Tools for Equality and Inclusion in Youth Work Erasmus Project

Project Title

Tools for Equality and Inclusion in Youth Work

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 2019

Project Topics

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

Project Summary

Experiences of discrimination based on various individual characteristics affect the quality of life, civic engagement of young people and increase the probability of experiencing social exclusion. However, many young people still do not have access to their social rights and continue to face multiple discrimination, experience prejudice and hate crimes.
The efforts of youth work, youth organisations and youth networks to act as forces of inclusion by assisting young people to engage, volunteer and drive positive social change in communities have been identified as a priority in the Youth Progress Index, Youth Goals of the Structured Dialogue and Youth Strategy 2019-2027. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that youth work bodies, even if they do not deal specifically with the issues of discrimination and exclusion, are free from stereotypes and prejudices towards the groups of young people who are at risk of marginalisation and ensure openness and equal treatment of any young person engaged in their activities. However, the efforts of youth work bodies to promote equality and inclusion are usually fragmented. The research shows that while youth organisations claim to be open and tolerant, they still do not mainstream equality and inclusion as the core values of their activities and do not play a crucial role in enhancing intercultural dialogue, tolerance and mutual respect among young people. The organisations usually put sporadic elements of inclusion into their activities but lack of understanding of how to approach inclusive policies and practices in a systematic way.
The partners of the present project joined their forces to lead youth work bodies towards the transformative change and increase the opportunities for young people who are potentially at risk of social exclusion to actively engage into the activities of different youth work bodies in partner countries. Through this project, the partners will foster an integrated approach within youth work structures by providing them with tools and support necessary to mainstream inclusive policies and practices in their organisations.
The project AIMS to increase diversity, equality, inclusion and participation of ALL young people in various youth work activities in partner countries. This will be done by fostering quality improvements and mainstreaming inclusive policies and practices in youth work.
The OBJECTIVES of the project are:
1. Define key indicators of an inclusive youth work body;
2. Develop and pilot tools for mainstreaming inclusive policies and practices within youth work bodies;
3. Support professional development of youth workers in order to introduce inclusive policies and practices in their organisational strategies and daily working process;
4. Initiate a cross-sectorial dialogue in order to strengthen commitment and foster systematic integration of inclusive policies and practices in the field of youth.
The objectives of the project will be achieved by:
1. Overview the state and the needs in partner countries regarding the better integration of inclusive policies and practices within different youth work bodies;
2. Development of a set of tools which will contribute to quality improvements of youth work by evaluating and improving inclusive policies and practices applied within youth work bodies;
3. Providing opportunities for professional development of youth work professionals towards mainstreaming inclusive policies and practices within their organisations;
4. Providing opportunities for youth work bodies to go through a monitoring and evaluation process, assess and make systematic changes in their strategies and activities with young people by piloting the project outputs;
5. Sharing good practices and opening the space for dialogue towards a systematic integration of inclusive policies and practices in the field of youth.
The project partners expect the increase of engagement of youth at risk in the activities of youth work bodies in partner countries. By introducing a set of tools for integration of inclusive policies and practices in youth work, they will pay a specific attention to a better inclusion of the following groups of young people identified as the most at risk of exclusion: youth from rural areas, youth facing gender-based discrimination, LGBT, migrants and youth from ethnic minorities, NEETs.
The project addresses the issues which are common for the whole European community. By providing innovative approach and tools for mainstreaming inclusive policies and practices in youth work, it will contribute to promoting the shared values of equality, non-discrimination and inclusion. It will help to enhance the possibilities for young people who are potentially at risk of exclusion to engage in the activities of different work bodies and so will contribute to strengthening their capacity to realise their full potential and becoming the drivers of the social change in their communities.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 143139 Eur

Project Coordinator

VSI PASAULIO PILIECIU AKADEMIJA & Country: LT

Project Partners

• STOWARZYSZENIE DLA DZIECI I MLODZIEZY SZANSA
• TDM 2000 ODV
• ASOCIACION CAZALLA-INTERCULTURAL
• ASSOCIATION PRO EUROPEAN NETWORK