INITIAL SITUATION: Young people are searching for their potentials and possibilities as well as for their identity. Concerning the possibilities to develop these potentials and their identity in their own region – often young persons are not aware of them or don’t know about them. Still young persons have readiness to innovate, are open and curious – those are qualities which should be used in a future-compliant society. PROBLEMS AND OPEN QUESTIONS: Do young persons know where to find jobs and apprenticeships in their region? How can (small) enterprises find apprentices and employees? Do the inhabitants know which enterprises exist in their region? Are young persons aware of their own potentials, strengths and wishes? OBJECTIVES: Developing a curriculum “Discover your World!” which has the following content: With professional support, young people take a good look at their own view of their region. They study their region with the aim to present it to other young persons from Europe. They decide which qualities and characteristics they want to present: • Leisure facilities: youth centres, bathing places, their own projects (e.g. theatre group, band, …) • Possibilities to participate politically and political representation for young persons in their municipality or region. • Inclusion projects (for immigrants, disabled persons, intergenerational, …) • Which enterprises, apprenticeships exist? • Regional products In addition, they will learn important competences and skills in the following fields: • Presentation skills • Media literacy • Developing their own strengths (e.g. by contributing their skills and knowledge to the workshops – peer-learning) • Communication skills (e.g. through interviews with managers, senior citizens, politicians, …) • Realizing the uniqueness of their own region in the diversity of European regions. 2. Pilot workshops with young people in each partner country (15 participants per country). 3. Publication and dissemination of the curriculum. PARTICIPANTS: The participants will be members of staff from the partner organizations but also youth workers from municipal and other youth centres, as well as young people. They will be asked to bring in their needs and interests in the development of the curriculum and they will also participate in the three pilot projects (in Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic). PROJECT ACTIVITIES: In the preparatory phase, the partner organizations will work out the following contents: • What are the general conditions in our regions? • What do youth workers need (which topics and methods …)? – This will be collected in focus group interviews. • What do young persons expect of such a curriculum (topics, methods …)? – For this, creative interview and participation methods will be used. • What are the main multipliers and stakeholders for dissemination and implementation? In the next phase (elaboration phase), the partner organizations will work out the content, topics and methods of the curriculum. Each partner will develop different parts of the curriculum, while the structure will be jointly designed by all partners. In the third phase the product will be tested and disseminated. For this purpose, each partner organization will carry out a pilot project in their country (AT, DE, CZ) with a group of young people (in cooperation with a youth centre or by own staff) to test the curriculum. The experience gained through these pilot/testing activities will be integrated into the last revision of the curriculum. IMPACT OF THE PROJECT: Impact on the participants (own staff, youth workers): • Confrontation with how young persons perceive their region and the possibilities it provides them. • Getting to know the different views in Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic • New methods and tools for youth workers (and training for them) are available • A new curriculum which will be implemented and disseminated Impact on young people • Experience self-efficacy • Develop their potentials • Discover their region and its “offers” for them (cultural, educational, geographical, social …) and get inspired. • Stronger identification with the region • Are able to present their region to others and inspire them • Learn presentation and rhetorical skills. • Strengthen their intercultural competence and team competence
Discover Your World – Developing young people’s potentials and those of their regions Young people are searching for their potentials and possibilities as well as for their identity. Concerning the possibilities to develop these potentials and their identity in their own region – often young persons are not aware of them or don’t know about them. Still young persons have readiness to innovate, are open and curious – those are qualities which should be used in a future-compliant society. The project “Discover Your World” is based on the idea that three countries develop a common curriculum (description of training, materials for seminars) for staff working in education both in and out of school, in order to enable them to activate young people in their communities and regions. This means that young people are to learn to make themselves heard and it gives them the possibility to actively take part in political and social life. Four partner organisations were responsible for the implementation of the project: In Austria SPES Zukunftsakademie in Schlierbach shared responsibility with Radio B 138, in Germany it was Jugendbildungsstätte Waldmünchen and in Romania it was Caritas Alba Julia who took part in the project. All partner organisations have a lot of expertise in the field of high-quality youth work, SPES is expert on participation methods for young people, team members of B 138 regularly train and empower young people by producing radio. Following a target group analysis in all participating regions and the question of how to involve potential stakeholders (people and groups who might have an interest in the course and result of the project), the Jugendbildungsstätte (an extra-curricular educational institution for young people) as the main responsible developed a participant-oriented seminar (curriculum). This curriculum is to be applicable in all participating countries and can be provided as a toolbox, as method, for future multipliers. After this, young people were invited to participate in a pilot project in order to test the content of the seminars and, if necessary, to expand and enrich the content with our own experience. The most important outcome of the finished product is to open young people’s eyes to the potentials of their native region, to discover and recognize them, and to make the best possible use of them. Finally, the experience and knowledge gained was presented and shared by the media and stakeholders, and a map based on Google Maps was made available to the public. The curriculum "Discover your world" ist online available in English, German, Hungarian and Romanian at www.entdeckedeinewelt.net. There you`ll also find reports and news of the project as well as radio shows.