EUROPEAN YOUTH COMMUNITY RADIO

Background We applied for this Strategic Partnerships project in the field of youth - EUROPEAN COMMUNITY YOUTH RADIO - because we wanted to set up a project that would give a voice to young people and encourage active participation, especially for young people with fewer opportunities, with the aim of contributing to the construction of an active citizenship committed to the European project. This project aimed to alleviate the difficulties for face-to-face and community participation that the Covid19 health crisis was causing, through the creation of a EUROPEAN YOUTH COMMUNITY RADIO that would offer opportunities for youth participation and empowerment. Community radio was an educational tool that enabled young people to improve their competences and to discuss and address some key issues in the ongoing construction of the European project. We have used community radio as a tool for participation and learning. We believe that community radio provides spaces to empower, develop and mainly empower young people to have a say in community life. In addition, the network and community radio provided training opportunities for youth workers. Objectives The objectives we wanted to achieve with the implementation of the project have been: - To boost the inclusive participation of European youth. - To foster the development of a more structured cooperation, online and offline, between different European youth organisations by creating a network that would give birth to the EUROPEAN YOUTH COMMUNITY RADIO. - Involve young people in EU youth decision-making and make their voice heard. - Generate debate and reflection on the goals of European youth, around the "No Hate Speech", around the Sustainable Development Goals and around the future and impact of the COVID-19 health crisis, trying to bet on a more inclusive, cohesive and sustainable model of life and society. - Promote creativity, innovation and initiative. - Promote the active participation of young people and the dissemination of the Erasmus + Programme and the ESC. - Encourage the exchange of good practices in the field of youth. Implementation With the project: - We have created a European Network of organisations from different European countries, creating a EUROPEAN YOUTH COMMUNITY RADIO with youth base groups formed by young people from the local community, ensuring the participation of socially disadvantaged young people, who have designed the local base lines of each community radio. These youth base groups created educational and creative resources (Podcasts) on the topics addressed by the project. With the Radio we have promoted service-learning activities as an innovative learning tool linked to the EUROPEAN YOUTH COMMUNITY RADIO. - We have carried out two transnational meetings (in Italy and Germany). - We have developed 2 training activities addressing key elements of the project (in Spain and France). - We have involved youth in EU youth decision-making by making their voice heard, connected young people and youth workers through the European Community Radio and empowered youth by encouraging them to take charge of their lives, giving them a voice and fostering youth cooperation. - We have promoted the exchange of good practices and the dissemination of the Erasmus+ Programme. Achievements -Participation of more than 100 young people with fewer opportunities (165 young people in total). -Publication of more than 60 podcasts in English, German, Spanish, Macedonian, French, Portuguese and Italian, with more than 800 plays. -200 publications on social networks, websites and media, with about 3300 interactions. -Creation of a network of European youth organisations that gave birth to the EUROPEAN YOUTH COMMUNITY RADIO as an educational and learning tool that encourages active participation and gives a voice to young people, especially those with fewer opportunities and/or social disadvantage. The network will last beyond the end of the project. -Creation of spaces for the exchange of good practices in educational intervention to promote active participation, social inclusion and youth empowerment. Valorisation of non-formal education, recognition of competences and Service-Learning methodology. -Mitigation of the impact of the social crisis caused by Covid19 in the field of youth, thanks to the actions carried out with the implementation of the project. -Promotion of European citizenship and the Erasmus+ Programme.