Within the European community there is an increasing disintegration through discriminatory and populist policies & practices. In addition there is a growing tendency (intensified by Covid-19) towards nationalism and closed borders. This has to be countered by transnational cooperation and public spirit among active EU citizens. We as youth organisations make an important contribution by creating spaces where young people can come together, get involved and experience self-efficacy. Although the working cultures and objectives of youth organisations in Europe can be (formulated) very different(ly), we are convinced that there is a common interest: to recognise the concrete needs of young people and to create an environment in which they can develop their potential. In this Context our project: "Evaluate, engage, empower - yoth work ... " is placed, as we see the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Youth Goals as useful instruments for us to learn more about shared values in our youth work practice in a transnational context and to support each other in developing our self-image as European institutions. And as the overall topic of this project are the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Youth Goals, we want to strengthen partnerships that foster children’s rights and lead to a realization of the Youth Goals in each partaking organisation and the community they are part of. Therefore, in our project we - four youth organisations from Germany, France, Romania and Slovenia - want to: - EVALUATE our practice and learn from each other and strengthen our common values as youth actors in Europe - ENGAGE the participation of young people as active euopean citizens and support local civic Engagement - EMPOWER young people to take charge of their own lives and be able to work in transnational contexts. Our central project goals are: * To integrate children's rights into our organisational structures and working cultures as a foundation on which youth organisations (should) stand. * To develop concrete recommendations for transnational youth work in Europe, which can be used by multipliers and volunteers in the partner regions and beyond. * Reflecting on and further developing our own youth work practice in relation to the "European Youth Goals". * Establish and deepen stable transnational partnerships that form the basis for future cooperation in the transnational field (e.g. ESC, youth meetings and camps). With our plan to evaluate each other and work towards an integration of those rights into the organizational sphere, we hope to support educators and youth workers in their daily work, by designing a guideline for human rights based methods. While researching this topic we found the European network project "Youth for Human Rights" which is an excellent starting point for indepth examination and the testing of practical implementation. In order to strengthen our advocacy for the rights & social participation of young people in Europe, we need to share knowledge and best practice with each other. A network of solidarity, pooling resources and capacities, will help us to respond more effectively to the challenges mentioned above.
Firstly, we wanted to integrate Children's Rights (CR) into our organisational structures and working cultures as a foundation, on which youth organisations (should) stand in our opinion. Further, we were planning on reflecting and further developing our everyday youth work practice in relation to the European Youth Goals (YG). Also we hoped to develop concrete recommendations for transnational youth work in Europe, which can be used by multipliers and volunteers in the partner regions and beyond, in form of the handbook and evaluation guide. The establishment and deepening of stable transnational partnerships that form the basis for future cooperation in the transnational field (e.g. ESC, youth exchanges, training activities), was also a main objective targeted towards sustainability.
In the face of the increasing disintegration through discriminatory and populist policies and practices and a growing tendency, intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic, towards nationalism and closed borders within the European community, we felt, that this had and still has to be countered by transnational cooperation and public spirit among active EU citizens and their interest groups. We as youth organisations make an important contribution by creating spaces where young people can come together, get involved and experience self-efficacy. So, we chose the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Youth Goals as topics to engage with, because we believe them to be useful instruments to learn more about shared values in our work practice in a transnational context and to support each other in developing further our self-image as European institutions. In order to strengthen our advocacy for the rights and social participation of young people in Europe, we were looking for a possibility to share knowledge and best practices with each other. Last but not least, we hoped to build a network of solidarity and a pool of resources and capacities, in order to respond more effectively to the challenges mentioned above.