Boosting youth policy in Nagykanizsa through social innovation approaches

As for this medium scale town in the European context it is important to note that three country borders are situated near the town and five European capital cities (Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, Zagreb and Ljubljana) can be found within a distance of 200 km. From logistics and economic point of view the proximity of the European V and V/B transport corridors is a great advantage that connects the town to the circulation of the continent. In Nagykanizsa we consider it important to provide a large scope for new investment and to have a neat, modern town centre that meets European standards. We focus on sustainability and give top priority to the definition and formulation of the institutions’ functions.

However, the dark side of the rapid and global economic changes are intensely affecting the city: „The phenomenon of out-migration has gained outstanding public attention in Hungary over the recent years.” (…) „since the last years of the 2000s, migration balance has been negative in Hungary, which has further accelerated the population shrinkage observed since 1981. The future course of this process is hard to forecast, since it depends on several economic, social and political changes which might take place in Hungary or in receiving countries. Intentions to migrate may be reduced and out-migration might slow down if the economic situation in Hungary improves and there are positive changes in the labour market on the one hand, or on the other hand, if the labour force demand in potential destination countries decreases and restrictions are introduced. If, however, negative tendencies continue or become prolonged, and as emigrant networks emerge and expand, the flow of emigration may well become lasting and the likelihood of people staying permanently abroad may increase. The longer the outflow persists, the harder it will become to halt the process, as mechanisms of cumulative causation are likely to emerge, which make it self-perpetuating. At the same time, emigration means a loss in human capital, which will have a negative effect on further economic development in Hungary, and due to its age-specific nature it might also affect the future trends of fertility*.” 
(*Source: http://visegradrevue.eu/labour-movement-from-hungary-on-the-rise-but-still-low/     -    Irén Gödri, In: V4 revue, Out-migration from Hungary: on the rise, but still low (2014)

The youth community space ’The Base’

This initiative – keeping in mind the mentioned process – tries to reverse the brain-drain from Nagykanizsa and intensify the youth’ willingness to launch enterprises through the help of mentors, apart from creating a social space in which they can create the operational structure according to their own needs and ideas. The three main parts of the concept are:

1. A community place, where a restaurant could be operated by the youth with the help of their mentors, while acquiring the processes of cooking and business operations. The vast majority of the raw materials could be acquired from local suppliers, or from the donation of local food chains. The establishment of the place itself could be realised in accordance with the need of the youth and their involvement. The restaurant could provide cooking courses for communities. It would be open for the youth of the town and all interested parties, as the income of the restaurant would secure the basis of the operation of the entire enterprise. Local youth would design the place which serves as a showroom for their artworks, products. Community cooking, networking events, local talent shows are also welcome there.
   
   As mentioned before, Nagykanizsa has lost considerable amount of young human capital in the past years – and the willingness to leave the city continues to be high among youth. (due to the fresh reserach data of the local university, PEN.)
    
2. The incubation centre is the other element. It would provide young entrepreneurs with good development ideas, who neither have the funds nor business experience,  which form the basis for funds to launch their enterprise. We would nurture the best ideas and provide means to mentor the youth in form of social work in order to start their enterprises. The mentors could ‘educate’ their own partners, or employees, as there is a lack of expertise in the town.
    
3. Local innovation hub: We have just started running a social innovation contest based on the Be-novative.com online platform. The best social innovator teams get a mentor and can elaborate workplans for improving community based social services. Volunteers and SMEs can use the community space for networking and co-designing future projects. Peer support is crucial for youth who work with designing local services, especially for communities in less developed parts of the town. Also: pillars of our Integrated Action Plan (IAP) must intensify basic principles: the ownership, the community service and the mentorship (peer support) of the ULG members and committed SMEs.
    

In sight of regional economy trends, strenghtening local identity and building stronger social cohesion through local community powered public services targeting talented youth, should also be a high priority task of the municipality. A small but committed „task force” formed by ULG members, university staff and local entrepreneurs as well young social designers has now started the initiative „Nagykanizsa – we belong here.” Based on the URBACT methodology (IAP) a youth community space should be created, a project incubator where ideas, people, local investors and best practices can meet, and boost, through a talent-friendly atmosphere, the innovation potential of the city in a creative way. The main aim of the project should be: retain and support the local young social capital and include them in the re-make of local public services. Nagykanizsa has developed a novel local policy to use „obligatory” youth voluntarism (School Community Service) in a way that it affects the whole society positively, providing, thus, a win-win-win situation. The municipality has a contract with 8 local organisations that provide opportunities for non-paid activities and connects students who are looking for interesting and tailored voluntary activities with them.

Matching the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy – Article 7 ERDF

The relevant Integrated Territorial Programme prepared in Nagykanizsa for the period 2014-2020 (already approved by the Hungarian Government) as a basis for all spatial developments, has two framework initiatives which support local organisations to create local social inclusion projects, namely: the ‘Local programs targeting social cohesion’ (6.9.1-15.) and, ‘Development of social standard services’, translated into a concrete budget for the development of local projects in the field of child-care and other socially-related fields, in target areas of the city. The appropriate utilisation of this fund is a strong motivation for the municipality itself making the IAP that will be prepared within the CHANGE! Network an important tool to set up innovative measures for how to use that fund efficiently. Starting from 01.01.2018, the initiatve „Nagykanizsa – we belong here” should start based on the territorial development OP (6.9.2-16) and from now on integrate all knowledge we have gathered from our CHANGE! transnational partners and Hungarian URBACT partner cities.