This project addresses a number of current European issues. A decline in the interest in democratic processes and institutions among young persons is evident, as well as increased discrimination, racism, political and religious extremism. Furthermore the educational systems across Europe have common problems with absenteeism and drop-out. There is a growing sense of frustration amongst teachers and youth workers concerning the low level of youth participation in democratic processes, as well as young people’s lack of trust in democratic institutions and values. The youth professionals worry about these perceived democratic deficits and the consequences it has for the youngsters and for society in general, which is particularly concerning when it comes to vulnerable youth at risk of being marginalised in society. All partner organisations have identified organisational shortcomings concerning youth participation on several levels, both structural and cultural. This leads to a perception amongst youth of not having a say in the decision making, not even on their own personal level at school or in other situations, which in turn leads to distrust and disinterest in partaking in activities organised by established organisations and in democratic processes. The feeling of being marginalised puts the youngsters at risk of actually becoming excluded, and is conductive to discrimination, racism, political and religious extremism, school absenteeism, and drop-out, from school, work or youth programmes. The professionals working with young persons between 16 and 25, in particular teachers and youth workers can be perceived as carriers of structures and cultures that perpetuate the identified shortcomings of the organisations. They need new methods and tools to improve their capacity to communicate with youth in a more participatory way, and to understand the importance and impact that their attitude has. There is also a need for structures, methods and tools that will support the democratic institutions ability to reach the concerned youth groups. This project aims to provide a basis for an improved culture amongst professionals as well as structures that will support democratic dialogue and youth involvement in order to promote civic participation, create participatory mechanisms, thus preventing marginalisation and its negative effects on individuals and society. The objectives are to identify and develop existing methods and tools for youth professionals, design new ones, at least ten altogether, as well as develop two online courses. A further objective is to find possible structural revisions that will facilitate youth participation, such as structures for meetings with decision makers and/or other political arenas. The relevant methods, tools and training tools will be collected and made available in a database that will provide a “Platform for sharing of good practice in the field of promoting democratic dialogue and youth civic participation”. A range of dissemination activities will also be carried out, and previsions will be made for the sustainability of the results. The project is using cumulative knowledge development as a foundation to obtain the project results. The development of existing or “new” methods, tools and training tools, as well as possible efficient structural modifications will be carried out as a learning process, creating modules, try them and take in feed-back, learn from that and make alterations. The database is therefore dynamic and open to new additions from the partnership, but also input from other organisations and/or stakeholders will be considered for added value. Eight partners with a variety of competencies and experiences from different countries, educational systems and youth work services are actively involved in the project, and in addition, two associated partners will support the project, the implementation and dissemination of the project results. Fifty active practitioners and thirty youth will be the prime actors in the work that will lead to a successful result. The project aims to engage many more and hopefully reach thousands of persons in organisations throughout Europe. Each partner will set up a professional local activity group and work according to their local activity plans. The partnership recognises the importance of in-depth youth involvement in this project. All partners expect ENSA will therefore set up a youth advisory group. It will provide background data and feed-back from their perspective. The partners will bring representatives of the youth participants to the six transnational project meetings, where they will be given the opportunity to share experiences and contribute towards the results of the project. Local steering groups are set up by all partners with key persons from their own organisations and/or local stakeholders. This will be a means of continuous follow-up and promote quality assurance and dissemination of the results.
The low level of youth participation in democratic processes, as well as young people’s lack of trust in democratic institutions and values, is a growing concern among teachers, youth workers and other youth professionals. They worry about democratic deficits and the consequences for the youngsters, as well as for society in general. It is of particular concern when it comes to vulnerable youth at risk of being marginalised in society. Organisational shortcomings pertaining to youth participation lead to a perception amongst young people of not having a say in decision making, not even on their personal level at school or in other situations. This in turn leads to distrust and disinterest in the participation in activities organised by established organisations and in general democratic processes. The assumption is that the feeling of being marginalised puts the youngsters at risk of actually becoming excluded. In addressing these issues the project also addressed a number of current European issues, such as increased discrimination, racism, political and religious extremism, school absenteeism and drop-out. The practitioners, teachers, social workers and youth workers working with young people can be perceived as carriers of structures and cultures that perpetuate the shortcomings of the organisations. Consequently a need was identified to provide youth professionals with new methods and tools to improve their capacity to communicate with youth in a more participatory way and that support the democratic institutions ability to reach the youth groups concerned. The practitioners need to understand the importance and impact that their own attitude has, was also recognised. The project has identified, tested and developed, new and existing, methods and tools for youth professionals, collected them and made them easily available in a database: “A platform for sharing of good practice in the field of promoting democratic dialogue and youth civic participation”. The content also covers methods and measures that enable the facilitation of youth participation through structures for meetings and creating arenas. New training tools for teachers, social workers and youth workers in the form of two on-line courses have been developed on a European level. They are devised to give the practitioners both an increased awareness of how their own prejudices and attitudes affect their interaction with youth at risk, and supporting them with the now-how in the use of methods and tools promoting the inclusion of young people in democratic processes. Each of the project partners partner set up local activity groups and worked according to local activity plans. The partnership acknowledged the importance of in-depth youth involvement in the project. All partners, with the exception of ENSA, organised Youth Advisory Groups that provided background data and feed-back from young people’s perspective. Local steering groups were set up, including key persons from the partner organisations and/or local stakeholders. The steering groups contributed with follow-up and quality assurance as well as dissemination. The project used cumulative knowledge development to obtain the project results. The development of existing or new methods, tools and training, as well as possible structural modifications, was carried out as a learning process. The produced database is dynamic and remains open for future additions from the partnership, as well as from other organisations and/or stakeholders. The on-line courses are likewise live resources to be edited as the need arises. Provisions for the sustainability of the results have been set in place, the Italian partner will keep the website and database up-dated and the Greek partner will be responsible for editing the on-line courses on the Moodle platform. The courses were produced in English, but have been translated and are under elaboration to be up-loaded in the spring of 2020. ENSA had the special responsibility of coordination of dissemination activities, using its wide network of European regions, cities and non-governmental organisations, and its close cooperation with other major European networks. A wide range of implementation and dissemination activities were carried out throughout the project. Eight partners with a variety of competencies and experiences from different countries, educational systems and youth work services, were actively involved in the project, and in addition, two associated partners supported the project. 50 practitioners and 30 young persons were the prime actors in the work process. In addition, the project engaged even more individuals within the framework of testing and implementation, dissemination and multiplier events. Consequently, thousands of professionals, managers, youth organisations and politicians throughout Europe were reached, and the resources from the project are already in use. After translation the impact is expected to be even higher.