New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Initiative category

Identify the award category for which this initiative is being submitted
Prioritising the places and people that need it the most

Email user
marijaivanovic2405@gmail.com

Basic information
Initiative title
Dare to thrive

Full initiative Title
Lingua Club: The World of Growth- Dare to thrive

Please provide a short, catchy description of your initiative to be used in communication towards the public.
This initiative was started in order to enrich the educational and recreational offer for children in one of the less developed regions of Serbia (East Serbia) through the programme designed to empower the children's mental strength, resilience, a proactive life approach, goal-orientation, communication skills and foreign language skills. The programme aims at reaching the outcomes through specially designed workshops that consist of game-like activities, drama, craftwork and project work, etc.

What was the geographical scope of your intiative?
National

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

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
Mostly Eastern Serbia which is one of the poorest regions of Serbia in terms of socio-development and the offer of artistic and recreational programmes.
Various activities have been conducted within the rural areas of the municipality of Knjaževac in the east of Serbia and the Balkans Mountain ( the Villages of Crni Vrh, Zubetinac, Vlaško Polje.

Does your initiative address mainly urban or rural issues?
It addresses urban-rural linkages

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

Has your initiative benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

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): Lingua Club- The Association for the Promotion of Languages and Interculturality
  Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation
  First name of representative: Marija
  Last name of representative: Ivanović Božić
  Gender: Female
  Nationality: Serbia
  Function: Legal representative
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Luke Lazarevića 6
  Town: Knjaževac
  Postal code: 19350
  Country: Serbia
  Direct Tel: +381 62 208540
  E-mail: linguaclub.world@gmail.com
  Website: https://linguaclubworld.wixsite.com/mysite
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://www.facebook.com/Linguaclub2020
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?
Social Media

Description of the initiative
Please provide a summary of your initiative
Lingua Club-Lanuaging in the Timok Valley- "Thrive united" is an initiative of providing a unique programme for children's personal development and growth aiming at enhancing their self confidence, creativity and resilience through ecological and cultural project activities, gamelike fillers, mindfulness and self-guidance tools.
It is organised in creative interior or natural surrondings through daily workshops sessions, trainings, trips and camps. In order to make this project more available to more children and other beneficiaries it is intended to adapt a village household in Orešac (eastern Serbia) to make an educational and camping centre where the time travel will take place. The students will learn about traditional and modern eco-friendly activities to nurture the gardens and composting area within the facilities using traditional and modern tools. The composting area will be available to the whole village as a means of fertalising the soil and encouraging organic agriculture. The traditional tools and items used in a houshold will be displayed both in a specialized museum within on of the facilites and all around the Orešac household as exponats.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with 5 key words.
an educational, ecological and cultural centre in rural surrounding

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
proactive approach ensuring mental strenght and resilience

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
goal-orientation and goal setting skills

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
a museum of traditional life-style

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
a composting pool available to the village

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.
Key objectives of the initiative are:
- Displaying efficient eco-friendly practices (a composting pool available to the village farmers, growing small organic gardens, orchards and bee-keeping etc.)
-Training new educators, trainers and peer educators that will disseminate the programme further
- Restoring and enhancing children's mental resilience and proactive approach through different farm growing activities
- Reconnection with nature, sustainable farming skills and organic farm production are promoted.
- Enlarging the network of governmental and non-governmental environmental institutions to cooperate with
The initiative Lingua Club-Lanuaging in the Timok Valley-"Thrive united" started by our NGO to build its own educational premises in nature will be exemplary as they not only provide accomodation and unique camping atmosphere but also enable them to be interactive with the surrounding nature and displayed items. This influenes the whole household to be improved and marked by all the visitors as well as the local community which might contribute and benefit to a great deal from the composting area.

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.
Key benefits in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people:
-More time spent in a natural surrounding arranged with cultivated farm areas and traditonal items and exponats
-Positive energy and emotions released through various game-like activities,
-Enjoying the cultural facilties (museum, outside exponats.)
-Displaying efficient practices to connect to cultural heritiage and traditional values in a creative way (museum workshops- project work, craftwork, labeling the items, presentation panels, enlarging the items thorugh craftwork or collecting traditional items etc.)
-Enjoying the cultural content ( a museum, references to the past)
- The museum section will contribute to the overall learning experience and reconnection to the past and nature
-Using mindset developing tools in a clutural and historical context ;
-Having comfortable rooms deigned in a rustic modern interior style will make the place attractive in all the seasons;
-Training new educators, trainers and peer educators that will disseminate the programme further.

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.
Key objectives of your initiative in terms of inclusion:
-The children from all the vulnarable groups will be welcomed and they will undertake this programme that is especially intended to support and ecourage such group members
- The growing number of children from vulnurable groups from Orešac (Roma families, socially incomplete families, etc) and nearby villages will have a unique educational centre to get equipped with successful mindset developing tools (resilience, vision, goal-setting techniques) to help them thrive united in their differences reconnected with both their cultural identity and natural ways.
-Through carefully designed activities they will contribute to the composting pool, organic production and museum growth.
-Training new educators, trainers and peer educators that will disseminate the programme further.
where they can find the necessary support through consulting, farm work

- ?na šta ovde misliš, da će oni da prodaju sveje poljoprivredne proizvode ili da će da dođu da se bave poljoprivredom? or workshops.

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
Lingua Club-Lanuaging in the Timok Valley-"Thrive united" encompasses workshops and project work which entail short-term and long-term initiatives and actions, such as problem-solving workshops, creative decorative craftwork, discussions and debates on various ecological and cultural issues regarding rural areas. Through these practices children learn citizenship-related and activist skills. They become capable of employing critical and creative thinking being able to analyse and synthetize, which are essential skills to create a desired reality. They learn to be socially responsible towards themselves, other citizens, world cultural heritage and the environment. They learn how being united in a positive striving can make the community thrive. E.g. They can brainstorm the solutions to different challenges set before organic production. They can debate small-scale vs. global food production, they can discuss the children's modern and the past lify styles, etc.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the initiative.
The local municipality supported two initiatives of our association-two festivals- which included the promotion of children's talents and enriching the cultural offer of municipality.
The idea for this initiative has developed through our organisation's work and experience with children, students and youth on previous and current educational programmes.
Bearing in mind the feedback and the effects of our camps and outside workshops, there was perceived the need to adapt a unique educational space in the Municipality of Knjaževac, to offer overall united growth through such an educational content that would target multiple ascpects, such as positive mindset development and environmental, cultural and activist awareness together with the reconnection with nature. Relying on the fact that parents seek for opportunities to send their children to spend more time in nature, such a centre addresses the needs of both the local population as well as of wider region of Serbia and abroad.

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
As our municiplaity promotes the development of rural and educational tourism, once the educational centre is adapted and finished, its maintenance would be also supported by the Municipality of Knjaževac. Its significance would be that there isn't a similar centre in a rural area that includes not only the accommodation and food but also ethno- cultural, environmental and pedagogical curruculum.

Please highlight the innovative character of the initiative, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the initiative
Compared to traditional institutionalised education, the approch developed within the programme connects the natural environment learning, physical activities, creative and critical thinking through project work and modern mental resilience techniques. It addressed all Gardner's types of intelligences, which cannot be said always for the formal education. It also touches intellectual, emotional, social and adaptation intelligence.

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.
The methodologies used ( the coaching and educative techniques) and adapted environment could be used for other age groups, not only for kids. It could be used for different seminar groups for adults, for recreational groups (yoga, pilates etc.), for art groups (Art colonies), self-development courses (reiki, theta healing etc.), teambuilding activities etc. It could contribute as a significant physical resource for future projects. A programme suitable to be carried out in other regions and countires could be developed to be applied their surroundings in similar centres.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your initiative.
The programme consists of a set of workshops and guidebook with motivational and organisational tool for students. The first phase emphasizes the importance of our vision and hope, that is our mental pictures. The second phase consists of setting a goal and action planning. The third phase would include environmental and cultural project work combined with games, physical activity and craftwork.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the initiative addresses by providing local solutions
The global challenges might refer to the demogical trend in this region and the fact that some villages are desolated as people migrated to the bigger urban cities which means if there was an educational centre, it wouldn't be available all the time as the family members and maintenance workers do not live in this household.
It could be overcome if the education is organised though schools, kindergartens and other organisations, which entails a very good marketing strategy and contact network to invite a lot of potentally interested groups from Serbia and abroad. Bearing in mind the global challenge of financial crisis, the interest will be increased as there are no costs for external accommodation and facilities compared to previous camps.

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
The initiative encompasses various workshops within the designed programme, the camp events and other products of the project work.
The direct beneficiaries are the children who learn and study through play and project work. Their learning and achievement are addressed through a psychological approach aiming at raising their self-confidence and mental stength first and thus consequently raising their accommplishments. They benefit through learning in a natural surroundings and having the activities organised as a set of physically and mentally engaging activities succeeding one another in such a way that they keep the students' focus and motivation to participate and learn.
They benefit from being active and engaged in various meaningful activities rather than being passively immersed in social media and gaming.
The indirect beneficiaries are their parents, teacher, friends, future employers, the whole times if they are motivated to make more situations where they feel self-affirmed and thus strive and thrive more.

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
- pdf-1-22226.pdf
If relevant, please describe how your initiative contributes to developing new competences, especially in the context of the European competence framework on sustainability.
Lingua Club-Lanuaging in the Timok Valley-"Thrive united" supports the concept of integrated life-long and autonomous learning through collaborative, experiential, solution-oriented methods to improve the natural surrounding of this educational complex, find positive eco-friendly circular practices promoting sustainable development (that can be copied world wide) and promote traditional artistic heritage values and promoting learning about the past lifestyles and simpler ways of living and connection with nature without technology and mass media.
Through interdisciplinary and cross-curricular approach the students will not only improve their 21st century life skills but also upgrade their personal mental strength, stamina, resilience, self-motivation, self-initiative and self-initiative together with social and collaborative skills to overcome any challenges in the turbulent times of the present moment (including epidemics, financial crisis and the war in Ukraine.)
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