Numerous studies conducted in Poland confirm increasing apathy and unwillingness to act among young people (e.g. Eurobarometr, the Civil Society Development Foundation, the Public Opinion Research Centre). The voter turnout and participation of the age group 18-25 in public and political life are very low. Young people are very critical about the social and political reality that surrounds them, but on the other hand, they seem totally helpless when they are to voice their concerns and opinions.
The aim of the project was to increase youth participation in public and social life in Ostróda, Morąg, Lubawa and Nowe Miasto Lubawskie.
Thanks to the project implementation, 4 regional youth editorial boards were established to prepare materials on political life, volunteer work and activities targeted at local communities as well as tolerance, counteracting hate speech, financial and legal education. The articles were published in local issues of a daily paper. Once a month, the editorial boards wrote special inserts to local issues of the Gazeta Olsztyńska daily paper in each of the four participating towns (articles, comic strips). Recently, 47 people worked in the youth editorial boards on regular bases and c.100 people in total were involved in the project activities. 42 newspaper supplements, written by young people, were published in the four towns. The content included videos and photo essays and was also posted to the online version. 1,427 hours of training sessions included workshops for journalists and reporters and the participant were trained on how to make videos and comic books.
The project beneficiaries were secondary schools students from Ostróda, Morąg, Lubawa and Nowe Miasto Lubawskie.
Thanks to cooperation with the project partner Gazeta Olsztyńska, the materials created by young people could reach a very large number of recipients and were additionally supported by the credibility of the newspaper.