Together for Dialogue

Background The experience of working with young people in the field of civic activation prompted us to create the current project. The three problems we identified at the project preparation stage are: 1. Little participation of young people in civic life While we saw an upward trend across Europe in the participation of young people in the last elections to the European Parliament and the national elections, the statistics are still bad. Despite an increase of 13% compared to the previous survey - the results are still not satisfactory. This is especially visible in local communities, where young people rarely get involved, not seeing the possibility of action and the power of their voice in society. In interviews and surveys, we have repeatedly felt that young people often want to do something, but do not know what, and more importantly - do not know how. Moreover, even when young people form a specific group, they are often unable to establish a dialogue with representatives of local authorities or other stakeholders and are treated harshly. In Poland, Lithuania and Belgium, this trend is changing, however, the participation of Eastern European countries is also intended to show what problems young people have to face in those countries. 2. Weak social and civic competences among young people Although in the core curricula of schools in all European Union countries we can find a reference to key competences, for many recent years we have been observing a trend in which attention is paid primarily to STEM competences (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), forgetting about the other four. As part of this project, we wanted to emphasize the importance of civic, interpersonal and entrepreneurial competences. Therefore, as non-governmental organizations, we must take this responsibility for providing tools that will prepare young people to play an active role in society. Informal education is the way to support schools in implementing the learning process. 3. Shrinking civic space for active youth. While the EU Youth Strategy (2019-2027) encourages national authorities to undertake joint policy-making activities for young people, many local authorities do not take it seriously. Many youth structures do not function properly and are not considered