Thessaloniki has changed significantly with many organizations taking action to solve problems and improve the quality of life in the city. However these initiatives are often only circulating in the echo chambers of specific impact areas. Thus, the average citizen doesn't easily learn about them. In order to accelerate the impact of these initiatives we proposed the Community Meetups.

The target group for each meetup are the citizens of the city with special focus on young people to inspire them and get them actively involved in solving local problems.

The proposed solution is to bring together different elements of the community of Thessaloniki and give them the space to collaborate, learn from each other and act and break echo-chambers. The Hub will bring together experts from different fields to not only inform the citizens of Thessaloniki of current and future challenges but also inspire them to actively take part in their solutions. Each meetup will consist of three phases (speakers' work presentations, discussion panel, group workshop).

The short-term goals are to bring together different stakeholders of the city to higlight challenges and promote solutions to local problems. The invited speakers will first explain the challenge/issue from their respective background (public/private sector, academia). Afterwards, the Hub will manage a live panel where the speakers will discuss and share opinions. In the third phase, a the audience alongside the speakers will brainstorm for possible solutions. The outcomes and learnings of the meetup will finally be summarized in a report and then shared with the audience and the speakers. The Community Meetup aims to build a strong pro-active community, not only of citizens but also of local organisations either private or governemental to act as link to promote to boost synergy between them.

The goal is to plan at least 2 meetups per year. After each meetup the summary report will highlight the key outtakes and it will shared with all relevant stakeholders in the city. Furthermore, the Hub will track, when possible, the progress of each proposed solution and share important updates in our official communication channels. Any organization that is relevant and has implemented relevant projects in the past. Such organizations could be the local government, companies , NGOs, universities etc