After a long break, a new European Youth Week could be organized, with participants from 11 European countries. The event took place in Novi Sad, Serbia and was themed “Let’s get digital! Innovation in digital youth work”.
What is the impact of digitalization on volunteer activities? How did the Kolping youth in different countries adapt to the situation changed by the pandemic? How do you create effective content that grabs viewers’ attention? And how do you optimize marketing for volunteer activities and events? These were questions that the participants addressed during the youth week with the support of various experts.
The main goal of the week was to create several promotional videos about volunteer activities. The participants, who mainly had little experience on these topics, were thrown into the deep end and had one week to create a video that would introduce volunteering and motivate people to find out more about opportunities within Kolping.
Two experts from Serbia accompanied the young adults in this task and prepared them well for this challenge with exciting workshops about storytelling, content production and marketing.
In several interactive sessions, the participants learned about the CapCut application and gained experience using it to create the requested videos. These skills will not only be useful in the personal lives of the participants, but also open the possibility for local Kolping groups to create innovative videos. Thus, not only the individual participants will benefit, but also the national or regional Kolping families.
In order to get exciting footage and at the same time learn more about the diverse culture of Serbia, there were several tourist excursions, from a guided tour through the city center, to a visit to the Petrovaradin fortress and its impressive tunnel system, to a trip to “Strand” (German for beach), a section of the Danube, which invites to relax at a beautiful sandy beach in one of many sun beds.
As a change of pace from the production of digital content, a lecture by a university professor highlighted for the participants the effects of digitalization on their social behavior and psyche. One focus was the topic of empathy, which participants learned about through interactive group work.
After five days of intensive work, cultural exchange and lively evenings, seven videos were produced that could not be more different. From simple explainer videos to Instagram reels to a video story featuring Adolph Kolping as a rescuer in need; participants excelled in their creativity and headed home with a filled backpack of useful skills, happy memories and new friendships. The participants are looking forward to the next meeting, the Membership Meeting of Kolping Youth Europe in September, which will take place together with the Continental Assembly of Kolping Europe in Esztergom, Hungary.
The Kolping Youth Europe thanks Kolping Serbia for the excellent local organization and expresses its gratitude to the Renovabis Foundation, Kolping Europe and Kolping Switzerland for their generous support, without which such an event would not have been possible.
Heinz Strässle, Vice President Kolping Youth Europe