European Youth Volunteers as Active Citizens

The project 'European Youth Volunteers as Active Citizens' (EYVAC) has over 18 months worked towards improving the quality and sustainability of social work for marginalized youth in Europe with Young Red Cross volunteers as drivers of change. The project has been implemented by Red Cross societies in Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary and Romania. The background for the project was that all partners had experienced that young people in their countries over the past years had seen a worsening of their situation. Particularly the economic crisis had exacerbated inequality, poverty and social exclusion and put pressure on the social protection systems. The negative effects were long jobless periods, lack of self-esteem, lack of social and economic capital, lack of motivation to start a family and increasing stress symptoms among the young population. As the project was about to start, Europe experienced a sudden very large influx of migrants fleeing from conflict mainly in the Middle East and Afghanistan. This affected the partner countries as well and the partners therefore decided to include migrants as a key target group of the project. The three main objectives of the project have been: a) Exploring and developing innovative methods for sustainable social youth work based on best practices from relevant NGOs, scholars, practitioners, local authorities and Red Cross societies in Denmark, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria b) Establishing a transnational European network where innovative and best practices are shared through an online Open Educational Resource (OER) Platform to inspire all relevant stakeholders c) Empowering young volunteers and youth workers in Denmark, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria to become progressive leaders of social work, leaders of change and active citizens in their local communities. The main target groups of the project have been: Young volunteers in the partner organizations, other civil society organizations, public authorities (ministries, municipalities), decision makers and key influencers such as academics and experts. Additionally the general public has been a target group for awareness raising activities and the project partners have therefore worked closely with the media in the different countries. Lastly the project has sought to include potential end beneficiaries as resource persons and particularly young migrants and local youth have therefore also been a target group of the project. The project has had 3 main types of activities The project kicked off with an international conference in Denmark. The youth conference was coordinated by the DRCY in close cooperation with the youth volunteers. The conference was run by 24 youth volunteers from the four partner organizations. Following the international conference each partner implemented National Academies and events. These national academies had a different outlook in each country. The common denominator for the academies were that they discussed and raised awareness about how youth can be active citizens for marginalized people, in particular for migrants and for vulnerable youth in their local community. The third type of activity has been the development of an online platform where ideas, manuals and best practices can be shared between active young people from across the world. The digital platform, red-y.org is simultaneously the hub for developing an online transnational network for dedicated young people where they can meet and share experiences on social inclusion activities. The project has been implemented by youth volunteers together with young people and for vulnerable youth. The overall methods carrying out project activities have been based on an understanding of youth's rights to develop and discuss material and approaches that suits the European youth population best. The project has used a participatory approach that has ensured that all partners have been able to contribute with relevant experiences. The project has been implemented using a peer-to-peer method. Thereby the project has had impact at local, national and European level: At the European level the project has established a transnational network of young motivated volunteers who are sharing knowledge, experiences, best practices and innovative methods in conducting social youth work. The digital platform is supporting this engagement. At the national level young volunteers have increased their capacities and gained knowledge on initiating dialogue and cooperating effectively with local authorities, media and other civil society organizations. Furthermore both the partners and other key stakeholders have gained increased awareness about the situation and the rights of migrants and in particular about the needs of young migrants. At the local level youth workers, volunteers and socially marginalized youth have strengthened their capacity to engage in peer to peer activities.