With the implementation of Solvers Next Gen we expected, first of all, to strengthen the competences of teachers, trainers and youth workers to work on civic participation with young people, especially those with fewer opportunities. Our aim was for them to acquire concrete tools for challenge-based learning, journalistic investigation, critical thinking and responsible use of digital tools. Secondly, we wanted to bring the European Union closer to young people’s everyday life, helping them to understand in a simple way what EU funds are, which programmes exist and how they influence their local environment (school, neighbourhood, city). Another key objective was to empower groups of young people as “solvers”, giving them a framework of positive competition to investigate real cases, develop communication campaigns and present their proposals to local and European stakeholders. Finally, we expected to reduce the emotional and symbolic distance between young people and the European institutions, culminating in the direct experience of presenting their work in Brussels.
The project was applied for because many young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, knew very little about how the European Union influenced their daily lives and perceived the European institutions as distant, complex and not very useful. At the same time, many teachers and youth workers lacked practical and attractive tools to work on civic participation, critical inquiry and the positive use of digital tools with their groups. Solvers Next Gen responded to these needs by creating a process based on training and collaborative competition. On the one hand, it strengthened the competences of educators and youth workers in active methodologies (challenge-based learning, journalistic investigation, teamwork). On the other hand, it offered young people a motivating framework to investigate the real impact of European policies and funds in their communities, transform these findings into communication campaigns and present proposals to local and European stakeholders, reducing the distance between young people and the EU.