Growing Together

The project consists of publishing 26 books, promoting awareness about social and environmental issues, and encouraging the target audience to partake in reforestation actions and political involvement. At the same, the project has a particularly socially innovative aspect through its' "Let's Read Together" workshops for troubled teens. The workshops are specifically tailored to the adolescents with behavioural disorders from Youth Centre Dugave, and the workshops aim to include the teens in the social and cultural landscape while fostering and strengthening their reading habits.

The project responds to two main challenges: first, the exclusion of young people from the cultural scene and their low reading rate; and second, a general lack of awareness about the ways to combat current ecological problems.

To address the challenges, Growing Together currently implements 'Let's Read Together' workshops tailored to the needs of troubled teens. These workshops aim to promote reading and develop critical thinking while fostering their inclusion in the cultural scene. The project furthermore sets good practice examples in publishing to raise awareness about eco-friendly actions.

The project was initiated by Fraktura publishing house, in collaboration with Biljkoborci, Boranka, and Dugave Youth Centre. Fraktura's in-house team is responsible for much of the work, while Biljkoborci and Boranka provide promotional material and seedlings. Adolescents are informed of the workshops by staff at the Dugave Youth Centre.

The direct impact of the project is seen through the 5,000 planted seedlings in a reforestation action, with another such undertaking planned later in 2023. The impact of the reading workshops is shown in the participants’ improved vocabulary and their greater engagement with reading and cultural scene.

The concept of the reading workshops can be adapted and applied to different youth centres/homes; tailored to the needs and interests of the young people who would participate in them. Similarly, for the ecological aspect, information dissemination and environmental initiatives collaboration could be implemented in other cultural institutions.