Take Action, Create the Change!

Young people often do not have the knowledge and skills needed to actively engage in their communities, to advocate for their rights, to take part in decision-making on policies that directly affe...

The main objectives of the project were related to having built the capacities, leadership, and advocacy skills of adolescents and youth, as well as of youth workers, through the strengthening of the organizational competences of the participating organizations to promote youth participation and civic engagement in various scales and formats. It also aimed to have supported active citizenship of young people, particularly youth at risk of social exclusion, and to have helped the participating organizations work effectively with adolescents and youth, ensuring that the needs of disadvantaged groups were addressed. The goal was to ensure that they were meaningfully engaged and actively participated as partners in the development and implementation of policies, programs, and processes that affected them, in accordance with the core values and principles of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and the 11 European Youth Goals.

The planned activities that were implemented are the following: development of a toolkit on leadership and advocacy for youth workers which provided youth workers with concrete online and offline tools related to non-formal education that focus on the ways in which young people can be empowered to be active citizens, to advocate for their rights, to develop their own leadership and advocacy skills and to create positive changes in their communities. the development of a practical guidance on Meaningful Adolescent and Youth Engagement, focused on providing organizations and institutions working on issues relevant to youth with concrete approaches and measures they can undertake in order to effectively and meaningfully engage young people, especially disadvantaged youth, as partners in the development and implementation of policies, programs, and processes that affect them, in accordance to the core values of the EU Youth Strategy and the 11 EU Youth Goals. the implementation of 2 international LTTAs for youth workers - on leadership skills and on advocacy for meaningful youth engagement and participation, with a focus on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds the implementation of 8 multiplier events: face-to-face events implemented in each partner country and involving young people, with a focus on vulnerable adolescents’ and youth’ participation, focused on the use of the first project result -training toolkit on leadership and advocacy for youth engagement; one online event (international), involving young people, youth workers and representatives of youth and other organizations, institutions and relevant stakeholders in the field of youth - for the purpose of sharing the developed guidance on MAYE and some concrete steps that can be undertaken in order for young people to be meaningfully engaged as partners in the development and implementation of diverse policies and programmes concerning them.

A vision or statement was formulated by identifying challenges and potential solutions related to young people's meaningful participation in democratic life, civil society, and ethical engagement across various scales and formats. The goal was to promote the active citizenship of young people, with a particular focus on youth at risk of social exclusion in the countries involved in the project. The statement is accessible to the public online on SpeakActChange and was presented during the final conference at the European Parliament by two young individuals who actively participated in the project activities and come from migrant backgrounds. You can find the statement in the following link: https://www.speakactchange.org/2024/01/28/tacc-project-statement-ifyd/ Project result 1 - training toolkit on leadership and advocacy skills for youth workers - was developed in the frame of the project activities. The toolkit is accessible to the public online on SpeakActChange and can be found https://www.speakactchange.org/resource/tacc-training-toolkit-on-youth-leadership-and-advocacy/ The training toolkit consists of three main documents: I. The theoretical part includes knowledge and information on leadership and advocacy elements that youth can be equipped with. It is developed by CONEXX-EU. II. The leadership training curriculum which provides an agenda, sessions and toolkit to be used by youth workers and peer educators to indulge in their work and volunteerism. It is developed by IFYD. III. The advocacy training curriculum consists of an agenda, sessions and toolkit to be used by youth workers and peer educators that supports them to implement their own activities and training locally and beyond. It is developed by IFYD. Project result 2 - guidance on Meaningful Adolescent and Youth Engagement - was developed by the partners, in order to help the participating organizations operationalize and facilitate the implementation of the EU Youth Strategy and the European Youth Goals. The development process of this guidance was led by migration_miteinander. The development of this guidance relied on the following methods: Research on the topic of meaningful engagement of adolescents and youth, which involved consultations with local youth and organizations in each participating country, literature reviews, and focus groups with young people, especially those at risk of social exclusion. Conducting around 100 interviews in person and online with young people from disadvantaged groups, youth workers involved in working with disadvantaged youth, decision-makers, and representatives of organizations and institutions working for youth. The objective of these interviews was to collect real-life case studies of youth participation and civic engagement from all stakeholders involved in these processes. The guidance is called “Empowering Youth: A Pathway to Meaningful Adolescent and Youth Engagement” ans is accessible to the public online on SpeakActChange and can be found https://www.speakactchange.org/resource/a-guidance-on-meaningful-adolescent-and-youth-engagement-maye/ 28 youth workers and activists from the 7 participating organizations were trained during the LTTA1 in leadership skills, youth participation and civic engagement, and on how to work with young people at risk of social exclusion in their countries. They are now empowered to engage with local challenges related to youth participation and civic engagement by developing their leadership and advocacy skills, knowledge and attitudes, as the training will inspire them to take action. The training was based on the developed project results. Another group of 28 youth workers and activists from the 7 participating organizations were trained during the LTTA2 in advocacy skills, and on how to work with decision makers and influencers advocating for the young people’s rights and to be meaningfully engaged and to actively participate as partners in the development and implementation of policies, programs, and processes that affect them, in accordance with the core values and principles of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and The 11 European Youth Goals. The training was based on the developed project results. 30 young people per country, particularly youth with fewer opportunities, were reached directly through local multiplier events, which contributed to promoting youth meaningful participation in democratic life and civic engagement in various scales and formats. Representatives of governmental institutions, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders were reached out in each country through the second local multiplier event - online webinar implemented for more than 70 people. The multiplier events helped to raise awareness among the local communities in the participating countries about Erasmus+ program, the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and the 11 European Youth Goals. Through the multiplier events the 2 project results were shared with a wider audience. A fruitful process of exchanging information, ideas, best practices and experience among the participating organizations, youth workers and young people took place throughout the project. The capacity of the participating organizations was built through the management of the project and its activities, as well as through the exchange of best practices and methodologies. The participating organizations, youth workers, young people, particularly the ones coming from disadvantaged groups, decision makers, local communities and other stakeholders were encouraged to promote inclusive democratic participation of all young people in society and in democratic processes. The use of innovative and alternative forms of democratic participation e.g. digital democracy tools; such as (Zoom and Google apps) were promoted through the implementation of the project activities, particularly the dissemination activities, the multiplier events and the final conference. Long-term strong partnership and communication strategy between the participating organizations was developed, ensuring the increase of the quality, innovation and recognition of youth work.