(Re)discovering Europe with young people

How can youth workers and youth leaders bring Europe closer to young people and support their active citizenship in the European context?

Young people have always had an important role in creating the future of Europe. Looking back at the European history, often it has been the young people who have been the driving force of many new developments, ideas and lifestyles, which have shaped Europe profoundly, and changed it for the better. At the same time when young people have given their energy and enthusiasm for Europe, Europe has provided many opportunities and adventures for them to discover who they are as Europeans and how they can relate and contribute to the societies they live in.

Many young people today however have difficulties connecting with Europe as a part of their civic identity. For some, Europe feels distant, because they have not had any meaningful experiences connected to it. Some others feel disillusioned, as the vision of unified Europe based on the shared values of human rights, equality, and democracy has been increasingly put under question in the past years.  To secure the past achievements of peace and social cohesion in Europe, there is a need to revive the feeling of Europe as an opportunity for growth for its young people and a context for active citizenship.

How can youth workers and youth leaders motivate contemporary young people to get interested and inspired by Europe, and to feel that the European society and its citizens’ common efforts matter?

This activity invites youth workers from different countries to discover together ways and approaches to address Europe with young people, learn more about the topic and network with like-minded colleagues for future projects. To support the process, the participants will have a chance to go through and online course “Europe and Young People: How Citizenship Works in the European Context” developed by the organisers on this topic. The online course will be piloted with the participants of this activity and also give them a chance to contribute to the upgraded version of the course, which will be launched in early 2020.

The activity will:

• encourage the discovery, testing and reflection on the approaches and methods for youth workers and youth leaders to motivate young people to get interested in Europe and citizenship in the European content;
• provide opportunities for acquiring competences to address the topic of Europe meaningfully with young people;
• provide space for networking of organisations interested in future cooperation on promoting Europe as an opportunity for young people.

Target group:

Youth workers and youth leaders who:

• are working regularly with young people at the local level;
• are interested in discovering, testing and reflecting educational approaches and methods, in particular connected to the topics of Europe and citizenship;
• are interested in international cooperation in the frame of the Erasmus+ Programme in the field of youth and / or European Solidarity Corps with a purpose of motivating young people to get interested in Europe and citizenship in the European context;
• Can communicate effectively in English;
• Are 18 years or above.

Preparatory work and the programme of activities:

The participants will have a chance to familiarise themselves with the pilot version of the online course “Europe and Young People: How Citizenship Works in the European Context”. During the activity the participants will have a chance to work together on developing methods and approaches related to the topic in cooperation with their colleagues and with the help of the facilitators. Inputs on the topic will be provided and there will also be space for networking for international projects.

Team:

The activity will be implemented by two experienced facilitators:

• Laimonas Ragauskas (Lithuania) and
• Rok Primožič (Slovenia) 

in cooperation with the organisers.

More information about the context of the online course is available at https://www.salto-youth.net/rc/see/activities/active-european-citizenship-and-identity/citizenshipeurope/