“Education for democratic citizenship equips learners with knowledge, skills, and understanding. It develops their attitudes and behaviours and empowers them to exercise and defend their democratic rights and responsibilities in society as well as internalise democratic values, with a view to the promotion and protection of democracy and the rule of law.” (Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education, May 2010) The project focuses on engaging and empowering young people through Youth Democracy Academy, a program for education for democratic citizenship, comprised of a set of training sessions based on non-formal education methodology supported by a board game, that can be conducted in school or youth centre setting independently or incorporated into the already existing citizenship education class in secondary schools. With this project, Ölands folkhögskola (Sweeden), DYPALL Network (Portugal), InteliGames (Poland) and La fenice (Italy) will develop the “Youth Democracy Academy” consisting of “Educate for democracy” training program, a board game supporting the training program and an assessment tool to measure the impact of the program that will enable teachers and youth workers in schools, youth centres and similar spaces to provide youth with the opportunity to learn how democracy works at different levels, how it impacts their lives and how they can actively participate in it. The program will also help develop their capacity for critical thinking and information analysis. After the Youth Democracy Academy program has been developed, including all its elements: the Educate for democracy training program, board game and Assessment tool, it will be implemented in a youth centre in Italy and a school in Sweden during one semester and thus lead to the achievement of the objective of “supporting existing citizenship education programs in schools with a set of training modules and board game that can help engage young people in a more innovative and youth-friendly manner.” To contribute to that aim, we will also organise a Training activity for teachers, educators and youth workers that will equip them with knowledge and skills on how to implement the program, including non-formal education methods and tools. The intellectual outputs produced will allow for it to be replicated in an unlimited number of schools and local communities across Europe and beyond. The project, on the whole, will build a community of well informed and engaged young European citizens as the key for participatory and resilient democracy at all levels.
- Bringing the idea of democracy closer to young people by increasing their understanding of its concept, values and instruments through participating in Youth Democracy Academy; - Developing young people’s understanding of decision-making processes at the local, regional, national and European levels and ways in which they can participate in them; - Developing young people’s sense of critical thinking and skills for information analysis and fact-checking. - Re-building trust in democracy by giving the space for young people to have a critical look at the existing democratic system in the EU and their own role in it; - Engaging young people in COVID-19 recovery process through a board game that enables them to explore ways in which their participation can contribute to safeguarding democracy at the local level while contributing to COVID-19 relief; - Supporting existing citizenship education programs in schools with a set of training modules and board games that can help engage young people in a more innovative and youth-friendly manner.
The "YDA" program was designed and tested to address the needs of young people and educators in Europe. The decision to create the program was based on the findings of the "Why Europe Matters" survey, which revealed that many young Europeans feel excluded from EU decision-making and lack information about the EU in their school curriculum. As a result, the program was created to complement existing citizenship education with non-formal education training modules and a board game to engage young people and explore the concept and values of democracy in an innovative way. The project addressed the needs of two target groups: young people who increased their knowledge about democratic systems and institutions, and educators who were equipped with the necessary skills and tools to conduct the program. The project was carried out transnationally to test and compare results between two different countries, highlighting the opportunities and challenges the program brings to different realities in Europe, aiming to engage young people as the main actors in safeguarding and reshaping society in the pandemic recovery process, recognizing the importance of active citizenship and participation in shaping democracy.