Youth4Democracy

It is a four day international training module for youth representatives of municipal youth councils or similar structures especially of those municipalities that have already sent participant to a Municipalities4Democracy previously.  It has been designed to support the improvement of youth participation in municipal decision-making and develop local democracy. 
The aim the course is to further empower and inspire locally active young people to step forward in youth participation in decision-making and to be actors of positive change in their participation structure, and to build international cooperation.

What can you expect from the training? 

• To meet 29 other young people who are interested to learn more about youth participation in a municipality context. 
• To learn from other young Europeans how to work together with local communities and local municipalities.
• To learn how to get more knowledge about your own local context and understanding the obstacles and opportunities within it.
• Develop your personal skills for getting more involved in democratic youth participation in decision making. 
• To learn how to use the Erasmus+ Youth and European Solidarity Corps grants for developing activities and/ or projects focusing on youth participation.

Who are we looking for young people who:  

• can speak, read and write English on a basic level. It is ok if  you are still learning but can express yourself in an international group. The training will provide a safe space for using English,
• are 15 - 20 years old,
• have participated or organised at least one participation activity, a project or initiative in your local community or school. 

We don’t expect you

• to have years and years of experience in cooperating with local authorities. It is enough if you have at least one experience in organizing or participating in an activity in your local community. 
• to speak on behalf of the youth in your community. We want you to be able to understand your community and its challenges and opportunities and  in the training course we will focus on  skills needed for this. 
• to be a public speaker, we believe a variety of skills are important for a young person in this context. For example: researching, reading, collaborating, analyzing, discussing with others, listening etc. are also needed in this context. Public speaking is just one of many skills. We will experiment with all of them in the assignments of the training throughout the week. If you are open to trying out new things which may be out of your comfort zone, you will manage this. 

Read the opinion of participants of a previous training course:

• I absolutely loved this experience and would love to continue participating in likewise trainings.
• I've learned a lot about why we should bring the youth into decision making, and the ladder was very important for me, to help me get a better understanding of where my community stands. I also really liked the simulation game, and learned about the importance of lobbying.
• I have learnt how to more actively participate in my municipality, because we have many opportunities and rights to do this. I really liked when other participants showed their ideas and programs. I also enjoyed simulation game, where we have been presented how is to be in other people skin and how can we win the argument, especially I liked part after activity where we talked about it and learn a lot of useful things.