The project
REACH YOUth
REACH YOUth is all about reaching young people with the core values of democracy. The many challenges our youth is facing and the overall decrease of trust in institutions are dangerous tendencies that are increasingly affecting young people. They stop believing in democracy and active participation as the mean to improve their life and community. As a consequence, they might even fall for anti-democratic views and dangerous political groups.
How do we deal with this then?
Reach youth consortium is talking directly to those who are the closest to those young people who might be more at risk of taking these unhealthy political views upon themselves. These cloaked heroes are none other than our youth workers, psychologists, social workers and other professionals alike. They are most often one of the few able to support young people going through a though time. We want help them out with this offering the REACH YOUTH training material, modules and e-learning platform to support their daily work of change agents for the lives of many young men and women. The material is designed by youth workers for youth workers and addresses a wide range of topics connected to democracy and active participation.
Rationale
The project aims at training and supporting youth workers and professionals alike in deploying innovative and highly effective methodologies to address democracy issues with disadvantaged young people. Research shows that disadvantaged young people are vulnerable to fall for anti-democratic and populist tendencies. Youth workers and professionals alike must be prepared and capable of passing on the values of democracy, active citizenship, tolerance, intercultural dialogue and conflict management in order to empower young people they work with and shield them from the consequences of following undemocratic ideologies.
Objectives
Empower
youth workers, social workers and other relevant professional in working with democracy tolerance and mutual understanding for marginalized youth at risk of extremism and anti-democratic tendencies.
Counter
disadvantaged youth anti-democratic tendencies by reinvigorating democracy, tolerance and human rights-based narratives;
Provide
youth worker with up-to-date tools and instrument to discuss over politics and youth involvement in public life;
Increase
mutual understanding and cultural exchange among youth towards a more intercultural and integrated Europe.
Activities
Two transnational trainings for youth workers
Two transnational trainings for youth workers on tools and methods to address young people with democracy, tolerance, understanding of the political system and the importance of active participation in the shaping of a better future.
Five pilot trainings on the e-learning platform
Five pilot trainings on the e-learning platform for youth workers, psychologists, students of humanities and other societal related sciences, social workers and alike.
National pilot
National pilot trainings of the democracy intervention set or youth workers, psychologists, students of humanities and other societal related sciences, social workers and alike.
Final Conference
Final Conference to present the project its tools and results to stakeholders of the youth and social work sectors as well as institutional stakeholders and decision makers in the education sector.
Results
youth workers, social workers, psychologists, teachers
learn how to use our intervention set and are trained to address disadvantaged youth with democracy, active participation, intercultural and intergenerational dialogue.
Youth organization/centers
will benefit from the training and tools offered by the REACH YOUth initiative which includes a e-learning platform youth centers can use to train their professionals.
young people
will benefit from the new knowledge they will acquire, by refusing once and for all anti-democratic tendencies and embracing the full spirit of democracy.
Multiplier event stakeholders
revolving around the themes of the project and further spreading the word of democracy among the youth work sector.