Kalmar and Poltava focus on Ukraine’s transformation for EU integration through collaborations in transport, social policy, education, culture, environment, and climate. Additionally, they are working on strengthening local preparedness and resilience, with a particular focus on cybersecurity.
Kalmar, Manisa, Bornova and Karsiyaka are jointly one of the municipal networks in the Tusenet-project between Sweden and Turkey, run by SKL International. This is a continuation of the project on implementing Time Travels in Turkey involving Karsiyaka, Bornova and Manisa municipalities and Kalmar municipality in Sweden. The first year has successfully finished and this is the application for the second and third year of the project.
The goal is to establish an organisation for Historic Environment Education and Time Travels in the three participating Turkish municipalities as a tool to strengthen identity, learning and democracy, as well as a sense of belonging for the historic sites among the inhabitants of the cities but also to make history “living” for the visiting tourists.
In the second and third year of the project the Time Travels with students will be developed as a method in the Turkish curriculum and more people will be trained. Also Time Travels with tourist groups and the local population will be arranged. There will be an exchange of experiences between learning and heritage tourism in Kalmar and the Turkish municipalities.
The plan is to disseminate the Time Travel method to other Turkish regions using the Tusenet networks. Finally a booklet about Time Travels at the Aegean Sea will be published and an international conference organized in Turkey.
After the three years a sustainable organisation for Historic Environment Education will be established in the three municipalities – Karsiyaka, Bornova and Manisa and Time Travel work presented to other Turkish municipalities. There will be a network with similar groups in Sweden and internationally.
To improve the socio-economic well-being and develop the communities by engaging people in the democratic process on local stories and historical sites.
The project objective is to create sustainable educational programs together with communities and schools on heritage and culture, local sites and stories, engaging people in interviews, drama, time travels as a way to root democracy and develop the communities
2013-14 the project Sites and Stories was carried out, which aimed to develop local democracy by engaging people in local sites and stories and create pedagogical concepts for reflection on contemporary issues, such as democracy, societal challenges and dreams for the future.
The project was a great success. Now Entebbe Municipality wants to take a step further and develop permanent structures for a heritage/cultural center in Entebbe as a democratic arena and meeting place for reflection and cultural expressions. Entebbe Municipality lacks a structure on organizational level to include the cultural heritage in the democratic process.
This project aims to develop a structure, organization and content for a cultural center and Entebbe is positive to implement an institutional change that includes the activities of the cultural center in the municipal organization. The cultural center is suggested to be an integrated part of the Community Based Services Department within the municipality and complement the already existing Municipal Development Forums as an arena for local democratic processes.
The citizens will be engaged in study groups, workshops and two permanent educational programs will be developed and implemented. Kalmar is also planning for a cultural center, which makes the project very relevant. Cultural heritage is not considered being a tool for engaging the local community in democracy- and societal challenges, but this project will highlight and implement this as a sustainable structure in the municipal organization of Entebbe.