The You.Stand.Out project had the main objective of strengthening of young people’s key competences and sense of initiative, with a particular focus on those from rural areas and who are NEETs. To achieve this, the project had three specific objectives: - To activate processes of social inclusion, increasing employability and active participation of young people supporting the promotion and development of rural areas. - To increase the capacity of youth associations in rural areas to trigger social change through participatory processes and active citizenship. - To raise awareness of young NEETs issues and their potentiality to propose feasible solutions to improve their territories.
The decision to apply for this project was driven by the pressing challenges faced by young people in rural areas within the European Union. Meath Partnership applied for the You.Stand.Out project in order to develop resources and materials that respond to the needs of rural youths that we work with on a regular basis through our various programmes, such as SICAP and TUS, and through our community outreach. It should be noted that partners in the consortium deliver similar community projects on an ongoing basis. These young people from rural communities face various restraints such as lack of access to education facilities, transport and employment opportunities, which has led to a higher percentage of rural exodus as rural youths often feel their only option to gain employment involves them migrating to bigger cities or overseas. Rural youths and those working in the field of youth share a need for resources and knowledge through educational materials that can provide insights into niche markets, potentially allowing them to create employment opportunities for themselves using the resources available to them such as their local heritage.