Description
A group of secondary students in the disadvantaged community of Fordon in Bydgoszcz will be trained on how to make videos and how to engage in their community. They will then make videos addressing minor issues and learn to solve them together with the Housing Estate Board, local official, adult residents and university students volunteering their support in this project. Students will learn about mechanisms of local democracy and ways of influencing their community life. Reports on the activities will be posted on our website. The final video will be presented in a townhall meeting and to media. Both young and older students will volunteer to organise the meeting. There will be two cycles: training and problem solving and filming + public presentation. Project fans in Fordon who provide their contact details will be kept informed on its progress. A core group will emerge from them to start a new NGO and continue supporting youth project after the project is completed.
Summary of project results
"The Old Fordon is considered to be the most neglected community in Bydgoszcz. Until 1973, it was a little town (c 9 thousand inhabitants) with its own local government and its own elite taking care of the local matters. Then, against the residents' will, it became part of the city of Bydgoszcz. Soon a district of housing blocks appeared in the close vicinity - New Fordon with 70,000 inhabitants - and the Old Fordon started to decline, they also lost their local government and the elite. The residents came into apathy, they have not even had their representative in the City Council for years now. The local Housing Estate Board has no authority any more, local NGOs are non-existent. Last year sociological survey “Old Fordon - revitalization"" reveals a very pessimistic image of the community. Unemployment is three times higher than in Bydgoszcz as whole and 23 per cent of residents are recipients of social assistance. In spite of great wealth inequalities, the crime rate is not higher than in the rest of the city - the residents still maintain close neighbourly relations, characteristic for small towns. The aim of the project was to undertake some social activity related to what seems to be the most painful for the local citizens and to create a group of young people convinced that they themselves can improve the local situation. Thanks to the commitment of young people and support of the local inhabitants, it was possible to open a community centre Café Rynek - a venue for meetings and initiatives. The project implementation included film workshops and training for secondary schools and university students. The young people made two videos on the Old Fordon and conducted a survey on the district problems. Seconadry schools and university students living in the Old Fordon benefited from the project. The partner was School Complex No. 20, the only educational institution in the Old Fordon - the school staff was very helpful in facilitating the contacts of young people with the district residents."
Summary of bilateral results