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Art, sport and urban youth culture are
being used to raise the profile of the It's my inner city - let's keep it clean
campaign.
IT'S my inner city - let's keep it clean:
the anti-litter campaign is back with vigour, this time targeting youngsters
who live, work and play in the inner city - the aim is to clean up the CBD and
restore the pulse of central Joburg.
Breakdancing as part of an environmental educational campaign
Pioneered by Region F, the campaign is
guided by the Inner City Regeneration Charter, and this time around Region F
has roped in Underground Soccer (UGS), a new movement of young people in the
arts, to help propel the message through entertainment.
The region and UGS
have already hosted an "underground" soccer match and breakdancing at Museum Africa to show
young people that caring for the environment and keeping the city's streets
clean is in everyone's best interests.
Through this environmental education
campaign, Region F intends to address some of the issues raised in the charter, says
Shaun O'Shea, the region's communications, marketing and tourism manager.
Entertainment
The campaign seeks to promote youth empowerment through entertainment and to use
sport and culture as a means of fostering social cohesion. Young people will be brought back into the inner city and a platform where they can showcase
their talents while promoting the message of a clean city, will be created.
Region F has aspirations to roll out this
anti-litter campaign until 2010 and beyond.
On the day, breakdancing performances by
members of UGS, a beatboxing performance by George Avakian and a number of
underground soccer matches set the museum alight with excitement, with hordes
of school kids screaming for more.
O'Shea believes that bringing the energy
and passion of street soccer into Region F and its streets, on to the rooftops
and under the freeways will add excitement to the inner city, attracting more
visitors.
Underground soccer fused football with
urban culture like graffiti, breakdancing and freestyle tricksters, said
Adriano Franco, the head of UGS. An urban subculture, freestyle tricksters have
a definitive outfit of baggy pants, chains and big shoes. They perform wild
breakdancing tricks.
Underground soccer
For the underground soccer match, a special pitch was created. The aim was to
get the ball passed your opponent using shibobo, a specific style of passing the
ball between the legs. In street soccer, the rules change to accommodate the
space being played in, making it a game that requires adroitness and deft ball
skills.
"Underground soccer is not just about the
soccer, it's about the entertainment, it's about the vibe and it's about the
amalgamation of young people to express themselves through graffiti, soccer,
music and skateboarding; whatever creativity and whatever piece of yourself
that you can bring to your community," Franco noted.
O'Shea said the region had opted to use sport
and culture as part of the campaign because these were powerful ways of
galvanising people into action. "We believe that creating a high-energy,
positive environment around stimulating activities will help reinforce a can-do
attitude among the city's young people."
Sustainable
The It's my inner city - let's keep it clean campaign is tailored to ensure
that clean ups are sustainable and that the community is committed to
regenerating the pulse of the area. The region planned to use "street games" to
educate all stakeholders on how they could help to improve their environment
and encourage civic pride, he added.
In a press statement, the region highlighted
that environmental education was an important aspect of regenerating the inner
city.
"I love Joburg, that's why I haven't moved from
here, despite all the challenges. We believe that Joburg can be as beautiful as
London and New York and we want to bring back the vibe in the inner city, and
have more people coming here for jaunts and leisure," said Franco.
"We have a passion to see street soccer
developed and see our streets clean. We must make Joburg a brilliant place to
host workshops and more of these events."
The inner city charter aspires to turn Joburg's
CBD into a vibrant business hub for the whole metro. It should become a key
residential node where a diversity of people in different income brackets and
backgrounds can live and still have their social needs met.
"The inner city will not be a dormitory for
the poor nor an exclusive enclave of loft apartments, galleries and coffee
shops," the charter reads.
The charter wants Johannesburg to be well-managed, safe and
clean, and that's what It's my inner city - let's keep it clean is all about.
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