Description
Many people in Slovakia have a lack of knowledge about the purpose and functioning of local government. This issue is not taught in schools either. As a result, Slovaks generally do not understand the competencies of local government and do not know whom to address in case of need. The goal of the project is to increase awareness of young people about functioning of local government and their roles in community life. As a result of the project, students, which are the main target group shall become more involved in public life and local decision-making processes. Eight schools will introduce creative and experiential forms of teaching about citizen participation to schools. In the eight towns young people will work together with municipalities to improve the shape of public spaces in towns created through cooperation with students and artists. This way, the local governments will adopt a more positive approach towards young people and will better understand their problems.
Summary of project results
Most of the people in Slovakia have a lack of knowledge about the purpose and the way of functioning of the local government. This issue is not being addressed effectively in schools either. As a result, Slovaks generally do not know about the possibilities when it comes to solving the problems in their community; they do not understand the competencies of the local government and do not know whom to address here. This leads to scepticism which easily affects the entire community. An opinion that it is meaningless to get involved in public affairs because it results in no change is quite frequent. Yet, more intensive cooperation between citizens and local governments is an essential prerequisite of effective public administration. The project outcomes will be maintained via portal odkazprestarostu.sk and the teachers who were involved in the project will serve as the multipliers for other students. The objective of the project was to increase the awareness of young people about the functioning of local governments, and about the possibilities of their active participation in public affairs administration and in the life of the community, including local problem solving. The objective of the project was met. The long-term impact is such that, in a few years, active citizens will contribute to building a public environment where citizen participation will be a natural part of it. The outcome of the project was to increase the involvement of young people in public affairs through workshops at high schools and in cooperation with local governments. This outcome was fully met. Main outputs: 280 participating students with a better awareness of the functions of local government; 7 trained teachers; 8 participating local governments; 8 public spaces re-designed by young people. Beneficiaries were involved mainly via their active participation in interactive workshops at schools. Subsequently, they were actively involved in re-designing of 8 public spaces.
Summary of bilateral results