OUR MARKS: CoWorking Banská Bystrica

20.3.2024

Eva  Ščepková (Statutory member of the civic association CoWorking Banská Bystrica)

How do you perceive the implementation of the LINK Academy project over time?

It’s been almost a year since we finished our LINK Academy project. Looking back, we are still convinced that implementing this project was a great decision and we are glad that it also received support from ACF – Slovakia.

What results did you achieve as part of the LINK Academy project?

We implemented the LINK Academy project from November 2021 to March 2023. The main goal of the project was to create a comprehensive educational and development program in order to support the development of social and professional competences of young people, as well as their more successful application on the labor market. We managed to implement 7 rounds of the educational and development program, which a total of 217 young people went through. 3 high schools in Banská Bystrica participated in the project, namely the J. Murgaš High School, the Business Academy and the High Vocational School of Hotel Services and Business.

The participants completed workshops on topics such as Presentation skills, Time management, Project management, Copywriting, or Speech workshop. They then volunteered as part of a school project that they devised and planned themselves. The participants of the remaining 4 tours volunteered in selected non-profit organizations, where they applied the acquired skills in practice.

 

What successes have you achieved with the project?

As part of the project, we held the 1st Banská Bystrica hackathon. We approached 3 institutions – the Slovak Industrial Property Office, the Banskobystrica self-governing region and the city of Banská Bystrica, which gave the assignment for the participants.

The participants were not only young people involved in the educational program, but also the public. Participants had 24 hours to solve a predetermined task related to marketing or IT.

During the project, we recorded 16 podcasts with inspiring people, which can be listened to on Spotify under the name LINK talk. Another output of the project is the innovative educational web platform www.linkacademy.sk, which provides systematic access to informal education within long-term educational and development programs. Participants of our academies and long-term educational programs can access the necessary information, learn, network, connect and gain further inspiration.

What was/is the benefit of your project for the target groups and the surrounding area? We see the positive impact of the project on two levels. The first concerns a specific group of young people who were participants in the project. They improved their skills and acquired new knowledge and competences such as entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity in real practice.

The non-profit organizations that provided real tasks were in close contact with the participants and thus showed them the functioning of the organization directly in reality. After completing this comprehensive educational and development program, young people are ready to found, lead a civic association, or start their own project.

Another positive impact of the project is the fact that young people are an inspiration for their peers and for their surroundings, which multiplies the impact of the project.

How did your project develop after the end of support from the ACF – Slovakia program?

We perceive that the topic of support and development of young people is still relevant nowadays and even more urgent after the covid era. In our opinion, giving young people the space to improve their skills, gain experience and meet proactive peers is very beneficial. Such long-term programs will help them find their talents, what they are good at and show them the possibilities that life has to offer.

In the future, we definitely want to implement other rounds of the development program for young people. We already have a few enhancers and activities that we want to add there so that our LINK Academy moves to another level.

What experiences did you – as an organization – gain within the framework of the ACF – Slovakia program?

The implementation of the project brought several benefits for our civic association as well. The members of our team gained experience in organizing events and improved in team management. And we also gained experience in marketing and managing social networks. As an organization, we built good relations with selected secondary schools during the project and also deepened cooperation with the City of Banská Bystrica and the Banská Bystrica self-governing region.

 

 

Video from the project LINK Academy: