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The next three practises are three parts of a longer process. Village planning is a great tool to form a group into a community. This activity can be an aid for the group to deurbanisation, they can create the management of the village with formulating guidelines and motivations to maintain interest.
Practitioners:
This method was developed by Julcsi Szabó (community developer, project manager)
through community development studies and during her EVS. Julcsi works as a coordinator at InSite Drama, and in the field of youth development at a theatre in Budapest. Her goal is creating an environment where youth can feel safety and security to play, act, create and develop themselves.
Objectives:
The aims of this activity are creating a surroundings where the participants are able
to prepare a community of a village by using their creative thinking, by using their ability of
group work and by formulating their needs. During the second part it is important to
focus on complex thinking while they do the interview.
Structure of the process:
In the first part, after doing the village planning part, each of the participants can be active citizens of the community, so they can find their own positions in the activity. In the third part they can plan together from these positions.
1. Draw the village
A flipchart paper and a sharpener is given to each group at the beginning. (appr. 15-20 mins) The goal is:
> to be realistic (e.g. we can rarely find skyscrapers in a village)
> to be sustainable
> to build up a village in which they would like to live
» How to choose the location of the village: think about the surroundings (hills, forests,
water), streets, public spaces, most famous buildings of the village, public works of art,
public transport, is there a city nearby?
» What makes the village sustainable? Why is it good to live here? Why would you
recommend it to others?
» At the end of the task, let’s share our village plan, and make a question round with the
other groups, if they have any.
2. Create the people of this community!
Find out who they are in the village, what makes them useful in this community. (Everyone has to have a civic occupation, and also, each one of them does a lot for the village.) Our aim is to consult each other, to create figures / characters who support matters / issues that are important to them as well. (E.g.: Uncle Josh, who is retired. He lives next to the school and helps children cross the zebra crossing to get to school safely every morning and afternoon.)
(appr. 15 mins)
> Let’s collect all the goodwill gestures, and have a discussion about what helps us to feel that we are an important part of the community, and talk about what is important for us in a village we live in.
3. Let’s find the homes of the created people in the village!
Draw the residence of each participant on the map! Let’s talk a bit about each character, let’s try to frame their situation (background, daily routine, future plans) (appr. 15-20 mins)
4. A presentation should be made on the website of the village by the local press.
The interviewer asks the local residents for a group interview. Topics covered:
> why do people move here?
> logos
> the history of the village
> the coat of arms
> street names
> is there any symbol of the village?
> what traditions do they cultivate?
(Topics covered: employment, situation of elderly, social life, social services, leisure activities, situation of young people, healthcare, volunteering opportunities, housing. (Let’s strive for a consensus during the interview, so the publicist can write a unanimous article about the village.)
(appr. 30 mins)
If we don’t do each part of the GoodWillage project after each other, make sure we communicate it at the end of this one that this was only the first part of a village building process, and we will continue it later, so keep the drawings and try to remember all the best practises we have focused on!
Your Approach:
The group can think and actively prepare themselves in connection with one of the most serious problems today: ageing villages and rural unemployment, and can define what kind of life they want for themselves.
Further readings:
The approach of Cormac Russell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5xR4QB1ADw
https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/category/blog/abcd-practice/
Remarks
I suggest creating groups with no more than 8 participants.
Source/Acknowledgments:
Written by: Julcsi Szabó, InSite Drama, Hungary
The European Commission’s support for the production of this website does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project No. : 2020-1-FR02-KA227-YOU-018692