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Civic space

Müszi – Public functions in private spaces

MÜSZI Art & Community Centre was a cultural space operating on the 3rd floor of a socialist-style department store in Budapest. Müszi stands as an unprecedented venture in Budapest, a venue that positions itself as an independent, self-sustaining “house of culture,” and offers affordable space and activities to a wide range of age groups, while combining its artistic and social mission with business principles in a sustainable manner.

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The Peissnitzhaus – Renovation with community shares

The Peissnitzhaus, a historical building in Halle/Saale. The house had been empty and neglected since the German reunification until 2003, when 17 people founded the “Peißnitzhaus e.V.”, a non-profit organisation. The members began to renovate the subsidiary buildings and to revitalise the beer garden by offering cultural and educational events.

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Largo Residências – Urban regeneration through local jobs

Largo Residências is a hostel, hotel, artist-in-residence and café in Lisbon’s fast-changing Intendente neighbourhood. It serves as a community hub for many of the area’s residents and initiatives, and develops projects to support the cultural and social inclusion of the neighbourhood’s precarious inhabitants. The establishment of Largo was assisted by the Lisbon Municipality’s BIP/ZIP program in 2011.

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Bottega Artistico Musicale – Public-civic cooperation for independent culture

Bottega Artistico Musicale is an experimental centre of independent cultural production in Sapri, Southern Italy. BAM’s space encourages open sharing of uses, resources and skills, in order to promote mutualistic, cooperative and supportive production. The building was offered by the municipality for free and was renovated by students, temporary employees, unemployed people, graduates, musicians, activists, artists.

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Stara Trznica – New purpose for a public building

Alianca Stará Tržnica is an NGO managing the Old Market Hall, a historic building in the centre of Bratislava, combining a food market with cultural, as well as two cafés, a grocery shop, a cooking school and a soda water manufacturer. Rethinking the opportunities of the Old Market Hall allows the organisation to run the building in an economically sustainable way, while gradually renovating it, creating a new event venue and meeting space in the heart of the city.

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Afrikaanderwijk – Pooling neighbourhood resources

Afrikaanderwijk Cooperative in South Rotterdam’s Feijenoord area works on bringing together existing workspaces, entrepreneurs, producers, social organisations and the market. The Cooperative began its work by mapping the unrecognised competences of residents in the Afrikaanderwijk neighbourhood. Based on these skills, the Cooperative created a number of organisations to help residents use their skills.

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Jurányi Incubator House – A home for performance arts

The Jurányi Incubator House brings together dozens of theatre groups, associations and creative companies in a former school building owned by the Budapest Municipality. Jurányi did not only create an unprecedented venue and umbrella organisation for the independent theatre scene, it also brought a cultural and community centre in an area with no cultural activities before.

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L’Alveare – Co-working as social service

L’Alveare​ is a co-working space in Rome that integrates a kindergarten, in order to allow parents, especially women, to return to their freelancing work with small children. In 2013 their project was awarded by Italia Camp​ and Unicredit as well as the Coopstartup​ that allowed them to transform the organisation into a working cooperative. The co-working and kindergarten, operating in a municipality-owned space, also accommodates lectures, trainings and workshops.

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LaFabrika detodalavida – Revitalising a rural area

LaFabrika detodalavida is a multifunctional community centre set up in an abandoned industrial space in Extremadura in Spain, that offers a series of local services to its rural community, such as cultural events, music, construction spaces and most importantly gathering venues.

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ExRotaprint – Community ownership against speculation

ExRotaprint was founded by tenants of the Rotaprint industrial complex in Wedding, a traditional working class district in Northwest Berlin. When the complex was put up for sale by the Berlin Municipality’s Real Estate Fund, members of the ExRotaprint began to look into the possibility of buying the area.

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