Would you like to know whether you are permitted to operate a public workshop and tool lending library in the Czech Republic, or where you can find a food festival with traditional specialties for old and young, or what “šufánek” means? Then keep reading! The fall collection of 12 Living Communities projects highlights people who are engaging their neighbors in making their towns and villages better places to live. Read More
Nominations are open for the 22nd annual Via Bona Awards. We’re looking for inspiring stories of giving. Do you know someone who is trying to make his or her community a better place to live? Individuals, groups, companies, others who are creating better communities? Thank them by nominating them for the Via Bona Awards and inspire others with their work!Read More
How can we respond to the new divisions emerging in society? How can we address conflicts between neighbors in our communities?
A total of 18 people from seven non-profit organizations in Central and Eastern Europe came together in late September for a four-day inspirational meeting in Belgrade, Serbia. The meeting was part of our international program ViabilityNet 3.0 and gave the participants a chance to share experience from their community work in their respective countries.Read More
Vita Gelūnienė is Alumni of the international program ViabilityNet 3.0. Lithuanian community artist Vita Gelūnienė used to work as a studio artist and teacher at the Vilnius Art Academy. She was one of the founders of the ‘Kaunas Biennial’ international art festival. Ten years ago, when Vita met Irish artist Ed Carroll, the focus of her artistic practice changed. In 2009, Vita and Ed initiated a series of projects in public spaces called ‘Friendly Zone’ and eventually their art became grounded in their own neighborhood of Šančiai (in Kaunas).Read More
The CEE partner organization network is a new regional grouping of seven civil society support organizations from six CEE countries. The main objective of the CEE partner organization network is to strengthen and develop local communities in the Central and Eastern Europe region. The member organizations seek to improve their support of local communities by learning from each other and with each other. Member organizations agreed that it is very valuable for them to exchange their community practice and as one of the ways how to do it is exchange site visit. This time we would like to share with you impressions of Kitty Boda from Hungarian HACD.Read More
We have the honor of presenting another five projects supported through our Living Communities program. Community leaders are working to enliven Czech communities in notable and diverse ways: making a printing press a community gathering place, restoring a former ruin in the Sudetenland and creating a community garden on the site of a former dumpsite, for instance. These projects just go to show that anything is possible!
The last ViabilityNet meeting took place in a bio-village called Mariahalom in a space designed for personal transition. All of the participants brought along a team member, so we had a big group to enjoy the vegetarian food provided by the host. The idea behind bringing a team member was to strengthen the flow of knowledge, skills and methods into the communities themselves. Often, people participating in international training sessions return home and feel like aliens inspired by all the ideas they encountered, so it is good to have an ally who understands what you are talking about at least a bit.Read More
