Svendborg
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.
CULTURE AND RESILIENCE ACTION PLAN SUMMARY
Visit: www.svendborg.dk
