"It's not every day that young people get to present their ideas!"

UPSHIFT, UNICEF's program for developing 21st-century skills, has become an integral part of Civic Education for students in 48 primary and secondary schools in Varaždin County. We visited students from several high schools as they diligently worked on developing their ideas to improve the communities they grow up in.

"We want to address the lack of physical activity among students at our school. We're still figuring out how to achieve this—maybe through challenges, small rewards, and the like. We're considering the causes—whether it's a lack of motivation, time, or the fact that some students live far from sports facilities—and we're trying to find solutions for each possible cause. My team and I would be very happy if we could motivate at least some students to be more active," shared Iva Osivnik from the Electromechanical School in Varaždin.

The team from the First Private Gymnasium is working on a community improvement project that benefits young people. Their goal is to create a space in a park near the center of Varaždin where young people can spend time outdoors without disturbing anyone.

At the Vocational School, where students are trained in 17 different fields, students identified certain prejudices between students of different departments as a problem they want to solve. Their goal is to create a plan of activities that will help create a more pleasant atmosphere and better communication within the school.

"I find this very interesting because it's not every day that young people can be entrepreneurial and present their ideas! It's a very creative and fun life experience. I can say it will be etched in my memory. We want to involve everyone in our project—teachers, parents, and students," said Noela Trstenjak, a student at the Vocational School.

Students from the First Gymnasium Varaždin decided to help protect the environment through their project by increasing the amount of recycled waste and reducing the amount of mixed municipal waste at their school. For the project, the team conducted a survey of habits, which yielded interesting data—students mostly throw away plastic waste, while teachers throw away paper.

"We plan to work with both teachers and students and encourage them to recycle through all possible channels," said Karla Barbir, a third-year gymnasium student, adding, "This project is an excellent opportunity for us. We've learned a lot that will be useful later for college, work, and entrepreneurship. I think it's important to involve everyone in solving community problems, including us young people. We can also provide some quality suggestions."

The team from Ivanec High School is also working on changing habits that benefit both the environment and health. Student Fran Brusar shared, "We want to encourage students to come to school by bike, and our plan includes creating parking spaces for bikes in the schoolyard."

Varaždin County provides the funds and organizational support needed for the successful integration of the program.

"Varaždin County runs a unique civic education program aimed at getting students to think about the needs of their region, to carry out an action they have designed themselves each school year. We want to encourage them to think about their region, to assess and see how decisions are made, and to make decisions themselves. Because UNICEF's program is closest to ours, we decided to join forces and implement both," said Varaždin County Prefect Anđelko Stričak, emphasizing that UNICEF's involvement is of great importance as it gives new impetus to the development of projects carried out by students throughout Varaždin County.

As part of the cooperation with Varaždin County, UNICEF provided training for 48 teachers and professional associates who act as mentors in project implementation, conducted five UPSHIFT workshops, and supported the monitoring of projects designed by students.

"Such programs are key to motivating students. When there's motivation, students are much more engaged. Everything they learn and apply through such civic education will stay with them long-term. I think that's very important for them," said Viktorija Žunec, who teaches vocational subjects at the Electromechanical School in Varaždin.

"The training for UPSHIFT mentors was very intense but also fun. Now that we're working with students on their projects, I must say their motivation is growing. This is excellent for them. Today, they all use Chat GPT and shortcuts. Here, there are none. They work in teams of four or five and come up with solutions through discussion and their own thinking. It means a lot to them when they see they can come up with something on their own and solve a problem," said Ivo Jurleta, a teacher at the First Private Gymnasium Varaždin.