The Culture Point (Punkt Kultury) joins the network of youth spaces created as part of the 2023 European Youth Capital Lublin project. The venue has been renovated and repurposed to suit the needs of its users. The revamped space will continue to serve the young residents of the Bronowice District under the guidance of the Good Ideas Foundation.
The Culture Point has been an important place on Bronowice’s map for a couple of years now, and today it is opening a new chapter in its history. As we are opening a seventh space for young people, Lublin consolidates its position as a leading city for youth empowerment. The European Youth Capital year may be drawing to a close, but we continue to support initiatives addressed to young people. We allocated a total of PLN 4.5 million in the next year’s City budget to carry on supporting youth empowerment – said Krzysztof Żuk, Mayor of Lublin City.
The Culture Point: Youth Space has been active in Lublin since 2015. The funding it received after winning the City of Lublin’s open competitive procedure soliciting bids for creating, managing and evaluating open spaces for the youth has allowed it to undergo a renovation and re-open as a member of Lublin’s youth-space network. The Culture Point is located at 21 Skibińskiej St.
in the Bronowice District. It operates under the guidance of the Good Ideas Foundation – an active supporter of Bronowice’s local community and identity building, and a driver of positive social and urban change.
We are providing another space for young people to spend their time actively and creatively because investing in the future of the youth is one of our top priorities. As the 2023 European Youth Capital, we are doing our best to enable young people to live their best lives and encourage them to become more involved in their communities. Places like this fit the bill perfectly, as they not only offer a sense of safety, but also empower youth to fulfil their dreams, passions and talents - said Beata Stepaniuk-Kuśmierzak, Deputy Mayor of Lublin for Culture, Sports and Participation, Mayor’s Plenipotentiary for the European Youth Capital.
The venue has been set up in line with the standards developed together with young people. These standards are uniform for all spaces created by winning bidders. The venue at 21 Skibińskiej St. will be open Monday to Friday, and as needed on weekends.
On the opening day (30 November), the Culture Point will host a concert by Brono Skład, offer a sentimental journey back in time through an exhibition of photos showing the past projects carried out at 21 Skibińskiej St., and invite participants to make “On Point” pins. Everyone who shows up will get warm soup and a keepsake picture. The next day (1 December, 4-7 p.m.), the Culture Point will hold a Bronx (the popular nickname of the Bronowice District) comic book making and storytelling workshop, and on Friday the venue will organise a (2 December) a creative workshop (12-3 p.m.). All events are open to the public and free-of-charge.
The establishment of Lublin’s network of youth spaces fulfils the provisions laid down in Lublin’s European Youth Capital application. The City has undertaken to create open spaces for young people where they can pursue their passions and interests, meet their friends or do their homework in a relaxed atmosphere. The first such place is “Hej!” at 11 Peowiaków St. which was opened in collaborations with IKEA as part of the “Youth Space” action within a bilateral initiative called “Youth for the City, City for the Youth – projects and initiatives to engage and act in the local communities”, which benefits from the financial support from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through EEA Grants and Norway Grants.
ReWir was the next space, launched in early July 2023 under the guidance of the Cultural Felin Association. In September 2023, the Rury District got a new youth-meeting venue called Simply a Cool Place (Po prostu Fajne Miejsce), which operates under the guidance of the Bona Fides Association for Supporting Activity and the 5Medium Foundation. Apart from “Hej!”, Śródmieście – as Lublin’s most youthfully vibrant districts, driven by the numerous local universities – has a youth space called Prusa 2. It operates under the guidance of the Institute of Social Activation and Development in cooperation with the TRACH Foundation of Cultural Animators and Culture Makers. Also, this autumn saw the network expand to include the now four-year-old Base (Baza) from 88 Długa Str. and the Kosmos in Wieniawa, which operates under the guidance of the TEATRIKON Foundation for Creativity, Education and Youth Animation. A total of over 10 thousand young people have visited these spaces so far.
The event is part of the Lublin European Youth Capital 2023 Summary Festival.
