Empowering Communities in Timișoara: What We’re Doing Now
The Intercultural Institute of Timișoara has been working for over 30 years to promote inclusion, dialogue, and equal opportunities for everyone—especially for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Today, we continue this work through several key activities that connect local communities, public institutions, and education.
Supporting the Intercultural Strategy of the Timișoara Municipality
Right now, one of our main priorities is contributing to the intercultural strategy of the city of Timișoara. Together with the Municipality, we are helping shape a local strategy that puts diversity, inclusion, and equal rights at the center of how the city works. This means making sure the voices of minority groups, including Roma, migrants, and others, are heard in local decisions and services.
The strategy focuses on empowering communities, encouraging participation, and building stronger connections between people of different backgrounds. We are involved in organizing consultations, giving input based on our long experience, and creating tools that support this long-term goal of a more inclusive city.
Staying Close to Communities:
While we work at the policy level, we also stay very connected to communities on the ground. We continue our regular contact and activities with Roma communities in Kuncz (Timișoara) and in Vulcan (Hunedoara County). These relationships have been built over years and are based on trust, listening, and working together on local challenges.
Our presence in these areas helps us understand people’s real needs and ensures that the strategies and projects we support are grounded in reality.
A New Tool: Our Intercultural Education GPT
We’ve also developed a custom AI tool based on GPT, which focuses on intercultural education and human rights learning. This tool is made for use in informal and non-formal education, like community activities, youth workshops, or NGO trainings.
The GPT can:
- Provide content and activities on human rights, migration, and Roma inclusion
- Suggest games, discussion topics, and storytelling tools to raise awareness
- Help facilitators and educators build interactive learning sessions with inclusive content
It’s an experimental and creative way to support teachers, youth workers, and community leaders in delivering meaningful learning experiences. The tool aims to spark conversation, reflection, and empathy—especially among young people.
EVLE: Learning Language and Road Safety Together
Another active project is EVLE—a European educational project that brings together language learning and road safety education. It’s designed for adult migrants, refugees, and other people at risk of social exclusion.
The goal is simple but powerful: help people learn the language of the host country while also understanding traffic rules so they can feel safer and more confident in daily life. The project supports basic literacy, helps with integration, and makes a practical difference in people’s ability to move around safely and independently.
In a Few Words
Whether we’re working with local authorities, staying involved in Roma neighborhoods, testing new digital tools like our education GPT, or supporting inclusion through practical projects like EVLE, our focus stays the same:
Helping people feel seen, heard, and supported—no matter their background.
We believe that real inclusion happens when communities, institutions, and educators work together in simple, clear, and respectful ways.