SALTO-Youth Participation - EuroMed Youth Programme IV

Salto youth participation 

Table of 

contents 

magazine 2010 

Youth on the Move 02 

Stop Poverty Now 04 

fight against Poverty 06 

2009 You have a choice ! 08 

Democrazy In Action 10 

From Boom to Bust 12 

areas of Co-responsibility 14 

Youth Media for Europe 16 

think about the future 19 

Demonstrate Democracy ! 20 

In You Com 24 

FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS IN THEIR CITIES 26 

ECOCITIZENs 29 

DO you have the entrepreunarial spirit 30 

Europa Reading 33 

A big step for youth participation 34 

10th anniversary of SALTO network 36 

You(th) for human rights 38 

SALTO-YOUTH PARTICIPATION 41 

A GOOD CONNECTION 42

FOREWORD 

Youth 

on 

the 

Move 

SALTO-Youth 

Participation 

coordinator 

As I’m writing these lines, the schools 

are ready to re-open their doors for children 

all around Europe. A new school 

year is starting and I’m wondering if 

these young people who are carrying 

their school bags in the streets of the 

European Capital are anxious for their 

future or are they more optimistic and 

thinking that the World is theirs and 

that the sky is their limit It’s difficult 

to get a definite answer as the realities 

are so complex and diverse. However, 

and generally speaking, we can 

notice that European countries which 

have been fairly prosperous for a long 

time are now facing huge challenges due 

to the economic crisis and the need to 

adapt to a rapidly changing World. If 

we refer to the statistics, young people 

seem to be more vulnerable as, for 

instance, more than 5.5 million young 

people in the EU under 25 were unemployed 

in December 2009 and one in 

five young people live in risk of Poverty. 

The European Union is trying to tackle 

this issue by setting up a strategy to 

promote smart and sustainable growth 1 

with a specific focus on youth, through 

the flagship “Youth on the Move”, 

which defines young people as “human 

capital” which needs specific investment. 

Furthermore, the renewed European 

framework 2 for cooperation in the 

youth field is intending both to propose 

measures to overcome difficulties such as 

poverty and unemployment and to raise 

awareness of the importance of young 

people as a capital resource for the future. 

In this context, youth work and 

non formal education are acknowledged 

and further promoted. So, their recognition 

seems to be going a step further ! 

To support this reflective work, the 

projects presented in this issue illustrate 

very well the potential of the 

Youth in Action projects in implementing 

the specific objectives set up 

in the new EU strategy for Youth. 

Indeed, through Youth Initiative 

and Youth Democracy projects, youth 

groups from different countries have 

been able to develop activities close to 

their concerns, and which have also resulted 

in some concrete achievements in 

the fields of participation, social inclusion 

and creativity. For instance, some 

projects were aimed at making young 

people’s voices heard during the elections, 

another was encouraging creativity 

through the use of youth media, 

and another provided training opportunities 

for young people to obtain new 

skills which can support their employability 

and entrepreneurial spirit. 

Furthermore, the support measures 

implemented by different stakeholders, 

such as National Agencies, also have 

their importance in this context. Indeed, 

they create opportunities for learning 

and networking with the aim of supporting 

young people to make the best 

use of their projects and experiences. 

So to come back to my first questions, 

I still don’t know if young people 

should be anxious or optimistic 

about the future, but it is clear that 

they have a prominent position in 

the European political agenda and 

that the combination of efforts from 

the institutions and the youth field in 

general can create a World of opportunities, 

and that is encouraging. 

1 EU 2020 : Youth on the Move 

2 

“A New EU Strategy for Youth - Investing and 

Empowering” 

3 

SALTO-Youth Firework 2010 “The Power of 

Non-formal Learning in Education, Training, Employment 

and Entrepreneurship”. 

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the 

SALTO-Youth network in 2010 

More concretely, we must be aware 

that the implementation of the Youth in 

Action programme will certainly be influenced 

by this policy development. In 

accordance with the reflection begun last 

May in Paris 3 , practitioners and youth 

leaders should further examine whether 

this process, which defines eight fields 

of action, matches the reality of their 

lives, and how they can benefit from it. 

FATIMA LAanAN 

Coordinator 

SALTO-Youth Participation 

Contact 

participation@salto-youth.net 

Belgium, Brussels 

09.2010 

2

Institutionnal point of view 

Stop 

Poverty 

Now 

Poverty means living with humiliation 

and scarcity 

Poverty is a lack of opportunities to 

participate in society and a lack of 

expectations for the future 

The children of those excluded have 

fewer opportunities to integrate 

successfully 

Poverty entails costs such as loss of 

talent, health problems, education 

issues and increased social tension 

Belgium, Brussels 

09.2010 

4 

These are only a few of the views 

expressed at the conference opening 

the ‘2010 European Year for Combating 

Poverty and Social Exclusion’ 

in Madrid on 21st January 2010. 

This event brought together speakers 

from a variety of fields : political 

actors, NGOs, social partners as well 

as people experiencing poverty and 

social exclusion in their daily lives. 

The Europe-wide campaign ‘Stop 

Poverty Now’ has the ambitious goal of 

raising awareness of the many forms of 

poverty and stressing the right of people 

living in poverty to play a full part in 

society. It also aims to encourage actors 

active in this field to combine forces in 

the struggle against poverty and social 

exclusion by building partnerships. 

Europe is still one of the world’s most 

prosperous regions. The European social 

model, encompassing social welfare, 

social and cohesion policies, universal 

health systems and free education for 

all, is part of the foundation and deeply 

rooted identity of the European Union. 

However, despite all the efforts so far, 

not everyone can fully exploit the opportunities 

it offers : one in six Europeans, 

or 80 million people, currently live 

below the poverty line, calculated as 

60 % of the median national income. 

The Youth in Action programme is 

open to disadvantaged youngsters in 

particular : in 2008, this group accounted 

for 30 % of participants. Participation 

in the programme has in many 

cases helped them find their place in 

society and make their voices heard. 

The Youth in Action projects have also 

made their mark on other participants, 

raising their awareness of the fact that 

some people in our society are disadvantaged. 

This has strengthened their 

solidarity and commitment to social 

inclusion, as professed by 77 % of the 

young respondents to the Commission 

survey on the impact of the Youth in Action 

programme, carried out in 2010. 

The Youth in Action programme is 

one among other EU schemes such as 

the European Social Fund, the Progress 

programme, the European Globalisation 

Adjustment Fund, and many 

others designed to fight poverty and 

prepare a brighter future for Europe. 

Pascal LEJEUNE 

Head of Unit 

European Commission 

Directorate-General for Education and Culture 

Youth in Action programme

Institutionnal point of view 

fight 

against 

Poverty 

the Council of Europe 

contribution 

FRANCE, Strasbourg 

10.05.2010 

6 

Ever since it was founded in 1949 with its headquarters 

in Strasbourg, France, the Council of 

Europe has sought to defend the basic principles of 

democracy, human rights and the rule of law. And 

social rights are human rights. These principles 

have become a way of thinking and working for 

the whole of the European continent now that no 

fewer than 47 States have been admitted to the 

Organisation, thus covering practically the whole of 

geographical Europe. 

What started as a financial crisis in 

2008 has indeed become a crisis of the 

real economy affecting workers, families 

and households. Its social impact was 

important and it continues to grow : job 

losses; wages declining; social spending 

affected; houses lost. Again, the weakest 

and the most vulnerable – those 

who should be protected by the Council 

of Europe first and foremost - are 

the most affected. Poverty grows. It 

deprives human beings of their dignity 

and self-esteem and therefore constitutes 

a barrier to human progress, a barrier 

to the enjoyment of human rights. 

Poverty also means vulnerability and 

a lack of voice, power and representation. 

It is also a barrier to democracy. 

It is to be noted that poverty is not a 

phenomenon in a distant world, it exists 

right here in the middle of Europe. 

The crisis has shown that poverty is no 

longer a marginal problem of a few, but 

a sore and intolerable reality for many. 

It strikes men and women, the young 

and the elderly, the unemployed and 

the working poor. Within the European 

Union alone, 80 million European 

citizens are threatened with poverty. 

What can the Council of Europe 

contribute to redress the situation 

The Council of Europe reiterates the 

importance of human rights and democracy 

in a frame of social justice. 

Human rights are a precondition for 

developing a socially cohesive and fair 

society. This includes recognising the 

dignity of all individuals regardless of 

their ability to meet their own needs. 

The European Social Charter, which 

has been drafted as a complement to 

the European Convention on Human 

Rights. is very clear about it. Article 

30 of the Charter guarantees protection 

against poverty and social exclusion 

and should remain, in all circumstances, 

the guiding principle for the 

governments of our 47 member States. 

Several initiatives have been taken 

by the Council of Europe’s European 

Committee for Social Cohesion to help 

the poor to address the consequences 

of the crisis. In the field of empowering 

people experiencing extreme poverty 

and improving the situation of low-income 

workers, major policy guidelines 

have been drafted. (Guidelines were 

adopted by the Committee of Ministers 

on 5 May 2010) They invite members 

States to stop the increasing number of 

low-income workers. Work should be 

synonymous with dignity. Labour markets 

must not be split into two distinct 

groups : well-protected, correctly paid 

jobs versus underpaid, often undignified 

or dangerous jobs, that make people 

vulnerable. Even in times of crisis 

people should experience more than just 

a continued cycle of unemployment or 

precarious employment. With regard to 

people experiencing extreme poverty, 

the guidelines stress that a paradigm 

shift is necessary. Rather than focusing 

attention on income deprivation, 

a multidimensional concept of poverty 

and development which emphasizes 

participation, individual freedoms 

and human rights, should be adopted 

as a strong reference for policies. 

In the field of social security, a recent 

report concluded that while deregulation 

and privatisation had become 

the norm over the past 20 years, it 

was the governments who rescued the 

economy. In doing so, governments 

have shown that they can still offer the 

best remedies in case of unexpected 

events. The report also draws attention 

to the fact that the social security 

nets were paramount in cushioning 

the effect of the social consequences 

of the crisis and calls for a slowdown 

of the privatisation of social security. 

In order to discuss the social consequences 

of the economic crisis and the 

challenges faced by social cohesion in 

today’s Europe, Russia took an initiative 

to convene a Conference of Ministers 

responsible for social cohesion 

in Moscow in February 2009. It was 

the first ever conference of this kind. 

In 2012, Turkey will host the second 

Ministerial Conference. The Ministers 

asked to review the Council of Europe 

Strategy for Social Cohesion and to prepare 

a Social Cohesion Action Plan. 

The new Social Cohesion Strategy is 

based on four pillars showing the importance 

of social cohesion for promoting 

the core values of our Organisation. For 

instance, the pillar Reinvesting in social 

rights is about human rights. The pillar 

Building a Europe of shared responsibilities 

is about democracy, as is the pillar 

Strengthening democratic decision making 

and expanding social dialogue and 

civic engagement. These three pillars 

directly lead to the fourth one – Building 

confidence in a common and secure 

future, embracing all the three core values. 

The Action Plan for Social Cohesion 

complements the Strategy. If the Strategy 

can be considered as a kind of philosophy 

of social cohesion, the Action Plan 

is an efficient practical tool defining a list 

of concrete policy actions to be taken by 

member states to put their political commitment 

to social cohesion into practice. 

In conclusion, the Council of Europe 

response to increasing poverty is 

to build on a cohesive society. Such a 

society would not only be fairer, but 

also make democracies more stable. 

Karl-Friedrich Bopp 

Head of the Social Cohesion Policy and Standards 

Division 

Directorate General of Social Cohesion 

Council of Europe 

Link 

www.coe.int/t/dg3 

Photo © 

Christophe Smets 

to put political 

c 

o 

M M 

i 

T 

m 

e 

n 

T 

into practice 

7

GOOD PRACTICE 1.3 

2009 

You have a 

choice ! 

ErstWählerProjekt 

Beneficiary 

Young adults in vocational training or doing military 

service, young people with fewer opportunities 

(social, economic and geographical obstacles, 

educational difficulties and/or disabilities) 

mainly between the ages of 18 and 22 

Partnership 

Germany : 

Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Thüringen, 

State Agency for Civic Education Thuringia, 

European Youth Education and Meeting Center 

Weimar (EJBW) 

Poland : 

Marschal’s Office of the Malopolska Region, 

Polish-German Society, Krakow 

Budget 

Ca. 100 000 Euro 

Link 

www.du-hast-2009-die-wahl.de 

Contact 

Siebel@jfemail.de 

WE 

VOTE 

Brief description 

2009 was the year when inhabitants 

of Thuringia were asked four times to 

elect their political representatives for 

the municipal council, regional parliament 

(Landtag), national parliament 

(Bundestag) and the European Parliament. 

In its Polish partner region – 

Malopolska, as well as in all of the EU 

countries, elections for the European 

Parliament were also taking place. 

30 young people from Germany and 

Poland were qualified in an on-going 

training course to run interactive workshops 

on the topic of the importance 

of participation in a democratic society 

and political issues concerning the upcoming 

elections. Workshops in vocational 

training centres and schools took 

place in four phases (three in Germany 

and one in Poland) following the elections. 

The workshops were followed 

by discussion forums with politicians 

representing all the democratic parties 

running for election. Besides schools, 

the workshops , also took place in a 

reformatory, a centre for people with 

disabilities, youth clubs, army barracks 

and a municipality town hall. 

The project was accompanied by 

a cartoon-postcard and poster campaign 

“We vote !”. There was also 

a website and various publications 

published in both of the languages. 

• Discussion on the meaning of 

elections and active participation 

in a democratic society 

• Young people should understand 

the way local, regional, national and 

European politics function and how 

they influence everyone’s daily lives 

• Encourage critical analysis of politics 

and development of own opinion 

on current issues, and provide the 

young people with the basic knowledge 

to make this analysis possible 

• Debate extreme-right and antidemocratic 

arguments 

• Qualification of multipliers in the 

field of non-formal civic education 

Pitfalls / difficulties 

• Since not all of the multipliers were 

active in all the phases of the project, 

continuity and the ability to call on 

previous experiences about contents 

and methods of the workshops were 

sometimes missing (a mid-term evaluation 

seminar would be recommended). 

• Development of concrete strategies 

about dealing with participants 

with an extreme-right background 

was underestimated. 

• Verbal agreements with contact 

persons at schools / organisations 

about the framework of the 

workshops were not always clear 

and caused misunderstandings. 

GERMANY, Thuringia 

POLAND, Malopolska 

01.12.2009 — 31.10.2010 

8 

! 

9 

How did your idea come up 

State Agency for Civic Education 

Thuringia was running a similar project 

but on a much smaller scale before 

the previous elections in the region. 

Evaluation and research accompanying 

the project have proven to be a big 

success. The project run in 2009 was 

intended to be bigger, more professional, 

and include the international 

aspect of cooperation with Poland. 

Objectives 

• Increased turnout of young people, 

especially those having 

the chance to vote for the first 

time, in the coming elections 

Strong points 

• Over 6000 young people participated 

in the workshops in various locations 

in Malopolska and in Thuringia 

• Work with a target group which 

only seldom participates in civic 

education projects 

• Bringing civic education and politics 

to schools where there is 

no social studies curriculum 

• Aspect of peer-to-peer education 

– training of 30 young multipliers 

who run the workshops 

• Intercultural Polish-German 

context of the project 

• Dialogue with politicians who 

participated in discussion forums 

with young people

Support measures 

Democrazy 

In 

Action 

Beneficiary 

Instituto de la Juventud - “Injuve” 

Partnership 

Spanish NA - Instituto de la Juventud - 

“Injuve” 

c/José Ortega y Gasset 71 - E-28006 Madrid, Spain 

Austrian NA - Österreichische Agentur 

“Jugend in Aktion” 

Lindengasse 41/10 - 1070 Wien, Austria 

Bulgarian NA - Национален център - 

“Европейски младежки програми и инициативи” 

бул. “Цариградско шосе” 

n°125, блок 5 - София 1784, Bulgaria 

Polish NA - Narodowa Agencja Programu 

“Młodzież w działaniu” 

Ul. Mokotowska 43 - IV p.00551 Warszawa, Poland 

Turkish NA - Avrupa Birliği Eğitim ve Gençlik 

Programları Merkezi Başkanlığı 

Hüseyin Rahmi Sok. n°2 - Çankaya,Turkey 

German NA - Jugend für Europa 

Godesberger Allee 142-148 - D-53175 Bonn, 

Germany 


The main aim of this training course 

focused on fostering the understanding 

of Youth in Action democracy projects 

as well as enhancing the quality of these 

projects. The Training Course (TC) was 

aimed at multiplying 1.3 projects. Therefore 

the participants were encouraged to 

develop ideas for projects in this Action. 

Moreover, the TC offered the opportunity 

to explore different means 

and ways of understanding democracy, 

active citizenship and participation. 

In general, the trainers worked with 

non-formal learning methods; there 

were different approaches to discuss 

and explore the issues. The group of 

participants was involved in youth 

work at a local or grass roots level. 


Due to a call for participants at 

quite short notice (for different reasons) 

it was hard to find participants. 

So in the end we had a very heterogenious 

group in terms of experience, 

expectations and language level. 

During the training course we had 

planned several talks with representatives 

of NGOs and municipalities. This 

was important in order to make the 

topic of civic education and democracy 

projects more tangible. On the 

other hand, having appointments with 

externals is tricky in terms of group 

dynamics and learning processes, because 

the trainers cannot be as flexible 

in adapting parts of the programme. 

Strong points 

A training course on 

democracy, citizenship & 

active participation 

exploring the 

opportunities of 

Action 1.3 of the Youth 

in Action Programme 

Budget 

The Spanish NA covered all costs concerning accommodation 

and training material. 

Participants’ travel costs were covered by their 

respective NAs. 

National Agencies (NA) 

Contact 

natal@bitex.com 


The idea came as a result of our interests 

in topics such as civic education 

and participation, youth involvement 

in the life of society. We discussed 

the fact that democracy projects are 

underrepresented in some programme 

countries. “Democrazy in Action” was 

our Training Course Project during the 

SALTO Training of Trainers 2008/09. 

Objectives 

• to develop topics and ideas 

for 1.3 projects 

• to multiply Action 1.3 Youth 

Democracy projects 

• to provide general information and an 

understanding of democracy projects 

• to explore and understand active 

(youth) participation and citizenship 

• to acquire project management 

and communication skills 

• to build a basis for developing 

qualitative projects 

The initial phase of the training 

course, as well as the pre-TC-task to 

make a one minute video to express 

and present the topic “Democracy at 

home”, prepared a good start and laid 

the basis for (some of) the participants 

to cooperate during the course and 

beyond. The Participants developed 

strategies for communication with municipalities 

through a participatory approach. 

In general, methods with strong 

interaction among the participants or 

between participants and the trainers 

worked very well. Concerning the topics 

of the TC, especially participation 

and citizenship, the participants got an 

idea and understanding of the concepts. 

NONformal 

learning 

methods 

Spain, Málaga 

01.06.2009 — 06.06.2009 

10 

11


From 

Boom to 

Bust 

Beneficiary 

The Young people are all between 16-18 in the core 

group and the young people that the group are peer 

leading are between 10 and 15. 

Partnership 

We are linking with Newbury House, a community 

arts centre in Cork. Patricia, a volunteer from Columbia, 

is working with the drama group helping to 

prepare them for their performance in the “Global 

Fest” on the 26th of June. 

The music group has also been asked to perform on 

the 19th at the local bonfire festival and the drama 

group has been asked to perform in St Luke’s Home 

for the elderly in early June. Through these links and 

partnerships the group is gaining an intercultural 

experience and getting different perspectives on the 

work it is creating. 

Budget 

Ca. 10 000 Euro 

Contact 

denise.cahalane@Foroige.ie 


At the moment exam pressure is slowing 

down the process, but we’re hoping 

the June holidays will create the 

space the young people need to practise 

as a whole group. There are many 

different levels within the two groups 

and the joining of the two groups for a 

joint performance is proving difficult. 

enhance 

employment opportunities 



being young in Recessionary times 

IRELAND 

02.2009 — 07.2009 

12 

The members of the Youth Café are 

working towards building a performance 

on the theme of Poverty and how 

the recession is impacting upon their 

lives. for “Global Fest” in June. 

The group has divided into two as 

they learn drama and music skills. The 

boys’ group is learning music skills, 

including drums, guitar, keyboard, performance 

and song writing. They are individually 

learning how to play and they 

are now beginning to consolidate their 

learning by working more as a group 

and producing a cd together. The girls 

are learning drama skills and, through 

group discussions on the theme of poverty 

and the recession, they are writing 

and improvising their story which will 

be performed for the public. The music 

and drama group is gaining experience 

in mentoring, as it includes the younger 

members of the project in its performance 

whilst teaching them the skills 

they have learned in the workshops. 

This important dimension has meant 

that all the young people are active 

learners thoughout the whole process. 

It is also a powerful opportunity for 

them in the future as they can reference 

the project on their CV and acknowledge 

the new skills they are learning. 

The group was interested in learning 

music and drama skills and was easily 

able to identify with the theme of poverty, 

which complimented the youth in 

action priorities. Individuals were able 

to reflect on their own stories about 

friends and family and how the recession 

is impacting upon their lives. 

Objectives 

• To promote active citizenship locally 

and to connect these issues globally 

• To build self confidence through 

learning drama and music skills 

• To build the ability to work together 

as a group and with others 

in the community 

• To be able to freely and openly 

share their ideas and experiences 

of the recession and its impact on 

themselves and their community. 

• To experience and understand 

cultural diversity 

Strong points 

13 

The trip to Delphi was amazing and 

created a strong group dynamic. The 

girls’ drama group led the boys in a 

drama workshop and the boys all took 

one girl each and taught them a music 

workshop. This was very successful 

and the confidence of the participants 

was greatly improved. It prepared them 

for the peer leadership element of the 

programme. The peer leadership with 

the younger participants is proving very 

fruitful and the older members are taking 

the challenge very seriously. Some of 

the members of the music group, who 

are a little scared of performing in front 

of their peers, are excelling in teaching 

younger members one to one. Both the 

drama and music group participants are 

gaining new skills such as facilitation 

skills, performance skills, communication 

skills which will enhance their employment 

opportunities for the future.

FOCUS 

areas of 

Co-respon- 

sibility 

Pilot project 

Context and background to the project 

The crisis we are going trough is 

more than financial and economic. It 

touches every area of the society. 

An ecological crisis in which natural 

resources are being used up, a 

social crisis in which there is a growing 

gap between people, and an increase 

in different forms of exclusion. 

Furthermore there is a deep crisis 

of confidence, a crisis of values and 

in the means of development which 

influence choices and decisions. 

While we measure progress since 

the 2 nd World War through our respective 

country’s gross domestic product 

(GDP), it is now necessary to think 

about this progress in terms of the 

well being of everyone without exclusion 

: this includes a reduction in the 

growing gap for future generations, 

a sharing of resources, social cohesion 

and sustainable development. 

This implies changing to a situation 

where the responsibility for 

progress lies with the Members states, 

the market and a “sense of co-responsibility 

» between all of us – public 

and private bodies and individuals. 

Definition 

The involvement of Mulhouse 

From its rich industrial history, Mulhouse 

has inherited the ability to involve 

different actors from the area to work 

together for the good of the community. 

This innovative process, proposed 

by the council of Europe, somehow 

reflects our history, our know-how 

and our ambitions which is why we 

have been involved in it since 2005. 

necessary 

changes 

15 

As newcomers to this approach, our 

experiences have been supported by 

the Council of Europe and a coordinating 

group of representatives from 

different public and private bodies. 

Together we have elaborated tools 

to measure the increase in the well being 

of citizens and set up various pilot 

projects on the theme of co-responsibility 

for the well being of everyone. 

The positive results of these pilot 

projects now serve as the basis for developing 

a plan of action for the well 

being of everyone in towns and districts 

through co-responsibility. 

International network for 

areas of co-responsibility 

The application of the co-responsibility 

approach in many places, both 

within and outside Europe, has led to 

the establishment of an international 

network for areas of co-responsibility 

thanks to an initial meeting, held 

in Mulhouse on the 25th September 

2009 and to the European “Urbact” 

programme project “Together for 

Territories of Co-responsability.” 

A charter of areas of co-responsibility 

details the common rules for 

the areas involved in this approach. 

An “area of co-responsibility” is an 

area – eg. a neighbourhood, municipality, 

collection of communes etc. in 

which there is a process of consultation 

to implement and realise new forms 

of “co-responsibility” amongst public 

and private bodies, and individuals, 

with a view to taking on the necessary 

changes for ensuring the well being 

of everyone, both at a local and global 

level (including future generations) 

in a spirit of inclusion and equality. 

Sébastien Houssin 

Ville de Mulhouse 

Direction de la Solidarité et Proximité (31) 

Coordinateur 

« Mulhouse : territoire de coresponsabilité » 

Links 

www.mulhouse.fr 

www.spiral.cws.coe.int 

Contact 

sebastien.houssin@mulhouse-alsace.fr 

Video 

www.telecampus.fr/archives.phpannee 

=2008&video=1 

FRANCE, Mulhouse 

25.09.2010 

14



Media for 

Europe 

The Youth Media for Europe initiative was 

European Movement Ireland’s first experience of a 

Youth Democracy project 

and it was a uniquely rewarding one. 

IRELAND 

07.2009 — 12.2009 

16 

Youth Media for Europe was an allisland 

initiative supported by a partnership 

of organisations, including 

ourselves, European Movement Ireland 

and Irish Youth Media Development 

from the Republic of Ireland; 

Old Museum Arts Centre and Youth 

Action Northern Ireland from Northern 

Ireland; and of course, Léargas. 

The objective of the project was 

to recruit and train a team of young 

people between the ages of 17 and 25 

from all over the island of Ireland who 

would undergo intensive media and 

journalism training to become the official 

online youth correspondents for 

the European Parliament elections of 

2009. The goal of the project was to 

empower this team of young people 

to provide a genuine youth perspective 

and analysis on the elections. 

After an intensive selection process, 

we selected the final team of youth correspondents 

from over 150 applications. 

These young people were then invited 

to participate in a two-day media and 

journalism training course in Dublin, 

which took place in the Google headquarters. 

Following this training, the 

team of young people set out on the 

campaign trail as an official youth press 

corps, reporting on the European elections 

for their own European Parliament 

constituency. We helped and facilitated 

the team in every way we could, and 

they enjoyed full access to press conferences, 

political debates and other 

events. The team reported online to a 

dedicated blog where they documented 

their experiences and posted regular 

reports, including video reports. 

Ultimately, the goal of the project was 

not just to channel the youth perspective 

on the elections, giving a voice to 

young people all over the island of Ireland, 

but also to create a popular forum 

that would engage a much wider youth 

audience. We hoped that the Youth 

Media for Europe project would have 

a multiplier effect, and would reach 

out beyond the group of young people 

that directly participated. We hoped 

for a galvanising effect, allowing for 

younger generations all over the island 

of Ireland to become more active and 

empowered by an understanding of 

their political environment, the mass 

media, and their role as active citizens. 

One of our integral goals with Youth 

Media for Europe was to ensure that 

the youth participants had the opportunity 

to become actively engaged in 

their community through youth-toyouth 

outreach. Members of the team 

met with youth groups in various places 

around the country to speak to other 

young people about their experiences. 

In the final phase of the project, a core 

team of the journalists also undertook 

a process of reflection and analysis as 

they put together their youth report. 

This report documented the experiences 

of the journalists, and in particular 

their findings and recommendations 

for both young people and stakeholders. 

The Youth Media for Europe report 

is available online. We launched this 

report in February in European Union 

house, where a panel discussed the issue 

of youth engagement with media and 

politics. This report was disseminated to 

politicians and stakeholders in Ireland 

to ensure that the recommendations of 

the young people were widely heard. 

T…r…a…d…i…t…i…o… 

n…a…l…l…y… …V…i… 

e…w…e…d… …A…s… 

…A… …B…o…r…i…n… 

g… …S…u…b…j…e… 

c…t… … … … … … … 

… … … … … … … … … 

… … … … … … … … … 

17 

Youth Media for Europe was a valuable 

experience for us on so many levels. 

As a successful Youth Democracy 

project, our organisation had the opportunity 

to develop a programme that 

would have the potential to mark the 

beginning of a movement. For the young 

people involved, Youth Media for Europe 

offered opportunities that even we 

never envisioned at the beginning. One 

of our ejournalists represented Ireland 

at the Swedish Presidency Conference 

on the Future of EU Cooperation in the 

Youth Field. Other Youth Media for 

Europe journalists attended the European 

Economic and Social Committee 

press officers’ conference in Brussels, 

and one of our journalists even attended 

the press event welcoming US Secretary 

of State Hillary Clinton to Dublin ! 

European Movement Ireland would 

like to thank all of our partners, and 

especially our Project Officer in Léargas, 

Lorraine Gilligan, who was always 

on hand to offer her support to 

help us maximise the creative potential 

of Youth Media for Europe. 

My Vision for Europe 

European Movement Ireland’s second 

Youth Democracy project is the 

“My Vision for Europe Schools Competition”. 

This project actually has its 

roots in another schools competition in 

Ireland run by the National Forum on 

Europe, the “EYou Schools Competition”. 

With the announcement that the 

Forum on Europe was to close in 2009, 

European Movement Ireland brought 

together an exploratory group of organisations 

to take on the challenge of 

keeping this competition alive. Before 

long, our partnership had expanded to 

become all-island and now includes, 

ourselves, European Movement Ireland; 

the Office of the European Parliament 

in Ireland; the Michael Sweetman Trust; 

the European Studies Programme; and 

Community Relations in Schools (CRIS). 

“My Vision for Europe” is an allisland 

schools competition that aims to 

challenge students to get creative in the 

way that they think about the European 

Union and what it means to them. 

Using You Tube and the My Vision for 

Europe website, teams of up to 25 students 

were challenged to produce and


direct their own short four-minute video 

outlining their ideas, views and vision 

for Europe. The teams were competing 

for a trip for their class to take part in 

the Euroscola programme in Strasbourg, 

offering them an insight into the workings 

of the European Parliament and to 

give them a sense of what it means to 

be a European citizen. This prize was 

awarded to both the winning team from 

the Republic of Ireland and the winning 

team from Northern Ireland. 

In an intensive day of judging in February, 

judges representing every partner 

organisation had the unenviable task 

of selecting the top videos from every 

European Parliament constituency to go 

forward to the final event in Dublin. 

On the 19 March, 88 students from 

all over the island of Ireland descended 

upon the Irish Film Institute in Dublin 

for the My Vision for Europe final 

event. At the finals, each team was challenged 

to introduce their short video 

with a presentation outlining for their 

peers the creative process that they had 

undergone in My Vision for Europe. 

The teams used storyboards, pictures 

and even music to tell us about their 

experiences ! The students then had the 

opportunity to see their video shown on 

the big screen of the Irish Film Institute 

– a very exciting experience for all. The 

judging panel was comprised of Francis 

Jacobs, Head of the European Parliament 

Office in Ireland, Alicia McGivern, 

Head of Education in the IFI, and special 

guest judge, Director, Kirsten Sheridan. 

Our ultimate goal with My Vision 

for Europe has always been to develop 

a schools project unlike any other, by 

venturing into the area of online media 

and promoting non-formal learning 

techniques. In this respect, My Vision 

for Europe was completely unique in 

Ireland as it presented what is traditionally 

viewed as a boring subject 

matter in a fresh and exciting way. 

What is perhaps the most important 

element of My Vision for Europe 

has always been the commitment to 

non-formal learning as the medium 

for unlocking creativity. We worked 

hard to incorporate non-formal learning 

techniques and to facilitate creative 

learning opportunities in every 

phase of the project. Each school 

received two guidance packs, a ‘Student 

Pack’ and a ‘Teacher Pack.’ These 

were packed full of ideas, tips and 

techniques for the teams to use in the 

project so as to maximise creativity 

and empower the young people to actively 

drive their own video projects. 

As a follow-up element of the competition, 

the My Vision for Europe Regional 

Roadshow was offered to every 

participating school. A team from My 

Vision for Europe went on the road, 

visiting schools with a creative and 

unique workshop. This workshop is a 

unique approach to exploring the idea 

of choice and responsibility in the decision 

making of the European Union. 

Implicit in the workshop is the concept 

of active citizenship, as the students 

were challenged to take on the role of 

various institutions and reach agreement 

on a piece of energy legislation. We 

have found this to be a highly rewarding 

experience with excellent learning 

opportunities for all participants. 

On behalf of all of our partners in My Vision for 

Europe, European Movement Ireland would like to 

say a huge thank you to Léargas, and in particular 

to our Project Officer Conor Darcy, who has always 

shown such enthusiasm for the project. 

Links 

For more information on My Vision for Europe, and 

to see the creative videos of the students, visit 

www.myvisionforeurope.com 

You can see the reports of the Youth Media for 

Europe journalists at : 

www.youthmediaforeurope.com 

The Youth Media for Europe report : 

www.europeanmovement.ie/fileadmin/files_emireland/Youth_Media_report_2010.pdf 

Contact 

billie@europeanmovement.ie 

18 

think 

about 

the future 

Forget the past 

Beneficiary 

Student parliament of Kosice 

Partnership 

CVC-Regional Youth Center Kosice Slovakia 

Student council of Miskolc Hungary 

Pedagogic institute of Miskolc Hungary 

Budget 

20 000 euros 

Contact 

danieljasan@gmail.com 

xenophobia 

Fight against 

Slovakia 

Hungary 

01.07.2009 — 01.09.2010 

19 


The main point of the project is to 

improve relationships between Slovakian 

and Hungarian people. We want to 

change the current situation, to change 

how young people see one another -with 

a racist, extremist or negative view. All 

of these things have been serious problems 

from history to the present time. 


We were at one training course where 

there were also people from south east 

Slovakia. Time after time they said that 

in their schools they had problems with 

racism, and nationalism, but we also 

saw the social situation in Slovakia. 

Objectives 

Opening discussions in high schools 

about racism and xenophobia. Realization 

of regular meetings between 

youngsters and experts on human 

rights and xenophobia. Realization 

of training course about democracy, 

active participation and european 

citizienship. Series of workshops the 

aim of which will be “Fight against 

xenophobia” in high schools. Mutual 

meeting of our parliaments using 

the European Parliament model. 

Giving an example of how cooporation 

between youngsters could be. 

Strong points 

First common meeting of all partners, 

bilateral youth exchanges, 

public lecture about nationalism, 

extremism and xenophobia. 


No difficulties

Support measures 1.3 

Demonstrate 

Democracy 

! 

Action 1.3 Youth Democracy projects were introduced 

as a new opportunity under the Youth in 

Action programme 2007-2013. Whilst an innovative 

and welcome introduction, it proved challenging for 

National Agencies and project promoters to translate 

the opportunity into actual projects. 

To support organisations to develop Youth Democracy 

projects and to increase the quantity and 

quality of project applications, Léargas, the Irish 

National Agency for the Youth in Action programme 

developed a two- step strategy for contact 

making and project development for Action 1.3 

Youth Democracy Projects. 

Step one involved National Agencies 

hosting a National Contact Making 

Seminar to support the development of 

partnerships on a national level and to 

prepare those partnerships formed to attend 

an International Contact Making 

Seminar together, planned for October 

2009 in Ireland. The National Contact 

Making Seminar would also act as a 

training opportunity, providing organisations 

the opportunity to explore ideas 

and areas of common interest, gain 

knowledge of Action 1.3 Youth Democracy 

Projects and develop partnerships. 

Step two involved the Irish National 

Agency hosting an International Contact 

Making Seminar for Action 1.3 to be attended 

by formed National partnerships. 

Step One : National Contact 

Making Seminar 

For the national contact making seminar, 

the Irish National Agency hosted 

a two day training session. The first 

day focused on information gathering, 

discussing and debating the subject of 

youth participation. A visit from Ballinasloe 

Youth Information Centre provided 

a concrete example of their youth 

democracy project in partnership with 

groups from Finland and Italy. This allowed 

participants to really focus on the 

positives and negatives, challenges and 

benefits of embarking on a Youth Democracy 

project. Day two of the seminar 

focused on skills in project management, 

developing project partnerships 

and starting the process of project ideas. 

Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats1 

was one method used to have a clear 

and concrete analysis of Youth Democracy 

projects. It allowed the participants 

to engage in full spectrum thinking, 

exploring all elements of the process to 

moving towards a real youth democracy 

project. The Thinking Hats all have a 

different colour representing different 

ways to think about a subject. Here are 

the questions asked using the Edward 

De Bono’s Thinking Hats method : 

At the end of day two, participants 

had a good knowledge of Action 1.3 

Youth Democracy projects, an insight 

into a real life project, skills to 

embark on managing a project with 

ideas presented to other members 

of the group. Individuals expressed 

their interest in specific project ideas 

and directed each other to suitable 

partnerships within their locality 

or region as a follow up action. 

Step Two : International Contact Making 

Seminar, Ireland October 2009. 

Preparations and national information 

days took part in each of the participating 

countries and October 2009 saw 27 

participants representing seven countries 

(Belgium (FL), Denmark, Finland, 

Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, and The 

Netherlands) meet in Dublin, Ireland. 

Their motivation for being present was 

the opportunity to develop Action 1.3 

Youth Democracy projects whilst meeting 

potential partner organisations. 

The participants represented 14 established 

National partnerships ready 

to develop Youth Democracy projects 

from project idea to application stage. 

Contact Making Seminar 

Participation and cooperation in this 

strategy included seven National Agencies, 

Belgium (FL), Denmark, Finland, 

Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, and the 

Netherlands to allow for a maximum of 

30 participants at the International Contact 

Making Seminar. The development 

and delivery of this process was supported 

by SALTO- Youth Participation. 

• White Hat : (Information and Facts) 

What do you know now about 

Youth Democracy Projects 

• Red Hat : (Feelings and Emotions) 

What do you feel now 

after today’s input 

• Black Hat : (Negatives, Challenges) 

At this point what are the negatives 

• Yellow Hat : (Positives, Benefits) 

At this point what positive 

potential is there 

• Green Hat : (Creativity, New 

Ideas) What creative ideas do 

you have at this point 

• Blue Hat : (Control of Process, 

Steps) Give some examples 

of “what next ” thoughts 

Contact Making Seminar Programme 

and methodology : 

The overall theme for the contact 

making seminar was dating, love, and 

engagement leading to a wedding, to 

emphasise that the goal of the seminar 

was to create solid partnerships and 

to add some fun to this central goal. 

Throughout the seminar, participants 

were provided with a booklet 

to support them day by day in the 

learning process, which by the end 

of the seminar would be completed 

with all their thoughts, project ideas, 

learning and project structure. 

Ireland, dublin 

14.10.2009 — 18.10.2009 

20

Day one – Wednesday 

So who is here and why 

The seminar started directly after 

lunch and was launched with an official 

speech from the Lord Mayor of Dublin 

City, Cllr Emer Costello. As with 

all contact making seminars, the most 

important thing is to get to know who 

is attending for the same reason and so 

the trainers started with some fun ice 

breakers. The second part of the afternoon 

led participants into the concept 

of youth participation by engaging in 

a moving debate and creative reflection 

on youth participation and democracy. 

The day finished with relaxing 

table talks where all present represented 

their organisations and discussed 

their initiatives, activities and experience 

in the field of Youth Participation. 

Day two – Thursday 

Information and facts 

Day two started with providing information 

on the Youth in Action programme, 

The European Youth Policy 

and how it links to Youth in Action 

activities presented by the Irish National 

Agency. SALTO- Youth Participation 

presented the current situation of Youth 

Democracy projects based on 2007 & 

2008 figures. Once participants had the 

information on facts, figures and criteria 

it was time to lighten the information 

overload and allow a current project 

to give their experience of setting up a 

Youth Democracy project. Two young 

people from Fishbowl Youth then presented 

their project as an example of a 

Youth Democracy Project. The afternoon 

saw the start of everyone getting 

actively involved in the process of 

developing project ideas. It started with 

reflecting and exploring the national 

partnerships and to think about basic 

elements of youth participation as the 

needs are also a first step towards Action 

1.3 project management. A variation of 

Edward De Bono’s six thinking hats was 

used for this part of the programme The 

day graduated into the busy and loud 

Dublin ‘intercultural’ market where the 

main product to be sold was the national 

partnership project idea. This also provided 

the opportunity for participants to 

share food and drinks from their locality 

and country as well as discuss their 

projects and find a suitable partner. 

Day three – Friday 

Day three mainly addressed matching 

partners. The day allowed participants 

to explore criteria for a quality 

partnership, time for negotiation, decision 

making on merging project ideas, 

international partnerships and defining 

a common project idea. All projects 

presented their possible partners and 

simmering project ideas to the group. 

Following the morning session which 

was very must a product orientated 

process of finding a partner, the seminar 

took some time to support teambuilding 

and the process of working together, 

reflecting on future project cooperation 

together. This activity involved each 

project partnership working with spaghetti 

and marshmallows to create a 

structure together that represented their 

project idea and team. It allowed for lots 

of discussion, laughter, frustration, and 

most importantly working together. Following 

an intensive couple of days the 

participants had the opportunity to enjoy 

Dublin city in the late afternoon and 

to strengthen their formed partnerships 

in a relaxed way. It also provided the opportunity 

for participants to discover the 

city and country they were working in. 

Day four – Saturday 

The final working day of the contact 

making seminar provided time, although 

limited, to work in the project idea 

groups finalising face to face preparation 

and action planning. They were also 

provided with the opportunity to meet 

with the National Agency project officer, 

SALTO- Youth participation representative 

and trainers to present their project 

plan and get feedback on how to develop 

the idea and to ensure the Youth 

in Action programme criteria was addressed. 

The day was closed with a final 

reflection and evaluation to feedback 

their impressions and to consider their 

next steps in the process of developing 

an Action 1.3 Youth Democracy Project. 

22 

6 

thinking 

hats 

23 

Conclusions 

‘Demonstrate Democracy’ CMS 

was structured as an intense non formal 

learning activity. It supported the 

development of projects with Action 

1.3 Youth Democracy Projects of the 

Youth in Action programme based on 

a two step strategy of developing National 

partnerships followed by supporting 

the creation of International 

partnerships. Partner finding, contact 

making and the opportunity to create, 

merge and develop project ideas was at 

the core of this contact making seminar. 

The entire learning process of the 

CMS was supported by a booklet as an 

educational and reflective tool. Overall 

the conclusions reached among participants 

were positive. As with all seminars, 

the intensity and restrictions in 

time can prove a challenge but by the 

end of the seminar the majority of the 

groups found partnerships. For those 

that did not find partners at the seminar 

they reported being were equipped 

with a strong project idea and good 

knowledge of the action to continue in a 

stronger light to approach new organisations 

to form partnerships in the future. 

Since the seminar, the Irish National 

Agency has approved two Youth Democracy 

projects presented by eight 

of the participants that attended the 

seminar. Donegal Youth Council in 

partnership in Ireland with Health 

Service Executive-North West and with 

Tinn Kommunes Ungdomstrad and 

Nature & Youth, Norway began their 

Action 1.3 Youth Democracy project in 

February 2010. Their project “Solas : 

A heart warming project against global 

warming” supports increased understanding 

on environmental issues and 

on different democratic structures. The 

groups will explore shared history and 

share perspectives on European citizenship. 

They plan to facilitate the development 

of a group of young people 

on using their voice in the democratic 

processes and strengthening their active 

citizenship by creatin opportunities for 

dialogue between young people in Norway 

and Ireland on the environment, 

democracy and youth participation. 

Letterkenny Youth Information Centre 

in partnership in Ireland with Letterkenny 

Community Development Project 

and Combeat, a youth multimedia 

organisation and Argan, a youth organisation 

supporting the Moroccan community 

in the Netherlands have received 

approval to emabark on their project entitled 

‘Welcome to our World’ which will 

focus on European citizenship rights, 

with specific references to young people 

whose citizenship status is uncertain in 

Ireland and Holland. The objectives will 

be to raise awareness of the effects that 

uncertain European citizenshisp status 

has on young people from minority communities 

in Holland and Ireland. It will 

also focus on whether or not the young 

people from minority communities feel 

accepted as European citizens Their plan 

is to record the stories of young people 

in Ireland and Holland in relation to the 

obstacles they face due to their situation 

and to research the causes of this 

uncertain citizenship status and with 

that information, lobby for change via 

democratic structures in both countries. 

A truly postive outcome of the contact 

making seminar and reinforces the 

importance of groups coming together 

to discuss the elements of youth particiapation 

and democracy. For the 

Irish National Agency it was an amazing 

seminar with fantastically motivated 

and interested participants. 

So it was no surprise that the quality 

ingredients present for the Youth Democracy 

‘wedding cake’ proved a strong 

basis for long lasting relationships. 

Trisha Dalton 

Action 1 Project Officer, Leargas, 

The Irish National Agency. 

Contact 

pdalton@leargas.ie


In 

You 

Com 

Beneficiary 

Young people aged between 13 and 20 years from 

the sister cities Rybnik (PL), Newtownabbey (GB) 

und Dorsten (D) 

Partnership 

Rybnik : 

Miasta Rybnika 

(Municipality / Youth department) 

Youth Council Rybnik 

Newtownabbey : 

Newtownabbey Borough Council 

Newtownabbey Shadow Youth Council 

Dorsten : 

Municipality (Mayor’s Office, Departement for family 

and youth, school and sports) 

Arbeitskreis Jugend e.V. 

Sponsor : 

Hötten Maschinenbau GmbH, 

Finnah Engineering 

THE project was without a 

predetermined conclusion 

… 

Objectives 

This project was the promotion of 

the civic and European engagement 

of young people. The project envisaged 

a sustainable dialogue between 

the participants of the three countries. 

Furthermore the awareness of different 

mentalities and behaviour concerning 

civic engagement should be developed. 

Another aim was the development of 

a means for respectively improving and 

optimising the participation of young 

people within political decision making 

processes in their hometowns. Naturally 

also the extension of social and 

linguistic competences was aspired to. 

Budget 

Project ammount : 102 009,36 Euros 

Grant of the programme Youth in Action : 

50 000,00 Euros 

Resources from the three cities : 24 509,36 Euros 

Sponsors, local partners (D) : 27 500,00 Euros 

Contacts 

Siebel@jfemail.de 

25 


Difficulties within the determination 

of such an international project might 

arise in the field of communication. Not 

only in terms of direct linguistic barriers, 

but also in terms of the unequal understanding 

of different terms and definitions. 

Furthermore the organisation of 

meetings in such a huge extent as the international 

youth conference is not easy 

to handle without face-to-face-meetings. 

A homogenous age structure 

within the participating group is 

very important. Too big an age difference 

might cause problems. 

Strong points 

Increase Youth Competence 

POLAND 

united kingdom 

GERMANY 

15.09.2008 — 15.02.2010 

24 


Within the project “InYouCom” 

the young people involved dealt with 

the subject of “youth participation” 

at European level. By practically getting 

to know different forms of participation 

and the exchange between 

the individual cities, the young people 

participating developed a concept for 

youth participation which is ideal from 

their point of view. Three international 

youth conferences and several national 

workshops supported this process. 


Through different motions of the political 

parties CDU and SPD within the 

youth welfare board, the municipality 

of Dorsten became aware of the topic 

“youth participation”. Furthermore 

a request from Dorsten’s twin town 

Newtownabbey concerning a co-operation 

in the field of youth parliaments 

came up at the same time. This gave an 

incentive to apply for a project to the 

German National Agency “Youth for 

Europe”. Because Dorsten’s twin town 

Rybnik has a youth council and is also 

twinned with Newtownabbey the three 

cities formed a network for this project. 

A big strength was the involvement 

of the participating young people 

with regard to the content within 

the development of the project – not 

only in theoretical but also in practical 

ways (e.g. determination of youth 

hearings, participation in the “World 

Kids Day 2009”, determination of a 

future workshop etc.). What was very 

beneficial was that the project was 

without a predetermined conclusion. 

Furthermore we mentioned the international 

exchange as a huge enrichment 

for the project because the young people 

did not only benefit from the experiences 

of the other participating countries. The 

travel involved was also a big motivation 

for getting involved in this project.



Objectives 

FOOTBALL 

SUPPORTERS 

IN THEIR 

CITIES 

O 

r 

g a n 

i z e A 

Beneficiary 

Fundacja im. Kazimierza Górskiego 

(The Kazimierz Górski Foundation) 

ul. Madalińskiego 49/51 m.1 

Partnership 

Poland 

Public institutions : Gdańsk City Council, Wrocław 

City Council, Warsaw City Council 

Associations : “Lwy Północy” Lechia Gdańsk Supporters 

Association, “Wielki Śląsk” Association, 

Legia Warszawa Supporters Association 

National treasury partnership : PL.2012 

Germany 

Informal youth groups : Fanladen St. Pauli, HSV 

Fanprojekt 

Non-governmental organization : Jugend und Sport 

e.V, Football Supporters Europe (FSE) 

Public institution : 

Koordinationsstelle Fanprojekte (KOS) 

Budget 

57 695 Euros 

m a s s 

e v e 

n t 

Contacts 

eliza.ostojska@gmail.com 

fundacja.kzimierza.gorskiego@gmail.com 

27 

The main reason for launching the 

“Football Supporters In Their Cities” 

project was the wish to improve the 

mutual relationships between the fans’ 

associations and the institutions, as well 

as to modify actions undertaken by these 

specific non-governmental organizations. 

Its implementation aims to strengthen 

democratization within the community 

of fans and back up the positive actions 

initiated by its members. Moreover, the 

project realization is based on creating 

a common-ground that will initiate (or 

improve) the dialogue between the local 

fans’ associations and the institutions, 

and that will also assist in bringing sanctioned 

procedures into being, especially 

when it comes to widely understood 

communication among all the subjects, 

as well as the structures aimed at ensuring 

their coordination. Through popularizing 

democracy and deepening the 

fans’ understanding of themselves and 

their environment, the project’s main 

objective is then to build solid grounds 

for local community integration and 

to develop civic society through active 

youth participation in these procedures. 


Granting Poland and Ukraine with 

the organization of UEFA Euro 2012 

contributed not only to taking specified 

actions in order to prepare the very tournament, 

but also to increasing awareness 

as far as the Polish fans’ environment 

is concerned, the latter deriving from 

a necessity to guarantee safety during 

the competition. The negative image of 

the fans’ world, with its racial or anti- 

Semitic attitudes and violent behaviour, 

together with a lack of harmonious 

cooperation between the local supporters’ 

associations and the institutions, 

made the Kazimierz Górski Foundation 

decide to create a social project 

which would, at least partly, contribute 

to solving the problems diagnosed. 

Implementation of the “Football 

Supporters In Their Cities” project 

workshops is based on the assumption 

that not only will solid and effective 

partnerships be built and the 

image of the fans improve, but also 

that the project participants will gain 

knowledge in the following areas : 

• how an association functions within 

the democratic structures 

• what its means of progress are, especially 

when it comes to the effectiveness 

of its actions 

• how to use the project method within 

a fans’ non-governmental organization 

• how to obtain extra-financing and 

take part in competitions organized 

by local governments, non-governmental 

and European organizations 

• how to promote an association 

and the situation for the 

fansin general through the use 

of conscious image creation 

• how the European organizations 

connected with the fans’ movement 

(Koordinationsstelle Fanprojekte, 

Football Supporters Europe) function 

• how to use the fan-coaching 

technique as a means of working 

with the fans, recommended 

by the European Committee 

• how the fans’ embassies operate 

during UEFA tournaments 

• how to cooperate with foreign 

partners at a European level. 

POLAND 

GERMANY 

06.03.2009 — 01.06.2009 

26


The first problem during implementation 

of the workshops was creating 

an activity schedule that would satisfy 

all the project participants. One has 

to be aware of the fact that the project 

included both representatives from the 

local civic authorities, and the most active 

fans from the association. Accordingly, 

the schedule for the workshops 

was to take into consideration not only 

the timetable for the matches (the fans 

involved in the project are active in the 

life of their community, cheering during 

matches, preparing their setting and 

travelling to away matches), but also the 

fact that representatives from the local 

institutions were taking part as well. 

The second difficulty that arose during 

the project realization was the conflict 

between one of the fans’ associations 

and the club’s authorities. Distrust, and 

a lack of candidness and real commitment 

to the actions undertaken during 

the workshops influenced the implementation 

of the substantial assumptions 

of the project in a negative way. 

Strong points 

The project participants started working 

on the specific extra-financing applications, 

such as those within the „Youth 

in Action” Project frames. The assets 

obtained are to enable them to implement 

positive actions, e.g. a football 

tournament for orphaned children or 

educational activities among children 

from families with fewer opportunities. 

“Lwy Północy” Lechia Gdańsk Supporters 

Association managed to obtain the 

assets from Football Supporters Europe 

even before the closure of the project. 

During the project realization some 

partnerships with local institutions were 

initiated (e.g. with the city councils, the 

voivodship councils and the media). 

These instances of cooperation found 

their solid confirmation even before the 

closure of the workshops : to enumerate 

just a few, the fans were involved in 

preparing the celebrations for awarding 

Poland and Ukraine organisation 

for the UEFA Euro 2012, or they were 

invited to monitor the process of obtaining 

permission to organize a mass event. 

The project has been taken under 

the honourable patronage of the 

Ministry of Sports and Tourism. 

Canal+ Sport Poland broadcast a 

special programme concerning the issues 

of football culture in Poland 

before UEFA Euro 2012. Not only 

was a documentary about the workshops 

made, but one of the football 

fans and the coordinator of the project 

also took part in the live discussion. 

Focus 

ECOCITIZENs 

Pilot thematic network 

EUROPEAN CITIZENS FOR 

ACTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL 

INTERVENTION 

Beneficiary 

Filoxenia NGO - Emmanuel Mappus 

Partnership 

16 organisation from 11 countries : 

www.ecocitizens.eu/partnersmap 

Budget 

139 000 euros 

Links 

www.filox.org 

www.ecocitizens.eu 

Contacts 

info@ecocitizens.eu 

AND 

exchange 

knowledge 

Methods 


Create a network of European organisations 

aimed at pooling and exchanging 

Best Practices on citizens’ 

(including youth) environmental actions 

and environmental education. 


After 15 years of work on local development, 

environmental education 

and international youth work, we felt 

the need to exchange knowledge and 

methods on environmental actions and 

education. We estimated that good 

ideas in this field should be promoted 

and that empowering citizens in general 

and youth in particular to develop environmental 

actions is much needed. 

• to include young people with fewer 

opportunities in environmental intervention, 

thus encouraging them 

and promoting their self-esteem, 

• to promote non-formal and informal 

environmental education 

within the youth sector. 


Very different profiles of 

partner organisations. 

Strong points 

Diversity of the Best Practices 

presented 

Follow-up 

28 

GREeCE 

01.02.2008 — On going 

29 

Objectives 

• to raise awareness of environmentally 

friendly behaviour and lifestyle, 

• to practise active European citizenship 

by volunteering in environmental 

protection and disaster control, 

The network wishes to continue its 

activities, with organisations working 

mainly on environmental issues, with 

target groups young people and adults. 

We are open to new partnerships and 

welcome organisation that are willing 

to share their views, methods and 

ideas in the environmental sector, and 

wish to develop European projects.

Support measures 

DO you 

have the 

entrepreunarial 

spirit 

BUREAU 

International 

Jeunesse 

BELGIUM 

01.12.2009 — 31.10.2010 

30 

Like any other national agency, we try 

to organize activities which are linked 

to the annual priorities of the European 

Commission. When preparing our 2009 

workplan and training calendar the following 

question arose : “What could we 

do within the framework of the European 

year of creativity and innovation ” 

As the Bureau International Jeunesse 

had already developed a lot of activities 

promoting artistic and creative 

youth projects in the past, we came up 

with the idea of opening our minds and 

discovering the exact meaning of the 

often misunderstood word “entrepreneurship” 

and to see whether it could 

be linked to non formal activities. 

Besides the Youth in Action Programme, 

the BIJ is running a bilateral 

programme with Quebec, the 

French –speaking province of Canada. 

In Quebec, the expression “entrepreneurial 

spirit” has been part 

of the current vocabulary for several 

years. I remember my colleagues saying 

-“They are driving us mad with 

their entrepreneurial spirit….”. 

In 2007, within the framework of that 

programme, the BIJ organised a study 

visit for young participants from Quebec. 

The aim was to give them an overview 

of initiatives developed in Brussels 

and Wallonia to promote entrepreneurship. 

The preparation and implementation 

of this project gave us the opportunity 

to discover that several initiatives/ 

programmes were targeting young people 

(even from primary school level). 

Our first step was to call representatives 

from different governmental 

initiatives such as the ASE (Agence de 

stimulation économique), and the ABE 

(Agence bruxelloise pour l’entreprise) 

one of whose roles is to promote the 

sense of entrepreneurship in young people 

through non formal activities. We 

were pleasantly surprised at their positive 

reaction. It seemed that our project 

was the right one at the right time. The 

two Belgian institutions were at that 

time discussing how to better reach 

young people - one evaluating its initiatives 

targeting young people via schools, 

the other working together with street 

workers on a youth event aimed at promoting 

a sense of initiative in young people 

living in a deprived area of Brussels. 

We quickly came to the conclusion 

that it could be valuable to work together 

as we apparently had common 

objectives. This was very encouraging 

as we were rather hesitant. To benefit 

from the experience of another type 

of organization we also got in touch 

with the national French programme 

“Envie d’Agir” which supports quite 

similar projects to youth initiatives 

in the Youth in Action Programme. 

They also welcomed our proposal and 

our partnership was established. We 

had successfully made the first step. 

We were well aware that the next 

steps were not going to be so easy : 

we had to choose the right words 

for the call for participants and, of 

course, get applications from our target 

group : youth workers. We decided 

to use the following wording : 

D 

I 

A 

B 

T 

O 

‘ 

W 

E 

S 

O 

N 

D 

‘ 

A 

T 

F 

R 

N 

I R 

R 

D 

A 

I 

T O 

T 

Y 

D 

, 

31 

Do you have the entrepreunarial 

spirit Don’t be afraid, 

it’s not a dirty word ! 

Help us to break with established 

stereotypes : you may think that the 

word “entrepreneurial” is only associated 

with the economic or business 

world. Well, we are convinced that 

the economic world and the youth 

sector have objectives in common. 

Aren’t creativity and a sense of initiative 

the most important elements in 

your daily work with young people 

Close to the deadline, we had only 

received a few applications from individuals 

looking for help and support to 

develop their own projects. At this stage, 

we were quite sure that most of the people 

who had received the call for participants 

had just deleted it, saying “Entrepreneurial 

thinking : it’s not for me”. 

A second call was necessary as well 

as more direct contacts with networks 

or resource people in the youth sector. 

Another difficulty was encouraging 

our colleagues from Quebec and 

France to understand that the topic 

of the seminar was not the creation 

of enterprises but the promotion 

of a sense of initiative. After a careful 

analysis of applications, we finally 

managed to have a group of 16 people 

: 5 from Belgium Fr., 5 from France, 

2 from Switzerland, 4 from Quebec. 

We were ready to go for our 3 day 

seminar which we decide to have in 

French. We started with a presentation 

of initiatives and testimonies from young


people who had developed innovative 

projects. The purpose was to confront 

participants not only with different initiatives 

but also with the vocabulary 

used by the different speakers to promote 

the sense of entrepreneurship. The 

first day was really tough as we could 

feel that some participants were not too 

comfortable. We could read in their eyes 

“What the hell are we doing here ” We 

knew that the first day was going to be 

tricky or risky but we were also quite 

sure that it was important to give them 

some food for thought. The key words 

used at the short evaluation session at 

the end of the day were quite revealing : 

• confusion 

• too much information 

• interesting but… 

• variety of approaches 

• frustrations 

• density 

• willing to know more 

• what am I doing here 

• common objectives 

• lack of cohesion 

• starter 

• richness of experiences 

On the second day, when participants 

started talking about their daily 

work, convergences appeared and, little 

by little, the ice began to melt. Participants 

took part in 3 workshops : 

• coaching 

• good practice 

• help and obstacles 

These themes helped to unite the 

group and the lively workshops offered 

an interesting means of presenting 

the different steps involved in 

coaching different types of projects as 

well as a detailed list of the “do’s and 

don’ts” involved in youth initiatives. 

On Day 3, participants worked 

on a common definition “Being entrepreneurial 

means…” and finished 

with a very busy workshop entitled 

: “I’m searching/I’m offering”. 

It’s very interesting to compare 

the key words used at the 

end of Day 1 and Day 3 : 

• a lot of connections 

• possible transfers despite different 

target groups 

• need for new tools 

• possible useful links via our website 

• let’s find out more about 

concrete projects 

• possible cooperation 

As organisers we would describe the 

seminar as an original, slightly risky, 

but positive experience. But we are 

also realistic. We know there is always 

a “soufflé effect” in this kind of activity. 

The participants are enthusiastic 

and willing to work together but after 

the seminar they get caught up in daily 

life again and follow up is difficult. 

Our seminar shows that it is possible 

for people from the economic 

world and youth associations to work 

together, sharing their knowledge and 

skills. The first step has been made. It 

is now up to the participants to put 

the new ideas and skills they learned 

to good use and activate networks. 

anne demeuter 

Contact 

anne.demeuter@cfwb.be 

32 

Europa 

Reading 

Beneficiary 

Asociación juvenile Illipula de Purchena 

Partnership 

NGO European Movement Estonia 

EURO

good practice 1.3 

A big 

step for 

youth 

participation 

shadow elections 

5th – 8th October 2009 was the first time that 

wide range shadow elections were held in Estonia. 

“Youth Shadow Elections in Tallinn and Tartu 

before the Election of Local Governments” was a 

citizen education project organized by the Estonian 

National Youth Council and granted by the Youth 

in Action programme under the youth democracy 

project sub-action. 

Needs and aims 

Why do we tend to think that some 

things have to be clear without any 

learning or practice It is not like that 

with reading or riding a bike, but it 

seems to be like that when making a 

choice about elections. There is actually 

no possibility of practising before 

the time comes to make that significant 

choice. Obviously then it is 

necessary that the choice made is the 

choice that is truly right in the eyes 

of the one that makes it – conscious 

and knowledge based. But how does 

a young person know how to make 

that kind of choice if he/she has never 

had a chance to learn or practise 

The Estonian Youth Council understood 

the need to give young people the 

possibility of trying this decision making 

process, the feeling of taking action, 

making a choice, participating, getting 

the sense that what a person does, makes 

a difference. Therefore, the shadow 

elections project was created and carried 

out. The aim of the project was to 

support and enhance young people’s 

participation in society and to increase 

youth interest in daily social matters 

around them, to help them to notice and 

take action, not to remain in a stand-by 

position on issues concerning their own 

lives. From another point of view – it 

was important to show that young people 

have their opinion and they want to 

show it. All this was achieved through 

a non formal learning experience. 

Partnership and activities 

The project initiators got the idea 

for the activities that would help to 

reach their goal from the article that 

described successful shadow elections 

in Finland. What could be more suitable 

than learning a new method to 

increase youth participation from those 

who already practise it Mutual benefit 

would increase by sharing the results 

and analyzing differences and similarities. 

A partnership with Finnish youth 

organisations Allianssi and Helsinki City 

Government was born, and to make 

a real impact - Tallinn and Tartu City 

Governments and Tartu Youth Council 

were also included as equal partners. 

The main activity of the project was 

shadow elections that gave young people 

(from age 14) in the two biggest cities in 

Estonia (Tallinn and Tartu) the possibility 

to vote for local election candidates 

and to learn how to make a conscious 

choice based on their own preference 

and point of view. This was a real experience 

that included choosing between 

real candidates, and even if it all was 

just a game to learn – the young people’s 

opinions were broadcast and published 

in the media. As we know, a salad does 

not taste perfect without oil and salt, 

and the shadow elections also needed 

supportive activities and debates, simulation 

games and information days to 

accompany them, plus specific leaflets 

and a webpage. The aim of these activities 

was to encourage and support young 

people in their decision making, so that 

they would really have a chance to understand 

the importance of taking action 

and finding the candidate whose point of 

view they supported. All this to enhance 

youth participation and to help them 

make conscious decisions in the future. 

Difficulties and value 

• One local government overreacted 

and did not allow project 

activities into its schools. 

• Some politicians were not ready 

for such a youth initiative. 

• The project team confirmed that this 

project was like a valuable training 

course that can never be bought in. 

• More then 1700 youngsters got 

the possibility to practise a real 

decision making process. 

• The project was awarded by the 

Network of Estonian Non-profit 

Organizations and the municipalities 

of Tallinn and Tartu. 

• The President of the Republic of 

Estonia highlighted that it is important 

that young people participate in 

projects such as shadow elections. 

• The project increased awareness of 

youth participation and the youth 

democracy projects sub-action. 

the sense thAt 

what a person 

does, makes a 

difference 

35 

Therefore let’s keep in mind and make 

our own efforts in light of the words 

of Henry David Thoreau : “How could 

youth better learn to live than by at 

once trying the experiment of living ” 

Nele Mets 

YiA Programme Estonian National Agency 

Coordinator of Actions 1.2, 1.3 and 5.1 

Contact 

nele.mets@archimedes.ee 

Estonia 

05.10.2009 — 08.10.2009 

34

EVENTs 

10th 

anniversary 

of SALTO 

network 

Common SALTO Resource Centre 

activities in the year 2010 

The overall aim of the SALTO-Youth 

Resource Centres is to increase the quality 

and quantity of the projects within 

the Youth In Action programme by 

providing training activities and materials, 

supporting the Youth in Action 

Programme structures (like National 

Agencies, the Commission, NGOs) and 

stakeholders active in the youth field 

to develop their youth work, and to 

contribute to European developments 

such as the new EU - strategy “Investing 

and Empowering” which covers all 

political aspects of the European youth 

policy and youth work discussions. 

The year 2010 marks the tenth anniversary 

of the creation of the SALTO 

network concept, and we believe it a fitting 

opportunity to present an updated 

image and united front to audiences, 

both long-standing and new, through 

improving our visual identity, incorporating 

this into our well-used internet 

site (over a million visitors) and 

by delivering several effective branded 

anniversary events through the year. 

We would also like to strengthen the 

connection between Resource Centres, 

aligning our approaches and enforcing 

the compatibility of our relations 

as an internal structure. 

Preparation work has already been 

undertaken to ensure the quality and 

professional approach to the anniversary 

year, with tasks delegated, resources allocated 

and responsibilities acted upon. 

Several areas are foreseen to interlink, 

strengthening both our brand image 

and our working relationships in the 

process. These include the followings. 

Corporate Visual Identity (CVI) 

and Website 

Utilising the competences of individual 

SALTO staff where possible, a CVI is being 

sought to improve the SALTO image, 

to develop a brand for the 10th anniversary 

year, and to enhance the impact and 

user-friendliness of the www.salto-youth. 

net website. Improvements have been 

made to streamline the pages where possible, 

and to update the appearance and 

functionality of the databases and search 

results. This will result in a more modern 

look, thereby using the 10th anniversary 

as a springboard into the future. 

Event 

A joint event was organised, incorporating 

all 8 SALTOs working together 

for the first time on shared policy topics 

of Non Formal Learning in Education, 

Employment and, Creativity & Entrepreneurship 

based on the EU strategy 

“Investing and Empowering”. This large 

event brought together powerful players 

in the field to showcase the far-reaching 

power and impact that Youth in Action 

and Non Formal Learning can have in 

these policy areas. It was a great opportunity 

to launch the improved look of 

the website,. A reiteration of the Toolfair 

will include all SALTOs, as a joint 

platform to promote the dissemination 

and valorisation of youth work tools. 

Publication 

This publication was specially released 

for the event. It aims to present 

the work of the network over the past 

10 years. Today, eight SALTO Resource 

Centres employ 20 people, having realised 

nearly 500 activities, in which 

about 12 500 youth workers, youth 

leaders, trainers, National Agencies’ officers 

and policy makers have participated. 

The Network has produced and 

disseminated a considerable number 

of inspiring resources, many of which 

have been accessed during over a million 

annual visits to the SALTO common 

website. In terms of quality, the 

accumulation of knowledge and expertise 

lies within the important impact 

the SALTO Network has had throughout 

the years in the European fields 

of youth and non-formal education. 

Contact 

participation@cfwb.be 

promote ! 

disseminat E ! 

valorisE ! 

youth 

work tools 

37 

throughout 2010 

36


You(th) 

for 

human 

rights 

Beneficiary 

Jeugddienst Don Bosco vzw 

Partnership 

Austria : Jugend Eine Welt & 

Don Bosco Flüchtlingswerk 

Belgium : Jeugddienst Don Bosco vzw, Bureau 

Jeugdzorg don Bosco Vlaanderen & 

Don Bosco Youth-Net ivzw 

Czech Republic : SADBA & JABOK 

Germany : Jugendwohnheim Salesianum & 

Aktionszentrum Benediktbeuern 

Italy : Federazione SCS/CNOS & VIS 

Malta : Salesian Pastoral Youth Service & 

Don Bosco Volunteer Service; 

Netherlands : Don Bosco Youthnet Nederland & 

Stiching Multi culturele centrum 

Don Bosco Haaglanden 

Poland : Salesian Centre of Education and Youth 

Ministry, Salesian Missionary Voluntary Service 

Youth for the World & Salezjanskie Stowrzyszenie 

Wychowania Mlodziezy 

Slovakia : DOMKA & Salesians of Don Bosca, 

Slovak Province 

Slovenia : Drustvo Mladinski Ceh & 

Zavod Salesianum, OE Skala; 

Spain : Confederaçion de centros juveniles 

Don Bosco de Espana & 

Asociacion Juvenil Movimento L-V 

United Kingdom : Salesian Youth work office & 

Don Bosco Volunteer Action 

Budget 

30 386,87 euros total budget 

24 500 euros YiA grant 

Link 

www.jeugddienstdonbosco.be 

Contacts 

katrien.gruyters@donbosco.be 

jeugddienst@donbosco.be 


Over the last years the issue of Human 

Rights has become a core element 

of public debates. Media, public institutions, 

NGO’s, foundations all have 

made their voices heard. At the same 

time we need to recognise that it is children 

and young people who suffer most 

from the violations of Human Rights, 

mostly because they are considered to 

be voiceless. As a result they are also not 

really listened to in the debates between 

policy makers and other public actors. 

You(th) for Human Rights brought 

together young people active in organisations 

working in the non-formal education 

field and young people working 

with youngsters facing fewer opportunities 

like minor-aged refugees, Roma 

youth, homeless young people, and 

young people in special youth care. 

All the young people 

involved in the 

project are actually 

to be considered as 

field experts. 

39 

From preparation to evaluation the 

project lasted for 6 months. The main 

activity of the project was a European 

Congress on Human Rights Education, 

which took place in Brussels, Belgium. 

More than 50 young people from 12 

European countries attended this congress, 

representing their local organisations. 

In order to run this representation 

smoothly and to introduce all the 

participants, we developed a training 

manual for the partner organisations 

to guide them in the national meetings 

and to prepare their representatives 

for the congress. We also developed 

a final report of the project, including 

the lectures from the congress, a 

funding guide, the evaluation, etc. 


Human Rights is a topic of growing 

importance, both in the European Union 

and the worldwide Don Bosco Movement, 

of which all partner promoters 

of this project are a part. Within the 

Don Bosco Movement the issue of Human 

Rights is included in their specific 

pedagogical style towards working 

with youth : the preventive system. The 

methodology of Human Rights Education 

(HRE) would be an interesting 

addition to this preventive system. In 

January 2009 an international congress 

on Human Rights took place in Rome 

organised by the Don Bosco Movement, 

in which some of the promoters took 

part. However they came to the same 

conclusion : a lot of work is being done, 

but the voice of young people is still not 

being heard. From our work experience 

with young people we realise that 

Human Rights have the power to move 

young people into action. It motivates 

young people to do international voluntary 

service, local community work, 

to campaign, … Therefore we decided 

to organise a youth democracy project 

on the topic of Human Rights, as it is 

an action specifically focussed at making 

the voices of young people heard. 

07.2009 — 12.2009 

38

About us 

Objectives 


Strong points 

• To give a voice to young people. 

• To use representative democracy as 

a pedagogical model for setting up 

an international youth congress. 

• To bring together young people active 

in the field of leisure-time youth 

work and young people active in 

youth work targeting young people 

facing violations of Human Rights. 

• To initiate a discussion between the 

partner promoters on how to integrate 

Human Rights Education into the Preventive 

System (their working style). 

• To bring together policy makers 

and young people to debate 

on Human Rights. 

• To develop and promote methods like 

workshops, creative journal, promotional 

materials, active citizenship as 

a method to establish social change. 

• To offer methods for volunteers 

and youth work organisations to 

integrate Human Rights Education 

into their normal work plan. 

It was hard to get policy makers to attend 

the meeting. We invited both policy 

makers from the international Don Bosco 

Movement and from the European 

parliament. Probably due to the fact 

that we had just had the European elections, 

we did not manage to get an MEP. 

We’ve tried to get the maximum out of 

the project. With this we mean getting 

a wide diversity of partners, having a 

programme which consists of 3 different 

meetings, a promotional campaign 

for the project, a press conference during 

the European youth congress for the local 

media, an individual learning trajectory 

for each youth representative, an 

extensive final report, coordinating 26 

organisations … and all of this organised 

by mainly volunteers coordinated 

by 2 staff members. It was a very fruitful 

experience, but at the same time a bit 

too large to manage. It really stretched 

our capabilities, so in future we would 

try to focus more simply on the young 

people participating in the project. 

The partnership created in this project 

is its strongest point : 26 organisations 

from 13 EU member states. All countries 

had a “tandem” partnership. There was 

always one organisation experienced in 

“non-formal education” and one working 

with young people facing violations 

in Human rights. This really resulted 

in an exchange of expertise between 

these fields of youth work. All the young 

people involved in the project are actually 

to be considered as field experts. 

The involvement of the young people 

in each stage of the project was a strong 

point as well : first national meeting, 

European congress, second national 

meeting. This enabled the young people 

who took part in each stage to really get 

an in-depth learning experience, which 

they could bring back to the other young 

people active in their local organisation. 

SALTO- 

YOUTH 

PAR- 

TICIPA- 

TION 

S upport and 

a dvanced 

l earning for 

t raining 

= opportunities 

41 

Contacts 

participation@salto-youth.net 

Links 

www.salto-youth.net/participation 

www.salto-youth.net/static/yic 

www.salto-youth.net/Participationcourses 

www.salto-youth.net/rc/participation/ 

partnerrequests 

What do we do 

• Strengthen and promote active 

participation 

• Collect and disseminate information, 

projects and articles 

on active participation 

• Support the management of youth 

initiatives and Youth Democracy 

Projects (sub action 1.2 and 1.3) 

How do we do it 

• Practical guides 

• Magazines 

• A new website 

• Newsletters 

• Training courses 

• Organisation of events 

• Database of projects realized 

• Partner finding database 

40 

BELGIUM, Brussels

action 1.2 

A GOOD 

CONNECTION 

pedagogical booklet 

on the management of 

Transnational Youth 

InitiativeS 

A Good 

connec- 

tion 


in Action 

ProgrAmme 

2010 

The intention of the 1.2 booklet is to provide you 

with all the basic information and techniques to 

cope with the challenges of working with an international 

partner, concrete information about what 

a transnational youth initiative can be, and how to 

attain a good quality project. 

not only theoretical knowledge learnING Not only 

theoretical knowledge learnING not only theoretical 

knowledge learnING not only theoretical 

knowledge learnING not only theoretical knowledge 

learnING not only theoretical knowledge 

learnING not only theoretical knowledge learnING 

not only theoretical knowledge learnING not only 

theoretical knowledge learnING Not only theoretical 

knowledge learnING not only theoretical 

knowledge learnING not only theoretical knowledge 

learnING not only theoretical knowledge 

learnING not only theoretical knowledge learnING 

not only theoretical knowledge learnING 

43 

Besides this, you will find a lot of 

testimonies from those people who are 

already active in this new world such 

as young project promoters, officers 

from the National Agencies of the European 

Youth in Action programme, 

trainers, and last but not least, from the 

people of the SALTO Youth Participation 

Resource Centre who took the lead 

in publishing this booklet for you. We 

hope you will be able not only to learn 

theoretical knowledge here, but also 

get an idea of why it is so attractive to 

spend the extra time and work towards 

cooperating internationally. It simply 

gives you A Good Connection : to people 

with different backgrounds and from 

different European countries, to new 

approaches and skills, to experiences 

that can change your life, to yourself 

and all the resources you carry inside. 

Youth initiatives are one of the most 

powerful activities for enabling young 

people to play an active role in the life 

of their local community – and beyond 

if you consider the European dimension 

of a Transnational Youth Initiative. 

So your activities are perceived to 

make a contribution to a more democratic 

and, in the end, better society. 

What you also need to consider is 

that in a Transnational Youth Initiative 

you need to find a partner (minimum 

one, could be more) before you apply. 

With this partner you should ideally 

plan the project idea and be able to 

fill in the application form where you 

will be asked to give concrete information 

about the planned expenditure, 

planned activities and objectives you 

are aiming for. Please remember : the 

better able you are to build the connection 

with your partner before you start 

the common project, the higher the 

quality of your cooperation will be ! 

Keep in mind 

“A good quality project has 

different indicators like : 

• the active participation of 

young people in the project 

• the planning of the project 

• the relationship between the project 

execution and the planning 

• the communication between 

the different partners 

Evaluation of the project : 

• which elements have been 

very good or bad 

• what could be done to resolve 

some problems 

• which points should not be 

changed if the applicant wants 

to organize another project 

I would advise applicants to check 

if their partners are serious and motivated 

; for example, the applicant 

has to involve the partner in decisions 

made during the project. Another very 

important point is the planning of the 

project : the more the project is planned 

in detail, the more problems can be 

solved in advance. Considering the informal 

learning of young people and 

an evaluation meeting is necessary.” 

Cliff Hever 

Service National de la Jeunesse – National Agency 

Youth in Action Luxembourg 

Extract from “A good connection” 

Contact 

participation@cfwb.be 

Link 

www.salto-youth.net/rc/participation/ 

participationpublications 

07.2010 

42 

Just to mention briefly here, the Get 

in Net Training Courses (GIN) is one of 

the ways for you to get in direct contact 

with possible Transnational Youth Initiative 

partners and to start your networking 

adventure. There are several Get 

In Net per year, organized by different 

National Agencies in different countries. 

The average number of participants is 

25, from different European countries.

Editorial information 

Publication 

October 2010 by SALTO Youth Participation 

Resource Centre. 

Hosted by 

Bureau International Jeunesse 

Contacts 

18 rue du commerce - 1000 Brussels, Belgium 

T : +32 (0) 219 09 06 

F : +32 (0) 2 548 38 89 

Link 

www.salto-youth.net/participation 

Coordination 

Claire Morvan/ Fatima Laanan 

Proofreader 

Alex Webber 

Graphic design 

Kidnap your designer 

Paper 

Cyclus Offset 

Printing 

IPM printing 

Nota bene 

Some articles were written directly by promoters 

and we warmly thank them for their valuable 

contribution. 

Special thanks 

Pascal Lejeune ; Karl Friedrich Bopp ; 

Claudius Siebel ; Anne Demeuter ; Patricia Dalton ; 

Emmanuel Mappus ; Daniel Jasan ; Nataliya 

Nikolova, Sébastien Houssin ; Nele Mets ; Katrien 

Gruyters, Denise Cahalane ; Eliza Ostojska ; Jochen 

Butt Posnik & those involved at different levels 

Limitations 

Reproduction and use for non commercial purposes 

is permitted provided the source «magazine 2009», 

SALTO-YOUTH Participation is mentioned and 

participation@salto-youth.net is notified. 

This document does not necessarily express the 

official views of the European Commission or the 

organisations and persons cooperating with the 

Youth in Action institutions. Participation Magazine 

2009 aims to be a practical youth work publication 

and not an official policy document. 

44

SALTO-Youth Participation - EuroMed Youth Programme IV

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?