The Green European Foundation with the support of Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe is announcing a call for Participants for the international training “Cities for All – How?”. The training will take place between 25th and 31st of July in Serbia. 24th of July and 1st of August are the arrival and departure dates for the participants.

The project is the second phase of the Annual Work Plan “Cities for All – inclusive Urban planning and decision making in the Eastern European cities” and is going to focus on developing the advocacy skills of young activists to shape a more inclusive, LGBT+ friendly and safe cities for everyone in the local contexts.

Objectives of the “Cities for all – How?” are:

• To develop the participants’ skills of creative and efficient campaigning for spreading the message to the wider public;
• Create a space to explore the new tools and strategies, adapted to the struggles of young LGBT+ individuals and women in the cities, for lobbying the demands to the different stakeholders;
• Equipping the participants with the skills of working with the local communities and organising outreach activities on the local level, that encourage young people’s active mobilisation around the topic of Cities for all.

The Green European Foundation with the support of Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe is announcing a call for Prep-Team members for the international training “Cities for All – How?”. The seminar will take place between 26th and 31st of July in Croatia.

The project is the second phase of our 2021 Annual Work Plan “Cities for All – inclusive Urban planning and decision making in the Eastern European cities” and is going to focus on developing the advocacy skills of young activists to shape a more inclusive, LGBT+ friendly and safe cities for everyone in the local contexts.

Objectives of the “Cities for all – How?” are:

1. To develop the participants’ skills of creative and efficient campaigning for spreading the message to the wider public;
2. Create  a space to explore the new tools and strategies, adapted to the struggles of young LGBT+ individuals and women in the cities, for  lobbying the demands to the different stakeholders;
3. Equipping  the participants with the skills of working with the local communities  and organising outreach activities on the local level, that encourage  young people’s active mobilisation around the topic of Cities for all.

Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe and Gender and Alternative Urbanisation Working Groups are announcing a call for Prep-Team members for the international Online Course “Cities for All – Why?”. The OC will take place between 1st and 31st of May in Online – on Green European Foundation learning platform and Zoom.

The project is the first phase of our 2021 Annual Work Plan “Cities for All – inclusive Urban planning and decision making in the Eastern European cities” and is going to focus on aiming to understand how patriarchy shapes our cities, urban infrastructure and lives of urban youth.

Objectives of the OC are:

1. To provide the participants with the theoretical knowledge on how the cities are affecting the lives of young people of different genders and sexualities.
2. To create an inter-cultural safe space for young women and LGBT+ people to share their struggles and stimulate the discussion on the values, principles and the directions about the future of inclusive cities.
3. Empower the participants with the tools and analytical skills for identifying the local challenges of their communities in regards of inclusive city planning.

Project background

Urbanism and Gender are strongly related topics and should be looked at together. In many Eastern European countries, bad city planning is failing young women and LGBT+ youth. Basic safety is a top concern for women and queer people in public spaces, public toilets are often insecure for us , the streets around suburban areas do not have enough street lightning, side walks are very narrow or do not exist at all. This causes discomfort for the pedestrians and often is not safe, the number of properly functioning public toilets are very low and are strictly divided into 2, which is another concern for gender queer people. All these put young women and queer individuals under big risk of facing different types of violence, including sexual. As a result, young LGBT+ individuals and women feel insecure to leave their houses when it gets dark. Additionally, women and queer people even in the city center can be followed and face verbal abuse. Around suburban areas of the city such cases are even more extreme – in some countries, women who are seen in public in late hours can be stigmatised. All the above mentioned issues are closely tied with the class, religious and ethnic background, education and other social aspects.

This is why CDN and its Alternative Urbanisation and Gender Working Groups are organising a Work Plan that aims to empower the young activists from the Eastern Europe to reach out and influence the local authorities through advocacy for improving urban infrastructure for all.

We will do this by reaching these objectives:

1. First, train young activists from the Eastern Europe to understand how patriarchy shapes urban infrastructure and cities through equipping them with the tools and skills to explore the connection between our habitat and Gender. 
2. Second, to develop skills of campaigning and advocacy among young activists to shape more inclusive, LGBT+ friendly and safe cities for everyone. 
3. Third, to enable participants with an opportunity to practice their skills and share the gained knowledge further on the local level through communicating with authorities and expressing their demands regarding public spaces and inclusive infrastructure.