Democracy matters: Euro-Mediterranean Youth work empowering and engaging young people in democratic participation

Focus

Through the course, participants will:

• Explore the significance and the practice of inclusive democracy and human rights in the Euro-Mediterranean contexts;
• Develop youth work competences supporting critical thinking and civic engagement, thus empowering young people in inclusive democratic participation;
• Exchange youth work practices and encourage collaborative projects that uphold democratic values, empower young people and promote dialogue with decision-makers;
• Establish support mechanisms to address burnout among activists and organisers, promoting mental health awareness and resilience-building strategies to sustain long-term engagement in democratic processes.
• Foster cooperation strategies within the Erasmus+ programme, especially in the Euro-Mediterranean area, creating synergies in areas such as political participation, and civic engagement.

Participants' profile:

The project is designed for 26 youth leaders, trainers and youth workers who wish to develop competences and practices promoting democratic participation, based on the principles of intercultural democratic citizenship and human rights education.

The application is open to candidates from registered Erasmus+ organizations (with OID) from the Erasmus+ programme countries and Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia

Selection of participants will be conducted by the coordination team based on their submitted Application form. Previous experience, youth work background and the potential to develop concrete follow-up will be specially taken into account.

The Organization ID (OID) serves as a unique identifier for organizations/institutions participating in Erasmus+ projects. It is essential to obtain this code from your organization to support your participation in the programme.

Methodology:

The course is conceived in ways that require active participation and exchange between participants. The methodological approach is grounded on participants’ experiences and builds on concrete actions for the future practice.

The methodology of the training is based on the main principles of experiential learning cycle and human rights education.

It is expected that the impact of the course will be translated by the participant in the use of these methodologies at local and regional level, as well as in the creation of synergies and the increase of cooperation among youth work organisations at the European and Mediterranean level.

This Training Course is prepared and implemented by an experienced team of Euro-Mediterranean trainers with expertise on democratic citizenship and human rights education. The course is logistically supported by AHEAD’s staff.

Throughout the course, participants will be guided in developing their Youthpass to reflect their enhanced youth work competences.