Participatory theatre play “KoTo® o Kotoru” presented within Europa Nostra Learning Kits for heritage civil society organisations

At the beginning of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, Europa Nostra is proud to issue Learning Kits for heritage civil society organisations on three crucial topics: Fundraising, Awareness-Raising & Advocacy, and Citizen Engagement & Education. The Learning Kits provide innovative and practical approaches to these topics and bring together dozens of outstanding examples from 21 countries across Europe. These digital publications, which were produced with the support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, are availablei online and can be easily read and shared.

The Learning Kit on Citizen Engagement & Education napresents, as one of the eight examples of good practices and experiences worth sharing, the participatory theatre play “KoTo® o Kotoru”. 

These digital publications were prepared by Višnja Kisić, PhD, Researcher and Lecturer, who is also the Secretary General of Europa Nostra Serbia, together with Goran Tomka, PhD, Researcher, Lecturer and UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Management at the University of Arts of Belgrade.

What does the Learning Kit on Fundraising provide?
• Better understanding of the changes in the fundraising landscape and the challenges and opportunities this brings to heritage civil society organisations
• Critical view of common fundraising beliefs and practices
• Ways to improve your planning and practices of raising funds 
• Alternative approaches to fundraising 
• Examples of good practices from various European countries, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Serbia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom

What does the Learning Kit on Awareness-Raising & Advocacy provide?
• Better understanding of advocacy and awareness raising and its specifics in the heritage field
• Wider look at social movements and what it takes for collective action to happen
• Ways to improve your planning and practice of managing awareness raising and advocacy campaigns
• Inspiration and learning from best practices and experiences from several European countries, namely Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine

What does the Learning Kit on Citizen Engagement & Education provide?
• Better understanding of the histories and specificities of citizen engagement and education in the heritage field
• Selection of practical issues, questions and suggestions surrounding planning, implementing and evaluating citizen engagement and education projects
• Inspiring cases of citizen engagement and education from several European countries, namely Croatia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Norway, Romania and the United Kingdom

The Learning Kit on Citizen Engagement & Education presents, as one of the eight examples of good practices and experiences worth sharing, the participatory theatre play “KoTo® o Kotoru”.

“KoTo(R) o KOTORU” is a documentary play created by the community theatre. The play, initiated by the NGO EXPEDITIO, resulted from an eight-month-long process in which the theatre director Petar Pejaković was working with the citizens of Kotor. Participants in the play, who are also its authors, are the citizens of Kotor, while the topic of the play is the town of Kotor.

The play, created as a result of an eight-month-long process of work entitled Theatre about Kotor, which included more than 50 workshops and around 60 citizens, was premiered on 20 June 2016 at the Cultural Centre Nikola Đurković in Kotor. Since its premiere, the play has been performed for 15 times, in Kotor (five times), at the Cultural Centre in Tivat, at the Cultural Information Centre – KIC Budo Tomović in Podgorica (as part of the Festival of International Alternative Theatre - FIAT), at the Zetski dom Royal Theatre in Cetinje, at the theatre in Nikšić, at Korifej Festival in Kolašin, at the Budva Theatre City Festival, in Herceg Novi, in Dubrovnik (Art Workshop Lazareti) and in Belgrade (two times).

The Learning Kit on Citizen Engagement & Education says the following about the play:
“KoTo® o Kotoru” is example of using contemporary artistic processes to engage citizens not only in heritage safeguarding, but in the broader political issues of ownership, rights and responsibilities toward the public good. Citizens who participated in the creation of the theatre play were engaged in an active process of learning about city policies, heritage protection and sustainable development, while also learning about each other’s professional and personal inputs. Their final public result - a theatre performance - has moved both the fellow citizens and political elites of Kotor.

We strongly encourage you to make extensive use of these Learning Kits and disseminate them widely.

For more information, please visit the Europa Nostra website.

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