Afbeelding
11 citizen initiatives step into the spotlights in Ixelles
17/04/2019
The project ‘Connecteurs’ develops communities based on their assets. Residents in Ixelles give advice on and support five new local initiatives. Because when in need, you make your own city! Local development can best start by citizens, from the bottom-up. This is what lots of inhabitants and users of Ixelles prove, within the project ‘Connecteurs’.
The project ‘Connecteurs’ develops communities based on their assets. Residents in Ixelles give advice on and support five new local initiatives. Because when in need, you make your own city! Local development can best start by citizens, from the bottom-up. This is what lots of inhabitants and users of Ixelles prove, within the project ‘Connecteurs’.
A Citizen Assembly with eleven initiatives
Five citizen initiatives received financial support in September, five new ones request support now. On the Citizen Assembly on the 3rd of April 2019, these ten presented themselves to the local community and asked for their support. An eleventh gave a showcase as well, but was not ready to demand a budget just yet. People passed by, got to know the projects and gave their comments and suggestions. Some people offered their help.
From a web tv to a kitchen-bike
Thematically speaking, the range of these initiatives is very broad, which is only natural since they start from the passions of different persons. The first three projects are about a web TV, street art and a community podcast. A fourth one proposes to buy a “kitchen-bike” for the neighbourhood. The last one wants to make a tutorial for African hairdressers. These five are in addition to last year’s initiatives such as urban street gardens or art exhibitions in local bars.
Cocreation doesn’t exclude
Confidence in people and connections between them, that’s what the Asset Based Community Development method is about. The project ‘Connecteurs’, run by BRAL and Habitat & Rénovation, tests this approach in Brussels. Yet, this is not about getting rid of the authorities; this is about cocreation between citizens, associations and the public sector. The local authorities of the Brussels Capital Region and the Commune d’Ixelles give financial and other support to the project and to the citizen initiatives. In the following months, the possibilities of cooperation between citizens and authorities will be further discussed in round tables .
