New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Initiative category

Identify the award category for which this initiative is being submitted
Regaining a sense of belonging

Email user
info@brusinkabrno.cz

Basic information
Initiative title
Multicultural Envirnoment Project

Full initiative Title
The Development of Multicultural Envirnoment in Brno

Please provide a short, catchy description of your initiative to be used in communication towards the public.
The Multicultural Center we are a special space in Brno, which serves as a mean for the dissemination of different educational, artistic, cultural expressions to unite people from different backgrounds Our Center allows inter-generational exchanges and community-building for the inhabitants of our city to have a physical space to openly express themselves and celebrate their diversity in unison.

What was the geographical scope of your intiative?
Local

Where was your intiative implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Czechia

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
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Does your initiative address mainly urban or rural issues?
Mainly urban

Does your initiative refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your initiative benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
Yes

Which fund(s)?
ERASMUS

Here you can provide more details about the name of the specific programme, strand/action line as relevant, and the year
Youth in Action #2021-1-PL01-KA210-YOU-000029905

Has your initiative won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Does your initiative has a minimum level of maturity? The minimum level of maturity is exemplified by stakeholder/ initiative promoter commitment to implement the initiative in practice and a clear methodology /approach.
Yes

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As a representative of an organisation
Please provide the contact details for the project promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the project)
- Name of the organisation(s): Multicultural Center Brusinka
  Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation
  First name of representative: Viktoria
  Last name of representative: Nikolaeva
  Gender: Female
  Nationality: Czechia
  If relevant, please select your other nationality: Russia
  Function: Head
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Konečného náměstí 2а
  Town: Brno
  Postal code: 60200
  Country: Czechia
  Direct Tel: +420608454618
  E-mail: info@brusinkabrno.cz
  Website: https://brusinkabrno.cz/en/about/
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://facebook.com/brusinkabrno/
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): multicultural, education, development, education, center, community, diversity
- URL: https://www.instagram.com/brusinka_brno/
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): multicultural, education, development, education, center, community, diversity
In case my initiative is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my initiative in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
https://kreativnibrno.cz/projekt/open-house-brno-online/

Description of the initiative
Please provide a summary of your initiative
As a Multicultural Center we are a special space in Brno, which serves as a mean for the dissemination of different educational, artistic, cultural expressions to unite people from different backgrounds. Our Center allows inter-generational exchanges and community-building for the inhabitants of our city to have a physical space to openly express themselves and celebrate their diversity in unison. For this matter, the Center’s programs and activities are developed to increase the awareness, understanding, support and intersectionality of the various identities in the local community. We are non-profit, non-commercial NGO.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with 5 key words.
culture

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
education

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
foreigners

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
creativity

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
multicultural

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of sustainability and how these have been/will be met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
All of our Multicultural initiatives, events, exhibits and other public relations matters, go hand in hand with being sustainable. We seek to recycle and raise awareness towards this topic through our work. We show our students that recycling and upcycling of the materials we use in our classes helps us achieve the most outstanding results, whereas other organizations might struggle to do so.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
Multicultural diversity helps dispel negative stereotypes and also recognize and respect different groups so that as we interact with others we can build bridges to trust, respect, and understanding across cultures. It is a unique local inclusive project that contribute to bringing a sense of
belonging and living in this city for the locals and foreigners. Our goal is to connect with local historical heritage and traditions and also with local features of educational, cultural and artistic dynamics and lifestyles and to contribute to create the feeling of belonging for the whole community with intergenerational, international, multilingual and intercultural exchanges in a friendly and supportive environment. We are developing study programmes for the individuals to reach the maximum level of integration. These are the main benefits for the whole community.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
Our organization aims to make all of our services as accessible as possible. In all contexts of accessibility — we aim for affordability, inclusion, tolerance. We promote a unity in diversity, in this way, we do not jeopardize the differences, but rather embrace them through unison of joint events, concerts, lessons, exhibitions, counseling.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the initiative and civil society have been/will be involved in the initiative and what has been/will be the impact of this involvement on the initiative
The citizens are involved through our courses, excursions, workshops, concerts, drama open lessons and other cultural events, international projects, collaboration of different local cultural and educational institutions and organizations.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the initiative.
We have a large multicultural team, which consists of a quarter of local specialists, as well as professionals and volunteers from different countries - Latvia, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Slovakia, Moldova, Romania, France. Our employees, who are now 40 people, daily contribute to the common cause, implementing educational and cultural projects, preparing programs for the implementation of plans for the development of a multicultural community. On a local level, we are the only multicultural center in the South Moravian Region with more than 120 million people living on an area of 7.188 km²

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your initiative. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was
No matter the initiative, Multicultural Center Brusinka is a client-facing, not a revenue-facing organization. We seek to create for the people. Through cooperation and an «open-doors» approach, we manage to combine the practicality of Brusinka, with creative demand from our clients.

Please highlight the innovative character of the initiative, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the initiative
There is a lack of support of multicultural activities from the government of Czech Republic. There is one Multicultural Center in Prague, however in our second city, Brno, there were no such initiatives before we have opened our Center. The main advantage is that we are mixing support services with education, we have language, music, art, theater department, rugby and chess club for children, different kind of developing and leisure time activities, raising the ways of horizon and overview widening.
The current Czech Republic is often the subject of discussions regarding the relationship of the majority to minorities. Problems arising from multicultural coexistence in the Czech Republic are currently being solved as at local levels or within the state, as well as at the international level. We are still hearing from the media about racially motivated attacks, discrimination or the planned departure of Romani people from the Czech Republic. But we are not talking about Romani ethnics, nowadays in the Brno city there are a lot of different foreigners as it is a fast developing place with a lot of science, cultural institutions, international festivals and universities with students from the different countries. The common denominator of multicultural concepts is the desire for coexistence of majority and minority components of the city population. The challenge for the Czechs is to give up the ethnic concept of the Czech state and begin to understand the nation as a community of free and equal people as well as a community of different ethnicities and cultures. By the activities of our Center we are trying to demonstrate a successful example of integration, diversity and connection of different nationalities.

Please describe which elements of your initiative could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts. This may involve, for example, aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings, etc.
Common approach, the whole system with all the courses and activities.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your initiative.
There are two primary goals of creating a multicultural environment: celebrating all cultures and challenging all forms of discrimination and xenophobia, including in the workplace, educational spaces, public environments, and other places.

Stated and implied goals from multicultural education programs throughout the world include:

Empowerment of students and teachers
Increase in cultural pluralism
Expanded knowledge about many cultures, groups, and societies
Professional practice that is increasingly guided by increased multicultural knowledge
Increased social action
learning for the green transition

Please explain what kind of global challenges the initiative addresses by providing local solutions
Our advantages:
— A true multicultural tolerant environment in Brno
— At the same time Czech, English, Russian and Ukrainian departments
— Quality support for foreigners of various origins, including families with children
— Support for foreigners from various countries, the association of the Ukrainian and Russian minorities in Brno
— Connecting the cultures of different nations
— Excellent knowledge of languages (Czech, English, Italian, Ukrainian, German, Russian and others)
— Long-term experience in teaching languages, preparing for exams for children and adults
— A professional team of lecturers and pedagogues, the possibility of work and practice for young people
— Beneficial permanent cooperation between cultural institutions: MZK, MZM, KUMST, Goose on a String, Co.Labs, etc.
— Afternoon Ukrainian school, adaptation courses for children up Saturday Russian school for bilingual children, club for the little ones
— Music and theater department, which organizes multicultural concerts and performances
— Multicultural excursions, trips and camps
— A very strong rugby section for children
— Art and work workshop that offers workshops, courses
— The possibility of organizing festivals and markets
— Cooperation with external lecturers internationally

In addition, culture is undoubtedly important for compensating for the psychological and social problems that disability and illness cause to citizens.

Please detail the scope of progress in the implementation of the initiative. This can include already demonstrated results/outputs related to the chosen Prizes category, and the already achieved benefits from the initiative for direct and indirect beneficiaries. This can also include a development plan of the initiative, with a particular attention to the steps envisaged in the year following the application, and including envisaged results and benefits from the initiative
Benefits for the city of Brno

— Multicultural center, international center, language, music, theater school for Czechs and foreigners, children, youth, adults, pensioners, integration courses, social support for residents
— Attracting investment
- International relationships
— Development of the social, cultural, educational environment
— Work with foreigners, employment of foreigners with higher professional education
— Helping children with tutoring, including children with various disabilities
— Social, speaking, game clubs
— High-quality translations and interpreting (in Brno, after the start of the war in Ukraine, the number of Russian-speaking refugees increased significantly)

The Czech Multicultural Center Brusinka offers educational and leisure activities for the people of Brno, families with children and the like, which contributes to the prevention of racism and xenophobia through the support of multicultural education and training.

Our center is an association of Czech citizens and foreigners for the purpose of supporting and developing a multicultural foreign cultural and social environment in the South Moravian Region and especially in Brno, as well as the integration of foreigners in the South Moravian Region. No wonder, there are really a lot of expats in Brno who work with commitment for the development of the city, just like in any association. We also deal with the topics of multicultural education.

Please provide documents that demonstrate the maturity level of the initiative and commitment to implement the initiative in practice (e.g.: evaluation report, final or mid-term initiative report, certification, publications, building permit, grant agreement, letter of support, partnership agreement, etc.)
PDF
PDF
If relevant, please describe how your initiative contributes to developing new competences, especially in the context of the European competence framework on sustainability.
Creating a supportive learning environment for sustainability that span all activities and operations by an educational institution and enable teaching and learning that is hands-on, interdisciplinary and relevant to local contexts
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images or visual representations of your initiative to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below.
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By submitting your application you confirm that you are the copyright owner of the images provided and that they can be used by the European Commission for the purposes of promoting the New European Bauhaus on all platforms (websites, print, social media and other).
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes

By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed initiative has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes

By submitting your application, you guarantee that you are the author or have the rights to proceed with the application and to authorise the use of the initiative and that you have obtained any necessary consents, licenses or assignments from third parties and included copyright notices when necessary
Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their initiatives, initiative, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted initiative, initiative is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes