The results from the research study “Youth cultural participation in the Balkans” are here. Two experts together with the team members of ALDA and 7 LDAs worked on 5 surveys in 5 different Balkan countries and several interviews and focus groups to analyze the situation with the cultural participation among the youngsters in the Balkans.
Its main topic – youth cultural participation has arised as a natural continuation of the previous activities conducted at local level in LDA host cities and some forty towns and municipalities across the region. Culture is seen here as an incentive for youth participation, creativity, way of spending leisure time, space of employment opportunities, but also for learning the skills of active engagement, culture of dialogue and participation in policy making.
A very important feature of this publication is that its primary focus is on grass – root level thus providing an overview of state of art in youth cultural needs facing the reality check. Another important feature of the study is that it provides a comparative insight into legislative and institutional framework, but even more importantly into local practices in diverse cultural contexts across the region.
Finally, the publication serves as a useful source of information on present prevailing trends in transformation of cultural value system among young generation in the Balkans as perhaps the most important actor of overall reforms within the EU integration process still to take place in the region.
This comparative study has been prepared also thanks to the regional team of Youth trainers and Youth engagement workers established and continuously trained within the project Balkan Regional Platform for Youth Participation and Dialogue. Their inputs and feedback are seen as valuable contribution to a deeper understanding of different aspects of youth cultural participation and also to defining the policy recommendations as the integral part of this study.
Download the publication HERE.
Find the Recommendations HERE.