Generation Europe: The Ambassadors Erasmus Project

Project Title

Generation Europe: The Ambassadors

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Access for disadvantaged; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

Context:
“Generation Europe: The Ambassadors” takes place in the context of the 5 year-long programme Generation Europe 2 (GenE2). 45 European youth work organisations based in 13 European countries are going to work together in trilateral partnerships with the aim, to excite youths with fewer opportunities, to become active on local and European level. The main topic of Gen2E is Critical Youth Citizenship (CYC) and European values.

Participants:
The project will directly involve two types of participants. We will have GenE Ambassadors (Young professionals) and experienced professionals in the field of youth work. Also, young participants from the local group will indirectly be involved via the Ambassadors. Finally, youth work organisations and stakeholders (see above) as well as policy makers will be reached by the project. The ambassadors are young people between 18 and 30 who already have experience in international exchange and non-formal education as participants. They are the representatives of their local peers and thus also the mouthpiece of the wishes and demands of the young generation. The long-term-professionals are professionals, experienced in the field of professional youth work and/or group leaders with a pedagogical background. They are project managers and / or group leaders of local youth groups and the mentors for the ambassadors and are accompanying them in their individual process.

Objectives
“Generation Europe: The Ambassadors” aims to strengthen diversity and inclusion in international youth work. The future professionals are going to come from more diverse backgrounds in contrast to the current image of youth work professionals, being often white, female and with an academic education. In order to reach diverse youths and heterogeneous groups, the next professionals should have a more diverse background themselves. The Ambassadors will be mentors and role models and inspire new young people to take part in activities of European youth work. This will make international youth work more accessible for disadvantaged youths on the participation as well as on the professional level with the help of the developed p2p concept and handbook. Another objective is to create with young professionals and the youths a concept to empower young Europeans to become Critical Youth Citizens on local and European level. Ambassadors are creating a sustainable process of involving and exciting more than 800 youths from diverse target groups and marginalized groups for civic engagement.

Activities
The Ambassadors will attend three training and teaching activities, in which they will acquire and develop basic skills and key competences of non-formal political education for diverse target groups. They will be introduced to methods and activities to excite young people for CYC. adapt existing methods and later create new ones where necessary for their purpose (Handbook on activism) based on their experience as former participants and their experience from working with the local groups. further thematic priorities of these activities involve human rights, democracy, education, employment, sustainability, and climate change. Another key point are the frequent transnational meetings, in which they meet to organise the steps necessary for the creation of the intellectual outputs. Beyond that various multiplier events will be implemented where all partners and associated partners in the involved countries come together, invite stakeholders and youth organisations and the Ambassadors present the Activism handbook and the p2p concept

Results
As tools to inspire youths the Ambassador Network creates a peer education strategy and a product, the “Activism Handbook”. During this project but also end especially during the two years after this project, the Ambassadors will work with the p2p concept and the handbook with the young participants from European communities. Those young participants will develop in the process skills and competences connected with Critical Citizenship on local and European level. The project will have an impact on multiple levels. It aims to strengthen diversity and inclusion in international youth work. In addition to structural changes, the reality in youth organisations must also change. Addressing them is therefore essential for success. Dissemination towards youth organisations inspires them to follow the positive example of the SP and to integrate people from different backgrounds at participant and staff level. Stakeholders in this project are politicians, foundations, universities, and think tanks. The SP is aiming for change and starts an innovative new approach involving diverse target groups. Politicians on local, national and European level are addressed, to inform them about the needs of European youth work and provide them ideas on how to support the process of diversification.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 346783 Eur

Project Coordinator

Internationales Bildungs- und Begegnungswerk, ökumenischer Verein für Begegnung, Versöhnung znd Zusammenarbeit e.V. (IBB) & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Oulun Nuoret Kotkat Piirijärjestö ry
• MTÜ Noored Toredate Mõtetega
• ASOCIATIA SOCIETATEA PENTRU TINERET OUTWARD BOUND ROMANIA
• Fundacja Borussia
• Esplora
• Stiftung Europäische Jugendbildungs- und Jugendbegegnungsstätte Weimar
• YouthCoop – Cooperativa para o Desenvolvimento e Cidadania crl