Kaunas 2022, together with the VMU Business Practice Centre, had the successful graduates of the first practical educational programme for pupils Kaunas Challenge. They worked intensively on the assigned city’s cultural, social, and business challenges and presented the results and suggestions to the organisations who formulated the challenges and consulted the programme participants as well as to the programme mentors.
Pupils of the 10-11th-grades from Kaunas city and district schools who have accepted the challenge, sought out various solutions and new ideas for the city, covering the following topics: youth employment, development of cultural projects, exploitation of abandoned places, and promotion of new initiatives. During the creative workshops, the pupils applied the techniques of Lego Serious play, Business Model Canvas, and Method Kit that they have practised in the programme.
Liudas Švipas, the training manager of VMU Business Practice Centre, is openly happy about the results of Kaunas Challenge, that are already apparent, and says that the programme is developing the vision of continuity. „Pupils who have participated in this initiative developed their competencies and had the opportunity to grow in every way, contributing to the improvement of Kaunas city culture, entrepreneurship, and education through their decisions. After spending 3 months in experience-based programme, all young people have the opportunity to join the Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 project voluntarily and continue to grow and make a difference. I think such an investment in schoolchildren is very important because we are raising a new, conscious, and motivated generation together with the programme, and this is a true achievement for Kaunas.
Vaida Venckutė-Nagė, the curator of the youth platform of Kaunas 2022, is convinced that the future of Kaunas is in the hands of the young generation. „Instead of creating a programme for young people, we seek to enable them to plan and implement the Kaunas 2022 youth programme that they like. It is our duty to help them develop their skills and provide the necessary means to build a city in which they would like to live, study, work, and spend their leisure time. Kaunas Challenge is one of the ways to do this: a way to combine all creative ideas and turn them into action. In the autumn, we will select the second group of Kaunas Challenge participants, so I encourage all young people to dare and take up this challenge.
The Kaunas Challenge programme is designed for 15-19-years-olds. This is the first training programme of The Tempo Academy of Culture which seeks to shape young people’s personality.
The goal of the programme is to increase the involvement of schoolchildren in the cultural life of the city, thus, giving the operating representatives of cultural fields a feedback about the image of the city from a young person’s perspective, to shape the young person’s personality by developing the the competencies as self-evaluation, networking, problem solving, activity, teamwork, and creativity.
Video: Marius Paplauskas
