co-governance tools to ensure their maintenance in the future. The DIG method, along with the lessons learned throughout the project, is detailed in the Guide created at the project’s conclusion (see below).


The project is part of www.incredereinfagaras.ro, a platform for reflection and action established in 2015 by MKBT for the revitalization of the Făgăraș area. The platform focuses on four key themes: housing, social entrepreneurship and the diaspora, reactivation of abandoned or unused spaces, and local identity and tourism.

This project was made possible through the financial support of the Active Citizens Fund Romania, a program funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway through the EEA Grants 2014-2021, as well as through generous in-kind and financial contributions from numerous local organizations and businesses.

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