Bologna thematic report
Edited on
12 September 2017Roma-NeT II all partner meeting and Roma Festival
The Bologna meeting of the Roma-NeT partners was the sixth set of transnational meetings to take place in the Roma Net pilot delivery phase.
This meeting followed a slightly different format to other meetings that had taken place under the Pilot Network. This was partly because the Pilot Delivery Phase was coming to an end in March 2015 and also partly because Bologna had been part of another European project on Roma inclusion (Roma MATRIX). It transpired that some of the work undertaken through both projects was now in need of a showcasing platform and this took the form of a two-day festival.
For Roma-NeT Pilot Delivery Partners, the combination of a full working day on our own project and participation in the festival over the next couple of days made for an interesting and inspiring few days together in Bologna.
As Roma-NeT Pilot Delivery Phase was coming to an end with a final conference in Brussels in March, this was a good opportunity to consider what we had learned and how we would capitalise on that. So the main aims of the first working day were to :
- Consider and reflect upon what each partner has achieved under the Pilot Delivery Network
- Consider our achievements collectively
- Consider what lessons we had/could learn from the pilot delivery network
- Consider our next steps, individually as cities and as a partnership
- Think practically about the final conference and final report and how we should be telling others about our work in the network.
Additionally, the Festival was both inspiring and useful to partners as it gave several opportunities to have discourse with a range of interlocutors from Bologna Municipality, local NGOs and most importantly with local Roma and Sinti who have been involved with the municipality on European projects and who were able to use the festival as a platform to share their experiences with us.
The festival also gave us an opportunity to see films and performances from and about Roma in Italy and to participate in open discussions with Roma and Sinti from the camps in Bologna.
The agenda is included below. It included a masterclass from Tito Spinola of Gitanos Con Palabra on crowd-funding. The main portion of the day was taken up with intensive and interactive workshops allowing partners to reflect and tell their stories so far. The key messages developed in these workshops will be used in the Final report and in capitalising on the work done to date.
Agenda
Wednesday, 4th February 2015
Arrival of participants
Thursday, 5th February 2015
Roma-NeT II thematic day
09.20 | Meeting of the participants at the meeting venue (Via de’ Monari 3 – BOLOGNA) |
09.30-11.30 | Welcome Reflect and review: What story do partners have to tell from the Roma-NeT Pilot Delivery Phase? How will you tell it? Who will you tell it to? Workshop |
11.30-12.00 | Coffee break |
12.00-12.30 | Update on final report and final conference – what do we need from partners? |
12.30- 12.45 | Management issues |
12.45–1415 | Lunch (Ristorante “L’incrocio di Montegrappa” – Via Montegrappa 7/d – BOLOGNA) |
14.15-15.15 | Tito Spinola. Masterclass. Funding and crowd-funding opportunities for community initiatives |
15.00–16.00 | AER document Partner feedback Workshop: what would our role be in such a network in URBACT III? |
16.00 | End of thematic day |
16.30-18.00 | Guided tour (details will follow) |
18.00 | Vernissage of exhibition “Travelling with roma and sinti people in working Italy” (presented by Roma people) |
19.30-20.30 | Light dinner at the venue cooked by roma and sinti people |
20.30 | Presentation and projection of “Container 158”, documentary movie shot in the Salone settlement in Rome, Europe’s largest camp, directed by Stefano Liberti and Enrico Parenti and produced by Zalab association with Open Society Foundation. Presentation of the secondary school competition “Breaking prejudices” promoted by Zalab association.
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Friday, 6th February 2015
10.00-13.00 | Public conference -http://ateliersi.it/si/ - Via San Vitale 69 Introduction and coordination by Matilde Callari Galli, President of the institution for social and communitarian inclusion “Don Paolo Serra Zanetti” Italian Experiences Presentations by:
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13.00-13.30 | Q&A |
13.30-15.00 | Lunch break at the venue |
15.00-17.00 |
European Experiences Presentations by:
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17.00 | Closing of the public conference |
19.30 | Dinner at Ateliersi |
21.00 | Music and words by the Serbian Roma musician Jovica Jovic (Ateliersi)
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Saturday, 7th February 2015
13.00-14.30 | Lunch and chat at the venue about “Community: meaning, sense and its importance” led by Fiorenza Menni and Andrea Mochi Sismondi (Ateliersì) |
14.30-16.30 | Open space: coffee with... Workshop with Roma and non Roma people |
20.00 | Stage show “Comune spazio problematico” by Fiorenza Menni and Andrea Mochi Sismondi (Ateliersì) |
21.00 | Closing Dinner at “Osteria Broccaindosso” – Via Broccaindosso 7 - BOLOGNA |
Added value from the festival
During the festival, although the content over all of the days was really interesting; partners found the interaction with local Roma and Sinti to be of the most value. This was particularly the case when the three Peer Operators and other ‘representatives’ from the camps who had been involved in a very successful public media campaign took part in discussions with our partners and with other members of the extended public audience.
The most inspirational part of this was probably when the three Peer Operators, who had been given mentoring and training, introduced and guided us through the photography exhibition which had its first showing in Bologna during the festival. The photo exhibition was very good on its own, but Sheila, Vincenzo and Anna really helped to tell the story of each portrait and to show that Roma and Sinti do not fit only one stereotype.
Bologna had also very recently launched a public media campaign and through this; and a partnership with the local Journalists Association; had engaged quite successfully with journalists and media. The campaign was funded under the Roma Matrix programme, but without the groundwork and planning of Roma-NeT – in both phase one and two; it probably wouldn’t have been possible for Bologna to have been so brave as to create a campaign of this nature. This was the first time that anything like this has been done in Bologna municipality.
Key messages and learning outcomes
By the end of the first day, partners had already created some really valuable lessons about the Pilot Delivery Phase of Roma-NeT. The festival gave partners an opportunity to solidify their future plans and spend time together to plan for the future as a network and individually. The key messages developed in Bologna will be critical for capitalisation, for the final reporting phase of the project and for future learnings or projects on Roma inclusion.
Key learning outcomes were:
- Empowering Roma to find their own voice and use it is a very powerful tool to influence others.
- 1 + 1 = more than 2: Partnership is the best and only way to create genuine inclusion. Bringing two partners together always results in more than just a partnership.
- Roma inclusion is not just one piece in the puzzle; it is lots of different pieces.
- When resources are small and the big resource is difficult to get to, creativity can produce small projects that have big impact.
- A working model for Roma inclusion has to have a fully integrated approach.
- Working with Roma at local level and with the Managing Authorities and a ‘moveable’ LSG to assess need and influence for the future is key.
- Failure is ok, so long as we keep trying.
- Community-led actions on a small scale can have much bigger impact than larger projects with no community buy-in or lead.
- Working locally and transnationally creates a bounce effect – participating in EU transnational projects gives municipalities much added value and opportunity in funding, know-how and expertise.
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