Community members’ initiatives in public open spaces: two case studies from Slovenia

Abstract

The paper deals with public spaces as open, everyday arenas where people share experiences beyond their immediate circle of friends, family and age group. Public space is understood as a forum for social and personal change (Harvey, 2011; Lefebvre, 2013; Arendt, 1996; Habermas, 1989; 2001). Questions are analysed from the point of view of community members, who are strongly attached to the space and who are interested in belonging and in proactive changes in their living environment (Iecovich, 2014; Kohn 2004; Mean and Tims, 2005). The paper is based on the presumptions that public space has an important role in generating ideas and activities of community members and that it is an important venue for community members’ informal learning. Ethnomethodological research in two public spaces (the Tabor community in Ljubljana and a small community in the coastal town of Izola) show that there are differences between both public spaces regarding top-down initiatives and bottom-up, self-organized activities. However, although the activity initiators were in one case different associations rooted in the community, and in the other the local people themselves, most of the activities were conducted by people living in the selected communities/public spaces themselves as is typical of grassroots activities. It was confirmed that learning was not often mentioned by members of either community and was mostly a hidden activity, resulting in tacit knowledge.