"What does 'Depot' mean and why my district is called like that?". "My house in Toumba doesn't get any sunlight so I go to Paralia every day". "Now I have realized that I've never been to the neighbourhoods of western Thessaloniki". "I don't often leave my house downtown because there are no sidewalks to move my stroller!". "I would like to have more parks and greenery in my neighborhood in Analipsi!"

The workshop "We design our neighbourhood" has its origins in a series of similar workshops held in cities in the US, Latin America and Europe, as part of horizontal actions with citizens, launched at the beginning of the 21st century, to empower and mobilize them to improve the quality of life in cities.

This workshop will take place in a public and beloved space of Thessaloniki citizens, Nea Paralia, inviting participants to "tell" stories of everyday life from their neighbourhood as well as to envision the neighbourhood and the city they want.

This workshop is held in collaboration with the environmental organization Mamagea, which will be able to present to the participants information and conclusions from the Dentri Project, a project of a similar nature that took place in the city of Thessaloniki (in collaboration with the Heinrich Böll Foundation) in 2021. Furthermore, participants will be able to obtain free of charge the publication "Towards a participatory future: urban experiments", published in the framework of this project and describing the stages of the project process.

Through the workshop, participants in groups will jointly envision, discuss and depict the neighbourhood they would like in the city of Thessaloniki - and even if they are not residents of the city, they will be able to express opinions and ideas from their personal experience.

The results, the "neighbourhood maps", will compose a collective "collage" that will be exhibited at the workshop site, Nea Paralia, as an installation of active presence and opinion of the citizens.

The main objective of the workshop is to portray the collective imagination of citizens (of Thessaloniki or not) about their neighbourhood and to formulate proposals for improving the quality of life in it.

Mamagea

"Mamagea" is a Civil Non-Profit Company upgrading everyday life in cities, the social and the urban environment. Through current and innovative approaches, "Mamagea" designs and implements actions capable of changing the daily life of cities and neighborhoods. It aims to develop social cohesion, tackle climate change, and strengthen communities and human networks.