The project Troufni SI helps young people bring ideas to life

We often hear that the younger generation is not very interested in public affairs. But people from the Scout Institute have the opposite experience. Every day they meet young people from Scouting and non-Scouting backgrounds who want to enter the public space and work on themselves at the same time. Thanks to the project Troufni SI they can put their ideas into life.

Chosen candidates between the ages of 18 and 30 are helped by experts from the practice to set realistic goals and then to achieve them. They also teach them how to raise funds for their activities and how to promote them in public. In addition, all participants meet at common trainings and events to inspire and support each other.

Photo: Troufni SI Fest! Meeting with project implementers at the Scout Institute in Prague on 21 April 2023.

"We at the Scout Institute believe that supporting young adults is something that benefits the whole of society. And thanks to the support of the Active Citizens Fund, we were able to gather big portion of energy in 2019 to start our project Troufni SI. We help young people to realize their socially beneficial idea, for example, to start their own festival or environmental initiative, or even to create a podcast on an interesting topic. We also help to set up small civic platforms all over the country," says Ondřej Hrubeš, the project coordinator.

Photo: Ondřej Hrubeš. Project roufni SI coordinator. 

About a serious topic with perspective

For example, Eliška Ježková from the PoBřeh team has experience with project Troufni SI. With the team she tries to bring back to society topics related to death and process of dying. Eliška works in a hospice and often encounters the fact that people think about death but cannot communicate about it, even with their loved ones. This led her to the idea of opening up the topic more for discussion and also educating the public about the possibilities of a dignified last goodbye. She put together a team of people and approached the Scout Institute for help with the realization.

Photo: Eliška Ježková during the presentation of the PoBřeh project.

„Scout Institute and project Troufni SI is a huge support to me. No matter how well thought out our idea was, I am sure we would never be where we are without them. It is such an engine for me that keeps me going," says Eliška. They try to reach the general public, for example, through videos in which representatives of various professions, such as a doctor or a firefighter, comment on the topic of death. The aim is to show that everyone thinks about death and is not afraid to talk about it. That everyone has an opinion about dying and that's okay. Thanks to the project, Eliška has learned to work better in a work team. "I used to be a very big soloist, now I'm trying to work on myself and I would say that I'm succeeding because of this. For example, I already know that every member of the team is important, everyone brings something, and you don't need to do everything yourself."

Does traditional culture belong in the capital city? Definitely yes!

Bára Vágnerová also applied for the Troufni SI challenge with her project Tradition Lives. She and her team focus on reviving traditional culture in Prague. Four times a year, they organize events focused on the different seasons of the year and they meet with a positive feedback.

Photo: One of the many workshops of the Tradition Lives project, source: gallery of the Tradition Lives project.

"We do workshops, seminars, lectures, folk dance classes, we organise tastings of traditional Czech cuisine, we do a lot of things and the events are very popoular among people. We have had the idea of doing an event like this for a long time, we just didn't know how to go about it. Joining the TroufniSI project helped us find a way to approach it and motivated us to bring the whole event to a successful end," says Bára.

Project Troufni SI helps individuals as well

The Dare to Dare challenge is not only open to teams, but also to individuals who want to make a career move. In his final school work, high school student Yash Raj Singh explores the topic of villages in India and the Czech Republic. He is also an enthusiastic photographer and during his travels he has created a series of photographs showing life in villages in India. The Scout Institute has helped him organize several exhibitions and make useful contacts.

Photo: One of the photographs from the exhibition by Yash Raj Singh.

"The project helped me set my goal to be realistic. It also helped me to talk to different photographers and people I could consult my photos with. I'm glad I got involved. I had a dream and it is coming true now," says Yash. 

Do you have an idea? Get involved! 

150 young people have already joined the project, implementing 48 projects and participating in a total of 217 events. You can still apply until 18 September 2023. Simply send your vision or idea and the Scout Institute will respond with fast and friendly feedback. It will then select 50 people from the applications to help make the idea a reality.   

• More information and registration of Ideas: Troufni SI na svůj nápad. 
• VIDEO: https://youtu.be/iOQ6BzoVPG8

Project FACTS

The project Troufni SI is supported by the EEA and Norway Grants through the Active Citizens Fund. It aims to strengthen civil society, active citizenship and empower disadvantaged groups.

• More about Programme: www.activecitizensfund.cz
• More about EEA and Norway Grants: Fondy EHP a Norska (eeagrants.cz)

Project title:	Troufni SI
Project Promoter:	Scout Institute
Programme:	Active Citizens Fund
Grant:	345 000 EUR
Goal of the project:	The aim of the project is to increase the participation of young adults (18 - 30 years old) in civic participation with a focus on structurally disadvantaged regions and youth inclusion.