After being connected to the MitOst family for about four years, and being a part of Actors of Urban Change program, it was time to meet many more interesting people from all over the globe, hear their stories, share mine and strengthen our network even more.
We arrived at gorgeous Athens and after a quick lunch, we joined the opening party in the main square of Metaxourghio. It was amazing to see more than 300 people from the MitOst family joined by local neighbours, dancing together, having a conversations, eating local food and enjoying the lovely neighbourhood named Metaxourghio. We had a chance to meet with old friends we haven’t seen in a long time, meet the new ones, going through the Festival programme and discussing which topics are most interesting to us. The party lasted until late in the night and the local band was really amazing.
The next day, after a brunch with old friends, we went to participate in the football match, but only as a fans, not players. Someone said that the easiest way to bond with people is through sports, and I couldn’t agree more! Olders, youngsters, kids, girls and boys chased that ball, having a best time ever, and the team that won was very proud when they lifted the trophy.
Later that evening, we joined the open discussion where I heard a very interesting story about the „Baba Residence“ project that took place in Bulgaria. The story left a strong impression on me so I exchanged contacts with Ideas Factory and decided to develop similar program in Serbia, my country. Find more about this story here: https://ideasfactorybg.org/en/baba-residence/
Next couple of days were reserved for various workshops, discussions, exhibitions and we participated in some conversations with amazing topics. The one topic that I really want to point out and that interests me really much is „The Future of Work“ by Maro Pantazidou about how we see the future of some jobs, artificial intelligence, risks of automation, etc. Maro prepared really interesting workshop and presentation and it was awesome to discuss and exchange opinions about this really important topic.
We also participated in Farewell Tombola party and despite not winning anything, it was pretty cool to exchange local things from your country and to explain to people what is “Plazma” cakes. 🙂
It was an honor and pleasure to be involved in this truely amazing event, with dozens of interesting programs and topics around. Sometimes I need to multiply in order to participate in every event I want to but since I cannot do that (yet 😉 ) I’ll always miss some amazing stuff . But, there will be a chance next time!
Thanks for having us, thanks for great time and see you soon!
Ognjen Tomašević, Novo kulturno naselje, Novi Sad, Serbia.