MedTOWN in Portugal organises an open talk about community co-production and solidarity economy

MedTOWN project organizes the Portuguese open talk “Conversa Aberta: community co-production and solidarity economy through the MedTOWN lens”, conducted by Prof. Rogério Roque Amaro. The event will be held in Lisbon, hosted by the Junta de Freguesia de Campolide, MedTOWN’s partner in Portugal, on Saturday 18th February 2023, from 10.00 am.

Since 2019 MedTOWN project "Co-production of social policies with social and solidarity economy (SSE) actors to fight poverty, inequality and social exclusion" has been developing an innovative initiative in Bairro Bela Flor in Lisbon, through the Junta de Freguesia de Campolide. It is carried out in the scope of Community Co-production and Solidarity Economy as relevant tools to fight against injustice and social inequalities, by co-constructing with partners and the community new ways of finding solutions together.

Next Saturday the open conversation will be focused on the central theme of coproduction, with two priority pillars of the project: Co-production of public spaces in the city, in particular for sustainable agriculture; and Time Banks as a strategy for local valorisation and abundance.

It is the aim of MedTOWN to promote public discussion on the theme of Community Co-production and the tools of Solidarity Economy; to the disclosure of initiatives of guests or of those who come to participate; to disseminate activities developed with neighbours, local partners, academia, Junta de Freguesia and Camara Municipal de Lisboa (CML), in order to collect ideas to improve. And it is also intended to reflect locally on the project in order to understand what are the main conditions to replicate in the city.

The programme features the participation of Prof. Rogério Roque Amaro, Bárbara Ferreira, Prof. Isabel Vieira, Paula Marques -Lisbon Townhall Councillor-, representatives of Parish Council of Campolide, among other relevant members of the local community as ADM Estrela, Agroforestry of Bela Flor, etc.

There will be four thematic discussion panels in the morning. The first will centred on MedTOWN project, with Cristina Sousa, the project’s manager in Junta de Freguesia de Campolide (JFC). Ana Bragança and Cátia Sá (JFC) will talk about the Agroforestry and the dreams of the Community Room; António Chaves (Tempus Humanus) about challenges of the Time Bank of Campolide and Bárbara Ferreira (JFC), about the Utopia of a Community Group of Bela Flor.

The second panel, called “Conversa Aberta: community co-production”, will be facilitated by Bárbara Ferreira and Cristina Sousa (JFC), with participation of Rita Saraiva (ADM Estrela), Cátia Sá (JFC- Agrofloresta da Bela Flor), Arna Ido Cándido (Inhabitant and volunteer in Agrofloresta da Bela Flor) and José Ferreira (Local Development Department in the Townhall of Lisbon).

The third panel will be focused on “Community co-production in the fight against poverty and social exclusion”, moderated by Prof. Rogério Roque Amaro. Prof. Isabel Vieira (ECSH da Universidade Católica Portuguesa) and Paula Marques (Lisbon Townhall Councillor) will address the issue from their expert point of view. Finally, Prof. Rogério Roque Amaro will conclude with challenges, final notes and closing of the event.

There will be a convivial exchange working lunch for participants to finish the morning session and before Bela Flor Community Room kick-off in the afternoon.

Bela Flor Community Room

In the afternoon, from 17 pm, the Bela Flor community, along with local partners specially GLOCALDECIDE, will held the kick-off of the “Bela Flor Community Room” where a group of youth people will present a dance, neighbours will play music and a light dinner will be shared by all.

During “MedTOWN agroforest volunteers’ days”, this room has already been working as a study room and an ideas’ lab. The asked question “What you would like to do in this room?” obtained many answers, written on the wall from people with different ages and types of relations with the project. Those ideas are identified by MedTOWN team in order to coproduce a local room that suites everyone without exemption and brings more dynamic to the neighbourhood, in the long term.