TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Biljana Vasilevska Trajkoska
The aim of the meeting was to promote the access to social rights for young people at local level (particularly young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods or young people facing disadvantage) by training and networking among youth organisations, youth workers and local authorities.
Related to our aim we have defined the following objectives:
- To familiarise participants on the existing European social rights standards, policies and mechanisms and how they can apply locally to promote access to social rights (particularly in disadvantaged neighbourhoods);
- To share experiences, good practices, shortcomings and challenges in disadvantage neighborhoods regarding access to social rights for young people;
- To deepen the competences and the capacity of the participants to advocate for improving the access to social rights;
- To create a space of joint cooperation between youth workers and local authorities in improving the access of social rights;
- To create concrete local follow-up ideas on access to social rights in connection with the Council of Europe’s work and support measures in social inclusion;
- To develop and discuss the future of the network.
The meeting brought together 39 participants from Council of Europe member states, representing 2 types of stakeholders working on access to social rights for young people: youth workers and local authorities, coming together from same city or country
The working days included a variety of sessions that were designed to address the aim and objectives of the meeting. We started with the introduction of the activity and its background, getting to know each other and team building, then continued with brainstorming, presenting, watching videos, discussing, debating, simulating, role playing, work individually, work in groups, sharing good practices and experiences on the main issues of the meeting, developing concrete follow up ideas on a local level In partnerships between youth workers and local authorities and developing the networking process in Y-SRN its basis and future activities and ended with mapping available support measures and resources from third parties and from ourselves
- We raised awareness of on the existing European social rights standards, policies and mechanisms and how they can apply locally to promote the access to social rights (particularly in disadvantaged neighbourhoods);
- We deepened the competences and the capacity of the participants to advocate for improving the access to social rights;
- We made local authorities aware of youth participation, ways and means;
- We provoked, inspired and motivated participants (youth workers and local authorities) to communicate and cooperate (establish partnerships) for improvement of the access of social rights in local realities (particularly in disadvantaged neighbourhoods);
- We provided and defined ways to help in overcoming some obstacles in cooperation on local level that can practically be used as a tool for their work on improvement of social rights for young people in local realities;
- We defined shortcomings, needs and challenges in disadvantaged neighbourhoods regarding access to social rights for young people that will be used in setting priorities in our work as a network for improvement of access to social rights for young people;
- We strengthened the motivation of the network members to work on improvement of access to social rights for young people by providing them mutual support for this process
- We developed the basis/foundation of the network: its aim and objectives, communication, membership rules and benefits, its structure, working methods and principles;
- We developed the network’s capacities by integrating new people and organisations within it;
- We defined the future steps that we will undertake as a network;
- We created concrete local follow-up ideas on access to social rights and defined ways of support in their realisation;
- We made concrete proposals on how to connect with ongoing and future activities in the Enter! project.
Course director