Promoting culture with Le Monty – Genappe

Looking for three volunteers

City + Country

Genappe, Belgium

Dates of the next project

3 volunteers – 01 September 2023 – 31 August 2024

Deadline to apply

06th of July 2023 (23:59)

Hosting organization : Le Monty Asbl

Le Monty asbl was created in 2017 in order to manage a new place, shared and unifying, open to everyone to enhance creativity, citizen’s initiatives, share competences and create synergies among citizens and the associative sector.

Therefore, it has different aims:

  • To promote creative and collaborative economy; to promote culture; arts, artists; knowledge sharing; transition initiatives and more generally citizen’s initiatives; social links creation and the social cohesion strengthening
  • To allow individuals, organisations, craftsmen, citizen groups to create and develop an activity of any type (economic, social, cultural, handmade, artistic) … while benefitting the local community
  • To link economic and creative dynamics in one common logic of environmental sustainability and solidarity while putting in common human and material resources
  • To empower the individuals, the groups and the organisations; to stimulate the active citizens abilities, the associative and cooperative practices, the entrepreneurship and the sharing and transmission of knowledges and know-hows

Additionally, the Monty is managing quite a big space which gathers a concert hall of 150 seats as well as convivial spaces (bar, and multipurpose space…). It can host various cultural, private, associative or citizen activities (meetings, workshops, shows, co working spaces…).

The space is dealt with in a participative way, where every citizen can propose something and commit itself: citizen bar, collaborative grocery shop and zero waste “Les P’tits Pots” (the shop is hosted inside The Monty), repair cafés, meetings for Genappe en Transition (transition town association), repair café…

In particular, the Monty is focusing on arts, and is hosting permanently the TOF theatre asbl, a puppet show company.

The TOF, born in 1987, is actually at the basis of the Monty project, and many activities, missions and projects are common to both organisations.

The Monty can also develop other activities and has many partnerships and collaborations. Some examples:

– “Genappe perd la boule”, a puppet show festival in collaboration with the TOF théâtre;

– Movie nights in collaboration with the cultural centre of Genappe;

– “La fête des possibles” and several trainings hosted at the Monty about naturopathy and other similar topics with Genappe en Transition;

– Hosting a citizen collective working on the creation of a new market in Genappe;

– Hosting the grocery shop “Les P’tits Pots”, founded by citizens willing to propose healthy, ethical and sustainable products while promoting the local productions.

And, for the very first year, the Monty will also collaborate with NESPA (Nouvelle Ecole à Pédagogie Active – New School with active pedagogy – secondary school) in order to organise the final show of the school year. NESPA is a school using Freinet pedagogy, open since 2018.

 

 

Some of the Monty regular activities are revolving around the different initiatives being hosted at that time (work by project). But some activities are being held on a very regular basis (on a every day, week or month basis):

– The grocery shop, open on Fridays, Saturdays, every first Monday of the month and every third Wednesday of the month;

– The “ça m’dit bien du Monty”: every second Saturday of the month, the Monty is proposing a concert by artists singing in French. The purpose of these evenings is to provide an opportunity for gatherings and spontaneity while supporting the cultural creation and diffusion within Genappe community;

– Hosting of different exhibitions around any type of art;

– Puppet shows organised with the TOF théâtre;

– Movie nights being hosted in collaboration with Genappe cultural centre;

– Board games afternoons on Wednesdays

In overall, the Monty hosts more or less one to two public events every week, and is involved in quite ambitious events needing a lot of preparation beforehand.

Discover Le Monty with this video made by the volunteers

Support organization : CBB

In addition to this, the hosting organization is supported by the Association des Compagnons Bâtisseurs, aka CBB located in Marche-en-Famenne. CBB is a non-profit, non-political youth organisation recognized and financially supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The organisation proposes different kinds of activities, based on volunteering and non-formal education: local and international workcamps, medium and long term voluntary services (including ESC), and leisure time activities for and with disabled people, campleaders trainings…CBB is active within the different European Programmes of volunteering and non-formal education since 1997 and also hosts ESC volunteers each year.

CBB’s role as support organization is to:

  • Promote of the project and link between local and the international networks;
  • Support in the selection and preparation of European volunteers before arrival;
  • Manage of administrative matters: budget allowances; support in the creation of the bank account and enrollment at the municipality; enrollment in insurance (if not done by sending organization); preparation of activity agreement;
  • Provide pedagogical support for the volunteer and the hosting organization: ensures the participation to the NA seminars; organization of auto-evaluation meetings for the volunteer and the hosting organization to reflect on learning outcomes;
  • Handle practical arrangements: information about health insurance system in Belgium; indications about French lesson possibilities; online language tool…
  • Create networking between all ESC volunteers of the hosting organizations we support.