Some of us slept only a few hours because the night before we went to the disco and it was a great night!!!
A bit sleepy bu full of energy, each team presented their own model of a visionary city.
It was funny, surprising and inspiring to realize how every group succeeded in creating imaginary solutions for the section of the city it was responsible for. The categories were Street Furniture and Signs, Public Spaces and Built Environment, Public Facilities & Services and Transports and related Infrastructures.
We liked all models very much but we laughed a lot when we saw the mind-driven car, the vocal menu with the bottom note “all alcohol free to V.I.P” and the drawing of the personal shopper in every shop. We found these proposals to be ironic and we need irony very much.
Then, to discuss what bits of these sparkling ideas could be realized and how, a World Café was held in the venue garden.
The trainers proposed the following three topics:
1) What are you planning to do to increase your personal mobility after returning back home?
2) How can you connect more with other (partially sighted) people (nationally+ internationally)?
3) Think of 1 or 2 Fantasy ideas that you have developed in your work on the Visionary City and think how you can make them a reality.
We gathered around tables in small groups and every group in rotation discussed with Olga, Karina and Dario about one of the three arguments. They wrote our brainstorming outcomes on a flip-chart.
It was a very interesting moment because we shared our ideas about the three main issues of the workshop: mobility, accessibility and connection/information.
After having read the notes on the flip-charts, we formed four groups to put down concrete guidelines about the topic number three to deliver to the German Politicians and to the European Commission, thus to consider the feasibility (timing and costs) of our Visionary proposals.
In the afternoon, the trainers played the roles of the politicians to whom each team presented their own guidelines.
Then there was the Evaluation moment when we expressed in a very original way our opinions about different aspects of the workshop, suggested by the trainers. One by one, we had to finish three sentences in connection with the workshop: I believe…, I think… and I hope. Most of us expressed what a useful and exciting week we had, and how we hoped to stay in touch with each other after going back home. We were also very grateful to the organizers for dreaming and realizing such a fantastic event. Our activities were concluded by handing out the certificates for each participant.
After the “official” part of the workshop was over, we were also given the opportunity to give feedback to each other. An envelope was placed in the seminar room with the name of each group member on it, serving as a little mailbox. Before the departure, everyone took their envelope with all the lovely personal messages.
The Farewell Dinner in the garden was cheerful and enjoying. We gave to the trainers a little present and a video where each one of us says “thank you” in their own language.
There are no words to describe the emotions felt during this week. The most important thing we learnt is that there isn’t only one vision… “We differ, blind and seeing, one from another, not in our senses, but in the use we make of them, in the imagination and courage with which we seek wisdom beyond our senses”
(as written by Dario Sorgato).
THANK YOU, DARIO, OLGA, KARINA, ZOE, TANYA, AMADOR, MARCO AND FRANCESCO!!!
written by Luigina and Nelli.
