neighborhood
PINKER: Finding partners or group to have daily life action together
Submitted by joonsbaek on Tue, 06/28/2011 - 9:53amCountries
ChinaThemes
community buildingLink:
Stakeholders / Promoters:
Pinkenet is an E-platform where participants could publish and share the information for finding the partners and group. It was organized by several sections to make searching easier.
Participants are mostly Yong people who leave from their families and hometown to new cities to work and live. Lack of families and friends makes them life boring and alone.
Background/ Context:
With industrialization, the population of cities grow fast with new immigrations. Most of them are the young who leave from their families and hometown to new cities to work and live. Lack of families and friends makes them life boring and alone. Then those young start to connect with others who are in the similar situations through some channels like pinkenet to have activities together like dinner, entertainment, travel, shopping, sports, game and etc. By those activities, those young peoples increase their life quality and make more friends, have more social fabric connections.
Case Description:
With E-platform, urban people (mostly young) could find partners or group who they don’t know each other to have activities together. With economic prices, Pinker participants would have more social life and social connection and to have some services and experiences, which increase the life quality to individuals and solidarity to society.
Benefits (Social, and environmental benefits):
Those urban young find a solution for themselves to re-establish the social connections in new places with an economic and easy and sustainable way.
GAS (Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale)
Submitted by joonsbaek on Fri, 06/24/2011 - 12:49amCountries
ItalyLink:
Stakeholders / Promoters:
GAS (NPO), a network of consumers and producers in Italy
Background/ Context:
Conventional models of purchasing food do not show how it is produced and distributed, or give any guarantees of respect for human rights and the environment. Consumers are increasingly dissatisfied by the products offered by large distributors such as supermarkets (which normally exclude small producers from their trade), and are looking for quality, transparency and traceability. They would like to actively find out about the background of the product rather than being a passive consumer. Consequently alternative forms of shorter supply chain are emerging.
Case Description:
Solidary Purchasing Group (GAS) is a group of people who buy wholesale foods in group and redistribut them between the members. In addition, it proposes a guiding criterion in selecting products, thereby allowing consumers to practice so-called critical consumption. The solidarity exists within the group, among its members, small-size producers who provide the products and the environment.
The aim of GAS is to promote humane economy that satisfies to our real needs and is favorable to the environment by formulating an ethic of critical consumption that brings people together rather than divide them and puts time and resources in common rather than seperates them.
Benefits (Social, and environmental benefits):
• Social benefits: Being together with friends in a relaxed atmosphere, discussing which product to buy that fits the group’s objectives of avoiding exploitation, and being high quality and of known origin, generates a feeling of satisfaction. The small number of people in each group makes communication easier.
• Environmental benefits: There is less packaging waste, less need of energy for cooling and freezing (food is fresh and seasonal) and less pollution from delivery, as the products are bought in bulk. Some of the products are organic so benefit the ecosystem.
Vicini Vicini
Submitted by joonsbaek on Fri, 06/24/2011 - 12:24amCountries
ItalyThemes
neighborhoodsLink:
Stakeholders / Promoters:
Comune di Roma, residents in Rome
Background/ Context:
In all of Europe, individualism, withdrawal into oneself and loneliness is on the rise. Everywhere social bonds are growing loose. Each resident is invited to make a simple gesture at the same time throughout Europe. To invite your neighbours to share a nice time around a buffet or a luncheon, enhances social cohesion and creates new solidarities. Born in Paris in 1999 as a small initiative in the neighborhood, the Feast of Neighbors of the House was expanded at European level in 2003 and now involves 6 million people in over 500 cities. Every year in Europe, the Feast of Neighbors is held on the last Tuesday of May and the inhabitants of a same block or an apartment get together to have a buffet or drinks.
Case Description:
Vicini Vicini is a service that promotes social conviviality of a community by providing people a kit to organzie neighboring parties. It is an Italian version of the Feast of Neighbors and was initiated by Comune di Roma.
The service is composed of the following components (from the website of Vicini Vicini):
1. Talk to your neighbors: The best way to organize a celebration to involve as many people as possible. The more people join the feast, the more effective the initiative will be. Share ideas and organize the feast together. Preparing the event together is already part of the initiative! It would be nice also to consider those who have to stay at home by not disturbing them and perhaps sharing a slice of cake.
2. Inform the neighbors who do not know: use the poster and flyer downloadable from the website (also availabe at the distribution points).
3. Find a suitable place: You can organize the festival at home but public areas of your building such as the courtyard, the hall, the terrace, the porch, the garden are also a good choice depending on the size of the party.
4. Prepare tables and chairs: Think about the materials needed for a buffet such as tables and chairs - especially for the elderly.
5. Eating and drinking: For everyone! Prepare drinks with and without alcohol. It is important that everyone contributes to the buffet: everyone brings something! If there are people from different parts of Italy and the world, it would be nice for them to prepare something typical of their regions.
6. Children alive!: Children are always the real stars of the festivities. Prepare things that they like including soft drinks, cakes, sweets, balloons and gifts. and organize simple group games.
7. Prepare contents for the party: If you can prepare musical instruments, play them in front of the public. If you can paint, draw facial paintings for the kids. Find out who lived longest in your building and who moved in most recently. If there are people from other countries, exchange cultural experiences with them.
8. Decorate the feast: Think of the decorations with flowers and plants in addition to music, remembering not to disturb the neighbors who do not participate.
9. Take pictures and share them: Take your photos or make a video of the festival and publish them on the website.
10. That’s just the start: Vicini Vicini is the first step to get together with your neighbors. We would like it to be an opportunity to launch joint projects and to remove the anonymity and isolation from your neighborhood.
Benefits (Social, and environmental benefits):
• Social: In a relatively less formalized structure of a service - a service that is not restricted to certain rules but permits users freedom to do whatever they want to meet their needs -, Vicini Vicini provides an opportunity for a variety of social interactions between neighbors.
