The report was prepared at the UMCS Academic Centre for Culture and Media Chatka Żaka in Lublin. It was developed by a team led by Izabela Pastuszko, Director of the Centre and Chair of the Nationwide Forum for Student Culture, in collaboration with representatives of eleven student culture institutions from across Poland.
The document presents student culture as a crucial element of the higher education system. The authors point out that cultural activities within the student community support the development of competencies such as leadership, project management, team communication and creativity, as well as strengthen mental well-being and a sense of belonging within the academic community.
As the Rector of the University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska in Lublin, Prof. dr hab. Radosław Dobrowolski, emphasised: “A university is a community – a space for education, knowledge exchange and research. However, it’s also a place for shaping attitudes, sensitivity and social responsibility. In this sense, culture is not an addition to the university's mission, but one of its constitutive elements”.
Student culture plays a special role in counteracting the phenomenon of dropout. Data cited in the report indicates that participation in culture strengthens students' engagement in university life and increases their motivation to continue their education.
Student culture is one of those areas of academia where science, art and community co-create an environment in which young people mature as citizens, creators and participants in society – underlines Izabela Pastuszko, Chairwoman of the Nationwide Forum for Student Culture.
At the same time, the report points to the lack of a stable institutional framework for student culture in Poland – the dispersion of organisational structures, inequalities in infrastructure between universities and the strong dependence of financing on projects and current decisions of university authorities.
Authors of the publication recommend, among other things, incorporating student culture into university development strategies and public policies, developing nationwide research in this area and creating stable instruments to support students' artistic activities and the infrastructure of academic culture.
The report is a result of collaboration between the Nationwide Forum for Student Culture – a network of academic cultural institutions from across Poland. The authors emphasise that, in the face of demographic challenges and the growing mental health problems of the younger generation, stable support for student culture is becoming an important element of responsible public policy.
We encourage you to read the document (in Polish)
Source: Nationwide Student Culture Forum
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