The first meeting with representatives of the Municipality of Sogndal

The first meeting was held on 2nd March and focused on the Norwegian education system, creativity and entrepreneurship of young people, as well as their involvement in the Youth City Council on the example of the Municipality of Sogndal in Norway.

Meeting participants:

On behalf of the Municipality of Sogndal:

Bjarnhild Samland – Assistant to the Head of Education,

Frode Olav Haara – responsible for implementation of projects related to development of entrepreneurship among children and youth, representative of the Western Norwegian University,

Ingunn Marie Myren – representative of Sogndal Middle School,

Bente Ask – responsible for innovative teaching through Minecraft,

Holger Aasen – representative of the "Young Entrepreneur” organization,

Maria Kastad Brum – Secretary of the Municipality of Sogndal,

Aina Thomassen – Coordinator from the Municipality of Sogndal,

Torkjel Solbraa – responsible for public participation in the Municipality of Sogndal

On behalf of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski Municipality:

Dominik Smoliński – Deputy Mayor,

Jolanta Pora – Deputy Head of Planning and Development Department

Tomasz Gębka – Deputy Head of Planning and Development Department

Anna Woś – Inspector in the Planning and Development Department, Promotion and Public Communication Office

Adrian Murdza – Inspector in the Planning and Development Department, Promotion and Public Communication Office

Jan Bernard Malinowski – Head of Department of Education and Social Affairs

Agnieszka Basa – Inspector in the Department of Education and Social Affairs

Mariusz Łata – Head of Department of Education, Health and Social Affairs

Monika Wiączek – Headmaster of Public Primary School No. 7

Katarzyna Goworek – Headmaster of Public Primary School No. 14

Katarzyna Cukierska – President of Przestrzeń Inicjatyw Społeczno-Kulturalnych Association

Zbigniew Wesołowski – Chief Specialist for Entrepreneurship and Economic Promotion

Agnieszka Rogalińska – Director of the Centre for Local Development

Łukasz Kot – Manager at the Centre for Local Development

Ewa Mochul-Zwolińska – Head of NGOs Affairs

Grzegorz Kaczmarek, Wiesława Kwiatkowska – advisors Association of Polish Cities

The meeting was interpreted by: Mrs. Sonia Darzycka and Mr. Paweł Kozłowski from PBT Company based in Kraków.

The meeting was opened by Tomasz Gębka and Dominik Smoliński, who welcomed the participants, after which the floor was given to Mrs. Bjarnhild Samland, who presented the Norwegian education system, including the curriculum of Norwegian schools.

The next speaker was a representative from the Western Norway University. His presentation focused mainly on the implementation of the project titled: "Knowledge-Based Entrepreneurship Development" which involved establishing cooperation with schools in Sweden and Denmark. The aim of the project was also to establish cooperation with the rest of the Scandinavian countries and to implement good practices in the field of entrepreneurship education and the development of entrepreneurial attitudes among children and young people. Based on the research and international collaboration, a scientific publication was produced.

Jan Bernard Malinowski, Head of the Education Department of the City Hall and Mariusz Łata, Head of the Education, Health and Social Department of the Starosty of Ostrowiec, spoke about the Polish education system and the municipal education.

A speech on the issues of inspiring and training young people in finance and banking was given by Holger Aassen, a representative of the "Young entrepreneur” organization which implements a series of projects involving meetings between young people and entrepreneurs, as well as a series of workshops aimed at stimulating creativity among young people, as well as learning entrepreneurial attitudes.

Agnieszka Rogalińska, Director of the Centre for Local Development, showed in her presentation the profile of the Centre’s activities, after which Łukasz Kot, an employee of the unit, presented the initiatives undertaken as part of the Centre’s statutory activities in the Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski Municipality.

Marie Kastaad Brum presented briefly the activities and initiatives of the Youth City Council of the Municipality of Sogndal.

Katarzyna Cukierska, the President of PISK Association, also spoke on the topic of the Youth City Council, referring to the initiatives taken by the Association with the aim of encouraging young people to take an active part in the social life of the city.

Numerous activities to stimulate entrepreneurial attitudes have been undertaken by local schools, including the Public Primary School No. 7, as reported by Monika Wiączek, Headmaster of the School No. 7.

The 2-hour meeting was summarized by Tomasz Gębka.  The parties agreed on the date of the next meeting, as well as topics of particular interest to the meeting participants that have not yet been discussed, i.e. cities designing in Minecraft activities.