How to build a creative youth city? – was the premise of the Creative Youth City project, developed in partnership with the associations PSIENTÍFICA (Portugal) and ILMIOLAVORO (Italy), a project that was officially concluded during the Multiplier Event, held in Cluj-Napoca on February 25. The project, through its implemented activities and created materials, had shown that we can encourage young people to try out their ideas without fear of failure, by creating the opportunity for like-minded young people to gain inspiration and practical knowledge, providing them with a framework to develop their creativity and offering them the right guidance.
The project had three main aims. We wanted to develop the creative and entrepreneurial potential of young people as a way of motivating this group and amplifying their voice, inviting the public to listen to what young people have to say (through their own creative projects). At the same time, we wanted to develop a programme that would help young people to find sources of motivation, to try out their creative ideas and to take action, to put into practice what they have learned at school (through exploring creative fields). Finally, we considered it very important to promote an international and collaborative dialogue on youth, creativity and entrepreneurship, based on the identification and exchange of good practices, in order to create a methodology based on the Creative Youth City concept across Europe.
We wanted to find out the recipe for “baking” a creative youth city. Of course, there can be many variations for the same “dish”, but you can read in this guide about what we came up with.
The ingredients:
- Analyse the situation in your country and identify best practices – 32 tablespoons
- Implementing an innovative programme (meetings and mentoring) – 50 tablespoons
- Provide theoretical material. Build intellectual support for the methodology (IO1 and IO2) – 20 tablespoons
- Getting people to try and practice the recipe while reading about it (creativity and entrepreneurship pages) – 32 tablespoons
- Provide material created – 10 tablespoons
- Show examples of what you have done – 10 tablespoons
- Have fun and love what you are doing! – To your taste 😊
The recipe:
- Find out what the literature says about creativity and entrepreneurship! See the current state of research on page 20
- Find out what has already been developed in your city/town in these areas and analyse what actually works! See examples from Portugal, Italy and Romania on page 46
- After this initial research, you are ready to start implementing the programme. Find out about methodology, target group, mentoring and sessions on page 61.
- Provide some theoretical material! Check out the quick recipes for a quick update on the literature on the subject. Consult pages 28, 29, 37, 38, 43 , 44.
- Develop your creative and entrepreneurial skills! Throughout this booklet you will find pages called “This is a creative page” with challenges. Enjoy them!
- Show the results of your project to the community. See examples from Portugal, Italy and Romania on page 89.
- Most importantly, have fun!
The final event of the project was held last weekend, on 25 February, with the participation of pupils and students, local facilitators, and student organisations of our city. During the multiplier event, the organizers briefly presented to participants the main results of the project, one of them being the Creative Youth City guide, which was created by the project partners to collect a series of theoretical inputs on creativity, entrepreneurship, good practices, various tips, tricks, and exercises on these topics. The other main result of the project, the Creative Youth City platform has also been presented, highlighting its main features, the space for youngsters seeking learning opportunities in the city, and the space for mentors and youth workers, seeking to offer their services to local youth.
Following the presentation of project results, the youngsters who took part in the project’s Blended Mobility activity in Portugal were invited to share their experiences with the public. They have shared their impressions about the local creativity workshop, their project idea, and their experiences and memories of the Blended Mobility, highlighting the friendships that have been created, and the numerous occasions where they got the chance to step out of their comfort zones and try new creative activities.
At the end of the event, participants have been encouraged to further disseminate the project results to anyone they think could benefit from them in their work.