Press conference on “Akademia Młodzieżowa Rady Miasta” (Eng. “Youth City Council Academy”)

A press conference was held at the cultural center in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski “Ostrowiecki Browar Kultury” on the launch of the works on the “Youth City Council Academy”, whose participants will create a plan to establish a “Youth City Council”.

President of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski Jarosław Górczyński commented on the initiative.

Young people who receive support and tools for community service feel a greater sense of belonging and identification with the city. Through the creation of the Youth City Council, we want to show young people that their voice is heard and we count with their opinion, and recent years have shown us that young people in our city want to get involved in city life and be publicly active. The Youth City Council is a strong representation of young people from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski and a bridge between their needs and the municipal self-government.

Councillors of the Youth City Council will be able to give opinions on city projects, participate in youth projects and obtain funding under the Norwegian Funds.

The project under discussion consists of the following stages:

Informational meetings in every public and non-public primary and secondary school in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. This will give every student a chance to participate in the project.

Citizenship workshops also held at each school. During these workshops, young people will learn why their voice is very important and what steps they can take to make it heard in the city. Within the framework of debates according to the Oxford principle, young residents will gain knowledge and skills on how to translate the identification of urban space problems into real actions to counter them, with tangible results. The workshops will take place between September 2022 and March 2023.

Four major Oxford-style debates in 2023 with mixed participation of youth and adult residents of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Discussions will be inspired by topics chosen directly by residents. During the discussions, participants will have an opportunity to prove themselves as speakers or to participate in the debate as the audience.

Two meetings with inspiring people from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.

This is not the only recent project addressed to the younger part of the Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski community. The low-cost rental housing program of Ostrowieckie Towarzystwo Budownictwa Społecznego (Eng. Social Housing Association in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski) is to be continued in its current or similar format. Under the program, a tenant cannot be denied tenancy as long as they pay their rent and do not cause social problems.  Another project – Ostrowiecki Integrator Edukacji i Przedsiębiorczych (Eng. Ostrowiec Integrator of Education and Entrepreneurs) – is to help young people decide to start their own business and support them in the first period of running it. Moreover, the announced revitalization of the Ostrowiec Market Square is a response to the expectations of young people for a modern, atmospheric meeting place.

Also the following attended the conference: President of Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Społeczno – Gospodarczych (Eng. Association of Socio-Economic Initiatives) Katarzyna Cukierska, Vice-Chairman of the Youth Assembly of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship Maciej Kwiatkowski and representatives of the youth from Ostrowiec: Eliza Bugajska, Weronika Młynek and Dominika Chmielewska.

“Youth City Council Academy” is implemented within the framework of the project “Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski – miasta OdNowa” (Eng. Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski – City ReNEWal) benefiting from funding worth EUR 2,974,766 received from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA grants.

The project aims to improve the lives of residents of all ages by achieving various changes in the city's socio-economic development, and in the sphere of local public administration.