During the previous phase of the project, a total of 41 settlement-type community houses were established in the segregated or ghetto settlements of 23 micro-regions between 2009 and 2012. These have partly served to alleviate local service shortages, and partly to strengthen the self-organizing capacity of local societies through the provision of community, cultural, sports and other leisure services, strengthen the integration of the local society with the active participation of the locals, reduce social segregation and prejudice, and strengthen the local advocacy capacity of those living in segregation. They are expected to improve the chances of further education for children and reduce the likelihood of behaviors that negatively affect life chances (deviance, harmful passions, early pregnancy, early school leaving, etc.).
The main purpose of our research is to assess how well the previously built and planned to be built community houses can meet the expected goals; to what extent they can strengthen the integration and self-organizing skills of the local community; whether they are successful in reducing local prejudices and developing new community values and norms.
In selected settlements, where new communty houses are established, prejudices, community values and norms are assessed by a questionnaire survey, complemented by interviews with representatives of local institutions. In settlements with already existing community houses, we perform qualitative methods.