Pretty unvacant
Call for the best European vacant building revitalised in collaboration with citizens. See the rules.
Application form
1. Name of the application (e.g. common name used for the building that is subject of this
application).
Dom skupnosti Savsko naselje | Community centre (Savsko naselje housing estate)
2. About the applicant / building
Name of the contact person*
Aidan Cerar
Organization managing the building
ProstoRož, NGO from Ljubljana, Slovenia
Owner of the building
Municipality of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Location
Savsko naselje, housing estate located in the northern part Ljubljana, Slovenia
Unvacant since
2015
*The above stated representative has the permission from the owner or manager of the building to
apply for this call.
3. Photos
Attach two photos of the case you would like to apply with.
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The first one must illustrate the state of the building before the revitalisation took place.
The second must illustrate the building after the revitalisation took place. Each sent photo should
not be larger than 2 megabytes.
4. Narrative
Please write down the narrative of the revitalisation process in one or two paragraphs. Make sure
you expand on the topics listed below (max. 300 words).
(This text will later be published on the call website in order to promote you case.)
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Location of the building.
Dom skupnosti / Community centre (Savsko naselje housing estate, Ljubljana) has been established in
the fifties. It was a place where the district administration was located. It also contained a larger hall
for the events of / for the local community and a bar. The back part of the Community centre had not
been in use in the last decades. Because of the new legislation bar was shut down and the
neighbourhood administration relocated elsewhere.
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When did the revitalisation process and new use start?
In 2013, a NGO ProstoRož was commissioned by the City of Ljubljana to work on the revitalisation of
the estate which included social community aspect. The community expressed a significant interest in
putting Community centre back in use. The cooperation between ProstoRož, Coworking Slovenia
(NGOs) the City of Ljubljana and Regional development agency has resulted in the concept of
revitalisation. It included a social innovation service – Library of things and new use of the Centre in a
manner of community centre, offering a space for organisation of various activities generated by the
(local) community.
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Who was the initiator; the manager, the owner and what was the role of the citizens – expand on
the role of all stakeholder groups in the process of revitalisation.
Describe the content that the building provides since it has been revitalised.
The initial idea for providing new content to the local community centre and developing new services
for the neighbourhood residents, as well as other citizens of Ljubljana, led to researching international
good practices as well as the local needs. A Library of Things stood out as the content with tremendous
potential not only for fostering social capital at the neighbourhood level (through coincidental run-ins
or event organization), but also for enabling individuals to use items they might otherwise not be able
to afford or that would take too much space if owned.
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How is the building managed?
What are the plans in terms of the future development of the building?
The Centre has been refurbished with the help of the locals who actively cooperated in renewal. Locals
also cooperate in programme generation of the Centre and use the Library of things while the building
is managed by ProstoRož NGO that has a contract with the City of Ljubljana who owns the building. As
the Centre and the Library operate in a non-profit manner it is quite a challenge to provide finances
for the future activities. Future operations depend on that.
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Link where more information is available.
http://www.spottedbylocals.com/ljubljana/knjiznica-reci/
http://www.rcke.si/en/achivements/the-library-of-things
Date
17.5.2017___________________
Send the application to Institute for Spatial Policies at: [email protected], before 15. 6. 2017.
Name the file with the name of the application – first row of this application (e.g. CommunityCentre-Savsko-naselje.docx)
Photo 1: before
Photo 2: after