Summary of the activities “TST”

“Tomorrow starts today” is a project of participatory democracy of the association RJOS “Apvalus stalas” in Lithuania, ATCE-SR and the youth council of Medias, during which our group with the help of the town volunteers conducted different local activities.
We started spring activities with “Photovoice”- a non-formal method of working and using lobby and advocacy which uses photographs to send a social message from disadvantaged social groups. The task was to show the society how, we, youth, see the world.
On Tuesday, April 17th 2012, an activity called “Forum theatre” was held within the premises of the Youth Center FORTES. Forum Theatre is a form of expressing the human relations, and with the assistance of the public to find solutions to the problems presented in the play. Therefore, we can understand some of the problems in today’s society. The subject of the play was the relationship between young people and their parents and their different opinions about the involvement of youth in the society.
Another activity took place on 6th of May, and it consisted in a graffiti demonstration titled “I Spray Out my Point”. We chose 4 talented youngsters who showed us that graffiti is also a form of art. They painted an old bus with bright colors and motivational messages. Everybody could look at their masterpiece which drove people through town during the summer.
On the 5th of May, “Students activity and structured dialogue with local authorities” was implemented in a partnership with the County Council of Students -Buzau and had as the main topic the problems of the youth and solutions for them. After the first part, we had as our guests the vice-mayor Sorin Carjan and one of our counselors who gave us a few pieces of advice.
“Forward with the art” is an art activities mini project who took place on 2nd of June and who was formed by a few workshops for dancing, knitting, painting, etc. The participants were able to show us their skills in different domains and to also teach others.
Throughout the whole project, we had interviews with the mayor, the vice-mayor and other important personalities of our town, thus learning their point of view on the education of the youth, and some advice.
The project is coming to a close, but we were left with deep impressions about youth policies, advocacy and lobby, and I can vow many of us will use what we learnt in our future.

Veronica Maria Ceausu