Mikser Association

NGO

Mikser Association is a multidisciplinary cultural platform that promotes a sustainable model of urban and cultural development that relies on community involvement and participatory design. Mikser Association organizes exhibitions, conferences, presentations, lectures, screenings, creative workshops, competitions, forums, public discussions, and other forms of cultural and dissemination activities and knowledge exchange. Through its key projects (Mikser Festival, Mikser Hubs, and Refugee Aid Miksaliste) Mikser is practically demonstrating models of circularity in the revitalization of neglected and underused buildings and city areas following the specific needs of the local community and sustainable development. Mikser platform facilitates dialogues between the sectors of design, industry, government, the general public, and mass media to raise awareness and the standard of responsible sustainability-driven behavior by professionals, by industries, local authorities, and the society as a whole. Mikser focuses on the development and promotion of new talents in the fields of social and technological innovation, urban design, architecture, product, and service design as a relevant factor in the building of European sustainable and innovative society and reinforcement of sector’s capacity to operate transnationally by facilitating cross-sectoral cooperation. Mikser’s initiatives are testing new approaches to audience development that stimulate genuine interest in and improve access to innovative sustainable solutions. Mikser activities include: promoting trans-national mobility of young professionals; enhancing business and entrepreneurial skills of engineers and designers and upskill them to cooperate inter-disciplinary and internationally, offering new educational models and exchange programs between policymakers and young creative players; increasing awareness about the South-East European design potentials on the regional and international level.

Mikser boasts of a significant number of strategic partnerships on a local, regional, and international level. Internationally, Mikser is recognized as a catalyst for the sustainable urban revitalization of neglected and underused urban areas, relying on environmental, economic, social, and cultural sustainability and fostering social inclusion, cultural exchange, and culture of participation of all interested stakeholders. Mikser has a large experience in creating creative and community hubs which are “anchors” of community life, open for public participation and social production, driving force for sustainable urban future and natural places for dissemination of knowledge and good practices in various fields of sustainable development. Mikser Association has created and manages the following entities: Mikser Festival is one of the largest and most influential festivals of creativity and urban innovation in southeastern Europe. For ten years, Mikser Festival has established a unique multicultural platform for interaction between designers, architects, urban planners, artists, companies, civil society organizations, public institutions, local communities, citizens, and media. Its signature feature lies in the discovery of abandoned, underused postindustrial facilities and their transformation into vibrant hubs of the creative industry and civil activism, showcasing that urban revitalization based on innovative ideas and original content is possible despite limited budgets. During 10 years, Mikser Festival has attracted a massive audience of nearly 500.000 visitors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikser_Festival Mikser House / Social-Cultural Hub is an independent multifunctional space in a converted industrial facility, featuring a balanced mix of educational, cultural, community, and commercial activities. It is one of the leading regional hubs for citizens’ participation, exposure of local talents and promotion of best practices in sustainable development, eco-design, circular culture, nature-based solutions in cities, arts, media, IT, communications, etc. Multifunctional concept space contains: Performing space with professional stage and equipment; Auditorium for professional seminars, pieces of training and conferences; Creative Lab – a playground for workshops, competitions and DIY sessions; Social café – the gathering place for the local community, students, café, floating office for freelancers, etc. Balkan Design Store: showcasing a selection of innovative products by local designers-comeentrepreneurs who initiated their own brands; Pop-Up Design Markets: regular bi-monthly market events gathering broader scope of creative entrepreneurs and massive audience. During 5 years of operating in Belgrade, Mikser House hosted more than 1500 events in the field of the creative sector: 400 music and 180 dance performances;19 original theatre productions with more than100 performances; 75 literature related events; 40 conferences; 50 public debates and discussions; 240 design markets and festivals; 80 art and design exhibitions, etc. Above events attracted Associated with document Ref. Ares(2021)539673 – 22/01/2021 H2020: Health, demographic change and wellbeing BHC-29-2020 HEART Final Version-Part-B 76 more than 1.250.000 visitors. The innovative model of Mikser Social-Cultural hub has been replicated in Mikser House Sarajevo, Bosnia, and Hercegovina and Public Room in Skopje, Macedonia, while Mikser team has been mentoring several Mikser House-inspired concepts throughout Balkan and Europe: Vojni dom culture center in Sabac, Serbia, Deli co-working space in Nis, Serbia; Croatian Design Store in Zagreb, Croatia; Supermarket concept place in Belgrade and Berlin.

www.festival.mikser.rs

June 21, 2021