Project place: Municipality of Fundão, Portugal

Project dates: 28th October – 4th November 2018

Application deadline: 26th August 2018

 

ABOUT THE PROJECT

This Training Course (TC) is designed for municipality officers, youth workers and members of youth councils or other participation mechanisms within the municipality (local governance).

The training will gather 23 participants from Denmark, Portugal, Italy, Macedonia, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania and Hungary to explore the state of art of Youth Participation in Europe in what concerns to structures, instruments and mechanisms of participation of young people. The TC will also bring insights and experiences in how to develop sustainable and inclusive engagement of young people in decision making processes by involving different stakeholders.

The project will allow discussion and the empowerment in developing advocacy actions, policy making, policy development and other key elements for real and effective youth participation. By the end of this TC participants will develop local actions plans and strategies to strength Youth Participation in their different contexts and communities and thorough knowledge on how to create and run in a sustainable way structures for youth participation.

 

Objectives

TC “Youth takes the floor!” sets as its overall objective to develop youth participation structures and instruments that enable young people with fewer opportunities to engage as active actors in the designing of solutions for the challenges in their local communities and, at the same time, allowing local and regional authorities to address more closely the needs and interests of young people.

 

The specific objectives are:

  • To allow the space for the participants to better understand the role of young people in the development and sustainability of our democracies(structures and processes), in particular young people with fewer opportunities;
  • To identify different instruments and structures for an inclusive youth participation in decision making processes;
  • To promote a better understanding of participation processes ( Structured Dialogue, Youth Forum, National, Local and Regional Youth Councils and informal spaces allowing young people to participate in decision-making processes);
  • To create a space for sharing and dialogue among young people, youth organizations and municipality officers responsible for youth;
  • To develop understanding of key concepts of youth participation in decision making processes such as advocacy, policy making, participative and representative democracy;
  • To develop the competences (skills, knowledge and attitudes) in creating conditions for inclusive youth participation, fostering partnerships and the establishment of co-management structures and instruments at local and regional level;
  • To support the development of strategies and action plans for fostering youth participation processes and the development of structures and instruments of structured dialogue and comanagement at local and regional level that are  able to involve young people with fewer opportunities.

 

 

Organizers

This TC will be organized by DYPALL Network in cooperation with the Municipality of Fundão (Portugal) and Ung Egedal (Denmark).

DYPALL stands for Developing Youth Participation at Local Level, and as a network, it started its development in 2011, with the purpose of fostering the potential of young people to be active citizens and actors of real social change in their local communities, as well as in their regional and international realities. Our experience strengthened our belief that involving young people in decision making is a key driver to empower them and to increase their sense of belonging and active citizenship. This involvement should include not only the support from local authorities to activities targeting young people, but also a broader dimension, where youth has an active voice and is a fundamental actor of the development of their local communities. 

The network itself is built on the principles of creating an effective and sustainable involvement of youth on decision-making with and in cooperation with local authority’s demands, as well as willingness and commitment from both parties, but also the development of knowledge, sharing of experience and tools to create and to develop further these spaces of shared decision-making. This demands the development of strategies, building structures and relations of trust and cooperation between actors. This necessity and the similar experiences of several partners, made visible the common need to establish a network that could work in a stable and systematic way on themes of common interest and strengthen the cooperation among local authorities (LA), civil society organizations (CSO) and young people, where the creation of mutual understanding and learning spaces are the main goals. Among a wide range of diverse but complementary activities implemented by and with its members, DYPALL Network has involved and strengthened the cooperation among municipalities and organisations working in the field of youth at local level. These initiatives and all the different local, national and European experiences strengthened our common understanding that it is crucial to develop a new culture of youth participation, especially regarding the decision-making processes on issues of direct concern and interest of youth. It is essential to look at youth as a forceful and creative source of solutions for our societies that can largely contribute for their sustainable development. 
For more information on the network and what we do visit us at: http://dypall.com/

Municipality of Fundão is situated in the Castelo Branco District in Portugal. It strives to engage young people in various activities in the community and to provide space for non- formal learning and development of entrepreneurial skills of young people as well as to support youth projects and initiatives at the local level. Find out more: https://www.cm-
fundao.pt

Ung Egedal is the lead applicant of the project. It is a public organisation within the municipality of Egedal working with activities outside of school that are of the interest of youth. You can find more information about Ung Egedal at: http://ungegedal.dk.

 

Participants’ profile

The training is designed for municipality officers, youth workers and members of youth councils or other participation mechanisms within the municipality (local governance).

Moreover, the participants must:
• Be able to work in English;
• Be willing to contribute with their experience to the TC;
• Be coming from Denmark, Portugal, Italy, Macedonia, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania and Hungary; no other counties can be accepted);
• Be able to attend the whole duration of the TC;
• Have relevant experience in the topic of youth participation at local level, particularly in decision-making processes;
• Highly motivated towards learning about youth participation decision-making processes at the local level.

We are targeting the following profiles per country:
1. Local youth policy representative working within the municipality
2. Local youth worker or project manager working with and for youth
3. Member of youth councils or other participation mechanisms within the municipality

 

 

Practical information

Travelling days and expenses
➢ Arrival day is 28th October 2018 and departure day is 4th November 2018. The arrival and departure airport is Lisbon.
➢ Flight tickets shall be bought only after agreement and confirmation with the organizers. Travel expenses to and from the venue will be reimbursed up to a maximum pre-agreed with the organizers, according to the Erasmus + Key Action 1 rules.
➢ Reimbursement will be done via bank transfer after the TC.
➢ Accommodation and meals will be provided by the organizers. Any particular need should be communicated at the moment of registration.

Other information
➢ An info-pack with further details on accommodation and programme will be shared with the selected participants

➢ There is no participation fee

Sending fee: 500 MKD

 

Funding

The activity is co-funded by the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union, implemented by the Danish Agency for Higher Education, which performs the function of being the National Agency for the Erasmus+ programme in Denmark. For more information: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/ and http://www.ufm.dk/erasmusplus.

 

 

Registration procedures

To apply for participation in this TC, please fill in the online registration form: https://goo.gl/forms/I5lVBTDn4vtfpEU43

The deadline for applying is 26st August 2018 by 23:59h CET.