A-B-C-De-mo-cra-cy International training course Bulgaria

Democracy, equality, peace and dignity should not be empty words in our civic and political vocabulary. They should bring meanings that could be transferred into action to build a better future and more equal Europe.

For the past years, we have experienced that our societies are in crisis, and one of these crises is the crisis of representative democracy. Often, this crisis results into the rise of extreme movements and anti-humane ideologies where migrants, refugees, ethnic and religious minorities, people with different cultural and sexual identities are scapegoated.

In this context, we need to work for strengthening democratic reflexes and to foster the understanding of peace, equality, solidarity and justice. From the perspective of the youth field, the bottom-up approach is one of the most powerful ways. By democratising our communities and the youth organisations we could work for democratising the societies we live in, and consequently - Europe. 

Civil society organisations, including youth organisations, play an important role in forming social perceptions and trends. Adopting the democratic values by youth organisations is the way to influence the civic processes positively and make them reflect the diversity and richness of our society. Promoting Deliberative democracy and Inclusive models of co-creation would be an adequate response to the extreme social and political movements, alongside the growing societal alienation and marginalisation.

A-B-C-De-mo-cra-cy is an educational pathway for motivated and passionate youth workers and volunteers that gives the possibility to go deeper into the values, concepts and effective mechanisms in order to ensure youth participation through active dialogue and cooperation, but also through effectively taking part in decision-making processes in their local, regional, national and European context.