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Active Youth: Empowering Local Communities through Civic Engagement

2023-1-IT03-KA154-YOU-0001474412023Youth participation activitiesfinalized
Countries: IT · Grant: €21,640
Democracy and inclusive democratic participationCommunity developmentReaching the policy level/dialogue with decision makers

Objectives

Through this project, Sonora Social Club thanks to the web radio Radio Sonora, always active in socio-cultural initiatives aimed at youth, involved youngsters between 16 and 25 years of the municipalities of Bassa Romagna, making them main characters in the daily life of their territory. The aim was to motivate them to contribute to the strengthening of the local social reality with new cultural activities. The territory of Lugo and surrounding municipalities such as Alfonsine, Bagnacavallo, Bagnara di Romagna, Conselice, Cotignola, Fusignano, Lugo, Massa Lombarda and Sant'Agata sul Santerno, are characterised by a high degree of fragmentation and a low level of informal youth resources and groups. Territorial dynamics tend to discourage young people from coming together and being proactive in creating new initiatives that could improve their daily lives and counteract the sense of boredom, a problem particularly prevalent among young people today. In this context, the Active Youth project has promoted greater youth involvement and made the area more attractive and encouraged more youth activities and civic engagement. Through workshops and information sessions in schools and informal settings, mainly through non-formal education activities, the project has achieved another objective: to provide young participants with knowledge of active citizenship, territorial situation and European themes, making them more aware of Europe and its values on the one hand, and of the dynamics and democratic life of their territory on the other. To ensure that the ideas of the young participants were heard, the aim was to create a control booth which encouraged dialogue between them and local institutions, establishing a concrete and constructive collaboration; this has enabled them to have more confidence in political bodies and feel more supported in their ideas and initiatives. In addition, young people have become active actors in their own area also through the organization of local events for other peers and youth in the area, based on their interests and needs, making the area more attractive for local youth and developing active citizenship among them and their peers. This has led to an improvement in boredom among young people, making them more motivated to participate in the life of the territory and creating more hope for their own area, where it is actually possible to act for local youth and bring an important change.

Project partners (2)