Cultural Needs of Youth in Boka Kotorska

kulturne-potrebe-naslovna In the period September 2009-March 2010, Expeditio conducted a research focusing on the topic “Cultural Needs of Youth in Boka Kotorska“. The project was funded by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Media of Montenegro, through a programme for co-financing projects for young people in 2009. The project was intended as part of activities aimed at implementing the Action Plan for Youth in 2009. The research “Cultural Needs of Youth in Boka Kotorska“ was conducted as part of a larger project entitled Sostenuto. This project is carried out in partnership between Expeditio and partner organizations from France, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, within the MED programme of the EU. The Sostenuto project focuses on thinking culture as a factor of economic and social innovation.

The main aim of this research was to identify culture related needs of youth living on the territory of municipalities of Kotor, Tivat and Herceg Novi. Expeditio conducted a qualitative research, which included an inductive approach, consisting of two research techniques: individual (face-to-face) interviews and focus groups. his type of research was chosen because of its advantages in relation to the quantitative (through surveys) research: because it provides a detailed and comprehensive information, the respondents can give more detailed answers; it provides a better understanding of problems and greater analytical perspective, creativity and possibility to think about the answers . Therefore, we have obtained, in quantitative and qualitative terms, a greater wealth of data, proposals, thoughts, views and suggestions of young people on how to meet their needs and solve the problems they encounter when the culture on the territory of Boka Kotorska is concerned.

The research sample included the following target groups:

Young people from Boka Kotorska
Local self-governments on the territory of Boka Kotorska, institutions and organizations dealing with young people (schools, NGOs, associations, clubs ...), institutions dealing with culture and media.

The research included 40 persons. Twenty individual (face-to-face) interviews were conducted focusing on the following topics:

How young people understand culture
If young people like what is going on in the field of culture in Boka Kotorska
If young people think they are involved in cultural events in their communities
Culture as means of earning a living
If culture is accessible to all young people

Five focus groups (with 5-10 participants each) were held dealing with the following topics:

1.       Culture - elitism or the way of life?
2.       Culture as means of earning a living and finding employment
3.       If culture is accessible to all young people
4.       Active participation of youth in cultural events in Boka Kotorska
5.       Youth and Cultural Heritage

The research data were processed and presented in a research report, which was publicly presented in Kotor, on 30 March 2010. The report will be offered to a variety of stakeholders: