The girls’ picnic offers a sheltered spot at which “each girl is granted her own space as a matter of course“. New contacts are forged, friendships emerge, and the girls get to know and learn about other ways of life, tasting for example the foods of other cultures.

The personal exchanges strengthen the group and the girls as individuals. Common discoveries and sharing in open public spaces strengthen the girls’ abilities to claim space in their everyday life.

In the summers of 2005 and 2006 the Viennese Association of Youth Centres put on a Vienna-wide girls’ picnic at which girls from different residential areas could meet and get to know each other. In this way, many took yet another step forward in exploring new sites in the city and acquiring public space for girls’ groups.
The project will be carried forward into 2007 – in what form remains open – and, in consultations with the girls themselves, designed and adapted.

The focus this year on health will also carry over into the girls’ picnics, which have worked well as a platform for discussing eating habits and problems.

<<