Young people shaping the future!

young people shaping the future

How to link community arts and community organisation in youth communities? A case study from Hungary. (Summary in English, full report in Hungarian.)

Krisztina Katona has been working with young people for many years adapting international good practices (such as community art) to her work with Hungarian communities. Since 2019 she continued her work as part of our project "Reclaim Our Civil Space!" with children in Southern Hungary in three locations: Kölked, Dunaszekcső and Pécs.

The aim is to use a variety of tools to shape and strengthen communities, and to work with them to include community organising alongside community building and development. The project is both inward and outward looking, and becomes both a way of shaping local community identity and a means of engaging with social issues.

As she says "during our work, even a 97-year-old lady who hadn't set foot outside her house in years came out to see what the young people were painting. Even she was drawn to the unusual, lively scene. Friendships were formed between children who - because of the distance caused by social differences - had previously been unable even to talk to each other."

Activities range from group discussions and film watching events to wall painting and video making workshops. Most importantly, the children dicuss local issues and gather ideas how to strengthen their local community. The bus stop and the bank should be repaired, there is a need for a permanent youth community centre and sports clubs could be started as well. With the help of Kriszta and her team, children learn how to form, present and advocate for their idea so that they will have a vision of the future which they can share with each other and help each other to realise them.

The full report about the activities, methods and current stand of the project is available here (only in Hungarian).