Within the Urban programme of Aarhus there has been a number of physical and environmental regeneration projects that upgraded the urban area. However, there is also a need for approaching other issues. The background for the project is the often very negative image of young people from this area presented in the media. This is what the project wishes to change or nuance. The project has a double focus: It is inspiration, spare time activity and learning process for the young people of the neighbourhood, while at same time it wishes to challenge the stereotypical image of this so-called deprived neighbourhood.

The project focus on the media and young people. A group of talented young people established a core group consisting of an editor and contributing journalists to publish the monthly magazine, Point of View, to tell and disseminate the thinking, the challenges, ambitions and creativity of the young people in the neighbourhood to the local community and to other cities in Denmark.

In addition the project aims at adding some nuance to the popular daily media’s normally narrow outlook, provide spare time activities for the young people and thereby foster positive resources and role models. So far 15 versions of the magazine has been published and the magazine increasingly become more and more popular attracting not only to adults and young people, but it also inspired the young people who continue to present themselves as potential contributors to the magazine.

The general methods of this project can be described as: •

Young people from the neighbourhood who were victimised in the mainstream media benefit from this project and in a more general perspective one can say that the wider community and the Danish society benefit from such an effort.

The financial support was of 300,000 Danish kroner.

EU co-financed the Urban programme and thereby the youth magazine.

The municipality of Aarhus and the EU Fund for Regional Development support the Urban programme financially and thereby also the youth magazine. The municipality has supported the youth magazine project with 50% of the total amount.

Urban programme Aarhus
Denmark
Mohamed Hawa, tel. 0045 89 48 76 00

The Magazine Point of View
Mohamed Hawa

01/08/2003

case

Urban Policy

Social inclusion & integration