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.