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CITOYENS AUJOURD'HUI ! Au cœur du réseau, les jeunes

2024-3-FR02-KA154-YOU-0002730192024Youth participation activitiesfinalized
Countries: FR · Grant: €29,200
Democracy and inclusive democratic participationEuropean identity and valuesReaching the policy level/dialogue with decision makers

Objectives

The project is set in a context of a citizenship crisis among young people in France and the Hauts-de-France region, marked by growing individualism, rising electoral abstention, disinterest in politics, and unequal access to support mechanisms. Despite a latent motivation among teenagers to engage against injustices, the lack of tools, training, and favorable spaces hinders their initiatives, particularly in rural areas compared to cities. The association L'Établi, through the "Citoyens Aujourd'hui!" network created in 2019 by young people from Tourcoing, addresses this challenge by promoting active citizenship participation before age 18. This network brings together 60 youth structures sharing practices and resources to equip young people and professionals. Flagship actions such as the Citizen Academy, Citizen Challenges, Youth Councils, Emergence Workshops, Youth Service Cooperatives, Youth Diags, Citizen Lab, and networking illustrate this commitment. The core group, consisting of about a dozen young people (16-23 years old) already engaged (volunteer firefighter, juniors associations, youth councils, union activist, political militant, club founders, citizen council, high school newspaper editor, CVL, civic service volunteer, European Solidarity Corps), mainly from the European Metropolis of Lille but also from rural areas (Douaisis, Pas-de-Calais), leads the project. Met through the network—some being historical founders from 2019—they meet monthly to plan, write articles and guides, and contact elected officials. Their story began in 2017 with a European exploration of citizen tools, leading to the network's creation to pool French and European initiatives. Main project objectives: Give voice to these young ambassadors to share experiences (successes/failures), assess youth structures' capacities, and carry a multi-scale advocacy (from micro-local to European) on engagement for under-18s. Show local elected officials the value of youth input in public policies. Promote all forms of engagement (associative, militant, firefighters, etc.) to inspire and motivate. Transmit concrete examples, aid guides, and contacts to facilitate peer engagement, especially in rural areas. In practice: create youth-elected debates/exchanges, valorization events, a series of guides on devices, articles, mentorships. Aligned with Erasmus+ KA154 priorities: civic engagement opportunities, participatory structures, awareness of European values, democratic skills. Carrying the clear message: "Democracy will not happen without the people!" Promote collective voice through learning processes leading to citizen legitimacy. This project benefits the core group (structuring advocacy, event organization, facing failures/successes), the network (valorization of expertise), L'Établi, and the broader youth (inspiration, tools, mentorships).

Project partners (1)