We wanted to achieve that young refugees and further marginalized youth would find social and personal offers to support them on their personal and future professional path. We aimed to achieve this by offering different activities, workshops and events. We wished for them to feel supported in their education, their personal growth and vision, and also in finding social connection in a new society. Therefore, our intentions were anchored in strengthening factors of the personal, the social, and the societal level. We wanted for participants to have the chance to think about the future they hoped for not only for themselves but also as a society, as they will be carrying our society into the future. For this, we wanted to support them in further developing soft skills, experiencing events in which their horizon would be broadened, and seeing their capacity for positive change in activities. Concretely, the aim was to develop competences for participation, experience opportunities for civic engagement by co-creating events, and develop ideas for society with an ecological, inclusive and/or digital emphasis in dialogue events, then implemented in long-term projects.
We applied for this project due to wishing to consciously take action in supporting youth who had to flee their home country and other marginalized youth. We hoped that there would not only be a possibility for them to be in safety in the present by finding shelter and first integration offers, but also find perspectives for the future and their further life and actions. The aim was therefore for this project to not only strengthen their capabilities and capacity for action in the present times, but also build personal resilience and long-term perspectives that could be of support in these difficult times. Accordingly, the needs addressed were, 1) the need for personal support, integration and social offers for refugees within the year of arrival, 2) the need for long-term perspectives for refugees to increase hope and clarity, and support current clarity in endeavors (from planning to learn the local language to looking into a professional path in the region, to rebuilding) and 3) the need for perspectives for personal and professional development among marginalized youth, supporting them with soft skill development and inspiration in finding their future path.