The project Media Lab 4 Sustainable Democracy focuses on developing an educational space to enable 80-120 people from Țara Făgărașului area to explore spaces of freedom and democratic skills. The FRI Media Lab will offer a space where local actors can enhance democratic skills through media training. Through learning processes relying on practical engagements with photo-video, recording, writing, and tools designed to express one’s voice and communicate experiences, participants will enhance their ability to better communicate, strengthen their critical thinking, and understand current pressures on democratic freedoms.

The general purpose of the project is to empower people from underprivileged backgrounds and groups from Romania, and Țara Făgărașului in particular, to experience freedom, acquire democratic skills, and consolidate local democracy.

The democracy focus of the Media Lab departs from observing the persistence of a totalitarian organizational culture in the Romanian society.

The project will bring together people of various backgrounds to offer relevant learning experiences. It will enable participants to have a voice and express freely their perspectives, reflecting on democratic values, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion. The learning design will reflect these values to create learning spaces that are open and respectful of diversity in terms of age, national origin, gender, ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, and race.