Many young people have clear ideas about a better future. However, they often lack the resources and knowledge to make their voices heard where decisions about their needs and concerns are actually made. This is exactly where the cooperation partnership Youth Voices Rising: Empowering Through Local and EU Advocacy comes in.
Together with eight partner organisations from six European countries, IBB e.V. is developing and testing practical methods of non-formal education. Our goal is to equip youth work professionals with innovative approaches to promoting participation and to empower young people to represent their interests effectively – regardless of their background, their parents’ income and their previous success in the formal education system. In this way, we not only empower the young people involved as experts on their own behalf, but also strengthen the field of participatory youth work and democracy in Europe. We are publishing the latest information about the progress of the project and the methods developed on the project website.
The project in detail
Youth Voices Rising follows a clear plan: first we listen, then we develop training courses and methods, and finally we implement them.
- We start with a comprehensive needs analysis: we examine what specific support young people and youth work professionals need in order to successfully shape political participation processes.
- Based on this, we develop tailor-made training formats: we organise a multiplier training for local lobbying, an international advocacy training for young people who want to advocate for their interests in a European context, and local lobbying training in all participating countries. In social media advocacy training, we teach the tools of digital communication. All of these training courses prepare participants to take action themselves and to support other young people in planning and implementing their own advocacy projects – from developing local campaigns to engaging with decision-making processes at EU level.
- In the final step, we put the developed approaches into practice. We send young delegates to international events. Local youth groups apply the skills they have acquired on the ground. The young people plan and implement their own actions to promote their causes.
The activities of Youth Voices Rising do not stand alone: they are integrated into Generation Europe – The Academy, our large network of youth work organisations and support programme for European cooperation.
The cooperation partnership Youth Voices Rising is co-funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, the European Commission or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union, the European Commission nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.