Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

Good Practices and InnovATIONS in Public Governance
The following step was to ‘get to know’ the young people selected for the project; a
particularly difficult task as many of them had suffered severe traumas and bad experiences,
in addition to being often times from rival gangs. The Arts and Crafts School
Project had to learn about their individual history, concepts, health and hygiene conditions
and how much sexual education they had in order to re-socialize them and involve
them in the restoration of the town’s cultural heritage. This was also a way to make the
restoration craft less elitist. And the youth could channel their energies in outdoing
themselves and reaching their goals, trying to be the best ‘professionals’ ever.
Not only these young people received theoretical instruction in the art of restoration,
and psycho-social assistance, but they also received compliments from the community
and the press for the results they achieved in restoring the city’s historical sites.
All the activities at the Arts and Crafts School Project approached transversely
themes like citizenship, rights, quality, ethics, environmental education, hygiene, etc.
These once outcast youths became the tools for the integration of the whole community,
and instead of depredating the Cultural Heritage, they became essential preservation
agents. Thus, the community, the political leaders and the private sector took
over this initiative and helped it flourish.
For the following 12 months, a budget of R$373,000.00 (three hundred and seventy
three thousand reais) was distributed as follows: R$113,000.00 for aid-scholarships
for the apprentices, R$82,000.00 for daily transport fares for the project’s youth,
R$14,000.00 for life insurance for the apprentices, R$22,000.00 for their uniforms/
EPIs, R$49,000.00 for teaching and related material and R$93,000.00 for the technical
teaching team. Three masters and one pedagogical coordinator are full-time dedicated
to the School, and the other five professionals are Town Hall employees who
are involved with this initiative and with other activities of the town’s historical heritage
preservation (engineer, secretaries and teachers).
One of the biggest obstacles in implementing this initiative was that the owners of the
historical buildings did not believe in the capacity of the youth – who came from the
outskirts of the city and many of whom were ex-offenders – to restore the town’s cultural
heritage. Moreover, many of the same young people who were called upon to restore
the buildings had been themselves responsible for using graffiti on the walls of the
city’s buildings. Another difficulty was caused by the resistance of the historical heritage
body to approve this innovative project. To get the approval of the organs responsible for
protecting the historic heritage, it was necessary to show unquestionable technical quality,
to undertake some meetings and to obtain the approval of the State Cultural Council.
Therefore, the public authorities allowed their buildings to be the first labs/work sites for
the youth. The major benefits of this project can be hereby summarized as follows:
• Restoration and revitalization of the Historic Centre and its surroundings;
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