Abaut Projet RAIL4V4+V 2023
The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.
Challenges
The European Union Youth Strategy, as a framework for EU youth policy cooperation for 2019-2027, should make the most of youth policy’s potential, fostering youth participation in democratic life, supporting social and civic engagement and aiming to ensure the necessary resources to take part in society for youth. It focuses on three core action areas around the words: Engage, Connect, and Empower while working on joined-up implementation across sectors. Connecting EU with Youth, Information & Constructive Dialogue, Quality Learning and Space and Participation for All are some of the European Youth Goals developed to identify cross-sectoral areas that affect young people’s lives and indicate challenges. Moreover, 2022 was declared the European Year of Youth (EYY) to highlight the importance of European youth in building a more sustainable, inclusive, beautiful and peaceful future. In previous years, many initiatives for engaging young people in the field of cultural heritage were launched by international organisations (UNESCO, ICCROM, Europa Nostra). However, industrial heritage is still a topic that is unknown and distant to young people, especially in countries outside the EU, such as Serbia.
Considering the situation in heritage and youth fields, the main idea of the proposed project is to engage, connect, and empower young generations to explore and respond to the current challenges facing railway heritage through constructive dialogue, creative learning, and interactive participation.
Approach
Following the results of the previously implemented project RAIL4V4+V in raising awareness about the railway heritage’s value and importance in diversifying the tourism offer in the V4 + Vojvodina region, the proposed project will focus on encouraging the active participation of youth to make their voice heard on how they could be involved and contribute to railway heritage and its future.
The project aims to Engage, Connect and Empower young people in railway heritage development through:
Raising
Raising the level of their knowledge about common history, culture, heritage, identity
Increasing
Increasing their sense of initiative and participation in the society. Increasing opportunities for their professional development;
Empowering
Empowering their creativity and digital skills as crucial players in the innovation of cultural heritage tourism;
Improving
Improving their understanding and responsiveness to cultural diversity
The project will be launched with networking and learning activities essential to bringing together heritage preservation specialists and young people from selected undeveloped areas in V4+V regions. Young people inspired by the virtual route RAIL4V4+V will be encouraged to explore, photograph and tell their stories about new railway sites. The best photo stories will be added to the existing virtual route and travelling exhibition designed and dedicated to young people. The handbook will include guidelines for engaging youth in the railway heritage.
Innovation
The novelty of the Project pertains to the following:
1
the introduction of novel perspectives in fostering active citizenship among young people and strengthening young people's sense of initiative
The project will develop skills and competencies among young people to engage and involve them at local, regional and European levels. Young people from five countries participating in networking activities supported by competence-building initiatives (online seminar, photo contest, and travelling exhibition) will learn about the mutual history and culture to understand European values such as diversity, tolerance, and solidarity.
2
the application of the interdisciplinary methodology in building an international network of professionals and young people interested in heritage
As part of the project, we are building an international network of youth and professional organisations connected by the same views and challenges in local environments. The members of these organisations will gain new professional viewpoints and ideas, which will develop new ideas and increase the international impact of both the project and participating organisations. The project will serve to exchange experiences.
Regional Relevance
The railway has played a crucial role in the historical development of the V4 region. Its construction in the former Habsburg monarchy began in the 1820s. By the end of the century, it had significantly contributed to mining and agricultural development and the transport of goods. By the beginning of the 20th century, the railway network of the Monarchy reached a total length of over 40,000 kilometres and became one of the most developed networks in Europe. The territory of today’s Vojvodina, once a peripheral swampy area of southern Hungary, was integrated into the bloodstream of the Monarchy thanks to the railway. The development of new means of transport by the end of the 20th century made the railway lose its priority. Today, however, the EU is putting the railway in focus again, recognizing its potential in sustainability, innovation, safety and accessibility areas.
The regional relevance of our proposal is in the following:
contribution to raising awareness of the role of railways integrating remote local communities through engaging and empowering young people, in line with strategic priorities of the Visegrad Group in 2023
capacity building to strengthen the role of the railway in preserving Central European collective identity, in particular through its heritage, both tangible and intangible
emphasising the regional, cross-border dimension of rail that brings youth closer together, allows them to explore the region in all its diversity, and fosters socio-economic and territorial cohesion.