Association for Urban Transition, launches the project Facing the Danube within the international program DANUrB+ in Giurgiu, aimed at promoting the local Danube heritage.

The project builds in Giurgiu on the basis of the activities of 2021 that activated the city community and local representatives through heritage educational events such as DANUrB+ Summer School and Danube Days 2021. The project's desire is to turn Giurgiu into a city "Facing the Danube" through a series of activities focused on urban regeneration and cultural and touristic valorisation of the Smârda neighborhood.

Smârda neighborhood is one of the rich heritage areas in Giurgiu, a neighborhood with historical value that is still physically visible through architecture, but also through the local memory developed from generation to generation. Smârda will physically host the project together with the Sugar Factory and La Bordei Park communities, inviting them to understand the history of this space both through the eyes of the residents and its importance for the city, to document today's stories with the local community and to work together to redefine the future of the neighborhood.

The project "Facing the Danube" in Smârda takes place between February and July 2022 through four main activities:

1/ Historical research of the neighborhood

The activity begins with research of the public photo archives of the city together with the support of the Regional Museum "Teohari Antonescu" Giurgiu and the analysis of photo resources from private collections and archives, through a participatory call to contribution. The “Then and Now” photography exhibition with people and places from Smârda will present to the public the history of the neighborhood but also the present perspective documented by Costin Gheorghe, initiator of the “theNow” project. Subsequently, all resources will be integrated into a tourist map of the Smârda neighborhood for residents and tourists.

2/ Participatory public consultation on the future of the neighborhood

The local community is the city's most valuable resource, and those who are already changing the city for the better can mobilize the community in the future. Part of the project will be the creation of a video collection of interviews about the future of the neighborhood and the city with key actors from the Giurgiu-Ruse Euroregion, co-produced with the media partners TRANZIT2030.

3/ Regeneration activity to beautify the neighborhood

The history of the Smârda district is still visible in the architecture of the buildings. In order to bring to light the architectural heritage, we will start community activities around the valorisation of Tabiei Wall and the last hut in Giurgiu with the help of existing local communities, La Bordei and Parcul Fabricii de Zahăr (community activated since 2018).

4/ Danube Days Festival

The festival will continue in 2022 through actions to regenerate the Old Beach of Giurgiu; walking tours in the neighborhood and through the city and activities organized in partnership with local actors and institutions. The festival will become a place to celebrate the city every year, hopefully becoming a tradition for Giurgiu.

As much collaboration as possible is needed with the local community through this project and the following invitations are launched to the residents and local actors from Giurgiu and surroundings:

• Call for contributions with photos from personal archives in the Smârda neighborhood;
• Involvement in the work of revitalizing the last hut in Giurgiu together with the La Bordei community through expertise and/or volunteer work;
• Collaboration in the development of the program for the Danube Days Festival through proposals for workshops and activities from the citizens in the first place, but also from any local representative - from informal groups to companies or administration;
• Participation in the Smârda neighborhood exhibition and the Danube Days Festival.

For any suggestions, ideas, and useful resources, please contact Association for Urban Transition at atu@atu.org.ro.

Follow the project on all DANUrB+ channels.

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Project co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF and IPA).