As the program drew to a close, we sat down with our students and instructors to discuss how we could present the project’s results and the products we created to the Hungarian public and to the small communities surrounding the Foundation’s offices in a way that differed from conventional methods—in a youthful, interactive, and exciting way—rather than through conventional methods—to the Hungarian public and to the small communities living near the Foundation’s offices.

The idea for our musical, dance-filled, attention-grabbing parade was born during a lively brainstorming session, and it ultimately became the We Must Take Action! We titled it [...], and it took place from August 2 to 7, 2015.

During our campaign, which spanned three counties (Heves, Borsod, and Nógrád), we promoted a nonviolent, vegetarian lifestyle, social inclusion, and tolerance, and distributed educational materials on these topics to the local community. We also distributed approximately 250 copies of our „mini-cookbook,” which was compiled as part of the project and was very well received by the community.

In addition to serving as a highly innovative awareness-raising campaign, the program had a significant impact on our volunteers, students, and the educators themselves who participated in its implementation. Due to its innovative nature, we had to tackle numerous new problems and challenges, which required well-organized teamwork, constant motivation, and good communication from all participants. During interactions with community members and interested members of the public, our students often found themselves in the role of educators and knowledge-sharers, allowing them to test their skills in a variety of new communication situations and roles. They tackled these new challenges as part of a supportive, well-organized team, which had a positive impact on both their self-confidence and their social skills, and in the process of sharing knowledge, they were also able to deepen their own understanding of a healthy, vegetarian diet and lifestyle.

In addition to proving to be a highly effective direct marketing method that allows us to reach many people directly, our innovative program provided an unforgettable experience for the participating students and teachers. By deepening the personal connections formed during the grant programs and through positive community experiences, our campaign helped ensure that the team participating in the training remained motivated even after the project ended to jointly organize and carry out shared programs and events. In this way, the project’s results will be sustainable in the long term, and our work will achieve its true purpose!