The Vojvodina Youth Forum (VIFÓ) organizes the XVIII. Vojvodina Free University on the Kátai farm in Kishegyes. The event has been a mixture of performances, workshops, team games and colorful evening programs and concerts for almost twenty years, planned in a creative and entertaining way.

This time, the guest of honor at the opening of the event was Barbara Menyhárt , who heads the Foreign Program of the National Conference of Student Self-Governments (HÖOK) in the mother country. The Transylvanian-born activist has been living, working and studying in Budapest since 2015. He has been leading the Abroad Program since 2019, and since then he has been dealing with the representation of young people in the Carpathian Basin.

A real lesson of the coronavirus epidemic, which I was able to experience in my work, is that there is an even greater need for these collaborations in the future, he said. He encouraged the young people to be a part of community building and networking as much as their time and energy allow. This can be done in local organizations, urban and rural communities, and at the regional level.

At the opening of the event, Ádám Szollár , the president of VIFÓ, said that the pace of emigration has shown a decreasing trend in the last five years, which can be seen as an encouraging sign. There are more and more people who, even if they complete their studies abroad, try to get by at home afterwards. The mother country also helps them with this with various subsidies.

Ákos Búcsú , the vice-president of VIFÓ, said that this year the epidemic situation made it possible to organize the event, but unlike the custom, it did not start in November, but only in March. The more than one hundred participants have been made up of new and returning participants for years. That's how it is now. The number of applicants for the previous Free University in 2019 filled up relatively quickly, in two weeks. They considered how to appeal to young people this year, but in the end, the number of people was filled in less than a day and a half after it was announced, which speaks for itself.

The speakers are unusual and interesting personalities this time as well. The participants will be able to listen to Erik Palusek , whose topic is Networks and Borders in the Life of Vojvodina Hungarians. Orsolya Gazsó Junior Prima award-winning freelance journalist and entrepreneur is Humility towards work. Dr. Lóránt Magyar will also give a lecture. He is the one who has also followed an unusual life path, having obtained several diplomas. He also worked as a doctor, teacher, radio presenter and Catholic assistant minister. He is currently a lifestyle and mental health lecturer and consultant. The title of his presentation Who am I and where am I going? Finding your way in a lost world. Katinka Dobrotka has already dabbled in many fields of psychology, currently she is a psychologist at the National Spinal Health Center, and she practices privately at the Buda Health Center. The topic of his presentation is The Art of Intimate Relationships. Attila Pesti is an architect, a "recycler" of old ideas. The title of his presentation is Creativity: the no-man's land of the mind, or thinking

This year, the evening programs are based on different themes. The performers include Seen Sikas , Fingerbang and Dj Ilektro , but there will also be surprise guests.

The XVIII. The program of the Vojvodina Free University is implemented with the support of the State Secretariat for National Policy of the Prime Minister's Office, with the cooperation of Bethlen Gábor Alapkezelő Zrt. and with the support of the Hungarian National Council.

Source: VojvodinaMa

)Header image: VojvodinaMa)