This June, the Prime Minister of Croatia bestowed a national award to "Mali Uce Velike" (also known as [MU:V], or "Kids Teach Grown-Ups"), an initiative funded by the Urban Institute and carried out by PPS and the City of Rijeka. The award, which recognized PPS and our Croatian partners for outstanding cooperation between local government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), spotlights the growing popularity of PPS's placemaking strategies in Eastern European cities and towns.

"We saw how engaged they can become when they are given the responsibility to make a better place."

In 2003, after a decade of work in the Czech Republic using placemaking techniques to revive and preserve historic towns, PPS was invited to Rijeka by the Urban Institute to help launch [MU:V]. The program was created as a means to involve youth in the civic process, a vital necessity in a region where civil war had engendered increasing apathy among young people.

This empty lot below Soviet "panelak" housing was one of the sites that participants in [MU:V] identified for possible improvements.

"We were told how 'disenfranchised' the kids in Rijeka were -- most of whom have grown up during a decade of civil war and the collapse of Yugoslavia," said PPS Vice President Steve Davies. "We saw how engaged they can become when they are given the responsibility to make a better place. If they can do this, they can make a better country, too."

Through [MU:V], PPS helped youth in Rijeka identify key places in their community and suggest improvements. The program began when the City announced a public competition for youth to propose ideas for revitalizing public spaces in Rijeka. Ten teams of young people responded, and the teams were then trained in the principles of placemaking by young adult mentors, who had been trained themselves by PPS staff.

The Croatian youths, who ranged from 10 to 18 years old, were led through the placemaking exercise by mentors trained by PPS staff.

Each team entered a proposal in the competition, and two winning proposals were selected to receive funding:

• NGO Klub mladih Hrvatske (Croatian Youth Club), who will create a new indoor space for socializing and creative workshops (including cartoon iluustration, set design, and acting).
• OS Bradja, who will redesign a public park adjacent to an elementary school, with support from neighboring residents who have long complained about the park's condition.

[MU:V] has already secured funding for 2004 and is in full swing again. Twelve teams have applied, and according to our partners, their ideas this year are even more developed than last year. PPS and the Urban Institute are currently discussing the opportunity to expand the placemaking approach to other communities in Croatia.

Strengthening Rural Economies in Serbia

At nearly the same time that [MU:V] was honored in Croatia, PPS initiated our first projects in neighboring Serbia, where we and our local partners are using placemaking to achieve rural economic development in the region around the city of Novi Sad.

Vendors at the opening day of the farmers market in Novi Sad.

PPS, together with the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation (CEPF) and the Green Network of Vojvodina, held a participatory workshop in Novi Sad this May that led to the creation of an organic farmers market in the main square--the first market there to focus on local agricultural products. The market was envisioned as a means for farmers in the region to not only sell their products and strengthen the organic movement, but also to raise awareness among city dwellers of the importance and culture of the dwindling rural population.

The idea of the weekly market was embraced so enthusiastically by workshop participants that it was open for business by June 25, only four weeks after the initial meeting. Twenty five farmers participated, selling organic produce, baked goods, and traditional crafts.