You(th) Citizen in Action

Politics is making lots of concrete decisions that impact our lives on a daily basis. Decisions about mobility, funding for social and/or youth work, environment, construction of parks, roads and bridges, etc. We, as citizens, often have little to say about this. We believe that citizens should have a voice about decisions that affect their lives. A great of giving your opinion are bottom-up citizens initiatives. Creative actions supported by a large community can influence policy directly and give people a voice. This project wants give the opportunity to youth organizations to learn how they can support citizens actions with young people.

OBJECTIVES:
 Learn about active participation in order to influence policy making;
 Discuss how youth can be involved in policy making through citizen initiatives;
 Discuss how bottom-up activities work in different countries;
 Visit good practices aiming at influencing policy making;
 Learn how to set up successful citizens initiatives;
 Develop and Implement actions aimed at influencing policy;
 Make an action plan for local actions when returning to their own reality.

ORGANISATIONS PROFILE
 Working directly with young people;
 Working in an urban environment;
 Located in a Programme country;
 Interest in working with bottom-up citizens actions with the aim of influencing youth policy;
 Able to send participants with the requested profile (see below)
 Committed to implement local actions after the project

TARGET GROUP:
 People who work with young people on a regular basis (professional or volunteer);
 Activists;
 People motivated to take part in the whole project;
 People dedicated to develop activist actions upon return.

DATES & LOCATION
 24 to 31 of August (6,5 working days)
 Brussels (Belgium)

WHAT DO YOU GET?
This project will apply for funding under the Erasmus + Programme. Thanks to the support participants will only pay the participation fee of €30. All other expenses (travel, lodging, food and activities) are covered by the hosting organisation.

HOW TO JOIN THE PROJECT
If you are interested in joining this project, please fill in the partner form and the mandate before 20 January 2015 to bramdewolfs@hotmail.com.