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Ambassadors+: nEU Youth Generation of Erasmus+ Ambassadors

2022-1-CY02-KA152-YOU-0000715142022Mobility of young peoplefinalizedGood practice
Countries: CY|PL|PT|ES|CZ|EL|RO · Grant: €57,425
Inclusion of marginalised young peopleQuality and innovation of youth workInternational relations and development cooperation

Objectives

The idea for this project came from several multicultural meetings in other Erasmus+ projects where we, as young people, and young people from other countries and organizations discussed the potential of the Erasmus+ programme and the number of organizations that benefited from this programme. We came to the conclusion that on the one hand, there were organizations that organized countless projects per year while other organizations didn't even know about the program. We also came to the conclusion that, more than the organizations not knowing about it, there were still a larger number of young people who did not know about it, had never participated, and might never have a similar opportunity given their limitations as young people with fewer opportunities. We also identified that young people who actually participated in Erasmus+ opportunities rarely got involved with their sending organizations in developing new projects or applications, and that they also very rarely started their own informal youth group or association to work with young people and develop Erasmus+ projects. This information came from a survey we conducted anonymously among 825 young people who participated in Erasmus+ KA1 mobilities in 2019 and 2020. But why? - Because of the sustainability of the youth sector and the program itself, it was urgent to prepare new generations of young leaders who would lead the future of ''Youth Work'', young volunteers, young people involved with their community, young people who created more projects for their local realities. Unfortunately, although the program indeed gave unique opportunities to young people, the number of young people involved in volunteering, community actions, or in associations/organizations had been decreasing and was then very close to the figures we had in 2014 (Eurobarometer 455/478). In the same survey, we questioned young people about the reasons that inhibited them from creating their own projects and/or informal groups of young people/associations and the vast majority responded that they had no knowledge of how to do it (about 95%) or local support, but these same young people indicated that they would love to be able to create their own projects, something that would greatly enrich the "Youth Work" at the European level, the quality of projects, the variety of idealized projects, and would enhance innovative methods in youth work. Therefore, with the presentation of a new Erasmus+ program and a new cycle (2021-2027), we thought that this was the ideal time to elaborate a KA1 project focused on exploring in detail the new program and empowering these young people to become leaders and future Youth Workers involved with enthusiasm in the opportunities of the Erasmus+ program. This project was of utter relevance as we would be supporting youngsters in getting involved with Erasmus+ and creating their own social projects on the local and European level on the pillars/priorities of the program, specifically Inclusion and Diversity, Climate Change, Democratic Participation, and Digital Transition. Moreover, this was a project totally focused on young people with fewer opportunities. Not only because they were the group that would have the most difficulty accessing these opportunities but also because we believed that these were the young people with the most will to change the youth paradigm, since they were the examples of young people who, due to numerous situations, lived or had lived fewer opportunities compared to their peers, thus having an increased feeling of contributing to change. In terms of objectives we... O1: Empowered young people at the level of the new Erasmus+ program by exploring its opportunities; O2: Fostered leadership and initiative-taking, enhancing their growth as future ''Youth Workers'' in the priority areas defined by the EU and encouraging their participation in national or international volunteering projects; O3: Empowered young people in the elaboration of projects in all their phases - from their design to their follow-up and sustainability; O4: Explored the local realities of each country involved at the level of informal group and association creation, at the level of local/municipal, national and even European support beyond Erasmus+; O5: Gave voice and skills to young people with fewer opportunities who, excluding group leaders, were the totality of the participants; O6: Promoted intercultural dialogue and the feeling of being European, while promoting European values and demystifying prejudices and stereotypes; O7: Promoted Erasmus+, National Agencies, and other EU support for the youth sector.

Project partners (7)