Roma:Recycle-Reuse-Reimagine is a project that brings together Roma and non-Roma to work together to create a children’s book that can be shared with services and classrooms that are not culturally aware and sensitive of the Roma community. At the same time, young vulnerable Roma and their family members will come together in three facilitated workshops (online or presencial) and decorate recycling bins, discuss the environment and climate justice back home and now in the UK, and brainstorm the ideas/drawings for the children’s book.
A Common Ground commission by Season for Change, a nationwide programme of artistic and cultural events that celebrate the environment and inspire urgent climate action. Led by Julie’s Bicycle and Artsadmin, and supported by Arts Council England and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.www.seasonforchange.org.uk #SeasonforChange @jointheseason_
Other collaborators include:
Alexandra Bahor from Granby Toxteth, Claudia Tranca from the Roma Project, Terezia Rostas from CYFP and Raluca Maria Polodeanu from ReelMaster Productions.
Project Update Jan 2021:
The Roma: Recycle-Reuse-Reimagine project has kicked-off and been working with grassroots Roma families and community connectors in four different cities in the UK, from Birmingham and Coventry, to Liverpool and Sheffield. Thanks to key community connectors such as Alexandra Bahor from Granby Toxteth Development Trust (Liverpool), Terezia Rostas from the Care for Young People’s Future (Sheffield), and Claudia Tranca from Roma Project (Coventry), the project has collaborated with over fifty Roma community members and engaged several organisations and schools through online meetings.
The project team also has a strong media presence online and regularly tweets and shares posts on several digital platforms. Working closely with Maria Polodeanu from Reel Master Productions, the project has been able to produce 6 films that have translated three children’s books into Romanian and Slovak Romanes- LINK. These books have been shared with schools, families, and are being distributed across networks, hoping to reach and engage more families in the country. The books are also part of the workshops and have been included in each of the craft bags sent out to families.
As part of the project, each family receives a craft bags which includes art materials, recycling bags, and children’s books on recycling. The families then attend a series of online workshops where climate justice, recycling, and human rights are explored and the families offer ideas for the children’s book.
Liverpool Workshops Feb 2021:
Coventry Workshops Feb 2021:
