Efforts have begun to create a strategic agenda on youth policy in Zgierz. A series of meetings with young people is planned, during which students of schools in Zgierz will help develop a program to meet their most important needs.
The “youth policy” document is to take into account such needs of young people as improving the quality of life in the city or strengthening the participation of the young generation in the life of the city. During the meeting (November 17, 2022), inaugurating work on the creation of this strategy (finally it is to be adopted by a resolution of the Zgierz City Council), it was decided to plan a series of meetings with students of Zgierz secondary schools and the oldest classes of primary schools.
Using the “world cafe” method (work at discussion tables under the supervision of teachers and discussion moderators), young people during the meetings are to indicate the areas of life in the city that are the most important for this generation. In this way, the main elements of youth policy will be outlined, which – after approval by municipal officials – will include a set of concrete actions to be taken.
During table discussions, young people are asked to answer the following questions:
- what are you dreaming about?
- in Zgierz I would like…,
- in Zgierz the best is…,
- I travel outside Zgierz…
At the discussion tables in the “world cafe” method, there are moderators who guide the conversation and note the ideas submitted. Each subsequent team that appears at the table gets to know the effects of the work of its predecessors and is based on the material generated by them. When all the issues have been analyzed by all working groups, the discussion is summed up: moderators present on the forum all the materials developed at the tables.
According to the idea behind the PRI 2/2 project (Creating a Youth Policy of the Municipality of Zgierz), a catalog of goals and activities is to be set out to address the problems of local youth, their fears and challenges – including the feeling of unattractiveness of setting up a business, further education and living in Zgierz.
The project is implemented as part of the Local Development program, co-financed by the Municipality of Zgierz from Norwegian Funds in the competition of the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy.
