Today, a growing number of young people living in rural areas of Europe are socially and civically marginalized. There are several reasons for this, including geographic isolation, growing rural poverty, difficult access to employment, and low levels of participation in international projects. These young people are largely unaware of the international mobility opportunities offered by programs such as the European Solidarity Corps, Erasmus + ... where resources are offered for their professional and personal development. However, there are many rural youth organizations that strive to encourage youth participation in their communities, but face increasing difficulties in securing this long-term commitment. The lack of tools and means adapted to their expectations and difficulties is a common reason, but there is also insufficient knowledge of the resources personified by local heritage to attract young people involved in local life. At the same time, rural heritage conservation groups are struggling to mobilize young people. Cultural heritage, whether tangible or intangible, is key to the identity of rural areas and, however, is at risk of disappearing without efforts to transmit it and "recover" this heritage from the point of view of the youngest. However, this heritage represents a legitimate conduit to promote active European citizenship as well as a source of employment for young people with little or no academic qualifications. The project addresses two of the six rural development priorities supported by the ENRD (European Network for Rural Development, 2014-2020 programming period): Priority 1 (Knowledge transfer and innovation) and 6 (Promote social inclusion, reduction poverty and economic development in rural areas). Main goal Valorize local agricultural traditions and rural heritage through the creation of a new professional profile for young workers: «Advisor for the promotion of cultural heritage in rural areas», able to use digital tools to raise awareness about rural heritage, especially among young people and parties actively involved in the project's theme. Specific objectives Sensitize young workers and local communities about the importance of rural heritage to promote economic growth, social inclusion, and cultural diversity in rural areas. Promote rural heritage and activities to guide creativity and innovation. Increase entrepreneurship and use of digital skills among young workers in rural areas to promote rural heritage. Increase skills in young workers to support the transition to a sustainable and innovative economy in rural areas. Prioritize non-formal and informal training, especially aimed at young workers and disadvantaged youth looking for their first job in rural areas. Beneficiaries: European youth aged 13-30 (target group) People with disabilities (indirect beneficiaries) Indirect beneficiaries: youth, students, youth workers, social workers, representatives of training and education centers, NGOs, associations, experts, policy makers and other key stakeholders. They will actively participate in all phases of project implementation (online learning course, pre-departure course, job observation, training and follow-up course, outreach activities). Duration: 16 months Consortium: P1: (ES) SER JOVEN ASSOCIATION P2: (RU) ASOCIATIA GEYC P3: (IT) ASSOCIAZIONE DI PROMOZIONE SOCIALE JOINT P4: (ES) DESARROLLO PRÓXIMO CULTURAL ASSOCIATION Impacts at local, regional, national and EU level: Possibility of contributing to the improvement of services for young people and the disabled by local, regional and national public and private organizations through innovative methodologies that promote youth participation and social inclusion; The expected long-term impact of the project, at the level of civil society and European policy makers, is to ensure that organizations working with young people and with people belonging to disadvantaged groups (in particular people with disabilities) are recognized as educational centers. innovative, capable of promoting social inclusion.
The specific objectives of PRHBYW project have been the following: - To raise awareness among youth workers and local communities on the importance of rural heritage to boost economic growth, social inclusion, and cultural diversity in rural areas. - Promote rural heritage and activities to guide creativity and innovation. - Increase entrepreneurship and the use of digital skills among young workers in rural areas to promote rural heritage. - Increase skills in young workers to support the transition to a sustainable and innovative economy in rural areas. - Prioritize non-formal and informal training, especially targeting young workers and disadvantaged youth seeking their first job in rural areas. - Establish mechanisms to facilitate young workers' awareness of the importance of cultural heritage and ICTs, and of labour market trends in rural areas. As can be seen, the project "Promote Rural Heritage by Youth Workers" has been intended to be a reference project providing opportunities for the youth of the participating regions in relation to the promotion of cultural heritage in rural areas. After all the transnational meetings, training courses and joint mobilities of youth workers, we are very satisfied with all the objectives achieved, as we have managed to train more than 50 young people directly through the online courses and mobilities and another 30 young people indirectly through their participation in some face-to-face activities related to the project.
The main decision to carry out this project was based on the need to revalorise the cultural heritage of rural areas and to give a leading voice to young people in this process of revaluation and reactivation of rural areas, as we have always believed that young people have a lot to say in this regard. For this reason, we have tried and we can finally affirm that we have also succeeded in training young people in all these aspects so that they can be agents of change in their local communities. Spanish youth, who were plunged into a great structural precariousness in the wake of the 2008 crisis, are now at high risk of social exclusion, particularly in terms of accessing and remaining in the labour market. This is shown by the first data from a sociological study being carried out by Injuve to determine the incidence of the COVID19 pandemic on the labour market, an impact that is expected to be particularly serious among young people, given the instability and temporary nature of the jobs held by young people. Unfortunately, today an increasing number of young people living in rural areas of Europe find themselves socially and civically marginalised. There are several reasons for this, including geographical isolation, growing rural poverty, difficult access to employment and low levels of participation in international projects. These young people are largely unaware of the international mobility opportunities offered by Erasmus+, where resources are available for their professional and personal development. However, there are many rural youth organisations that strive to foster youth participation in their communities, but face increasing difficulties in securing this long-term commitment. Lack of tools and means adapted to their expectations and difficulties is a common reason, but there is also insufficient knowledge of the resources embodied by local heritage to attract young people involved in local contexts. At the same time, rural heritage conservation groups struggle to mobilise young people. Cultural heritage, whether tangible or intangible, is key to the identity of rural areas, yet it is at risk of disappearing without efforts to transmit it and to "recover" this heritage from the point of view of the local population. However, this heritage represents a legitimate conduit for promoting active European citizenship as well as a source of employment for young people. The initial idea has therefore been to create a profile of young experts to act as advisors to enhance the valorisation of rural heritage by using appropriate digital skills and social skills to create a spirit of empowered community awareness, both locally and regionally as well as internationally. The project has aimed to respond to the main challenges facing rural areas today: - Low use of ICTs. - Youth migration and brain drain. - Lack of training and learning opportunities in rural areas.