This spring, the Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre (KÉK) organised its highly successful programme, 14+ Budapest - Urban Walks for High School Students, for the fifth time. What is more, this year saw the adaptation of the Golden Cubes Awards diplomas-winning project, in collaboration with the Department of Architecture at the University of Debrecen. 

The 14+ Budapest programme was launched in 2019 with the participation of three high school groups. Since then, we have repeated and further developed the course on three other occasions, with 5 groups per season, aiming to guide high school students through a mentoring process to design and lead their own urban walk around their school. Participation in the programme is free of charge for the schools, as KÉK implements the project through grant funding. 

Besides taking students out of the classroom, the 14+ Budapest programme offers a fresh perspective on their daily routes, and provides new knowledge that is not necessarily part of the standard curriculum. Moreover, it is an incredibly exciting process to see how high schoolers perceive individual buildings and their environment, enriching not only their own knowledge but also our perspective on the city year after year.       

This year, we are particularly proud that the Debrecen adaptation of the programme was also realised with the cooperation of lecturers and students from the University of Debrecen, involving students from local high schools. We find it crucial that KÉK's methodologies reach target groups beyond the capital, as these can be easily applied in other environments—be it a Budapest100 adaptation in Balatonalmádi or a walking festival in Tapolca—and can offer new perspectives to regional communities as well.   

The course always begins with two lectures at the KÉK Project Gallery: the opening lecture is about architecture, architectural roles, urbanism, and urban challenges, while the second introduces participants to research methodology and the art of compiling walking routes.

The mentors then took their groups on walks of their own design: students from the Nikola Tesla Serbian Kindergarten, Primary School, High School and Student Home immersed themselves in the history of the former Rákos ditch, the team from Óbuda High School explored Óbuda's older and newer educational spaces, while the group from Fazekas Mihály High School discovered the exciting public spaces of Józsefváros. These walks serve not only to trigger the students' interest in their own environment, but also to pick up walking guide tips and presentation techniques from the mentors. Additionally, they provide an excellent opportunity for