The first Future Production of the JuBReg - Jugend bewegt Region Region bewegt Jugend project took place at the Kulturfabrik Hoyerswerda from April 10 to 13. The aim of the three planned future productions is to give young people from Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany space to explore topics such as regional identity, structural change and social participation in greater depth and to prepare the YVA festival together. The artistic results of the previous productions will be presented at the festival as part of the Hoyerswerda city festival.

Master's student Annemarie Grünert shares her impressions of the first event in the Future Production series

During the first production, the young people were treated to a varied and methodically diverse program. The program began with creative warm-ups with music and movement. In artistic and reflective workshops, the participants explored their personal relationship to art, their ideas for the future and their role and influence in their own region. One focus was on the topic of structural change. In an exciting input by Prof. Raj Kollmorgen from the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the young people discussed social changes, future opportunities and concrete possibilities for participation. They then developed participation strategies for their home regions in transnational groups - an important step, as many reported that they had hardly experienced any effective co-determination to date.

A special component of Future Productions is the collaboration with students from the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. The first event was attended by a seminar group from the fourth semester of the Bachelor's degree course in Social Work. The students accompanied the young people methodically and artistically, developed their own workshop stations and invited them to talk about educational paths, life plans and social commitment. They saw themselves as supporting voices for the young people and wanted to bring their concerns to the region.

The participants were then given a preview of the planned festival, which will take place as part of the Hoyerswerda City Festival. During a tour of the town, the group explored the event site and visited the locations of previous youth participation projects. At the end, the young people viewed artistic works from past Future Camps to decide which contributions should be included in the festival program.

The first Future Production was a successful start full of creativity, exchange and commitment. The young people were encouraged to make their ideas visible and play an active role in shaping their region. There is great anticipation for the festival in September - so you should definitely keep the second weekend in September free.