By Olta Shehu & Sara Kënuti

Some places don’t need a big introduction. You walk in, look around, and immediately feel that something meaningful is happening.

That was our experience at FABER, a former industrial space in Timișoara, Romania that has been transformed into a hub for young people, work and creativity. The building itself carries a familiar story. An old factory, standing on the edge of the city, once quiet and unused, the kind of place many of us recognize from our own hometowns. Across Europe, and especially in the Western Balkans, these spaces are everywhere: reminders of industries that left and opportunities that never arrived.

But here, the story changed. Instead of being left abandoned, the factory was reclaimed by young people who chose to stay in the city instead of looking for their future abroad. In 2017, entrepreneurs from architecture, IT, and the socio-cultural field came together, bought an industrial hall in the AZUR complex, and began transforming it. Not just renovating walls, but rethinking what a space like this could mean for a city. Today, it lives again, filled with ideas, purpose, and creative work.

When we arrived, the space was in celebration mode. FABERLAND, their Christmas fair, had taken over the halls. Local artisans sold handmade jewelry, ceramics, candles, and textiles, each with a story behind it. We moved from stand to stand, talking to the artists and almost every conversation led back to the same feeling: gratitude. Gratitude for having a place like this. A place that offers visibility, opportunity, and a sense of belonging, something many creators spend years searching for.

The following day, the atmosphere shifted. No fair, no crowds. Just an ordinary working day. People focused in co-working spaces, ideas quietly taking shape. Musicians rehearsing with whatever instruments they had at hand. Coffee being poured at the “Ambasada” bistro in the 1st floor and cheerful conversations all over the place. The space was… alive.

This place now exists because someone once asked a difficult question: What if we don’t leave our hometown? What if we stay and build something here? As we walked through the space, filming and listening to the people who gave life to it, our thoughts kept returning to the Western Balkans. To Albania. To how many young people grow up believing that success only exists somewhere else, far away, abroad, always out of reach unless you leave everything behind.

FABER is a reminder to all of us that Europe doesn’t grow only through its capitals. It grows through its hometowns and through young people who choose to stay, invest, and believe that even small cities can dream big.