Citizen Consultations

The Citizen Consultations were part of the pre-biennial programme of Manifesta 14 and were aimed at widening the perspective on contemporary culture, urban development and socio-cultural policies in the Prishtina district, while including the point of view of various communities.

The framework of the project has been developed and designed by Studio L A (Netherlands) and is implemented by the Education team of Manifesta 14 Prishtina in collaboration with Applicative Research Solutions (ARS), NGO Aktiv and Termokiss.

The Сitizen Consultation process included a series of workshops with 130 inhabitants of Prishtina followed by a public survey with 300 participants from across Prishtina and the rural areas. The Citizen Consultations looked into the social fabric of Prishtina through conversations which aimed to explore the central topic of “whose culture?”, the ways culture(s) are understood and practiced by different citizens and communities, as well as to identify the sensitivities of inhabitants in relation to the urban development, socio-cultural and educational policies of their city.

Similarly, the consultations aimed to understand existing relationships between the local cultural organisations, their context and their audiences, as well as to help open up a dialogue with new ones.  The main research findings were publicly presented and discussed in the Open Forum together with the participants of the project, cultural and social actors, policy-makers and politicians. These findings informed not only the programme of the biennial, but also  

institutional objectives, managerial processes and communication strategies.