Summary of the project
The Schoolaboratory 007 project, “On the Path of Dreams to Social Change,” is part of a multi-year collective effort to address the issue of social stratification in one of the suburbs of Belgrade, specifically Ledine. This stratification has arisen as a result of geopolitical changes in the Balkans over the past three decades. With the emergence of new national identities in the Balkans, new cultural norms have taken shape, marginalizing individuals whose identities diverge from the prevailing norms. In this case, it disproportionately affects middle-class families of white-skinned Orthodox Serbs.
This process of marginalization and social stratification becomes particularly evident when examining the enrollment trends of children in primary schools. In Ledine, the Vlada Obradović Kameni Elementary School has, for the fourth consecutive time, exclusively enrolled children from families whose mother tongue is not Serbian, whose skin color is not white, whose cultural norms are not part of the mainstream curriculum, and whose economic status does not allow for equal participation in the educational process—a prerequisite for social engagement.
In contrast, children from families adhering to the dominant cultural norms enroll in schools located in more culturally homogenous neighborhoods. The separation of children during their early years and the cultural marginalization that accompanies this process significantly impact the quality of life in the present and, notably, the quality of life in the future of the Balkans.
Therefore, in 2016, the local initiative Škogled was established with the goal of infiltrating, raising social awareness, and intervening in this process. The objective is to create conditions for a socially inclusive childhood, which is essential for fostering friendship and reconciliation in the Balkans.
Project goals
The general goal of the project is to achieve the continuity of intercultural dialogue in one of the marginalized suburbs of Belgrade as a prerequisite for the development of trust, mutual tolerance and respect for diversity in a society with a singular identity such as the Serbian one.
The specific goals of the project are the improvement of the living environment through local action in the settlement of Ledine, the construction of social infrastructure and the celebration of encounters in diversity.
Beneficiaries
The target groups of this project are the children and young people of the settlement of Ledine who grow over the years, take initiative, and assume responsibility for activities in the settlement. By filling the program during the summer vacation, the extracurricular program of the Schoolaboratory (Školaboratorija) gives meaning to this target group. Year after year, the relationships of trust within the community grow alongside this target group.
Since the program is implemented in an open public space, often taking over the streets, the visibility of these activities is high. In addition to children and young people, the Schoolaboratory (Školaboratorija) is followed by the entire community, parents, neighbors, and relatives. This transgenerational and radically open approach to local action thematically and spatially refers to the school as the end user of our activities. With the idea of bringing everyone together, the project constantly works to promote the enrollment of all children from the settlement in the local school, thus opening the possibility for intercultural dialogue within the institution. This partnership relationship with the school and its employees goes beyond the institutional framework, responding to the specific needs of children from the settlement.
Main activities
- Implementation of the Schoolaboratory 007 Program
- Carrying out an intervention in the schoolyard
- Documenting the process
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