About the Project

The project "YouthActivism.Net in Europe" is funded under the Youth in Action Programme – Action 4.5 “Supporting information activities for young people and youth workers”. The project, which runs from March 2009 to September 2010, addresses the following two themes: (1) Participation of young people and (2) European citizenship. The project activities include, among others, the development of audiovisual/ multimedia materials, publications for young people, valorisation of good practices and creation of tools for quality information aiming at the following objectives:

To introduce the concept of civic activism to young people in Cyprus, Spain and Italy
To encourage the participation of young people in public life, assisting them to reach their potential as active citizens of their communities and of the society in general
To increase the personal, interpersonal and intercultural competence of the young participants
To promote and foster the values of initiative, creativity, innovation and risk-taking
To provide an environment which will foster the understanding of European cooperation, as well as the development of mutually trusting and understanding relationships among the young people of Europe
To empower and inspire young people to take civic initiatives and provide them with concrete support, based on their needs
To distribute quality information and to enhance young people’s and youth workers’ access to various channels of information and communication
To develop an informal support network of Cypriot, Spanish, and Italian youth activists

The introduction, cultivation, and promotion of civic activism to the young Cypriots, Spanish and Italians aged 15- 28 is an especially innovative aspect of the project, taking into consideration that the active participation of youth in these countries is lower when compared with other western societies. For the first time, these youngsters have the opportunities to get informed and inspired on how they can make a difference in their communities, and in the European context in general, on issues that are of interest to them. Quality information are made available about different thematic areas of interest to young people and local, national and European associations and organizations working towards those causes.

In addition, the project activities enable the young participants to gain a wide array of activism skills (e.g. leadership and teambuilding, creative thinking, problem solving) and skills on initiating their own youth and community projects. The young people participating in the project have access to a supporting environment, where they are able to gain all relevant skills to act independently for the benefit of themselves and their communities. The project aims, through regular interaction between the project management and the Youth Advisory Committees, not only to provide relevant information, but also to provide guidance and skills to the youngsters to be able to search and find quality information on their own. To the best of the consortium’s knowledge this is the first time where young Cypriots, Italians and Spanish will be able to find all the necessary information about national and European activist groups and resources to initiate their own projects.

The priority themes addresses by the project aim to directly encourage the participation of the youngsters in public life and to promote the European citizenship. Having available all the knowledge, resources and skills described above, it is expected that at least the members of the Youth Advisory Committees will become active and responsible citizens and serve as multipliers among their peers, cherishing and promoting active participation and European citizenship. It is also expected that youth and youth workers across Europe will benefit from the web-portal and engage in a creative and democratic dialogue for the future of youth activism in Europe.