In 2016 ONE ARCHITECTURE WEEK will discuss the topic of citizen participation in the creation of the city. As a main location has been chosen the 62 thousand-strong plattenbau suburb of Plovdiv, Trakiya. By choosing Trakiya we direct our attention to all similar neighbourhoods in Bulgaria and Europe.

An important element of ONE ARCHITECTURE WEEK is the kids program. In the context of the topic “citizen participation” the festival is starting a pilot project called “Urban awareness”. Its main aim is to stimulate the young to be sensitive and critical about their environment.

The pilot will be based on a program, developed and tested through the years by the “Architectural workshop for children”. Through it students will be able to practice the theoretical knowledge about their environment in practical tasks. The youngsters will develop their social and communicative skills and will realise the importance of every citizen playing an active role for the sustainable development of the urban environment. We believe that the future quality of the this environment, which we inhabit depends on the kids of today. Their ability to take important decision about the world around them derives from the knowledge, skills and capabilities, which they will gain during their education. The classes, which will be organised will be relevant also to the program of ONE ARCHITECTURE WEEK since they will show how the kids view and use Trakiya.

Besides “Architectural workshop for children”, partners in this pilot are a teacher from the “Together in school” program, as well as the “Sofroniy Vrachanski” school in Trakiya. “Urban awareness” will engage students from 6th grade (12-13 years old) on a weekly basis, starting from March 1st and ending with the end of the current term. It is an ambition of all partners in this project to expand this initiative to more schools, in Plovdiv and possibly other cities too, with the start of the autumn term in September.