L o O P

Project Details

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The partnership between the organizations, from Greece (LOOP), Serbia (Eho Animato), North Macedonia (Peripetjia and LDA Struga), and Germany (Oyoun), and the network of six associate partners across Europe, is built on the foundation of transnational collaboration between a diverse group of European artists and cultural workers, as well as going beyond known borders of the sector and including sustainable tourism organizations. This consortium will expand on new models of transnational collaboration through a series of cultural activities that will span across 30 months. Co-creation and development of new models of sustainable and inclusive creative work (environmentally, economically, creatively, and socially) are inherently present in the way the open calls, residencies and co-productions in the PROSPER project are designed; and all co-productions are co-creations by the transnational groups of artists and cultural workers who will exchange their models and strategies of work in their respective fields. Dissemination and presentation of the results of PROSPER will be realized in all partner countries, but also through the network of associate partners that includes festivals and other actors in the local scenes of European countries, creating impact well across Europe, spreading further than just the partner countries. 

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All of the artistic activities are rooted in the local contexts of the places where the long-term residencies in Evia and Lake Ohrid will take place. This local context is very much defined by the current environmental strain that the regions are experiencing. In line with the New European Bauhaus and in partnership with PHALA (Panhellenic Association of Landscape Architects - associate partner), PROSPER aims to raise awareness about the urgency of sustainable choices for the two main areas selected to host the residencies, and use them as case studies in order to develop a new prototype model for sustainable long-term artistic residencies in peripheries. 

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Both Evia and Lake Ohrid represent common types of natural degradation that we experience globally and more frequently than ever before. The wildfires that took place in 2021 in Evia, a recurring global phenomenon in warm regions due to climate change, caused loss of natural habitats for insects, birds, and larger animals; dangers of erosion causing irreversible problems with topsoil fertility which are vital for the reforestation and return of agricultural practice; and, effects of erosion on adjacent marine habitats with large mass of sediments. The actions and decisions taken in the first years after a wildfire can have a magnified effect on landscape reclamation; and there is an urgent need for sustainable management of the landscape to recover the financial opportunities of the local rural communities that depend on it.

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Lake Ohrid, on the other hand is a UNESCO world heritage site with a unique ecosystem not only because of its high biodiversity and significance for migrating species, but also because of its large number of endemic species - species found only there. Lake Ohrid wetland habitats have recorded a constant decrease in recent times, mostly because of agriculture and urban development. The increased human activity in the region with larger towns, intense commercial fishing and increasing touristic development adds problems with pollution and higher risk of eutrophication and endangers the balance of the already shrunk natural habitat. The urgency applies here since decreases in biodiversity are hard to overturn, at the same time endangering the habitat of endemic species can have irreversible effects, even extinction.

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The open call for the selection of the participating artists for the two residencies in Evia and Lake Ohrid will enable the creation of an international group of 16 artists that will directly engage with each other, as well as with local communities and sustainable tourism actors in the peripheries. The selection of the artists will be made by the main partners with gender equality, inclusiveness, and diversity aspects in mind; participants must be able to identify as artists on the peripheries and describe how they plan to contribute to peripheries in their applications. Selected participants will be provided research methodology workshops that focus on the environmental aspects of the local context. This will not only enhance the intercultural but also the multidisciplinary aspects of the project, emphasizing on environmental and ecological awareness, while promoting sustainability throughout the course of the residency in practical day to day terms. A key objective within the residencies is to inspire artists to find connections between their artistic practice, the fragile environment they are inhabiting, and the people who live there. This will contribute to the development of a new methodology of environmentally conscious artistic practice integrated in developing sustainable residencies as a prototype.

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By engaging local communities in places with an underdeveloped cultural scene, such as Evia and Lake Ohrid, PROSPER also aims to create stronger connections with new audiences and non-audiences, providing new opportunities for interaction and mutual learning. In this way we will explore long-term residencies as generators of interpersonal connections, and as motivators for inclusion through direct contact between artists and local audiences. Moreover, the tourism sector, as well as the cultural sector, are heavily affected by the Covid-19 crisis and new strategies are needed in order to achieve sustainability. Partnering with sustainable tourism organizations, PROSPER proposes new models of collaboration between culture and tourism sectors that can create new opportunities, jobs and projects. 

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Capacity building is also an essential part of PROSPER. Most of the main partners are grassroots micro-organizations, who have been taking part in larger projects with increasing responsibility over the past years, but lack wider institutional support. Therefore, the intention is to build capacity with larger and more established partners such as Oyoun (partner) and Pogon (associate partner), who will support the smaller organizations with their skills, experience, and expertise. Strategies of solidarity infused project management, strategies of growth for grassroots initiatives, strategies on sustainable artistic practices and tourism (which will be developed with LDA Struga), as well as development of residencies with a strong emphasis on gender and inclusiveness are the main capacity building trainings at the core of the project development. Training sessions will be open to organizations outside of the consortium interested in the topics. These collective learning practices, as well as hands-on experience while working on the project will significantly enhance capacities of all participating organizations.