City Municipality of Mladenovac - "Positive Narratives about Roma Culture and Heritage” project

City Municipality of Mladenovac

PROJECT TITLE: Positive Narratives about Roma Culture and Heritage

VALUE: EUR 54,257

DURATION: 12 months

PARTNER: Roma Forum of Serbia (FRS)

The overall goal of the project is to increase the social inclusion of the Roma community by suppressing anti-gypsyism and promoting positive narratives about Roma culture and heritage. While the specific goals are to strengthen the capacity of local stakeholders to recognize and combat anti-gypsyism patterns, and to promote positive narratives about Roma culture, heritage and history, especially through the media and cultural initiatives.

The key activities of the project include the development and dissemination of the Anti-Gypsism Guide, a practical tool for local actors that provides information on the recognition and suppression of anti-Gypsyism, the organization of anti-Gypsism workshops that will bring together representatives of local self-government, educational institutions, the media and civil society, as well as the organization of training for local media representatives in order to report that avoids sensationalism and discrimination.

Also, a public campaign will be organized in which a theater performance will be prepared with Roma participants, followed by radio spots and media reports on Roma culture and history, lectures on the Roma Holocaust and memorial tours on local Roma history.

The main target groups are: 60 representatives of local institutions, 10 local civil society organizations, 10 representatives of local media, 20 Roma (men, women and children) participants in cultural initiatives and 2,000 citizens of Mladenovac who will be included in the public campaign.

The expected results are increased awareness of anti-gypsyism among local stakeholders, improvement of positive narratives about Roma in the media and public discourse, strengthened capacities of the media for responsible reporting on the Roma community and greater understanding and appreciation of Roma culture among the local population.

The project relies on synergy with local strategies and national action plans for Roma inclusion and uses the previous experience of partners in implementing similar projects.

Contact person in the project team: Dejan Markovic (dmarkovic2002@gmail.com)