TC “CreActive Youth”

The political landscape of our contemporary societies, especially the surge in conservative ideologies and recent shifts of power within some EU countries, is self-explanatory regarding why advocacy in all its varieties is crucial for the stability of democratic life in Europe and worldwide. Amidst a backdrop of escalating nationalism and the ascent of right-wing political parties, posing a serious threat to the hard-won rights of diverse marginalized groups, coupled with the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine entering its third year with an elusive resolution at the doorstep of the European Union, we believe that inspiring youth workers to stand up and champion for the causes they believe in is of utmost importance.
Therefore, we designed the Training Course “CreActive Youth” to gather youth workers from various European countries and stimulate them to act as active and responsible citizens both in their local communities and globally by developing their critical thinking, networking, and communication skills as immeasurably useful tools for promulgating positive social change. The training course will provide the participants with the opportunity to actively engage in intercultural dialogue with their peers from other parts of Europe in detecting and debating the various social, political, and environmental issues that require urgent action in their countries. Upon this exchange of ideas, notions, and opinions, they’ll be divided into four international groups to strengthen their sense of solidarity and community, and they’ll be requested to develop and, in the dissemination phase, implement four advocacy campaigns concerned with four different topics that challenge our contemporaneous world. The goal of these advocacy campaigns is to create positive change not only in the safe space of our Erasmus+ project but in the real communities that face the issues we’ll target. The main idea is to raise the awareness of the public and the responsible institutions in several European countries by bringing their attention to the possible solutions to certain issues that they face while reminding them of the unwavering importance of upholding European values. We’re strongly convinced that advocacy has the potential to influence public opinion, as well as the practices, attitudes, and policies of institutions and governments. Consequently, we want to demonstrate to the youth workers that advocacy can contribute to the education of the public and the decision-makers, and simultaneously to the development of new laws, regulations, and social norms that address the issue at hand. Henceforth, by attempting our training groups, the youth workers will acquire competencies to get directly involved with their local communities and find efficient and effective ways to empower individuals who are most seriously threatened by certain issues. The primary objective of this learning process is to create a strong, vocal, and constantly expanding network of advocates who will raise new issues, implement campaigns, and generally apply the principles of advocacy in their daily lives, striving to achieve freedom and equality by promoting justice and culture of non-violence. During the training course, a variety of topics will be tackled and to a certain degree explored with the youth workers through a series of workshops structured according to the informal and non-formal educational methodology. The topics will encompass issues as diverse as climate change and environmental sustainability, human rights and discrimination, war and migration, etc. Discussing these questions shall lead the youth workers to think of potential resolutions and ideas that can be implemented to overcome these challenges for our societies. These possible resolutions can be implemented in multiple ways, not only during the project but also afterward, as part of other initiatives, campaigns, projects, etc. Thus, the prospect of long-term impact, alongside its adaptability to a multitude of causes and circumstances, affirms this project and advocacy, its main topic, as a crucially important method for tracing our future considering democratic practices and European values.
Overall, we would like to raise the voices of youth workers on an international level, and we are convinced that advocating for causes that align with democratic values is the best way to instigate positive social, political, and environmental change in our societies. In this context, youth workers have a pivotal role as they mediate between the youth and the decision-makers, establishing this crucial relationship for the development of our society. Accordingly, our goal is to inspire them to contribute towards overcoming today’s fragile state of democracy, and a training course such as “CreActive Youth” is a nice way to get engaged in this larger cause.