Õpiränne Portugalis: GPOY: Good Practices on Youth

Europe see young people as an engine of European development because Europe consider them as promoters of social transformation, progress and policy change in the European context. However, Europe recognizes that young people face their own challenges and obstacles, such as social exclusion and, from there, discrimination, prejudice, unemployment, radicalization, school dropout, etc., as such, in recent years there have been a number of programs and initiatives to address these issues. In order for all necessary support to be provided to young people, it is essential that youth workers (YW) are in a constant process of learning, developing competences and updating tools and work methodologies, becoming able to boost initiatives that allow involvement participation of young people in Europe’s sustainable development.

There are, however, several lacks in the management and implementation of youth-oriented dynamics. This project arises, therefore, with the intention of gathering the best practices in the management and implementation of youth and volunteering projects, so that they effectively create impacts and allow to support young people in solving their challenges, taking into account diversity and Europe’s interculturality, its common values and the needs, expectations, personal goals and fears of young people.

Thus, this project allows to solve the problem of social exclusion of young people, motivated by the lack of references, competences and knowledge on the part of organisations and YW for the effective management and implementation of social and volunteering projects. To this end, the consortium has developed a project, and a specific activity (Seminar) that will bring together experts in the management and implementation of social and/or volunteering projects. This way we will have a specialized, in-depth and informed debate and we will be promoting a strengthen cooperation between organisations, YW, young people and other stakeholders.

OBJECTIVES
a) General
Promote social inclusion of young people, through the increase of references, competences and knowledge about tools and methodologies on the part of the YW and organisations for the effective management and implementation of inclusive youth strategies, namely between social and volunteer projects.

b) Specific
-Gather organisations and YW specialized in the management of social and volunteering projects for the debate, sharing of experiences, know-how and practices and for the reflection and compilation of good practices aimed at solving youth problems;
-Provide fundamental information about social and volunteering projects in the youth field that allow them to boost their activities with efficiency, quality and success;
-Enable YW for the development of competences and learning;
-Enable YW to define current youth strategies, adjusted and contextualized to the social reality of young people;
-Sensitize to the non-formal education methodology in social and voluntary projects;
-Promote social and intercultural dialogue to promote the resolution of youth problems;
-Internationalize participating organisations, reinforcing existing partnerships and consolidating the work developed;
-Increase awareness of the philosophy of projects developed under European programmes, such as Erasmus+ Programme.

From this project we will arise the Good Practices of Project’s Management and Implementation on Youth (social projects and volunteering), where good practices are compiled in terms of the management and implementation of social and volunteer projects. This tangible result will be deeply disseminated, in order to allow its exploitation and, thus, the dialogue and the incorporation of good practices by other organisations that work in the youth field, realizing the potential impact of the project.

From this project, we will be contributing to the improvement of the quality of intervention of organisations and YW with young people, since they will have more competences and knowledge of new tools and methodologies that allow them to act effectively and close to young people, taking into account of their problems, obstacles, needs, fears and expectations.

The main activity of this project is a Seminar, held between 18 to 22 January, 2021 in Águeda, more specifically at Centro de Juventude de Águeda.
It will have the following participants:
– 36 youth workers (3 per organisation);
– 4 facilitators.

In the project there will also be:

a) Preparatory sessions
They involve all YWs from organisations (and stakeholders) who express an interest in participating in the project, so there is no minimum or maximum number of participants. Aims:
– Project’s planning and preparation;
– Preparation of participants;
– Reflection, sharing, debate, contribution and co-construction for the development and implementation of the project;
– Plan the activity to be promoted in the SM (Seminary).

b) Dissemination and evaluation sessions
They involve all YWs from organisations (and stakeholders) who have expressed an interest in participating in the project, so there is no minimum or maximum number of participants. Aims:
– Dissemination of the project and dissemination of the results obtained;
– Sharing good practices and exploiting them;
– Project evaluation.

PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS

a) Youth Workers
– With 25 years or more;
– Expert in the management and promotion of social and/or volunteering projects in the youth field;
– Expert in terms of working with intercultural groups;
– Expert in the Erasmus+ Programme and/or other European programmes;
– Expert in the management and promotion of social and/or volunteering projects in the youth field;
– Competences to work on issues related to the definition of new youth strategies;
– Motivated to contribute in all phases of the project;
– Motivated to share knowledge, ideas and useful tips;
– Motivated to disseminate the results;
– Recognition of the potential of the NFE;
– Interested in continuing to participate and develop projects that focus on Erasmus+ priorities;
– Recognition of the social problem, needs and expectations of young Europeans;
– Recognition of opportunities for social change in the reality of young Europeans.

In the case of YWs with fewer opportunities, they must face cultural, economic, educational, geographical and/or social obstacles. These are the preferred obstacles, but no YW will be excluded if they have another obstacle beyond one of these. Each organisation must guarantee the participation of at least 2 YW with fewer opportunities.

b) Facilitators
– Age equal to or greater than 25 years;
– Facilitation and mediation capabilities;
– Expert in terms of working with intercultural groups;
– Leadership competences and the promotion of structured dialogue between different stakeholders;
– Availability to promote an environment of sharing, reflection and the development of safe, cohesive and cooperative work;
– Expert in the Erasmus+ Programme and/or other European programmes;
– Expert in the management and promotion of social and/or volunteering projects in the youth field;
– Competences to work on issues related to the definition of new youth strategies;
– Expert in the appropriation of ENF and IE;
– Recognition of the social problem, needs and expectations of young Europeans;
– Motivation and predisposition to work on behalf of the project;
– Predisposition to support the implementation of the various activities of the SM.

RESULTS

Intangibles:
Related to the development of competences in the YW by participating in this project, through the ENF and IE dynamics implemented.
a) Literacy competence
b) Multilingual competence
c) Mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering
d) Digital competence
e) Personal, social and learning to learn competence
f) Citizenship competence
g) Entrepreneurship competence
h) Cultural awareness and expression competence

Tangibles:
a) Good Practices of Project’s Management and Implementation on Youth (Social projects and volunteering).

IMPACTS

To insure that impacts actually occur, it is essential that the dissemination and exploitation of results is efficacious, so that the project reaches the maximum possible target groups and, more importantly, that it arrives with the proper quality. After this project, the target groups will be able to recognize the best practices in terms of the management and implementation of youth dynamics (social projects and volunteering) and, from these, to develop strategies with and for young people, current and responsive to problems and needs, capable of influencing youth policies and effectively generating a broad social impact.

We highlight some of the potential impacts of this project:

– Greater knowledge by organisations and YW about effective practices of management and implementation of results, allowing the adjustment and innovation of the quality of intervention among young people;
– More knowledge about the opportunities offered by Erasmus + and other European programmes, in the scope of youth, social inclusion, diversity and social participation;
– Greater capacity to support and guide young people to participate in social and volunteer projects;
– Greater proximity, dialogue and cooperation between organisations at local, regional, national and European level, encouraging the sharing of knowledge, methodologies and work tools, so that they can be incorporated into any organisation according to their needs and objectives;
– Awareness about the role of the YW in promoting the personal, social, professional and cultural development and transformation of young people;
– Recognition of the potential of ENF and IE methodologies in the practical and daily intervention of organisations that work with young people, particularly young people with fewer opportunities;
– Increase in the number of projects promoted within the scope of youth, social inclusion, diversity and active participation of young people;
– Promotion of equal opportunities for all young people, regardless of their background, through the recognition of European opportunities;
– Reformulation of youth policies at national level, incorporating good practices at local and regional level;
– Promotion of cross and interconnected work between organisations through the development of new strategies and new social and volunteer projects.