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Parlament Valencià Jove

2022-3-ES02-KA154-YOU-0001012692022Youth participation activitiesfinalized
Countries: ES · Grant: €26,100
Reaching the policy level/dialogue with decision makersDemocracy and inclusive democratic participationYouth policy development

Objectives

One of the fundamental pillars of this project was to respond to the need to generate a greater involvement of Valencian youth in the public, democratic and political life of their territory, from the regional to the local level. This need was based on the results of sociological studies that highlighted the remoteness of young people from institutions, their lack of interest in participating in democratic processes such as voting in elections, and their disaffection towards institutional politics as a mechanism for transforming society. In this sense, the project proposed the following General Objective: G.O. "To reduce political and institutional disaffection among youth through non-formal education, role-playing and fostering youth participation as tools for social change". Related to this objective, the project aimed to foster institutional rapprochement with young people by directly involving political personalities with decision-making capacity, establishing dialogues and spaces for debate, exchange of experiences and knowledge for the creation of joint proposals and initiatives. In these spaces, young people learned to debate, confront opinions, defend their positions, reach agreements, and develop communication and debate skills. To complement the general objective and turn it into something more tangible, the project proposed the following specific objectives that helped to achieve what was described above: To awaken the interest of young people in politics through the simulation of a plenary session of "Les Corts", with the collaboration of political personalities who improve their knowledge of Valencian institutions and make the voice of young people heard in the political life of the territory. To promote the exchange of ideas, experiences, knowledge and proposals among young people by creating spaces for debate and reflection where they can learn to confront, defend and reach agreements, developing skills and competences for communication and debate that empower young people. O.E. 3. Promote the Erasmus+ programme by providing specific training on the project and on the organic functioning of the European Union. To encourage associationism and participation among non-associated young people in the Valencian territory by explaining the benefits of collective and organized action. Through participatory methodologies based on socio-cultural animation, the acquisition of theoretical contents that in a more academic or formal context could be dense or tedious was facilitated. In this way, through games and role-playing, the participants felt in first person and in a very experiential way everything that the political functioning of an institution implies, in addition to the testimonies and experiences of the political leaders who took part. In addition, participants were able to work on and acquire communication, negotiation and public speaking skills, as well as teamwork, emotional management, empathy and conflict resolution skills. In addition to these skills, all the knowledge and theoretical concepts acquired, especially those related to political and institutional functioning, and in particular to the genuine characteristics of the different ideologies that are most prominent in 21st century society, were also acquired. With regard to political institutions, in each activity a space was reserved to provide training and information on European democratic institutions and the opportunities of Erasmus+ projects. In a transversal way, it is worth highlighting the pedagogical work of transmitting the values of collectivity versus individuality, highlighting the importance of joint action for the generation of fairer and more egalitarian societies, giving as an example social participation and associationism as effective mechanisms for social change.

Project partners (1)