The Municipality of Svendborg with 59,193 inhabitants is located at the southern part of the island of Funen, Denmark. The main city and administrative center is the city of Svendborg (27,600 inhabitants). In addition the municipality consists of 22 smaller villages scattered across Funen and five inhabited islands.
The aging population is a potential serious economic and social threat to the development in this municipality. Elderly citizens typically place a greater burden on healthcare and public services than younger individuals. Combined with a growing sense of discontent among children and youth, municipality is potentially facing a very serious problem as it may weaken and make fragile our future workforce. It is therefore crucial to invest in the resilience of children and youth and support development of a resourceful, and rooted young population capable of bearing and learning from the burdens of the future.
Examining these strengths and weaknesses of Svendborg a clear path becomes evident. Loneliness is on the rise, and a significant number of children and youth are not engaging in social communities. Simultaneously, research indicates that being part of social communities—particularly those of co-creation fosters empowerment, self-efficacy and self-confidence. This, in turn, contributes to social resilience. The problem municipality want to address with the Culture and Resilience Action plan is consequently the increasing discontent among youth, and the goal is to enable them to participate in social communities and encourage them to build and develop new communities.
On 31 May the last of the four BSR Cultural Pearls Awarding ceremonies took place in Svendborg, Denmark as part of the public event “Maritime Dage – Åben Ø” – two days showcasing and celebration of the maritime identity, love of sea and crafts. This event is organized by NGOs, artists, communities, local educational and private companies wanting to show, tell or involve the citizens and city guests in the marine activities and create cultural communities. The “Svendborg – BSR Cultural Pearl 2024” – a bright and sunny summer day, started with a sing-along with a look on the historical…
Starting their journey as a candidate to become a Cultural Pearl the city of Svendborg in Denmark clearly identified the challenge they would like to tackle during their title year. Their analysis showed a significant number of children and youth were not engaging in social communities. Meanwhile research indicates that being part of social communities – particularly those of co-creation – fosters empowerment, self-efficacy, and self-confidence. This, in turn, contributes to social resilience of the whole community. Consequently, one of the problems the municipality is addressing as part of their Culture and Resilience Action plan is to decrease discontent among…
The main challenge Svendborg Municipality (Denmark) wanted to address when applying for the BSR Cultural Pearl 2024 title was loneliness among young people. They noticed that many children and teenagers were not taking part in social activities, feeling isolated, and disconnected from their community. After getting the title, the municipality aimed to find ways to improve young people’s mental health by involving them in cultural activities. One of the main initiatives they created was called Cultural Spaces. This was a 12-week program where young people facing mental health struggles could join cultural activities. They worked with four local creative partners:…
