Over 120 young people from all over Serbia participated in the educational, interactive and festival content of the three-day Festival of Young Visionaries, which was held last weekend (from 21 to 23 September) in Belgrade.
On the second day of the festival organised at Dorćol Platz, the gathered youth were greeted by Anke Konrad, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Serbia, while on the third day, Ivana Antonijević, Assistant Minister of Tourism and Youth of the Republic of Serbia, and Daniela Funke, Director of GIZ, addressed them.
“A country without young people is a country without a future. That is why I am very pleased to have met here a large number of young people who want to actively shape the future. I am glad to be able to say that the Youth Strategy in the Republic of Serbia for the period from 2023 to 2030 and the accompanying Action Plan, which were adopted this year, expand the basis for that commitment,” Anke Konrad, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Serbia said, addressing the participants of the Festival of Young Visionaries.
Two panel discussions and seven workshops were held within the Festival, and over 20 entrepreneurs and civil society organisations presented themselves at the Bazaar of Opportunities.
In the Info Corner within the Bazaar of Opportunities, the participants of the Festival spoke with representatives of the Prospect for Young People in Rural Areas in Serbia project, civil society organisations and institutions, who answered their questions about social entrepreneurship, project financing, marketing for business ideas, the current situation in youth politics…
Local Stories occupied an important segment of the Festival of Young Visionaries, in which 12 young people from underdeveloped areas of Serbia addressed their peers. Their inspiring speeches were dedicated to the ways in which, despite all the challenges, they managed to achieve their ideas and initiatives in the field of activism, culture, ecology, entrepreneurship, sports… Many of them, in different ways, were also supported by the project Prospect for Young People in Rural Areas in Serbia.
“We are proud to say that we have supported over 2,000 young people throughout Serbia in the two years of project implementation. At the Festival of Young Visionaries, among other things, their successes were presented, which, we believe, motivated the young people who gathered here not to give up their ideas and activism. Just by coming to the festival, all of them showed that they want to actively participate in changes for the better in their lives and the lives of their community,” Marija Radovanović Niklanović, project leader, said.
During the three days of the Festival of Young Visionaries, there was an informal and relaxed, obviously friendly atmosphere. In addition to education and interactive activities, the gathered young people also had the opportunity to socialize and have fun with the performance of Grupa Tri and the programme of DJ Časna sestra.
The festival atmosphere was complemented by a stand-up performance by Filip Računica, and the interactive performance Girls by Organization E 8 inspired a conversation about growing up and the position of little girls, women and girls in Serbia. On the second day of the festival, a film about youth initiatives, Activate Yourself and Activate Others! premiered.
The festival was carried out as part of the project “Prospect for Young People in Rural Areas in Serbia”. This project, implemented by GIZ in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Youth of the Republic of Serbia, falls under the framework of German development cooperation
