Guidelines for Organizing Participatory Activities to Create Youth as Local Cultural Communicators: Lessons from the Central Region of Thailand

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to 1. study the lessons learned from the participatory activity management approach to create youths as community cultural communicators from the operating areas of the central region of three provinces, Ang Thong Province, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, and Suphan Buri Province, 2. evaluate the knowledge, awareness, and self-esteem of youths who participated in the activity. There were a total of 150 young people involved, with 10 students selected from each of the five participating schools in each province. Participatory observation, focus group discussion, interview, and survey were used as data collection methods. The results showed that 1. Guidelines for organizing activity should consider (1) selecting target groups, (2) defining goals, (3) determining the duration, (4) designing the activity to focus on creating shared experiences and connecting knowledge to implementation, (5) selecting local wisdom scholars to disseminate local wisdom and culture, and (6) evaluating the activity. 2.The results of the outcomes affecting youths who participated in the activity showed that, in general, they gained more knowledge, awareness, and self-esteem. This result reflects that the aforementioned activity management approach was effective with the target group and can be applied in other areas.