Description
The main goal of the project is to improve public participation and citizenry among young people in local communities in County Olkusz. Three student cooperatives will be set up which will plan and implement 3 projects each in the field of society, economy and education. The projects will train 30 young people to become community leaders and the Student Cooperatives will be a sustainable tool for their future engagement. The involvement of a partner from Slovakia will add value to the project by exposing young leaders in Poland to the experience of their peers in Slovakia, in particular in the field of promoting traditional folk arts, and by creating space for joint international projects such as the international youth portal. Sustainability will be ensured by engaging a wider group in the community, i.e. teachers and parents in education activities continued after the project completion.
Summary of project results
"A wide diagnosis of the secondary schools student community and a diagnosis of organizations in the Olkusz municipality, as well as results of the research conducted on the national level, were used to develop the project. The report “Social activities of rural youth"" prepared by the Council for Social Monitoring shows that only 23 per cent of young people aged 14-24 get involved in activities of non-governmental organizations and almost half of them do it very seldom. This is especially true for the rural youth who know little about the NGOs activities and are not capable of getting involved in their own communities' life. The aim of the project was to create a group of youth leaders who would be capable of working for their local communities and their peers. 30 young people were prepared to play the role of social youth leaders and to set up student cooperatives which would continue the activities after the project completion. The project participants took part in a training course on teamwork, peer education, volunteer work and on how to run a cooperative. Teachers and parents also benefited from the training. Three student cooperatives were set up: in two secondary schools in Olkusz and one in a secondary school in Bukowno. Each group involved in running a cooperative implemented a social project in their schools. The project beneficiaries were young people aged 16-18 from the Olkusz municipality. Majority of them came from rural areas. Tradičné ľudové umelecké remeslá, the project partner from Slovakia, was responsible for cooperation during the project development and for organizing a study visit."
Summary of bilateral results