Grigiškės, Vilnius district

25 March 2025 – 27 November 2025

Creative practitioners: architect and urbanist Evelina Bartusevičiūtė, theatre actress Modesta Jakeliūnaitė

Curators: Milda Laužikaitė, Saulė Norkutė

1 teacher and 18 students (aged 15-17) from a Russian-speaking school.

1 teacher, 1 teaching assistant and 28 students (aged 13-15) from a Lithuanian-speaking school.

Grigiškės is the only Lithuanian city within a city, as it is located within Vilnius municipality. The population is 9,750, with a significant proportion made up of linguistic minorities, mainly Russian- and Polish-speaking communities.

According to a survey on safety in Vilnius City, only 43% of people feel safe in Grigiškės, the lowest figure in the entire Vilnius municipality. Additionally, 90% of residents report encountering alcohol and drug abuse in their neighbourhoods. Vandalism is also considered a major problem, ranking among the highest in Vilnius City.

Young people from Grigiškės spend most of their free time in Vilnius City. They do not see their future in their hometown due to a lack of job prospects as well as limited leisure and sports activities and facilities.

To examine how the process of creating shared, safe local public spaces can foster and manage relationships between linguistically diverse teenage groups.

Make new friends with people from different backgrounds.

Improve Lithuanian language comprehension and usage in everyday situations and expand vocabulary.

Learn to ask questions and share ideas confidently in group settings.

Participate in community or group activities and use kind and respectful language when interacting.

During ten creative sessions, two groups of students from two different schools, together with creative practitioners architect Evelina and theatre actress Modesta, explored their local area. Together they tried to understand what common spaces young people lacked and tried to imagine what kind of safer and more private spaces could be created for young people.

Using various theatrical methods, the participants worked towards a shared understanding, thus creating personal connections amongst themselves. The young people’s ideas for different spaces were presented to the city councilor, and there was a discussion about the responsibilities of maintaining such spaces. Friendships developed between students from different schools, continuing beyond the sessions.

After returning from the summer break, the students voted against creating a space by themselves, and the project took a different direction. The creative practitioners explored formats for supporting students in expressing their true wishes and expectations. Through experimentation with different methods and tools, the idea of a manifesto took shape, allowing the students to express what truly matters to them and where they feel unheard. During the reflection phase, the students had the opportunity to analyse which activities were most memorable and effective, and, together with the practitioners, to recognise that sincere conversations help build connections, even when discussing something as familiar as pets.

Students reported having made new friends from the other school during the project.

Students reported that the project helped them to get to know their classmates better.

Students reported that it is easier for them to express themselves and ask questions after the project.

Students reported that during this project they learned to work in a group with students from the other school, not only with their classmates.

Students reported feeling more confident expressing themselves and speaking Lithuanian during and after the project.