Participation of young women in civic and local governance

PARTICIPATION OF YOUNG WOMEN IN CIVIC AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE

INSPIRATION, MODELS AND PRACTICES IN EUROPE AND NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES

The seminar aims at exploring and debating the difficulties that young women can face when they want to be active in their community, but the space is very limited for them. The seminar provides the possibility to explore realities and good practices related to engagement of women in Italy and supports sharing and transferability of participants’ experiences and tools.

The concept of the seminar was born as a follow up of 2 previous activities: the seminar “Engagement of women in politics and entrepreneurship” held in Beirut by the Italian National Agency in cooperation with SALTO EuroMed Resource Centre and GIZ LEAD programme and the seminar on “Young Women Active in their communities” held in Tunisia in 2023 by the Italian National Agency.

After having explored the different countries realities of women in politics,  entrepreneurship and local communities, and having experienced how important is the participatory dimension for both fields, the idea is to put in the centre the participation as one of the main starting points for a full involvement of the women in the society and for a real gender equality.

Specific Objectives:

Enhance Understanding and Awareness:

Objective: To deepen participants' understanding of the challenges young women face in engaging with their communities and to raise awareness about the importance of their active participation.

Outcome: Participants will gain insights into the socio-cultural and structural barriers that limit women's engagement and learn about successful strategies and best practices from different countries to overcome these barriers.

Promote Knowledge Sharing and Networking:

Objective: To create a platform for participants to share their experiences, tools, and best practices related to women's empowerment and civic engagement, fostering an environment of mutual learning and collaboration.

Outcome: Participants will develop a network of contacts, establish connections for future collaborations, and be equipped with practical tools and strategies to implement in their local contexts.

Empower and Equip Participants for Action:

Objective: To empower youth workers, leaders, and women active in local governance with the skills and knowledge necessary to support and enhance the active participation of young women in their communities.

Outcome: Participants will leave the seminar with concrete action plans, enhanced skills in youth work, and a deeper understanding of how to effectively promote gender equality and women's active participation at the local level. 

The seminar will focus on the role of youth work as one of the most important factors for creating the conditions for a social change from the bottom up approach and how youth work can support and strengthen the active participation of young women in the local communities.

Workshops and Practices provided by experts and or practitioners bringing their experiences on the topic discussed during the sessions. Sharing practices and networking in order to facilitate the creation of international projects under Erasmus+: youth in action.

Target group: 

The seminar will be open for 30 international participants, both women and men. The activity would be open to:

Youth workers, trainers, youth leaders, social workers working on local level and in local governance who is active in the field of women empowerment in politics and civic participation;

Women active in local governance and civic engagement