Find yourself – Supporting youth voluntary commitment ! Erasmus Project

Project Title

Find yourself – Supporting youth voluntary commitment !

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 : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

The evolution of society has reinforced territorial and social divisions, creating barriers and fostering discriminations that favour the tendency of young people to be often relegated to the sidelines and excluded from having a say in decisions that will affect them. These findings, among others, contribute to the lack of youth participation in the decision making process and to their disengagement in civic society, fostering in turn social exclusion, marginalization and radicalisation. This is all the more striking for young people from working-class neighbourhoods or living in rural areas.

The aim shared by the Fédération des centres sociaux et socioculturels de France, Fritidsforum, Alternatives pour l’enfance et la jeunesse and ARCS – Arci culture solidali, is to contribute to developing the civic engagement and democratic participation of young people, particularly in marginalized urban neighbourhoods and/or rural areas, because our society needs energy, sense of initiative and capacity of innovation of young people.

The project “Find Yourself – Facilitating youth engagement!” aims to strengthen the capacities of the members of this strategic partnership to enhance dynamics of engagement and empower young people to actively participate in civic society and be involved in the decision making process in a Euro-Mediterranean dimension. The empowerment of young people is a major objective shared by the four networks and translated into different but complementary strategic pedagogical approaches.

Based on a joint needs analysis of the four networks, we have identified areas of work that correspond to the specificities and expertise of all stakeholders and that will be the guidelines of our learning process:
– Lifelong learning practices enabling young people to be actors of political and social change
– Practices of civic engagement of young people promoting social inclusion of disadvantaged people (migrants) and solidarity
– Practices of democratic participation of young people in the definition of local community policies

The 28-month work programme will include:
1. A kick-off seminar focusing on: presentation of the structure of the project and its specific objectives, definition of a common working framework (roles and responsibilities, tasks and monitoring and evaluation system), preparation of the learning activities (jobs shadowing),
2. Two sets of four jobs shadowing in each partner country with eight learners from each country, three sending organisations and one hosting organisation.
3. A final seminar (Open Space) aiming at capitalising the results of the jobs shadowing, presenting other good practices about civic engagement and youth participation, defining future strategies in the framework of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.

The exchange of experiences, good practices and methods will contribute to produce results that are both tangible and intangible. The Open Space will also multiply these results and encourage the cross-pollination of ideas and will allow for to creating new synergies, initiatives and cooperation.

The expected results area as follows:
R1- Youth workers have acquired skills, knowledge and attitudes to enhance innovative projects in the field of youth civic engagement. More specifically, the project will allow the development of skills, knowledge and attitudes of all the actors involved: national coordinators, regional coordinators and youth workers.

A2 – The project partners have developed educational and digital tools to equip youth workers in their respective networks. This will result in tangible results such as: development of a booklet of good practices, creation of an online platform with tools and video resources including a collection of “living” and illustrated experiences, revision of training contents for youth workers.

R3 – New initiatives for civic engagement and democratic youth participation have been promoted and spread: implementation of new European youth mobility projects and capacity building projects at national and international level, also in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.

Project Website

https://findyourself-centres-sociaux.com/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 174297,35 Eur

Project Coordinator

Fédération des Centres sociaux et Socioculturels de France & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Organisation Alternatives pour l’Enfance et la Jeunesse
• ARCS – ARCI CULTURE SOLIDALI APS
• Fritidsforum-Riksförbundet Sveriges Fritids- och Hemgårdar