Why We Believe in MOCI

MOCI was initiated and co-created by a pan-European team of cultural, social and youth organizations informal networks.Starting 2019 in the Western Balkans and 2020 in South-Caucasus we seek to connect and transcend cultural constraints, eliminating digital divides, creating common vocabularies and access to open knowledge within and across our regions.

With the support of the Culture of Solidarity Grant of the European Cultural Foundation, MOCI connected creatives and activists and their local communities in Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro that are put under pressure by the current COVID-19 crisis, as their work has been already difficult and underfinanced before. Through thematic knowledge exchanges and co-creation, an emergent network of young progressive actors is woven across borders that reinforce solidarity and future collaboration. In June 2021 18 Organizations met for a co-creation retreat, founding the MOCI Balkans network.

In the South-Caucasus we are currently implementing our first activities. With
MOCI provide an innovative and responsive space empowering rural
grassroots, youth, and creative activists to thrive in following their local visions in
Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The specific adaptation of MOCI concepts as
hybrid spaces of floating knowledge and organic network weaving are expected
until the end of 2021 and to be continued next year by focusing on prototyping.

Although most villages in Albania and Romania have designated cultural centers, such spaces aremainlydisconnected from the present life ofcommunities. Meanwhile, new community spacesemerge in East Germany providing new models of social activation through culture. By enabling newpartnerships of cultural spaces in East-Germany, Albania, and Romania, the project aims to activatelocal communities and inspire local actors to develop future-oriented cultural solutions to systemicchallenges. It stems from the belief that cultural spaces in rural areas can re-emerge as spaces offreedom placed at the heart of local community development.