CONTEXT
Level Up! built upon a youth exchange organised by the YES Forum in July 2015 on European Citizenship. Based on the young people’s follow-up ideas it was decided that the topic of the following project would be active citizenship.
Through this project we aimed to enhance the young people’s knowledge and understanding of active citizenship and provide them with the necessary skills for active political participation at both EU as well as local, regional, and national levels.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the project were to:
- Enhance the knowledge and understanding of active citizenship among young people with fewer opportunities
- Provide young people with fewer opportunities with the skills necessary for active political participation
- Increase self-empowerment and self-esteem of young people with fewer opportunities
- Enhance intercultural awareness of young people with fewer opportunities
- Improve foreign language competences of young people with fewer opportunities
PARTICIPANTS
There were 36 participants, out of which 24 were young people facing educational difficulties, economic obstacles, cultural differences (immigrant background, minorities), and/or social obstacles. Most of the participants experienced their first transnational project experience. The 12 other participants were the group leaders, accompanying pedagogues and/or language assistants.
ACTIVITIES
A preparatory meeting took place in Stuttgart, Germany, within YES Forum’s premises on 15-16 February 2016. The project’s schedule, activities, methods, evaluation process, and risks were reviewed.
The first exchange in Strasbourg was hosted by La Ligue de l’Enseignement on 16-21 May 2016. The themes were empowerment and access to rights and the importance of political participation by young people, with a focus on EU level participation. There were workshops on active citizenship, preparation for and participation to the EYE 2016, an event aimed at including them in the EU-level decision-making process. There, within the YO!Fest village, the young participants even organised their very own workshop for other people focused on how to fight against prejudices.
The second exchange in Bernburg, Germany, was hosted by the Stiftung Evangelische Jugendhilfe St. Johannis on 22-26 August 2016. This exchange was an opportunity to reflect on the experience at the EYE 2016 and build upon it, as most of young people participated in both activities. But the focus was on the skills and knowledge necessary for participation of young people at local, regional, and national levels.
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