Good Practices on Youth Participation RO NO

8/17/2019 Good Practices on Youth Participation RO NO

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" Proiect realizat cu sprijinul financiar al Fondului ONG în România, program finan ! at de Granturile SEE "iadministrat de Funda # ia pentru Dezvoltarea Societ $# ii Civile".

P ARTICIPATION M ATTERS

G OOD PRACTICES ON Y OUTH P ARTICIPATION

Participation for Democracy - 2015/BIL-01/16

Authors: Irina Lonean, PhD Adina C $l $ f $teanu, PhD

Fettulah Oran

(c) Center for Sustainable Community Development, 2016.


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Introduction – context of the project

The aim of the project Participation for Democracy was to create the framework for

sharing good practices on working with young people and to stimulate their public participation.

The project is a continuation of the project: Public participation against discrimination of youth

from the rural areas, project implemented by Center for Sustainable Community Development -

CSCD in 2014-2015. The project methodologies aimed at using youth community organizing

methodologies and non-formal education techniques on encouraging youth to participate and to

boost up then their participation in 3 rural communities. At the end of the project, 40 young

people (13-17 years old), are now active in their communities and are still running campaigns

based on solving the identified problems in the community, a process structured on partnership

basis with the local authorities (the schools in the villages, the local councils, the police and the

medical units).

At the end of the project, CSCD team, during the evaluation meeting, concluded that there

is permanent need of young people to be equipped with skills and competencies and for this

purpose, the youth workers need to get exposed to new training opportunities and to get new

working skills and methodologies. More than this, to get the social impact that we are aiming for,

we need to mobilize more young people and to offer permanent support for their campaigns and

actions.

Consequently, the opportunity to get involved with an initiative of sharing good practices

and methods of working with young people is valorizing the outcomes of our previous initiatives

and the new tools and methods offer the Romanian youth workers the expertise on supporting the

local youth action groups, integrating the experience and good practices of our Norwegian

partners.

The project aimed at investing in the capacity of the two partners – Romanian and

Norwegian (specially of the Romanian one) to encourage the development of the democratic

values to the youth groups, groups that will then be active in their communities. Sharing the good

practices of our previous projects, the lessons learnt and the working methodologies essentially

contributed to improving the methods and tools that the youth workers are using in their working

communities – in Romania and in Norway. The study visit organized in Oslo offered the


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Romanian team the opportunity to identify new partners and new granting opportunities for our

projects.

The working partnership

between the two partners started in

May 2016, Mangfoldhuset (Casa

Diversit !" ii) – MH having both the

experience of working with groups of

young people but also the experience

of bridging the dialogue betweengenerations. More than this, MH is

excellently organizing activities for intercultural groups and has a great network of partners from

different sectors – the business field, the educational sector, local and national public authorities,

informal groups of young people. The experience of working in inter-sectorial cooperation

frameworks was a great source of inspiration for CSCD and is to be valorized in the local projects

that are being implemented in the rural areas.

The project team:

1. Viorel Buc$tur $ , Youth Worker, CSCD

2. Andreea Ro %ca, Youth Worker, CSCD

3. Irina Lonean, Expert

4. Adina C $l $ f $teanu, Expert5. Constantin Gl $van, teacher – Giubega School

6. Fethullah Oran, Project Manager MH.


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Chapter 1 – Mobilizing Youth

1.1 Methods used in Romania by CSCD to mobilize and attract youth

A. The profile of working community

Giubega is a commune situated at 49.7 km from the main city of the South Western

Region (Oltenia) – Craiova, the closest town being Bailesti – 12 km far, being firstly registered in

1831. The first registered data of 1885 was showing a population of 1551 inhabitants, of which

123 were literate. Nowadays, Giubega has a population of 2453 inhabitants and 1150 households.

(Primaria Giubega, 2014)

The Romanian Youth Law of 2006 was stating that youth would be clustered to the age

range 14 – 35 years old. Consequently, for Giubega, having a total population of 2036

inhabitants, the youth population would be of a total of 530 inhabitants (10-14 years old – 109,

15-19 years old – 111, 20-24 years old – 110, 25-29 years old – 88, 30-34 years old – 112).

(Census of 2002).

As it regards the economy, the main occupations of the inhabitants are mainly related to

agriculture, the local authorities investing special attention and resources to this field (plans to

support the development of the ecological farms and associative structures). Except for the

activities that are organized by CSCD, no other cultural or social events are organized for young

people. In order to document the study visit, on partnership basis with the teachers in Giubega

School, it had been piloted a research based on semi-structured interviews with a group of 6


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youngsters from Giubega and aiming at identifying the main youth needs in the community. The

research process showed that the main youth needs are the following:

the social and economic situations of the youngsters the lack of job opportunities and

long term unemploymentlack of housing opportunities – most of them still living with their families even after

having their own families

even if some opportunities offered by the Romanian state to continue their studies,

especially for the youngsters from Giubega (the closest highschool being at 12 km

far), is still hard, financially speaking, to continue their studies after they are

completing the compulsory education – 10 years.

Mistrust in future and future opportunities: “We are quite disappointed with thecurrent system, being convinced that no future is possible for them in the villages. The

only solution would be to leave the country and to go and work abroad”. (S, 15 years

old)

Except for the Saturday meetings with CSCD team, there are no other activities that

are taking place in the village. Consequently, there is a general feeling of the subjects

that the authorities are not interested into developing any activities for them and that

no optimism could be put in place for future.

Center for Sustainable Community Development started working as an informal group of

young people running local activities in 2008 and since 2010, is registered as an NGO -

nongovernmental organization - Association. The aim of the association is to develop and

implement cultural, artistic and educational activities aiming at community development and also

contributing to the social and personal development of its main target group – the youngsters


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from the rural and urban areas, youngsters with fewer opportunities and the isolated communities

– providing capacity building support.

B. CSCD Objectives are the following:

General Objectives:

1. Providing humanitarian help for the children and youngsters with special needs.

2. Creating and providing better conditions for the youngsters and children with special

social needs or challenged youngsters.

3. Social and school reinsertion for the youngsters and children coming from difficult

socio – economic background.

4.

Information and support guaranteeing human rights and social protection for the

groups in need.

5. Promoting and supporting the equal opportunities concept and active communitarian

participation.

6. Developing and implementing programmes for youngsters with special needs.

7. Supporting adults in their professional reinsertion process.

8. Implementing local, national and international projects aiming at providing better

opportunities for its target group.9. Support for the cultural, artistic and creative activities in the working communities.

Specific Objectives:

1. Identifying and supporting the cases – youngsters and children with special needs –

from orphanages, hospitals, mono- parental families and families facing socio-

economic problems.

2. Developing and implementing educational and support programmes for the youngsters

from the rural and urban areas.3. Educational counseling for the target group.

4. Supporting gifted children with fewer opportunities – independent to their talents.

5. Establishing partnerships with associations, networks and organizations with the same

profile – national and international actors.

6. Implementing activities and services aiming at improving the financial sustainability

of the association.

7.

Developing and implementing national, local and European programmes and projects.


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D. Publicity

All the projects and initiatives that CSCD is running and aims at boosting up youth

participation are mainly promoted by:

One on one interaction – youth promoting these activities to their peers

Public meetings organized with the partners in the community

Public events – organized as activities in the Campaigns that the youth groups

are running.

Posting the information on the organization’s website ( www.cdcd.ro ), on the

facebook page of CSCD and in the local media in Dolj County.

C. Youth Community organizing and Community Development Methodologies

CSCD is working closely with its partners:

The schools in villages

The Local Councils

The Culture House

Other NGOs in Dolj County

Private entities

aiming to develop projects and initiatives for youth in the rural areas. The activities

initially started with community development methodologies – based on creating partnerships in

order to develop and implement youth projects for young people and starting with 2013, the

approach had been changed to using youth community organizing methodologies.


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1.2. Methods used in Norway by MH to mobilize and attract youth

A. Using the members network

MH is a membership organization, with members from 8 to 80 years old, organized in 9

platforms:

the students’ platform,

the teacher's’ platform,

the intercultural dialogue platform,

the inter-religious dialogue platform,

the media-log platform,

the techlog platform,

the political dialogue platform,

the sport and leisure platform.

The organization is opened to paying and non-paying members and it has branches in four

cities of Norway: Oslo, Trondheim, Drammen and Stavanger. The promotion of the

organization’s activities and the mobilization of the target group is mainly done through:

Newsletters - all members receive newsletters by e-mail and text and invitations to

participate to the organization’s projects and events

paying members have free access to events organized by MH (festivals, concerts, etc.)

non-paying members can receive facilities to events organized by MH

B. Using printed materials Printed materials can be efficient in MH experience if used smart. In order to promote the

organization’s activities and mobilize the target group printed materials: flyers and posters are:

Distributed in faculties

Distributed in schools

Posted on schools and faculties advertisement boards


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All this printed materials distribution is made in partnership with schools and universities,

working as a bridge between the NGO and its target groups: young people, students and teachers.

C. Partnerships

Partnerships are one of the best promotion strategies for MH:

Schools and universities, working as a bridge between the NGO and its target groups:

young people, students and teachers.

MH has also initiated a partnership with the church, to promote intercultural and inter-

religious dialogue.

Reciprocal promotion by partners NGO is used: other organizations, partners of MH, are

promoting the projects, activities and events of MH, while it is promoting their projects.

D. Participation of public figures and well known institutions

MH uses well-known people for the community and partnerships with prestigious

institutions – as the Embassies invited to participate to the intercultural festival in April – as a

hook to attract people.

E. Using social media

Facebook is one of the most used ways to promote activities and mobilize participants.

Other social media tools are also used, adapted to what is used by the target groups:

Snapshot

Tweeter

YouTube


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1.3. Methods used in other projects funded by EEA Grants to mobilize and attract

youth

A. Caravans

Caravans are really popular and successful

ways to promote activities and mobilize participants

at events of NGOs and extremely successful in

attracting youth in initiatives initiated by nonprofit

groups.

As a proof of the effectiveness of the caravans,

the Romanian project “Information networks for farmers

in Transylvania”, targeting young farmers, funded by Norway Grants, received a European prize

for communication on Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) issues in 2012. ADEPT Foundation

Transylvania got the first prize in the category “Communication to stakeholders” for its work to

improve small farmers access to information on EU funding for Rural Development projects,

encouraging thus their participation in European projects.

The jury described the ADEPT Foundation’s project as "an inspirational campaign, based

on a deep analysis and understanding of the needs of young small-scale farmers in Transylvania.

A best-practice example at its best!"

B . Youth journalism

The ‘On the spot!’ project of a Hungarian NGO recruited young people to visit Iceland,

Liechtenstein and Norway and report on good practices in addressing social problems which

could benefit Hungarian society. The call under the Hungarian NGO programme provided

funding for young people to visit to Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein for a minimum of two

weeks. During their travels, participants had to dive into local civil society, examine good

examples of civic approaches to social problems and their potential transferability to Hungary.

The participants received assistance in creating travel and communication plans. A list of

partaking NGOs and institutions in the three donor countries will likewise be provided. The

participants reflected and reported on their travels and the practices discovered through online

communication tools such as blogs, videos, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.


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C. NGO journalism

The first edition of ‘Civic Arena’, a new magazine focusing on the civil sector in Central

and Eastern Europe, was launched in Romania. The aim of the magazine is to share information

and knowledge among civil society, being also very effective in attracting new participants in projects.

In 2015 the magazine was

dedicated to the European Council’s

‘No Hate Speech’ campaign. In a

climate of rising extremism, racism

and xenophobia across Europe the

movement helps NGOs develop

projects to tackle hate speech. The

magazine outlines the problem and

looks at the most efficient ways of

dealing with it and is a powerful tool

in engaging young people, including

disadvantaged young people, in

youth activities.


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1.4. Methods used in Europe to mobilize and attract youth

Other methods used to mobilize and attract youth in youth activities, including public

participation in Europe, include:

Organizing sport events promoted through media and mainly through social media

Organizing art workshops promoted through media and mainly through social media

Using partnerships and the mediation of schools and high schools in order to establish

communication with young people

Organizing certificated trainings beside the

participation activities

Using animation (juggling) in order to attract

young people on the streets

Designing leisure activities in combination with

public participation activities


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Chapter 2 – Youth Participation – The European Framework on Youth

Participation1

"Europe's future depends on its youth. Yet, life chances of many young people are

blighted" (European Commission - Communication on the 'Renewed Social Agenda’, 2008)

Why are youngsters inactive nowadays, when the European Union offers them so many

possibilities, in terms of programmes and projects? This would be a pertinent question that one

can ask, analyzing the European frame for youth participation. At the European Union’s level, itis high time that youngsters should be considered as a positive force, in the European

construction process, instead of a problematic target group. Thus, youngsters must be given the

opportunity to express their ideas and to be provided with the special framework where they can

start the debates, on the same level with the other civil society participants. (Commission of The

European Communities, The White Paper – A new impetus for European Youth, 2001). But even

if the coordinated efforts, to a convergence with European Youth Policy, coupled with an

intersectorial approach, the visible results of the national youth policy would leave room for

debates and discussions. If for the old Member States of the European Union this issue is not an

acute problem, for new ones, the youth policy domain requires a high attention. Thus, as in the

social domain the competences of the European Union are limited, as the youth policy and the

active youth participation issues are more linked to the European Social Model and in some

states, the youth participation policies are still under development.

Citizenship and participation are dimensions that cannot be discussed separately.)

Youngsters’ participation in the decision-making process has been an issue (quite) developed inthe 1990s. Hence, in 1992 the Council of Europe produced the European Chart of Youth

Participation to the Regional and Local Life and suggested the local authorities to be sure that

they involve youth in all decision- making procedures and if they do not manage to involve them

1The Chapter is an extract of the publication C!L!F!TEANU, Adina-Marina., European Youth Policy regarding Active Youth Participation – Study analysis: Gorj County, Romania, Lambert Academic Publishing, Saarbrucken,2012 and had been integrated to the current publication by the author in order to serve as the basis of the

development of the European Youth Participation framework.


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directly, to be sure that their leaders are permanently consulted. Then, the White Paper (2001)

and United Nations and in 2007, claimed the same goal: “Be heard, be seen: Youth participation

for Development!” (United Nations, 2007). The European Commission’s White Paper on

Governance (25.07.2001) aiming at making the decision-making process accessible to allEuropean citizens, has had a direct effect on producing the European White Paper on Youth – A

new impetus for European participation. After a long and effective process of consultation

between the European representatives, youth leaders and youngsters, it has been stated that the

new societal environment does not offer enough efficiency space for the traditional models of

participation, for young people. As a result of this statement, by making youngsters stakeholders

in their field, they must be given the opportunity to work on their requests.

Adapting the classical economic theory of Albert Hirschman, it is obvious in 2001, as the

changes in society did not correspond, anymore, to the youngsters’ needs and the authorities did

not put into practice new action plans, this group passed 23 the “voice” stage and quit the

“loyalty” level and chose to orient themselves towards the “exit” alternative. (Hirschman, 1970).

Aimed at promoting young people’s active citizenship, the four main key issues highlighted by

the White Paper are: information, participation, voluntary activities and a better knowledge of

youth. To reach a common frame on youth participation, the White Paper states two main

aspects: applying the open method of coordination, in the specific field of youth, and making

better account of the “youth dimension” in other policy initiatives.

The Open Method of Coordination (OMC) has been created as part of the employment

policy, in the Luxembourg process. Afterwards, the Lisbon Strategy (2000) defined the OMC as

its main the instrument to tackle the aim of transforming the European Union into the most

competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable

economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. (Hermaans,2008) TheOMC provided a new framework for cooperation, between the Member States, which should

come to a convergence of their policies, in order to achieve the common objectives adopted by

the Council. For a better application of the OMC, in 2002 was released the Resolution of 27 June

2002 regarding the framework of European cooperation in the youth field. This document set as

main strands for the cooperation in the youth field: the application of the Open Method of

Coordination and taking more into account the youth dimension in other policies. For the first

listed strand, the OMC should be applied as a flexible instrument, based on the subsidiarity

principle, so that the decisions should be taken at the closest level to the youngsters. Moreover,


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the youth associations and youth organizations should be associated with the cooperation

framework, at the European, national and local levels. This resolution also endorsed the four

priority areas of the White Paper (information, participation, voluntary activities among young

people, and greater understanding and knowledge of youth) and stressed the participationdimension. Consequently, for this purpose – participation – the youngsters should be involved in

decision making, and for this involvement, the authorities should cooperate with the associations

and also with the other organizations that ensure the youth’s participation in civil society.

The priorities for the OMC application have to be set by the Member States, which have

the responsibility to consult the youth associations, in order to adopt short and long term

objectives for the youth policy. As the results were not that visible, in 2003, the Council released

a new resolution: Council Resolution of 25 November 2003 on Common Objectives for

participation by and information for young people (2003/C 295/04). This resolution restated as

priorities the participation and information. As the Member States, using the voluntary

performance, did not manage to transfer the priorities in clear response policies, this document

also sets the objectives for youngsters’ participation:

increase the participation of young people in the civic life of the community,

increase the participation by young people in the system of representative democracy,

greater support for various forms of youth learning. In this process, the Member States

should set their own national priorities and then, after the negotiations with the other

states, to come to common objectives.

Also, on their full responsibility there are the national action plans and consultations with

young people and their associations. The most efficient consultation procedure has been

portrayed as the consultations with the national and regional youth councils, in those states where

these bodies exist. (European Youth Forum, 2006) The White Paper – “A new impetus forEuropean Youth” and the European Parliament’s Decision No. 1719/2006/EC of 15 November

2006 establishing the "Youth in Action" programme for the period 2007 to 2013 highlighted that

young Europeans should be offered the opportunity to participate.

A mechanism imagined by the European Commission to empower youth participation is

the structured dialogue. This type of dialogue presumes the creation of an effective and efficient

mechanism of consultation with young people. As partners in this dialogue, all the structures and

individuals who deal directly or indirectly with young people should be involved. All these


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mechanisms should ensure the active involvement of the youngsters into decision-making

process, at all levels – European, national, and local. (European Commission, 2006) For an

ensured access of youth and their peers and leaders, The European Youth Portal – has been

developed as a direct result of the White Paper and it was launched in 2004, in order to facilitateyoung people’s access to information on Europe. This portal contains information from

European, national, regional and local levels, offering support information on mobility, work,

living and youth participation in public life. For a better achievement of its purpose: youth

information, the portal is also developed by Eurodesk, ERYCA (The European Youth

Information and Counselling Agency (ERYICA) and EYCA (The European Youth Card

Association (EYCA). Eurodesk is the support center, organized as European network,

coordinating the research and managing the information at the European level, through itsnational and local branches. (European Youth Information Charter, 2004) Thus, using the spaces

for the structured dialogue, youngsters’ participation should have increased. For the common

objectives, in the formulation process, the Commission has to consult also the main European

representative of the youth organisations – The European Youth Forum (EYF). EYF is an

independent youth forum, cooperating, permanently both with the Council of Europe and

European Union, is made up of almost 100 National Youth Councils and International Youth

Organisations. Presenting itself as “the voice” of the youngsters and an important lobby group,

EYF also evaluated the application of the OMC in the youth field.

The evaluation of the EU youth policy launched in 2001 together with the challenges

determined by the financial crisis started in 2008, visible especially in the high unemployment

rates, resolve in a new approach in the youth policy. After a long consultation process that started

in 2008 and was structured as an online consultation with the youngsters, stakeholders, youth

workers, researchers and experts (5.426 respondents) , from the Member States, with the

European Free Trade Association States (partner states in the European youth programmes) andthe candidate countries, the key subjects that came out of the consultations were: the reform of

the education system, youth unemployment and active youth participation. (European Research

on Youth – Supporting young people to participate fully in society, 2009) In order to tackle the

above-mentioned key issues in April 2009 the European Commission launched the new youth

strategy: ‘An EU strategy for youth – Investing and Empowering’. Considering the results of the

consultation process and with a great focus on the aging population phenomenon, the new youth

strategy is based on a dual approach: investing in youths, in order to improve their well-being and


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empowering youth by permanently promoting their potential, in order to have them as equal

partners in promoting the EU’s values and goals. (European Commission, 2009)

Following the line set through the Lisbon Strategy, the new youth strategy brings a new

methodological set for the open method of coordination: the ‘joined-up policy’ – based on the

cooperation between different fields in order to ensure the youth’s well-being and the ‘feeding in’

- based on encouraging the youngsters to be active participants in the decision-making process, at

the European, national, regional and local level. (Ibid) Consequently, all these measures aim to

reinforce the multiple level of citizenship and to empower the youngsters’ 31 active participation

(European Research on Youth – Supporting young people to participate fully in society, 2009)

Based on producing the youth policy ‘with’ the young people, not ‘for’ the young people, the new

approach should be based on youth sector as an active sector in all the initiatives, from the

European, to the local level. In order to reinforce all these multiple levels of citizenship, needs to

fulfil the demand of the over 73% of the youngsters, who are asking to be equal partners, in the

decisions that have a direct impact on their lives and on their well –being.

With and for young people – Structured dialogue processes2

Structured

Dialogue with young

people serves as a forum

for continuous joint

reflection on the priorities,

implementation, and

follow-up of Europeancooperation in the youth

field. It involves regular

consultations of young

people and youth

organizations at all levels

in EU countries, as well as dialogue between youth representatives and policy makers at EU

2 European Commission - Link: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/policy/implementation/dialogue_en.htm


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Youth Conferences organized by the Member States holding the EU presidency, and during the

European Youth Week.

The Structured Dialogue focuses on a different overall thematic priority for each of its 18-

month work cycles (set by the Council of Youth Ministers). The thematic priority of the Trio

Presidency (Italy, Latvia, and Luxembourg) for July 2014 - December 2015 is youth

empowerment . The empowerment theme will address access to rights and the importance of

political participation by young people. Structured Dialogue is conducted at the EU Youth

Conferences organized by each of the three Member States holding the Presidency of the EU

Council during each work cycle, and as part of the European Youth Week organized by the

European Commission with regular intervals.

Structured Dialogue with young people is conducted around the current thematic priority

at both national and EU level. A national consultation of young people and youth organizations is

conducted in all Member States during the 18-month cycle of Structured Dialogue. During the

current cycle July 2014 to December 2015 it is planned that the national consultations should, for

the first time, be carried out in part through the European Youth Portal. In the Member States, the

participatory process is organized and ensured by National Working Groups comprising, amongst

others:

representatives of youth ministries,

national youth councils,

local and regional youth councils,

youth organizations,

young people from diverse backgrounds, and

youth researchers.

The consultation of the National Working Groups is based on a Guiding Framework,

endorsed by youth representatives and policy makers at the first Youth Conference of the 18-

month cycle, organized by Italy. The outcomes of the consultation are debated at the second

Youth Conference, organized by Latvia, where youth representatives and policy makers endorse

Joint Recommendations on youth empowerment for political participation. The recommendations

are then discussed by Youth Ministers from the 28 Member States during the third Youth


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Conference, organized by Luxembourg, before being endorsed. The final recommendations will

be reflected in a Council Resolution addressed to European institutions and national authorities,

to be endorsed by youth ministers at the end of the 18-month cycle. The Structured Dialogue is

implemented at EU level through a European Steering Committee (renewed for every 18-monthworking cycle) comprising:

Youth Ministry representatives of the three EU presidency Member States,

Representatives of national youth councils of the three EU presidency Member States,

Representatives of the National Agencies of Erasmus+ of the three EU Presidency

Member States,

Representatives of the European Commission, andRepresentatives of the European Youth Forum.

The latter chairs the Committee during the 18-month working cycle.

Advisory Council on Youth – Council of Europe

The Advisory Council on Youth is a Council of Europe body made up of 30

representatives from youth NGOs and networks in Europe and provides opinions and input on all

youth sector activities. It also ensures that young people are involved in other activities of the

Council of Europe. In practice, the Advisory Council:

contributes to the mainstreaming of youth policies across the Council of Europe

programme of activities


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formulates opinions and proposals on general or specific questions concerning youth in

the Council of Europe as well as the priorities and budget allocations for the youth sector

promotes activities focused on youth in the field of international cooperation

sends representatives to statutory meetings and events with the aim of making the work ofthe Council of Europe in this field more visible.

Co-management

The Advisory Council on Youth is the non-governmental partner in the co-managed

bodies of the Council of Europe’s Youth Department. The Council of Europe’s youth sectorworks on the basis of a partnership between non-governmental youth organizations and

governments, in what is known as the co-management system. This means that representatives

from non-governmental youth organizations and youth networks cooperate closely with

government officials from the European Steering Committee for Youth to establish the standards

and work priorities of the Council of Europe’s youth sector and make recommendations for future

priorities, programs and budgets. The Advisory Council on Youth promotes at all levels, the co-

management system in the decision-making process as a good practice for youth participation,

democracy and inclusion; whilst preparing and encouraging young generations to take

responsibility to build their desired society.

The new trends in youth participation - Digital participation

But understanding

youth and youth

participation is to becoupled with the dynamic

character of the target

group – young people whose interests and needs are constantly changing. Consequently, in the

era of online participation, young people have the tendency to participate virtually, to prefer

online voting and to be the supporters of e-participation. The usage of the social media

completely changed the trends of participation and starting with the Arab Spring, the digital

participation of young people is to be treated as a separate trend in youth participation.

Acknowledging the new context, the European Institutions – namely the Council of Europe and


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the European Commission through their partnership in the youth field – Youth Partnership, are

investing special attention to analyzing digital participation as a concept and also to looking at the

barriers that young people could face in e-participation. The Symposium on youth participation in

a digitalized world (14-16 September 2015, Budapest, Hungary) was an excellent opportunity foryouth workers, policy makers and researchers to reflect upon the new trends in participation,

challenging the existing democratic systems and deepening the reflections on youth participation

and the future of democracies in the digital era. (Youth Partnership, 2015 – Link: http://pjp-

eu.coe.int/en/web/youth-partnership/digitalised-world )


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2.1 Methods and Tools used in Romania by CSCD to organize public participation

of youth

A. “Public participation against discrimination of young people from the rural communities”

Having in mind that no other activities are being organized for young people except for

the projects that CSCD is running, starting with 2012, the youth workers realized that the most

efficient methodologies to boost up youth participation are the ones that are offering youth the

opportunity to be the main partner in developing processes and services. Starting with May 2014

to July 2015, CSCD on partnership basis with FPDL – Partners Foundation for Local

Development and CERT – Educational Center for Resources and Training, implemented the

project “Public participation against discrimination of young people from the rural communities”,

project granted through NGO Fund in Romania, EEA Grants. The identified problem – the high

risk of rural youth to be exposed to discrimination and social exclusion coupled with their weak

public participation determined the project that had as aim to invest in the personal development

of youth from the 3 rural communities – Giubega, Galiciuica and Campeni. The objectives of the

project were related to using community development methodologies and personal development

techniques in order to invest in the youth potential to combat discrimination and to invest in their

leadership potential. The process started with identifying the problems in the community and to

run campaigns in order to come up with a youth led solution for these problems.


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40 young people from the 3 villages identified as the problems in their communities:

The lack of youth friendly spaces in the villages

The lack of dialogue structures with the authorities – mainly with thevillage councils

The lack of personal development activities for their peers

The lack of knowledge and awareness of the pupils on human rights and

the access to human rights.

The problems were identified in meetings that were prepared with the support of the

community organizers (3 youth workers), who had been moderating the meetings and offered the

groups the methodological support in preparing the campaigns. The problems were identified

using consultation processes with their peers (collecting the problems on post-its and then

selecting the problem that had been mentioned frequently).

The following steps of the process include selecting the relevant problems, the and in

creating the map of allies and opponents in solving the problem, the community organizer

helping the group to formulate the position papers and to prepare the negotiation meetings with

the stakeholders (school boards, pupils’ councils). Having a clear working plan and strategy, the process aimed at making the school boards to hold the proposals of the group accountable for the

actions and projects to be implemented and to meet the needs of the community – the pupils’

community.

The first problem that was tackled was the lack of access to information about the lack of

information to access to rights. For this

purpose, for the International Day of Human

Rights, on December 10 2015, the 3 initiative

groups prepared activities for their peers.

Having both presentations and also

interactive sessions, the groups managed to

get their peers familiar with the basic

fundamental rights to get the support of the

school boards on running their campaigns.


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The second problem that the group in Giubega

identified was related to the lack of having a space in

the village where youth would come and socialize. The

problem had been validated in public meetings (havingover 100 supporters). Negotiation meetings had been

organized with the principal of the schools and with the

mayor of the village in order to get clean the park next

to the Culture House in the village. In June 2015, with the support of other colleagues, the group

of 15 young people, together with the principal of the school and with other adults in the

community, worked in organizing the Youth Park, a space that is still being used as the main

meeting place of the young people in the community.

Having youth as the main actor for chance not

the beneficiary of services, offered youth full

ownership on the initiatives developed. Being a

successful initiative, the youth community organizing

model implemented in the three local communities

had as well been presented within the good practices

panel at the “A youth policy seminar on social

inclusion of young people in vulnerable situations in

South East Europe”, Youth Partnership –Mostar, October 28-29 2015.


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At a larger scale, with the support of international donors (Council of Europe - European

Youth Foundation, European Union - Youth in Action, Erasmus +, EEA Grants), CSCD managed

to involve over 2000 young people in its activities and to run local youth projects in 6 rural

communities in South Western part of Romania - mainly Dolj County. For this purpose, CSCDis closely working both with the public and with the nongovernmental actors, having

implemented over 20 projects granted by the European Commission, European Social Fund,

European Youth Foundation (Council of Europe) and EEA Grants aiming at developing

structured dialogue mechanisms and social business models that would offer youth specifically

youth with fewer opportunities personal and professional development. CSCD is training youth

workers (both from Romania and from the Member States of the Council of Europe) on

nonformal education, social entrepreneurship, inclusive education, education for citizenship,social business models, participatory action research, detached and open youth work and directly

workers community organizing, community development and advocacy tools.

The work is being done

by trained youth workers and

youth leaders (4), 2 researchers

and a team of 13 volunteers. In

2012/2014, CSCD had been one

of the key players in setting up

the European priorities in the

youth field, having one member

part of the Advisory Council on

Youth at the Council of Europe and being as well represented in the Pool of European Youth

Researchers (PEYR). CSCD is also partnering up with local authorities in the field of youth in

Dolj County and with different nongovernmental organizations both providing social services and

developing social entrepreneurship models for young people (Junior Chamber International

Craiova).

The main educational approaches that CSCD is integrated to its activities are thefollowing:


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Except for the social impact of the campaigns, youth is also benefiting of a personal

development process, as during the activities, they get the support of the youth workers and of

other guests part of the activities (in November 2015, working for 3 days with the representatives

of YMCA George Williams College – UK – youth workers and researchers, during the evaluation

meeting organized as an Activity of Developing Detached Youth Work Practice (2014-1-MT01-

KA205-000348) project granted by the European Union – Erasmus + - Key Action 2 – Strategic

Partnerships in the Field of Youth).

The youth community organizing methodologies are boosting up youth participation by:

Offering youth the opportunity to be active on the public scene and to make their

voice heard through the campaigns they are organizing

Young people are constantly mentored by youth workers who are guiding their steps

towards impacting social change.

Citizenshipeducation

Human RightsEducation &InterculturalEducation

YouthCommunity

Organizing &Community

Development

Youth participation


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The youth group is creating dialogue structures with the public authorities and are

working towards partnering up with the authorities for their campaigns.

The members of the group have the potential of mobilizing other peers (for the youth

group in Giubega, 9 out of the 15 young people involved with the activities are youthwith fewer opportunities).

The whole process – starting with identifying the problem, to the consultations with

the other actors in the community, the negotiation meetings and the activities

organized within the Campaigns are youth led and developed by youth, for their peers.

D. Citizenship Education & Human Rights Education

Starting with 2011, with the support of the international donors and of the local

partners, CSCD developed projects and initiatives aiming at offering youth the opportunity to

make their voice heard and to set up participatory mechanisms for young people with fewer

opportunities.

The citizenship education activities that CSCD is running have the main scope:

To educate young people in citizenship and human rights, making sure that young

people get the full access to their rights and that they are able to multiply the

information.

That young people understand what is the role of the institutions and they know

which institution to address depending upon their request

That they act responsibly and are active on the public scene.

For this purpose, the main initiatives implemented had been the following:

The Rights Caravan - http://www.cdcd.ro/2011/05/the-rights-caravan-in-

comunele-din-dolj/ , project granted by EYF – European Youth Foundation, Council of

Europe, 2011.

Citizenship Education can be defined as educating children, from early childhood, to become

clear-thinking and enlightened citizens who participate in decisions concerning society.

‘Society’ is here understood in the special sense of a nation with a circumscribed territory which

is recognized as a state .

UNESCO


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Hajde, Baxtalo! - http://www.cdcd.ro/2012/12/hajde-baxtalo-eveniment/ , project

granted by the European Union, Youth in Action, 2012.

LEAD (Leadership, Empowerment, Access, Development) -

http://www.cdcd.ro/?s=LEAD, project granted by EYF – European Youth Foundation,Council of Europe, 2013.

The outcomes of these projects are fully valorized into the initiatives and projects that CSCD

currently implementing:

Developing Detached Youth Work Practice (2014-1-MT01-KA205-000348)- granted by the

European Union, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnerships in the Field of Youth. Within the project, using

detached youth work methodologies, two youth workers are working 15 young people in non-organized

spaces, planning local youth initiatives and campaigns.

Youth Creates Partnerships for the Development of Education for Social Entrepreneurship

(2015-3-SI02-KA205-013260) - granted by the European Union, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnerships in

the Field of Youth – using its experience in developing youth led processes and participatory mechanisms,

CSCD is mapping out a study on the entrepreneurship competencies of young people in Europe. For this

purpose, CSCD is running participatory action research activities with its working target – young people

from the rural areas, identifying the existent competencies and skills and the need for development of

these skills for the future employment of young people with fewer opportunities.

“ Detached youth work is a model of youth work practice, targeted at vulnerable. young

people, which takes place on young people's own territory such as streets, cafes, parks and

ubs at times that are a ro riate to them and on their terms.”


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2.2. Methods and tools used in Norway by MH to organize public participation of

youth

A. Intercultural events

MH uses intercultural events in order to promote dialogue between communities in

Norway and their commune participation to the society, after identifying commune interests and

needs and after agreeing on the way to participate.

Three traditional intercultural events are organized:The Festival of Intercultural Dialogue, in April, in partnership with several Embassies at

the monumental Oslo Opera House.

Presenting the Ashura, as an intercultural and inter-religious event, in partnership with

Norwegian churches and the Muslim community in Norway. The event used also social

theatre as a method to establish intercultural dialogue.

Peace painting activities for children.

B. Film projections and debates

MH uses film projections and

debates to promote participation and

dialogue. Inviting wel- known persons,

representatives of Embassies and the

Government, at the projection of the

movie Love Is a Verb, encouraged

participation and increased the impact of

the debates after the film projection.

Love Is A Verb is an examination of a social movement of Sufi-inspired Sunni Muslims that

began in Turkey in the l960s and now spans across the globe. The group is called Hizmet,

the Turkish word for "service" or The Gülen Movement after its inspiration and teacher,


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Fethullah Gülen, a man TIME magazine named as one of the most influential leaders in the

world in 2013 for "...preaching a message of tolerance."

C. Intercultural meetings of young people

MH implements Cofee Beam – a project bringing together young people with very

different backgrounds to debates on several subjects, at the young people choice.

The meetings take place in a friendly environment, with the possibility of young people to

prepare coffee, tea and snack for themselves, which is a very good way to make these debates

more enjoyable and attractive.

As a result of these debates young people are encouraged to initiate and implement events

using the organization infrastructure.

D. Volunteers involvement

Based on a partnership with business, local authorities and other NGOs (like the Red

Cross), young people can be volunteers in coffees or to do other voluntary work in order to

support young people in need.MH Theory of Change – on youth work and volunteering can be presented as

follows

The hook for young people is the fact that they are accumulating working experience that

is useful late for their employment.

On the other hand, volunteering is also developing the young people commitment to the

society and young volunteers are much more likely to participate in community life.

E. Use of media

NorSensus Mediaforum is a partner

of MH using media to promote youth

engagement. They are implementing

FAKTUELL:

A training programme for socially

disadvantaged young people to express


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themselves (visualisation, communication, social media)

A platform of expression – online platform of publication (youth magazine) and a

newsroom of 7 young people (14-19 years old).

The platform is constructed around the NO HATE idea and all training provided aimed

at teaching young people to build, tell and promote counter-narratives to the heat speech.


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2.3. Other methods and tools used in project funded by EEA Grants to organize

public participation of youth

A. Education for environment 3

Public participation for environmental issues is promoted in Poland. “We teach children

and young people how to take care of nature so that they will take responsibility for the

environment when they grow up”, says project manager Joanna Handziak-Buczko from Wroc"aw

in Poland.

In a classroom in the school complex number 4 in the Polish city of Wroc"aw the students

are in deep concentration. They are carefully studying and operating small models that are

producing solar and wind power.

“One day we will run out of resources. Renewable energy will be the solution to generate

heat and electricity for our daily lives,” says Sebastian Bogacz (18). Together with his classmate

Piotr #agocki (18) he is checking the solar panel model. Outside the window on the roof of the

school real size solar collector is producing energy to heat up the water in the school.

“I want to work with renewable energy because we need to change to this type of energy

to save the planet,” says Piotr #agocki.

“At school, the children learn about biology, but they often do not get enough practical

knowledge about how to take care of the nature and to protect the environment. That is where we

come in,” explains Joanna Hadziak-Buczko from the life-long learning centre in Wroc"aw, who ismanaging the project on behalf the municipality of Wroc"aw. With support from Iceland,

Liechtenstein and Norway, Handziak-Buczko and her colleagues are contributing to increase the

quality and effects of education in biodiversity and protection of ecosystems in Poland.

Through the project ‘My green home’ more than 1000 children and young people aged 3-

18 from three schools and one kindergarten in Wroc"aw get the chance to learn more about the

3 Source: http://eeagrants.org/News/2015/Developing-young-environmentalists


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importance of biodiversity, the economic value of ecosystems and the use of renewable energy

sources.

“We show them for example how to sort garbage and what new products can be produced

from recycled waste. We visit parks, forests, the botanical garden and the zoo. For young people

it is easier to understand how their behaviour influences the environment if they go out and see it

for themselves,” says Handziak-Buczko.

B. School based activities4

The Lithuanian NGO ‘School of Success’ works to increase civic participation in the

country by engaging with pupils.

According to the Civil Society Institute in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, around 40

percent of Lithuanians do not participate in any kind of civic activities. To help improve this

situation, ‘School of Success’ is receiving more than $44 000 in support from Iceland,

Liechtenstein and Norway through the Lithuanian NGO programme to promote so-called

democratic education in five schools in Lithuania. Democratic education means activelyengaging with the pupils and letting them have a real say in what is going on in their school. The

purpose of this is two-fold. It aims to create a better learning environment for the pupils involved

in the project and making them more motivated for school while at the same time spurring civic

engagement that will carry on outside the classroom.

One of the schools that participates in the project is the Kauno Kazio Griniaus

progymnasium in the city of Kaunas in the southern part of Lithuania. An important part of the

project has been to start an open conversation between pupils, teachers and administrators about

various issues relevant to the school and its pupils. This was a positive experience for everyone

involved, particularly for the pupils who for the first time felt they were given an opportunity to

engage with their teachers and the school management as equals.

4 Source: http://eeagrants.org/News/2014/Encouraging-civic-participation-in-Lithuania


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The dialogue was partly facilitated through a series of school-wide meetings where each

class was represented by two pupils and a class teacher. In total, around 150 people participated

in the meetings, including parents.

Project manager Donata Norkiene at ‘School of Success’ says that the project has

exceeded expectations: “To be honest, we are quite surprised by the results of the project. To be

able to watch a traditional Lithuanian school break with tradition and engage with the students

in this way is something we have never seen before in our work .”

Norkiene adds that ‘School of Success’ hopes to be able to share the results of the project

with other schools in Lithuania: “We hope that through this project we can inspire other schools

in Lithuania, and that this can have positive effects both on our pupils and our civil society.”

C. Simulations – simulated elections5

Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway supported a civic education project to stimulate

political participation among young people in Romania. The Romanian Association for

Democracy (Asociatia Pro Democratia) has received $71 860 from the Romanian NGO Fund ofthe EEA Grants to carry out the "Exercise for democracies" project; an educational project aimed

at raising civic participation and political engagement among high school and university students.

The Association for Democracy is based on political non-partisanship and volunteerism, and has

20 years of experience in promoting political and civic participation in Romanian society.

The project takes a participatory approach, and aims to teach students about the political

system and the political decision-making process. Through simulated elections and model

parliaments; simulated parliament sessions, students learn how political decisions made at

national and European level affect their lives, and how they can influence political processes.

One of the project's overarching aims is to counter electoral absenteeism, and in particular

to encourage young people to vote in the last elections for the European Parliament on 7 June

2009. All over Europe, the boundaries between domestic and foreign policy becomes increasingly

blurred as the process of European integration proceeds. Yet, the challenge remains of getting the

5 Source: http://eeagrants.org/News/2012/Education-for-democracy


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average voter more interested in European issues and policies. In Romania, there is a general lack

of knowledge about the European Parliament and its Romanian members among young people,

according to the Pro Democratia association.

To stimulate interest and engagement in European politics among young people, the

"Exercise for Democracies" project organized a special Candidates Forum for young people, at

which students met and discussed with Romanian MEP candidates. 30 students subsequently

went on a study trip to Brussels and met with the candidates there. Through the project, simulated

European elections were held at schools and higher education institutions in Craiova, Onesti,

Targu Neamt, Timisoara, Galati, Constanta and Brasov. The results were announced two days

after the real election so as not to interfere with the outcome of the actual vote.

D. Youth Centres – Open youth work 6

“I hope the youth centre will be a place where we can make new friends and learn new

skills,” says Kostadin Chilikov. He is one of many young people that will benefit from four youth

centres that have received grants in Bulgaria.

The centres are being set-up as a part of the Bulgarian children and youth at risk

programme. They will be open to young people between the ages of 15 and 29, and Roma youth

are a key target group. In total, four centres are being established. Each centre aims to receive the

Council of Europe’s Quality Label, and they hope to open their doors by the beginning of 2015.

Svetoslav Aleksiev, Rashko Aleksiev

and Kostadin live in the southern Bulgarian

city of Plovdiv and are looking forward to the

centre being opened. The three young men

are from the Roma community and they are

hoping that the youth centre will be a place

where they can meet other young people from

outside their own community.

6 Source: http://eeagrants.org/News/2014/Empowering-Roma-youth


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“For us as Roma it can be difficult to meet people from outside our own community. So I

hope that the youth centre can be a place where young people from Plovdiv can meet regardless

of ethnic background,” says Svetoslav.

The centre is not only about fostering friendships across cultural boundaries, it is also

about teaching vocational skills and helping the youngsters enter the labour market. Both

Svetoslav, Aleksiev and Rashko are unemployed and they are hoping that once it opens, the

youth centre in Plovdiv will help them develop useful skills and find a job.


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2.4 Other methods and tools used in Europe to organize public participation on

youth

The study visit hosted by MH was also an excellent opportunity for the Romanian and for

the Norwegian partner to identify methods and tools used by different European organizations in

order to boost up youth participation. For this purpose, the mapping exercise of the existent

practices started with the expressed interests of the participants to the study visit into the methods

and tools that could be then transferred and replicated into the local working realities.

At the European level, the Multilateral Cooperation Project “Participation of young

people in the democratic Europe” and the “Refection Group on Youth Participation” of the

Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe provided the policy

makers, the practitioners and the researchers with excellent resources on empowering youth to

participate to the public life. Available in the Manual – Amplify Participation of Young People in

Europe – Recommendations for policy and practice (link: https://www.salto-

youth.net/downloads/4-17-3048/Amplify%20Participation%20-%20Recommendations.pdf ), theset of recommendations are the result of an 18 months peer learning process of 5 countries

(Germany, Israel, Lithuania, Poland and The United Kingdom) involving ministries responsible

for youth, youth representatives, and other experts. The recommendations are also based on the

findings from the research field and also on the outcomes of the event “Hear my voice!”

European Conference (Brussels, 6-8 October 2014) by 55 experts on youth participation from 15

different countries. The recommendations had been drafted to support the policy makers to

develop public policies in order to raise the motivation of responsible key people working for andwith young people in order for them to encourage participation amongst young people, as well as

share their experiences and lessons learnt with those responsible for youth policy. (C%l%f %teanu,

2013)

Youth participation and the new participation trends were also tackled during the EU

Youth Conference “Young People’s access to rights”, held in Rome in October 2014, participants

asked the European Commission and Member States to provide enhanced citizenship education at

all stages of formal education and support non-formal learning providers as well as during the


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Council of Europe’s World Forum for Democracy, November 2014 in Strasbourg, event where

young people asked for new means of democratic expression and democratic participation. Also,

the first Global Forum on Youth Policies that took place in Azerbaijan in October 2014

emphasized as well the need for support of youth civic engagement and participation in decision-making and political processes and institutions. (Ibid).

One of the practices identified by the experts’ group and could be an excellent source of

inspiration for the other organizations in Europe an example taken from the UK: The National

Take Over Day, launched in 2007, is supported by the Children's Commissioner for England to

promote and encourage youth involvement and participation. (Salto Youth Participation –

Amplify Participation of Young People in Europe – Recommendations for Policy and Practice -

https://www.salto-youth.net/downloads/4-17-3048/Amplify%20Participation%20-

%20Recommendations.pdf )

Every ‘Take Over Day', businesses and organizations from across the country, ranging

from Local Authorities, schools and police departments to radio stations and supermarkets;

coordinate a wide range of activities to enable children and young people to work alongside

adults, try out different jobs, take on challenges, and be involved in decision making. “The day

gives children and young people the chance to work with adults for the day and be involved indecision-making. Children benefit from the opportunity to experience the world of work and

make their voices heard, while adults and organizations gain a fresh perspective on what they do.

We hope this will help break down barriers between generations and encourage children's

active involvement in their communities.”

From its composition, the Take Over Day is an event with various levels to which young

people can be involved:

Job shadowing: Young people follow someone in their post for the day, seeing what their

job involves.

Work experience: Young people are given tasks to complete which are part of the work of

the organization, ideally doing work towards a current project.

Sharing a challenge: The organization shares a challenge it's facing, and asks the young

people to come up with a solution.

In 2014, the National Take Over Day takes place on 21 November in various places in

England. Organizations and Local Authorities which take part in the Take Over Day can show


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their participation by using posters “We have been taken over” and benefit from info packs

available for them, for schools and for young people.

Of course, the scheme of a Take Over Day can be criticized on various levels:

if taken as a sole measure to increase participation of young people it would lack real possibilities to influence political decisions sustainably

it could be perceived as a top-down measure as the decision makers “allow” young people

to have an insight in their positions and tasks; the bottom-up quality of receiving young

people’s feedback during this day on how they perceived shadowing a decision maker

plays a decisive role in this context

it might be even perceived to perpetuate the project-based, one-off approaches which do

not contribute to a systematic increase of participation of young people; here it is vital thatthe introduction of the Take Over Day is accompanied by training and educational

possibilities to learn how decision making functions, to experience deliberation processes,

and to embed the experience of shadowing a decision maker in a longer term participation

learning experience.

Once more, there is no “one-size--fits-all”: The Take Over Day can be a strong signal to

open up political structures to young people – it does not replace giving real decision power,

budgetary competence etc. to them. Embedded in a holistic concept of opening up “adult”

structures and offering systemic participation possibilities with learning opportunities on various

levels, the European Youth Take Over Day can be a solid sign of decision makers and

stakeholders that they are willing to shape the future together with young people.


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Chapter 3 – Funding youth projects for participation and democracy

3.1 – Funding of projects for participation and democracy promoted by CDCD in

Romania

For the last 6 years, CSCD had been implementing its projects with the support of the

international donors:

Council of Europe - European Youth Foundation

European Union - Erasmus +, Youth in Action

European Social Fund

EEA Grants. No fees had been collected from the members and in the working communities, the local

authorities had not been put in place yet any granting opportunities for the youth activities.

3.2 – Funding of projects for participation and democracy promoted by MH in

Norway

MH uses three main funding methods: Ø fees collected from members;

Ø sponsorships form the business sector – for public events with a large number of

participants;

Ø small grants from the local authorities – based on a project competition held every

year.

3.3 Other funding sources used in Europe7

European Youth Foundation (Council of Europe) :www.coe.int/youth/. The EYF funds

international youth projects (minimum 4 European partner countries).

European Mobility Fund (Council of Europe): www.coe.int/youth/. The Mobility Fund

pays rail travel for disadvantaged groups participating in international youth projects.

7

Salto Youth - Source:https://www.salto- youth.net/rc/inclusion/inclusionresources/inclusiongroups/inclusionrural/inclusion-ruralfunding/


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Leader +:http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rur/leaderplus/index_en.htm. Leader+ is designed

to help rural actors improve the long-term potential of their local region. Projects need to

fall within specific priorities granted to specific countries. Sometimes there is a youth

focus in these projects. Interreg: www.interact-eu.int. Interreg is financed by the European development fund for

social cohesion and supports cross border trans-national and interregional cooperation.

Maybe your region is part of an Interreg project.

European Cultural Foundation: www.eurocult.org. ECF is an independent non-profit

organisation that promotes cultural cooperation in Europe and gives funding for projects

with a strong cultural component e.g. concerts, theatre,...

National Endowment Fund for Democracy: http://www.ned.org/apply-for-grant/en/ grants projects aiming at boosting up youth participation and promoting youth participation in

peacebuilding processes.

Rotary & Lyons Clubs: www.rotary.org & www.lionsclubs.org. These are associations of

professionals that sometimes give money to projects which answer the needs that

challenge communities around the world.

Embassies & Cultural Institutes: Some Embassies and cultural institutes (e.g. Goethe

Institut, British Council, Alliance Française) are actively involved in supporting local

projects in different countries.

Visegrad Fund: www.visegradfund.org. Provides funding for cooperation projects

between the Visegrad countries: Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

Nordic Council: www.norden.org. The Nordic Council funds projects with a Nordic

dimension

Different foundations: Find an overview of foundations at Funders Online

www.fundersonline.org. Funders Online is an initiative of theEuropean Foundation Centre

www.efc.be/projects/orpheus/. The EFC promotes and supports the work of foundations

and corporate funders in Europe.

Banks sometimes have foundations that fund projects e.g. la Caixa in Spain

Corporate social responsibility: www.csreurope.org. Companies supporting social projects

or civic society. CSR Europe regroups over 60 multinational corporations as members.

Velux Foundation: http://veluxfoundations.dk/en supports projects aiming at investing in

youth potential, namely on youth inclusion and providing social services.


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Additional funding resources are available in the T-Kit on Funding & Financial

Management at www.youth-partnership.net or www.SALTO-YOUTH.net/Toolbox/ and also

available via Eurodesk - www.eurodesk.org.


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Conclusions and recommendations – the best practices

The project „Youth activities for democracy”, project that had as main activity an

exchange of experiences and good practices in order to come up with efficient methodologies to

work with youngsters in order to boost up their public participation in the public sphere was an

excellent opportunity both for the Romanian and for the Norwegian organizations to identify new

practices that could be replicated in their working communities. For CSCD, the visit and the

documentation study were essential to planning the new activities and to continue investing in the

development of the youth community organizing activities. For MH, the project was also an

opportunity to scale up the models used in Norway to other communities with a different social

and cultural profile.

The European policies and measures on empowering youth participation had been

integrated to the current study in order to draw the European framework in the field, the authors

trying as well to find the transfer mechanisms of the European processes to the local level. If in

Norway the authorities are investing in the local projects and initiatives and are better structuring

the dialogue mechanisms with young people, in Romania, the activities of the youth

organizations are basically providing the services that the authorities are failing in providing.

Analyzing the main documents on youth participation offered the partners the opportunity

to reflect upon the existent documents and programmes that could support the development of

local projects and initiatives. Consequently, the partners identified a range of granting

opportunities and also the methodologies that could be transferred at the local level. At the end of

the study visit, it was concluded that the path dependency strongly influences the current state of

the local youth participation framework in the two communities. Keeping in mind that the two

organizations came from totally different communities – a rural and an urban one, with different

cultural and social aspects, different cultural frameworks, common challenges are faced when it

comes to including youth people with fewer opportunities. Both for the Norwegian and for the

Romanian partners, developing projects and initiatives for young people with difficult economic

and social background is a priority. If the Norwegian partner has the opportunity to get the

initiatives granted by the local authorities, the Romanian partner is also challenged by the lack of

access to funding from the local authorities, trying nowadays to access the resources of the

private donors.


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The good practices identified at the European level and in other projects granted by EEA

are extremely useful for the two partners. Both for CSCD and for MH, running Caravans with a

youth-led dimension and initiating youth journalism projects are to be piloted in 2016/2017.

With the support of Norsensus (Oslo, Norway), the two partners are currently reflecting upon

better integrating the social media tools into the current youth activities.

During the study visit, the following recommendations had been drawn up by the youth

workers:

The local authorities should increase the role of the youth’s structures in the

decision- making process,

Public consultations and periodic public debates with the youngsters should be held,

Special programmes in the departments of the local authorities where the youngsters

could have special traineeship sessions,

Special pro-active measures to empower the youth participation in the rural areas,

Developing other mechanisms for young people to initiate their own programmes

for the community development.

At the end of the project, the following initiatives had been planned by the two partners:

Developing an application for a Seminar – Erasmus +, Key Action 1 – where

youth workers would come and share their experiences on working with young

people from the ethnic communities

Organizing a youth exchange for rural youth from Giubega village Romania and

the young people with fewer opportunities part of MH programmesIdentifying an opportunity to continue working on developing new tools and

methodologies to boost up youth participation in transnational partnerships –

including the international partners of CSCD and MH.


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