Miasto Starachowice
Radomska 45 Street, 27-200 Starachowice, Poland
Concrete tool
As part of the topic “The role of civic space in fostering local engagement among young people,” I would like to present the role of a multidimensional urban space called the Pałacyk Creativity Center as a tool for strengthening young people’s involvement in city life, not only those working within the Youth City Council.
In Starachowice, we recognized the lack of space not only for young people but also for NGOs and young entrepreneurs. The city has an industrial character and a low level of social entrepreneurship. The goal of the space was not only to create a youth space for the Youth City Council but also a multidimensional space, aimed at social groups: young people, NGOs, and young entrepreneurs. The goal was to build cooperation and bridges to activate young people and entrepreneurs, strengthening their engagement and entrepreneurship. Young people became co-hosts of this space, the seat of the Youth City Council, but also a venue for social, business, and international events. The center will celebrate its two-year anniversary in April 2026.
Creating the Pałacyk Creativity Center as a tool to stimulate the social development of youth, NGOs, and young entrepreneurs. The space includes a youth council headquarters, a creative space, a coworking space, a conference room, and a podcast studio. Youth are co-hosting and co-organizing this space. The Center’s goals are: 1) Creating a single, shared space for collaboration between youth, NGOs, and entrepreneurs; 2) Exchanging views and opinions, and involving youth in projects of other NGOs; 3) Implementing joint initiatives for youth: entrepreneurship days (direct participation of entrepreneurs operating at the Creativity Center); 4) Collaborating with NGOs operating at the Creativity Center on mental health issues – as part of this collaboration, the organization offers free psychotherapeutic counseling for youth; 5) Direct participation of youth in events organized not only for youth – the goal is to build relationships between youth and other social groups in the city; 6) Organizing workshops for youth from the city (hip-hop workshops, language workshops, FIFA esports competitions, creative workshops).
Thanks to collaboration with NGOs and entrepreneurs, young people have the opportunity to organize events such as:
1. Mental Health Day (in collaboration with local NGOs located at the Creativity Center)
2. Organizing free weekly counseling sessions with a psychotherapist for young people (in collaboration with local NGOs located at the Creativity Center)
3. Organizing an entrepreneurship week for young people from Starachowice (in collaboration with local young entrepreneurs located at the Creativity Center)
4. Organizing free career counseling sessions for young people (in collaboration with local NGOs located at the Creativity Center)
5. Organizing meetings with senior organizations and joint projects with seniors.
6. Organizing events as part of international projects
Quality development