RE-THINKING OF THE DECEMBER APPEARANCE THROUGH ECO-FRIENDLY PARTICIPATORY DECORATIONS
In most countries in the world, December is a time to connect, celebrate and socialize with people. Lately, the festive atmosphere has been focused on excessive decorations, without taking into consideration the elements of sustainability and nature protection. We have Re-Imagined the visual of festivities by designing a comprehensive project with a goal to achieve unified decoration of the city of Maribor by connecting the elements of, ecology, participation, placemaking and cultural heritage.
Local
Slovenia
Maribor, Slovenian Styria
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): House! society for people and places Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Maja Last name of representative: Pegan Gender: Female Nationality: Slovenia Function: president Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Vetrinjska ulica 30 Town: Maribor Postal code: 2000 Country: Slovenia Direct Tel:+386 41 260 895 E-mail:maja@drustvo-hisa.si Website:https://www.rajzefiber.si
Name of the organisation(s): MARS Maribor Institution Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Hana Last name of representative: Repse Gender: Female Nationality: Slovenia Function: president Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Vetrinjska ulica 30 Town: Maribor Postal code: 2000 Country: Slovenia Direct Tel:+386 41 556 332 E-mail:hana@marsmaribor.org Website:https://www.marsmaribor.org
Name of the organisation(s): Municiplaity of Maribor Type of organisation: Public authority (European/national/regional/local) First name of representative: Saša Last name of representative: Arsenovič Gender: Male Nationality: Slovenia Function: Mayor Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Ulica heroja Staneta 1 Town: Maribor Postal code: 2000 Country: Slovenia Direct Tel:+386 31 624 071 E-mail:neva.pipan@maribor.si Website:https://maribor.si/
The small town of Maribor (Slovenia) boasts with lush green spaces, squares, parks, the oldest Vine in the world and treasured centuries old trees. The residents of Maribor take serious pride in their old trees. If a tree must be cut, a protest from the nearby community happens. From an innocent observation of the needs to beautify the town’s promenade 8 years ago a project evolved that has for the last 5 years been intensively re-educating on the importance of recycling and re-greening of urban areas.
The Commons deco project revolves around two pillars with which we strive to bring about change: 1. awareness building and education, 2. actively working on greening urban spaces affected by hazards.
The partners (Society House!, Mars Maribor Institute, Association of pedagogical figures and The municipality of Maribor) have found a way to tackle the catastrophic impact of the 2014 winter sleet (destroyed 30% of forests in Slovenia) and the plague of the spruce bark beetle which is afflicting the forests of Europe in the past 5 years. The selected time for the project implementation are the December Christmas festivities. They work together engaging the elementary, middle and high schools of Maribor to create ecologically friendly, recycling and reused decoration for living Christmas trees that are later on planted in designated areas on the outskirts of Maribor. Additionally we prepare a video tutorial on how to recycle and/or make decorations out of eco-friendly materials for the residents of Maribor, thus enabling them to be artistically creative, engage in quality family time and co-create the way the town is decorated during and claim the commons for their own.
Each year the municipality buys more trees for the residents to decorate the Christmas spirit of the city of Maribor, each year the NGO partners gain new schools, families and other organizations to participate, and each year we help restore our forests.
restoration of natural ecosystems
nature based materials and recycling
awareness building and education on nature
inclusion and participatory engagement in placemaking
a entertaining learning method based on The New European Buahas values
The Commons deco sustainability was from the start envisioned mainly in the environmental sense, however it also addresses the concept of store bought decoration usage, as well as the engagement and education of local communities focusing on children.
The municipality in its efforts to decorate the town for the December festivities spends a considerable amount of finances on materials that produce waste and energetically inefficient consumption. At the same time it did not address the ecological needs of the town as well as the possibility of participatory artistic interventions by the residents.
Theretofore the Commons deco project enables all aspects to be met:
1. on specific micro-locations the town's center, the streets and squares are decorated with living Christmas trees (supplied by tree nurseries in buckets with earth), which are planted in the most afflicted areas by the bark beetle in the municipality after the ending of the project.
2. Those trees that stand in the public space are then decorated by schools, institutions employing invalids and the interested general public. They must either make re/up-cycled objects or use Eco-friendly materials. In case of their own idea shortage, people can look at the collection of video tutorials with Eco-friendly decoration ideas we prepare each year.
3. All decorations are then gathered and stored to be used next year, as the number of trees and micro-locations increase each year.
Through this simple inclusive action we produce close to zero waste, educate the new generations on environmentally friendly usage of materials and strengthen social bonds, as well as actively engage in the regeneration of natural ecosystems in (semi)urban areas. Additionally we aim to produce decoration tapping into heritage and crafts, preserving the knowledge of our ancestors.
Allowing the public to participate in the designing of what the town looks like during the Christmas period, provides them with the feeling of being part of a bigger community and a deeper rearguard for their urban space and the need to support their natural environment. The project encourages the participants to work with materials, consequently helps them develop their manual and creative skills.
Next to the engagement of the general public, each year one to two schools are added to the list of participants.
The Commons deco reaches many people and finds approval by the general public. Specifically on the day where the children come to decorate the trees a special atmosphere spreads through town and provides a sheer full end positive setting for passersby. Also we have noticed that children themselves take a walk through the town showing off their work to friends and relatives explaining the value of the trees and the decorations, and with that sharing the concern for the environment.
Additionally each micro-location has a poster which explains the ecological aim of the project, introduces the participants and provides information on the tutorials.
Lastly we have noticed that 7 % of the decorations disappear, which affirms the believe that some residents like the aesthetics and craftsmanship of the objects and micro-locations as such.
As such the project, though simple, has many multiplicative effects. The method is transferable to anywhere in Europe and guarantees an excellent experience for all stakeholders and supports their green habitat.
Last tutorial for decoration: https://www.marsmaribor.org/skupnostno-okrasevanje/
The model is designed to be inclusive, however a special approach is provided for schools and the municipality.
The main public partner is the Municipality of Maribor. As the main public institutions of the town it took on the role of the technical and logistical part of the project, where's the NGO partners take care of the soft content and the participatory process itself.
The Municipality of Maribor provides the trees and arranges their delivery to the designated micro-locations. The Maribor tourist board (through the municipality) provides PR support.
The participatory process:
1. Schools and other educational organizations
An open call/invitation is published to participate in the project, for which the pedagogical staff needs to announce their intent to partake. They are then coordinated with designated micro locations and supported by the NGO members with the development of arts and crafts ideas for the making of the decorations.
2. General public
A video tutorial is made every year. All tutorials teach how to make the decorations and they are accessible to everybody. People can access them through a link on social media, the QR code on the posters or project description, the web pages of the Maribor Municipality, The Tourism office of Maribor, or NGO web pages (Mars web page and Hiša! web page).
As the trees are stationed in public space they are accessible to everybody (including physical impairment) all day round.
At the end of the project all decoration is gathered and the trees are being planted in the woods in the outskirts of Maribor.
There are various impacts that derive from The Commons deco:
1. The citizens become part of the makers of what the town looks like during Christmas, thus strengthening their sense of belonging and caring for their urban habitat. On a certain level they become partly makers of the festivities and enact active citizenship in a subtle manner.
2. The social and educational aspect of the projects provides the citizens with knowledge on eco-friendly alternatives for Christmas decorations, creativity and manual skills as well as strengthening their social times within the family nucleus.
3. The project softens its top down approaches towards the community which results in the strengthening of participatory processes within a “governing” institution. This in return strengthens the it’s between the municipality and the inhabitants.
4. The citizens become part of an action to rebuild inflicted parts of the urban ecosystem due to devastating winter sleet in 2014 and the spruce bark beetle, which results in their confirmation for their care for their natural habitat.
5. The long-term impact of the project is rebuilding afflicted forests and reinforcing the ties between the “decision makers” and the inhabitants as well as boosting the quality of life within Maribor.
The three main partners are House, Mars and the municipality, however within the project there are other associated partners.
The roles of the partners are:
a. Project leader, coordinator of schools – Society House! (NGO)
b. Prototyping of Eco-decorations and video tutorial production, school support – Institute Mars (NGO)
c. Promotion in schools – Association of pedagogical figures (NGO)d. Buying and placing the Christmas trees as well as planting the trees – Municipality of Maribor (public office)
e. Poster design and promotion – Tourist office of Maribor (public office)
f. School and other educational institutions produce eco-friendly decorations and adorn the trees
g. Inhabitants produce eco-friendly decorations and adorn the trees
So far a copy of the project has reached the capital of Slovenia - Ljubljana. However they have not engaged in this project as organized as the original in Maribor.
On the EU level there are certain similar ideas and thoughts concerning the cutting of trees for Christmas decorations (e.g. find alternative for living trees), as well as re-use of Christmas decorations (e.g. decorations exchange), however none are as inclusive or thinking about remedies of the beetle infection or decorations of non-eco materials. They are more or less on the level of participation. On a global level there are many initiatives evolving around this topic mostly in Australia, mainly envisioning decorated houses as part of the festive adornments, however this does not incorporate the ecological aspects of energy usage or less waste actions.
We intend to extend the project on an international level through the MitOst network and the Bosch alumni network in 2023
Children & Families
- Find out about the importance of trees and the harmful repercussions of ecological disasters as well as of ways to help support the natural ecosystem by replanting trees
- They gain the awareness of taking responsibility for waste production and learn about the usage eco-materials
- they preserve and develop creativity, cultural heritage and manual skills
- They bond with their friends and families
- They become part of the towns visual makers
Teachers
- Strengthen their ecological awareness topic within their curriculum,
- Lear new creative ideas on crafts
- Establish a firm understanding of the importance of little waste production and the usage eco-friendly materials in their teaching methods and curriculum
- Establish a firm participation process with a major public event of the town
Schools
- Strengthen an understanding of the need to participate in eco-focused projects
- Become more visible to the public due to positive PR
Civil servants – municipality, Tourism office
- Fill out their role as caretakers of urban spaces
- Work towards their objectives of greener urban spaces
- Strengthen their bond with the inhabitants
- produce less waste for the December decorations
- improve their image
NGO's
- Fulfill their roles as the bond between the municipality and the interested public
- Provide new insight into alternative usage of materials and less to zero waste production
- Find alternative ways to engage the public through digital tools (especially important during COVID restrictions)
- Activate other NGOs to participate and build on a stable and active community
- Support the civil servants to open up to a horizontal participatory approach
Slovenia Forest service
- Supports the municipality by regular reporting on the affect
The innovative nature of The Commons deco is the smooth cooperation of all the stakeholders, the longer benefits it provides in terms of nature rehabilitation, the social building benefits and the awareness building for our natural habitat.
The cooperation between NGOs and public institutions is not a specifically rare occurrence, whoever this specific project embraces the entire town and community through a mycelium type of network, provides low-cost solutions for a variety of issues (ecological, social, democratic, educational). It provides stable groundwork for the understanding, speeding and implementation of the New European Bauhaus movement and values towards a sustainable appreciation of the urban habitat and the community living in it.
As The Commons deco is a very simple process and method it can be replicated anywhere, for any bigger event/religious moment, providing it is based on decoration of public space and that there is a partnership between the towns “governing” institution and a stakeholder who is willing to work with the schools and commutes.
Its frameworks consist of good inclusive communication with outside stakeholders and clear partner task distribution. As such there is no specific methodology behind it. The process depends on the communication quality of all stakeholders.
The main toll for the realization of the process is an exchange of information and ideas as well as mutual support – the art of working together.
We achieve this through:
- meetings for the organization and search for solutions,
- mutual support between experts of place making, urban design, crafts, ecology, pedagogues,
- a clear organization of roles and tasks,
-mutual PR and recognition of stakeholders,
- building on the community of the towns school arts pedagogues,
- the desire to extend the project to all districts of the town and transferring the project idea to other parts of the year/and other bigger events of the town.
The Commons deco answers the questions on :
- waist production – by educating the participants and communities on eco-friendly alternatives to plastic decorations, resulting in less to no waist
- provides an answer to a steady rebuilding of forests need to sustain an ecological equilibrium
- activates participatory processes through a pleasant and fun process
- focuses on re-building socialization lost through the COVID crisis
- helps renovate the current curriculums to encompass ecological values on scale of a town
Each year we are planning additional locations resulting on additional trees and bigger involvement of the local communities, which is leading to bigger amounts of planted trees, a growing participator community practise and heritage awareness, as well as a beneficial effect on the communities well being.
Over the years we have planted over 340 trees, engaged over 12 schools and other educational organizations, involving over 500 children, 15 invalid adults, 12 teachers and estimated 20 families. So far we have collected 9 ideas on eco-friendly Christmas decorations, which were presented in meetings with teachers directly. Only during the Covid lockdowns did we start producing online tutorials for the participants. In the future we will continue to produce free online tutorials, and establish a digital library just for this course.
As on a national level the project is already slowly taking root, we will aim to present it over our international network of MitOst e.V. and the Bosch alumni network. Both networks provide opportunity through member traveling grants, support for member project cooperation and learning exchange spaces. Through this we plan to spread the initiative outside Slovenia’s borders and slowly add more and more partners to The Commons deco practice.
In 2023 we plan to add 2 more locations for Christmas trees (a total of 12 locations), engage at least additional 2 educational institutions (a minimum of 14 educational institutions) and produce at least 1 new crafts idea based on heritage. On the international level we intend to involve at least 3 NGO partners starting a network and build up the partnership over the years by adding at least 2 new partners per year.
Overall The Commons deco helps education and training institutions to integrate sustainability into teaching and learning. It creates a shared understanding on the deep and transformative changes needed in education and training for sustainability and the green transition. Additionally is strengthens a sense of belonging by connecting through participatory practises in public space.
