Youth Participation Parkour Erasmus Project

Project Title

Youth Participation Parkour

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Capacity Building for youth in ACP countries, Latin America and Asia

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy)

Project Summary

The project gathered diverse organisations from youth and civil society sector (CS) with the task to bring forth global responses to enhancing youth participation in CS worldwide. Recognising the fact that in the past years most of the endeavors to develop proper mechanisms of youth participation globally have been directed towards national/regional authorities, the Consortium set out to devise a new approach to this issue by bringing CS in the center of the youth arena through promoting a cross-sectoral cooperation pattern. This pattern resembles the technique of “Parkour” in the sense that its practitioners aim to get from one point to another in a complex setting in the fastest and most efficient way possible – hence the title of the project and the partnership fostering varied partners to look for solutions for global/local challenges.Each of the Consortium’s 11 partners brought specific expertise in capacity building and the topic. The applicant CID – one of the biggest training centres in Macedonia partnered up with CIVICUS – the biggest global CS network from South Africa as well as European organisations (engaged in e-participation, consultative processes, etc): Development Perspectives – Ireland, Istituto Morcelliano – Italy, Project 2020 – Cardiff, NGO React – Estonia and YEU International. The partnership also comprised organisations focused on youth participation in other parts of the world such as Young Diplomats of Canada – dealing with student participation in policy making, National Youth Council of Fiji and 2 organisations working in rural areas to empower youth to participate actively: World Vision for Education and Development – Cameroon and BOAD – Congo.This Consortium gathered around the idea that developing capacities for providing meaningful youth participation opportunities is a key to resolving global issues such as marginalization and violent radicalisation. The project was centred on steps in the youth participation process in CS sector, namely shaping, testing and evaluating specific mechanisms to be applied by CSOs globally.The project aimed to achieve this through a youth exchange, 2 seminars and a practice phase with local/national/global initiatives. The youth exchange in Yavullo Village and Suva, Fiji (July 2018) was attended by 25 participants who produced “the Youth Parkour” a dialogue exhibition with representatives from global CSOs. The Situation mapping seminar in Johannesburg, South Africa (May 2018) allowed participants to present different approaches for ensuring youth participation in CSOs in the form of a mapping report. The practice phase yielded a report of the examples showcased in the “Youth Parkour” and in the Situation mapping report which each partner adapted to their target group and tested within their operational context and followed-up by activities on the project outcomes (workshops/meetings/presentations). The Final Outcome Seminar in Kumanovo and Skopje, North Macedonia (February 2019) served to evaluate the practice phase and develop advanced proposals for increasing youth participation in CSOs. The project outputs included:*2 tangible tools to support the multiplication of project results and ensure a wide outreach on CSOs worldwide: Youth Participation mechanisms mapped and approaches devised for youth participation within the CS (local/national/ international level) and Final Recommendations and policy briefs for greater youth participation gathered from seminars and the practice phase. * A website with different mapped practices to be used by organizations worldwide, i.e. a global community of practice with specific skills to support Youth Participation within the CS sector. Finally, the dissemination of outcomes via the project website and including them in the CIVICUS website in an interactive way in the follow-up ensured learning, and sharing of strategies and resources in a broad global outreach, surpassing the 11 partners.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 123221,23 Eur

Project Coordinator

CENTER FOR INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE ASSOCIATION & Country: MK

Project Partners

• DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE
• YOUNG DIPLOMATS OF CANADA
• HIRAETH CIC
• FONDAZIONE ISTITUTO MORCELLIANO
• CIVICUS WORLD ALLIANCE FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
• WORLD VISION FOR EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT
• YOUTH FOR EXCHANGE AND UNDERSTANDING INTERNATIONAL AISBL