Young Leaders United for Democracy – Young Demo
Grant Agreement Number: 101081584
Funded by: CERV
- Project’s description
The Young Leaders United for Democracy project (#YOUNG DEMO) project’s scope is to support youth democratic and civic engagement and to reinforce the importance of citizen involvement and representation in the European decision-making process, as a contribution to raising awareness and empowering citizens to make informed decisions.
By focusing on young people, aged 12 to 26, the project will boost their civic motivation and will enhance the participation of the 2024 European Parliament elections, which are central to strengthening and nurturing democracy in the EU – a part of the participants being “first voters in 2024”.
#YoungDemo is developed by World Vision Romania along with partners from other six European countries (Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Germany, Sweden and Cyprus) bringing together 140 young people, aged 12-26, who aim to become a strong voice and make a change for the better in society!
- Advocacy Online Mentoring Program – For one-year, young people take part in an advocacy mentorship program, which will help them learn more about the values and role of the European institutions, the importance of exercising the right to vote, about how they can defend their rights. The mentorship program aims to support participants in growing as youth leaders that would have an increased knowledge about our world reality, get involved in social issues, weather locally or globally, and inspire others to be better. The program consists in a series of online workshops and individual assignments focused on critical thinking and fostering European values, such as democracy and human rights. Mentor is Ciprian Cucu, university lecturer, activist, and countering-disinformation expert from Romania.
- Online European Young Leaders Debate – Online European Young Leaders Debate on the thematic of youth engagement and European civic participation The debate will target first time voters for the European Parliament Elections in 2024 – the event will discuss about youth engagement at European level, the challenges youth face and possible partnerships that can be developed, in order to empower young people to become active citizens.
- European study visits to EU agencies – During the project, the participants will have the chance to go in study visits to institutions such as: European youth agencies, European parliament, European culture and entrepreneurship agencies, EU-Youth Guarantee implementation group etc.
- National public consultations on combating disinformation – The consultation will reach the topics: fake news and social media, disinformation and simple ways to combat it, urgent matters for internet safety.
- National photo-voice competitions – The competitions will be organized at a national level by all partner organizations and will target young people, from underserved groups. The theme of the Photovoice contest will be the importance of active citizenship in the EU- decision making process. The national finalists of the Photovoice competition will be invited to present their works in an European Youth Event organized online on topics such as the importance of active citizenship and children’s rights.
- Local events developed in each partner country on the thematic of youth engagement and European civic participation: summer camps, study visits to national institutions with attributions in the field of youth, multiplier events for promoting 2024 European Parliament elections, local information events in partner schools and institutions regarding the EU’s policies and benefits, media advocacy campaign to promote youth rights within the migrant community etc.
- Using co-production as a method to spread awareness and disseminate EU values and contributions amongst young people. Each partner country will develop a Social Media channel that will develop info campaigns, competitions and content regarding EU values and policies that directly affect youth participation within civic life. Moreover, an European TikTok channel will be open within the project, which will promote EU values, institutions and benefits towards young people. The TikTok channel will provide information regarding EU youth dedicated events, opportunities and legal changed that affect young people, the implementation of the EU recommendations regarding children and youth, as well as debates regarding real needs and difficulties young people face in their daily life. Young people will be encouraged to produce and send videos to promote on the channel.
- Who runs a country?
A civics workshop about the way power is split among government branches, citizens, NGOs, and political parties. - Left, right, and other directions in politics
A civics workshop, introduction to political ideologies. We will discuss, without favoring one particular ideology, what the basics distinctions between “left” and “right” mean in politics, what are other ways of looking at political ideologies, and why it matters. - I’m a European citizen and I have rights.
Workshop on the functioning of European institutions and what it means to be a European citizen.
- Fake news and how to spot them.
Introductory media literacy workshop, dealing with main concepts and models to evaluate quality of information.
- What is media and when should we trust it?
Media literacy workshop focused on understanding the role and forms of media, as well as evaluation methods for media quality.
- How do we know what we know? Stories and reality.
Workshop in countering disinformation focusing on techniques used in spreading false narratives.
- Listen to reason: argumentation and logical fallacies.
Workshop on critical thinking, starting from the theory of argumentation and focusing on common logical fallacies.
- Technology for active citizens.
A technical / technology focused workshop to present some tools that can be of use to activists.
- Act for change: campaigning and advocacy.
Civics workshop focused on understanding and planning awareness and advocacy campaigns.
- Knowledge and abilities in communication, advocacy;
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- Deepening the values, the role and the activity of European Union (Citizen engagement and right to participation);
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- The opportunity to get actively involved and organize, together with the project’s experts, advocacy actions on topics that concern them and are of interest to them;
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- Deepening the concept of civic engagement (values, attitudes, knowledge, skills, behaviour, emotions);
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- Participating in an international experience with young people from 6 other European countries;
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- Participation in discussions, debates and round tables on topics related to misinformation, hate speech, freedom of speech, European values and identity.
Youth participation is our priority! Thus, within the #YoungDemo project, we trained 90 teachers from rural areas in the application of methods of active participation in working with children and young people. We talked about the living library, debates, interactive information, the public cafe, the pyramid of glasses or the cluster method.
After the theoretical part, we moved on to practice, and the trained teachers challenged 776 young people from the communities where they work to practice active participation! Using one of the methods , we found out from the young people what the main problems they face in their communities are, but also what solutions and recommendations they have. Among the needs and problems reported by young people, recurring themes refer to the lack of public spaces for socializations, sports and recreational activities, the lack of access to medical services, the lack of necessary support to maintain mental health.
„Our ideas mattered. We could be us. To be heard when you speak, to be seen when you want to show what you know and to be taken into account for what you want to do in the community you live in mean that YOUR voice matters,” young participant in the activity.
How would a world without education be like? Or a community without a school? We talked with Ukrainian children and young people from our Happy Bubble centers about the right to education and participation. Through role play, the young people assumed the position of mayors or local councilors in their communities and answered questions such as: What would be the long-term impact of the abolition of schools on society? How can young people get involved in education decisions in their community? We found out from them that school is the landmark of the community and of each child, but that it should be a more friendly space for children, where they can come with pleasure and where they feel safe, lessons should be more interactive, and bullying should be more taken into account because it can leave deep marks. In order for children to be heard, they must have a representative in the local council and their opinions must be taken into account at school through different participation methods such as questionnaires, youth councils, youth parliaments, advisory councils etc.
Through games, with the little ones we discussed about who Malala Yousafzay is, what article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child covers, what the problems faced by children in rural areas are, what problems children with disabilities face at school, etc.
The goal of the activity was to help children understand the importance of the right to education, develop their argumentation, active listening and communication skills, analyze arguments for and against and form well-founded opinions.
Contribuția ta
Susținerea ta este importantă pentru că ne poate ajuta pe noi, Fundația World Vision România, să continuăm să identificăm problemele cu care se confruntă comunitățile vulnerabile și să acționăm acolo unde este nevoie, pentru a ne asigura că fiecare copil beneficiază de educație și dezvoltare în siguranță.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
