On April 26, 2024, the first community meeting took place within the framework of the LINK laboratory.
Read about the event in the social networks of the Zemgale planning region.
You can find the full gallery of the event here!
Turn over the cards to get to know them!
SOCIAL INNOVATIONS
This means not only solving problems, but also learning together how to improve the lives of young people in the community and mutual cooperation.
MUTUAL BENEFIT
(WIN-WIN)
For organizations and institutions,
who work with young people in Jelgava city and region, the goal was to get to know each other better in order to build increasingly successful cooperation in the future.
For young people
the aim was to get to know the institutions and organizations working in Jelgava city and county, which work with young people, in order, on the one hand, to find out about potential career opportunities in this field (mini "shadow day") and, on the other hand, to give their opinion on how organizations can more successfully reach today's youth.
When applying for participation in the community meeting, young people were invited to freely indicate their current needs in the Google form. The answers given by the young people were recorded and used in group work, inviting them to vote on the most important of them, according to the participants. The results of these mini-surveys were then used in discussions.
As you can see, for young people it is very important to to have their views heard and taken into account, and receive emotional support . Only after that comes the need for creative lessons, courses, trainings, free time activities... So, the priority for young people is to be heard, not to receive new services.
How to hear the voices of young people? How can organizations work together to include the views of young people in their work?
Think about it and write in the comment section!
During the discussions, we concluded that cooperation both between organizations and between organizations and young people is facilitated by the same key words - getting to know each other, meeting, talking, being in an informal environment . We continue to invite colleagues we know in the community to visit or invite them to our place to talk informally!
In addition to that, simple and transparent information about various services available for young people in the city and region of Jelgava is needed. It is useful both for specialists to develop potential cooperation opportunities and for young people to know where to go for support. For this reason, the LINK platform includes "profiles" of organizations developed during the laboratory, which will be supplemented with detailed contact information over time. We invite you to get acquainted with them!
Check out the video below to see how we did at Community Meeting #1!
Taking into account the needs and observations of the community meeting participants, the next community meeting in the second half of August this year will be dedicated to promoting cooperation with educational institutions. Together, we will look for ways to better support schools, which are the first to face any difficulties in a young person's life. Follow the current information!