1. THE EQUALIZER AT JANIKOVSZKY ÉVA PRIMARY SCHOOL BUDAPEST
The purpose of The Equalizer program is to provide a safe and secure learning space for children where they can develop their skills in sports, advance their academic knowledge, and grow as individuals. District 19 is one of the areas of Budapest with higher percentage of at risk children. The purpose of the camp is to provide a space for them during the day to partake in various activities and spend their time in an organized program rather than to roam freely on the streets. Thus, The Equalizer was a perfect candidate to join forces with Janikovszky Primary School to assist in providing fun programs for the children.
We received positive feedback from the school, noting that all the kids who took part and the teachers that monitored the session all had positive things to say. The principal of the school is now in discussion with the District School Board so that The Equalizer may be implemented in the daily life of the school from September 1st, for the 2020-21 school year.
Learn more about the project HERE and on Facebook.
Project team: Stephen Birch, Marton Kiss, Jesse van de Woestijne
2. CIVIL COLLEGE
Civil College Foundation (CCF) organizes a regular summer camp - Countrywide Meeting of Community Organizers, in Hungary. The annual event summons 50-60 people from different parts of the country and from a diverse set of communities. The summer camp is an important building block of a movement building process as it is a learning space for these organizers and leaders, and also a space for relationship building. The initiative is unique in the sense that it is a platform for building a movement across issues, class, ethnicity and other boundaries. The summer camp and the work of CCF as a whole, contribute to the revitalization of civil society and working for democracy on the ground.
The summer camp was organized in Kunbábony with the help of the Learn&Engage program this year for the third time. Due to the pandemic the original plans had to be transformed. The camp with 100 participants had to be replaced by various small events available online.
Project team: Máté Varga, president of Civil College Foundation (CCF); Mónika Bálint, national organizer at CCF; Balázs Horváth, mentor at CCF; Bernadett Sebály, student at CEU
3. SMALL STEP ENVIRONMENTAL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMME
Small Step is a project run by Harmonium Association with an environmental education focus. The project, since 2010, has included the gradual development of the Small Step website and social media page (1,6 K followers and 4500 users on webpage, 50000 visitors/year) to share pedagogical booklets, calls and videos on environmental education. Small Step became not only a platform for online engagement but also functions as the name of offline environmental educational programmes offered to primary and high schools.
„Small Step Environmental Engagement Programme‟ was designed and implemented by Alexandra Czeglédi (CEU) and Zsuzsanna Gutjahr (Harmonium Association) starting from February and closing the project in June. The project was originally submitted with the aim of mobilising parents and teachers alike in the 8th district around the themes of environmental justice, climate change, active citizenship, grass-root initiative and sustainable district. Due to unexpected circumstances brought about by the COVID 19 pandemic, the project objectives needed several reformulations and adjustments in April and May until it gained its final shape. In sum, the programme was aiming at raising awareness and encourage cross-generation creative thinking about environmental problems, healthy environment and well-being which include visual tools to express a problem, but preferably a solution to an existing environmental problem surrounding us daily.
Project team: Alexandra Czeglédi, Zsuzsanna Gutjahr, Harmonium Association
4. SZABAD EGYETEM
Szabad Egyetem originally applied for the CEU grant to tour the Hungarian countryside with an exhibit about the state of the Hungarian education system and to host discussions and workshops about the topic to people affected by the problems. In late February, the first stop along the tour happened in February in Kluj, Romania, where Szabad Egyetem attended a 3 day conference on the Hungarian education system.
Due to the pandemic all our plans were canceled. Yet, this did not stop our determination to educate ourselves and others about the issues facing the Hungarian school system. We could no longer organize our exhibit, but we experimented with online events. The distance learning presented many challenges to students and teachers across the country and we ran a survey to better understand the challenges. We summarized our findings and held an online event with NGOs, majors and a trade union to discuss the topic.
We also held an online event to examine and discuss the situation faced by Romani students. Many Roma students did not have access to the digital tools they needed and their education was hindered by racism and segregation. These two events reached 15,000 people and over 400 people attended or expressed interest in attending. We made sure to host events in English and Hungarian to reach a broader audience. Recordings of the events are available online, and still gathering views. You can find the details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/259067738487381/
Project team:Otavio Mattos, Viktor Mak, Milan Nesic, Szabad Egyetem
