Forum for Young Citizens - Western Europe

In August 2003, 15 young participants were invited to meet in Stockholm, Sweden to take part in the first Forum for Young Citizens event. Various activities and workshops focussed on enabling the participants to share their experiences, visions, and attitudes regarding culture and lifestyles. They also discussed the place of young people in the official culture arena in Europe.

Specifically, the main workshop was based on a method called Digital Storytelling, which involves beginning with a personal story - whose theme was what it is like to be young in a European city - and then transferring these stories into films. Each participant produced his or her own digital story with support of filmmakers from Film Stockholm.

The digital stories were displayed at the youth art exhibition "Extreme Passion" at the Culture Centre of Stockholm in August 2003 and at different events in theparticipating cities. Carrying the slogan "The most extreme is to have the courage to be who you are", the free exhibit also featured "A thousand square meters of young art; paintings, street art, t-shirts, graffiti and sculptures." The exhibit focussed on how culture looks when young people create it themselves.

Organisers are motivated by these questions: What is the passion of young people in Europe? What support do young people involved in cultural activities want from decision makers? Meetings between young people and decision makers will be organised as the project progresses to foster reflection on these questions, and to inspire change.