Under the Loupe: Rural Youth Work! Erasmus Project

Project Title

Under the Loupe: Rural 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: Research and innovation; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Rural development and urbanisation

Project Summary

The project “Under the loupe: Rural Youth Work!” is a 15 months project involving partners from Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia – NAPOR, Prizma, Idrija2020, and two research institutes: Institut drustvenih nauka and Institut drustvenih znanosti “Ivo Pilar” with the aim to explore Rural Youth Work.
Rural youth are constantly facing one or more challenges related to basic economic and social infrastructures. Their access to quality youth services that are providing possibilities for personal and social development are very limited and often totally inaccessible. Therefore, it is important to create youth work programs where young people are, and based on their needs. Evidence-based research and support in creating new innovative programs and strategies based on good practice examples will make significant step towards rural youth work development and youth engagement.
The partnership aims:
– To ensure social inclusion of rural youth by creating preconditions for their active involvement in community life, through building capacity of youth workers and raising awareness of decision makers, underpinned by relevant policy development.
– To establish cross-sectoral cooperation among research community and youth workers in order to identify the needs of rural youth and introduce and encourage evidence-based practice.
– To increase visibility and recognition of youth work potential to respond to the needs of rural youth at local, national, regional and EU level.
– To increase quality of rural youth work programs by introducing innovative and inspiring practices from local to EU level.

Main results of the project are: Detailed insight into the current state of rural youth and youth work and identification of trends and needs achieved through cross-sectoral cooperation between research and youth work community. Collected regional and EU innovative rural youth work practices enriched the capacity of rural youth workers and resulted in quality provision of services for rural youth. Public campaign raised awareness of relevant stakeholders, rural youth, rural youth workers, decision makers and wider public about importance of investing in youth work services in rural areas and its positive implication on rural youth development, as well on community development. Study visit to Slovenia built capacity of youth workers by gaining knowledge and new insights about innovative good practices applicable for creation of new youth work services in rural areas. National meetings gathered all the relevant stakeholders, where majority of parties is committed to investing in rural youth work and developing relevant strategies. Laid foundation for further improvement of policies related to rural youth and youth workers in Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, through preparation of 3 advocacy documents.
Several activities are planned in order to reach the results: Research in Serbia and Croatia (analysis of the situation of young people in rural areas and needs of rural youth and rural youth workers), Booklet on 20 innovative and inspiring practices in rural youth work in EU and non EU countries, Public awareness campaign “Let’s go rural!” with 48 created segments and total reach 1.500.000 people for 12 months, three webinars involving 60 rural youth, National discussions in Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, involving minimum 90 participants from various target groups including decision – makers, Study visit to Slovenia for 18 rural youth workers from 3 countries to exchange good practices and introduction of innovative methods, approaches and tools used among rural youth workers, Advocacy documents– 3 Final drafts of advocacy documents prepared: Rural Youth Work Strategy (Serbia), Action plan on setting the strategic development framework of municipalities that focuses on rural youth (Slovenia) and Guide for developing supporting program for rural youth organisations, youth and youth workers (Croatia). Careful plan for dissemination and exploitation of results of the project is designed in order to promote the project outputs and outcomes to wide range of organizations and institutions working on national, regional and European level in the field of youth work.

Project Website

http://www.napor.net/sajt/index.php/sr-yu/medjunarodni-projekti/under-the-loupe-rural-youth-work

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 67272,46 Eur

Project Coordinator

NACIONALNA ASOCIJACIJA PRAKTICARA/KI OMLADINSKOG RADA-NAPOR & Country: RS

Project Partners

• INSTITUT DRUSTVENIH NAUKA
• Udruga za poticanje razvoja ljudskih potencijala i kreativnosti – Prizma
• Drustvo za mladinski razvoj Idrija 2020
• INSTITUT DRUSTVENIH ZNANOSTI IVO PILAR