Statistics show that rural areas in Europe are suffering from out-migration, especially that of young people. They further show that young Europeans living in rural communities have greater disadvantages on average when it comes to access to education, employment opportunities, creating new businesses and lack of basic services and infrastructure than their counterparts in towns and cities. By offering young people the opportunity to influence the development in their communities and engaging them in locally important actions, out-migration can be prevented and long-term living opportunities where these young people can fulfill their potential can be realized. Despite comprehensive strategies at European level on youth and multiple financial initiatives to support rural youth the out-migration continues – young people who leave their communities do not return. Engaging Rural Youth (ENGAGE) is a 29 month project aiming at supporting rural youth getting involved with rural development. ENGAGE´s objective is to equip all 12-13 year old young people (7th graders) in rural communities in four European countries with the necessary tools, competences and skills for them to actively participate in future decision-making in their communities and have a meaningful engagement in the implementation of various actions related to rural development. This will be done through their participation in a four-week ENGAGE learning course. During this course participants will discuss topics related to rural development and the revitalization and sustainability of rural communities. They will further, both individually and in groups, work on developing innovative ideas to support rural development and strengthen their communities. These ideas will be presented to local community stakeholders at the end of the course and the winning idea(-s) will be explored further or directly put into action within the community. The pupils will also host a public meeting built on a youth council format where they will share their ideas for the future development of their community and how their voice could be come a permanent voice in the local decision-making process. The learning will be integrated into the annual school programme for 7th graders to ensure participation of all pupils in the cohort, including those who are vulnerable and possibly marginalized from their peers. Stakeholders in the community, representatives of businesses, non-profit organisations and decision-makes will also have a role in the implementation and follow-up activities. The ENGAGE learning model consists of a four-week learning module with a set of weekly modules aimed at developing competences among pupils to actively participate in the future in decision-making procedures in their communities as well as competences/skills related he development of innovative projects (entrepreneurship). It also includes a Handbook for Teachers which explains the background of the course, pedagogical strategy and methods for implementation and guidelines and activities related to discussion of themes, the development of innovative projects (entrepreneurship activities) and setting up youth decision-making bodies. The Handbook further contains methods for evaluation and descriptors that can be used for assessing whether the level of competences that should be attained during the course have been reached. The material will be made available on paper and as an eBook. During the project the ENGAGE learning model will be piloted twice in the participating countries. Based on feedback, the materials and methods for implementation will be adapted. A comprehensive assessment of the materials, the piloting and short-and long-term impact will further be delivered as part of the project.
The overall objectives of the Engaging Rural Youth (ENGAGE) project was to support rural youth (12-13 year olds) getting involved with development of their own local communities. The aim was to equip all 7th graders (12-14 years) in the participating schools all located in rural communities in the four participating countries – Iceland, Finland, Latvia and Sweden - with the necessary tools, competences and skills for them to actively participate in future decision-making in their communities and have a meaningful engagement in the implementation of various actions related to rural development. A further aim was to equip teachers in these rural communities with skills and competences, as well as educational tools (a unique learning course and a teacher´s handbook for implementation), to support their pupils in advancing entrepreneurial anc creative skills and coming up with innovative solutions for their local communities.
It is a fact that many rural areas in Europe are suffering from out-migration, especially of young people. Similarly, statistics have shown that young European living in rural areas are disadvantaged when it comes to access to education, employment opportunities, basic services and infrastructure and creating new businesses, in comparison with youth living in cities. The ENGAGE project aimed to address the need of rural youth for developing skills and competences to develop innovative solutions for sustaining their rural communities, actively participate in future decision -making in these communities, and have a meaningful engagement in the implementation of various activities related to rural development. By doing so, chances are increased that young people will choose to stay and sustain their communities in adulthood.