Capacity Building workshops - Youth in Europe

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MALIK E.T.S

Organisation:

MALIK E.T.S

Country:

Italy

About organisation:

Malik E.T.S. is a non-profit association active in Sardinia (Italy) since 2003. The main mission of Malik is to foster intercultural and sustainable development through workshops, youth exchanges, Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps projects, cultural activities, and non-formal education.Starting with 2008, it coordinates a local project named “Backpack Desk”, aimed to connect to Europe young people coming from remote areas, and promote their active and European citizenship, facilitating their participation in transnational projects related to training, education, job, volunteering, and mobility. In 2021 we focused on a local initiative named MOCORE - (Mobilize, Connect, and Empower), which had the aim to stimulate the empowerment and active citizenship at the local level, of young people residing in the rural areas of central Sardinia.Since 2015 Malik is responsible for a Eurodesk point office for Central Sardinia (Gavoi, IT132).

Title of the project

Capacity Building workshops - Youth in Europe

Start date:

7/9/2022

End date:

1/10/2022

Objectives:

The project “ Capacity Building workshops - Youth in Europe” developed inside the initiative MOCORE, had the main objective to provide young people aged between 16 and 30 years old with the basic tools to design and formulate a project proposal concerning the following topics: youth policies, active citizenship, transversal skills, non-formal learning, European integration, and transnational mobility.The activities inside the projects were done through face-to-face and remote participatory meetings, bringing to work together more than 25 young people coming from the municipalities involved in the initiative MOCORE (26 rural towns from the central part of Sardinia). The central part of Sardinia, which is a mountainous region, is considered to be a remote area, where young people who live there often face quite isolated contexts. Towns located there have considerable distances between each other, and from big centres, so the lack of a car can cause barriers to getting around at specific hours; the municipalities face a massive depopulation phenomenon; the public transportation system is really bad; and there is registered a high level of school drop out. During the meetings young people got to know about: The life stages of a project; PCM (Project Cycle Management); GOPP methodology (Goal Oriented Project Planning) and other methodologies; Erasmus+ and ESC programs; The budget; Research and establishment of the partnership; Assessment; Communication.

Why the project was: empowering young people, adapting to changing realities, or thinking out of the box:

Through this activity we consider we managed to empower young people because they got a new vision over the European projects, they saw how it works from the inside, and got to know the basic knowledge regarding project management and the life cycle of a project.But, the most important we consider they gained due to this activity is: the steps to follow in order to make an idea became a project, sense of initiative, critical thinking, responsibility, capacity to analyse the problems, and possible actions to take in order to solve the problems or at least decrease their number, and last but not least the willingness to get deeper into the topic and explore. All of the participants got the motivation to participate in different European projects after this experience, and more awareness of the importance of these projects on their personal and professional development.

How the project was inclusive:

Basically, the entire project reflected the European Dimension, as it was based on European values, principles, European priorities, and key topics. Moreover, young people who participated in the workshops had the opportunity to learn more about European project management and European cooperation in the field of youth. As a result, our youth, supported by a professional project manager, drafted two ideas of youth exchanges inserted in the area of the Erasmus Plus Programme, with the involvement of a minimum of five different European countries. The youth exchanges are going to be implemented within the month of July this year.The project had great visibility as the announcement of the course, all meetings, and results have been published on our social media platforms and promoted during the public events organised in the territory of 26 municipalities. Eurodesk Italy has been involved in this project as a partner. During our meetings, as a Eurodesk informational point, we talked to our participants as well about the function of the Eurodesk at the local and European level, informing as well about lots of European opportunities young people may take advantage of for their personal and professional growth. We consider the capacity building workshop a great introduction to the world of European mobility and furthermore European values and principles to spread through, especially for those who don’t know anything about it.

Green aspect:

During our activities we took into consideration the sustainability aspect, to minimise our footprint on the environment:- young people, trainers, and all other participants involved in the project have been encouraged to make use of public transport to reach the project’s locations (if possible) and/or share cars with other participants;- use online services/free online tools for virtual meetings instead of face-to-face meetings. In fact, part of the meetings during this workshop have been organised face-to-face, and another part of them, online. Moreover, during all the meetings in presence, it was essential to have activated the online meeting for people who couldn’t join physically because of the impossibility to move from their hometown. Also, it has been used different online tools such as jam board, google forms, and other digital tools for notes, in order to avoid the use of too much paper; during the coffee breaks, we preferred local products from local producers: organic, fair-trade, and GMO-free food.; we supplied our participants with metal water bottles to make them more responsible regarding the use of plastic.

How the project has given a European dimension to your event and ensured the visibility and promotion of Eurodesk?

Basically, the entire project reflected the European Dimension, as it was based on European values, principles, European priorities, and key topics. Moreover, young people who participated in the workshops had the opportunity to learn more about European project management and European cooperation in the field of youth. As a result, our youth, supported by a professional project manager, drafted two ideas of youth exchanges inserted in the area of the Erasmus Plus Programme, with the involvement of a minimum of five different European countries. The youth exchanges are going to be implemented within the month of July this year.The project had great visibility as the announcement of the course, all meetings, and results have been published on our social media platforms and promoted during the public events organised in the territory of 26 municipalities. Eurodesk Italy has been involved in this project as a partner. During our meetings, as a Eurodesk informational point, we talked to our participants as well about the function of the Eurodesk at the local and European level, informing as well about lots of European opportunities young people may take advantage of for their personal and professional growth. We consider the capacity building workshop a great introduction to the world of European mobility and furthermore European values and principles to spread through, especially for those who don’t know anything about it.

Impact:

The most important result achieved is the active participation of young people from remote areas, inside our laboratories. Lots of times we face difficulties in this process because of a closed mindset, lack of interest, and the unknown. We think that our initiative regarding capacity building laboratories has had an impact not only on youth but also on the community considering that during the courses, there were present either young people and representatives of the community and/or municipality. That was great also for an intergenerational exchange while talking about the problems of the area and the solutions that could be implemented in the future. We would highlight the two concrete results that are going to be implemented this year - 2 ideas for Erasmus Plus youth exchanges, elaborated based on the discussion with young people, analysis of problems, and the possibilities their territory gives, and can be shared with others. Our Rural Future (with the objective to promote the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship of young people living in rural areas of Europe by encouraging them to recover ancient crafts in an innovative way) & Islanders (with the objective to promote awareness of training and employment opportunities among young people coming from insular areas of Europe). Is important to mention that young people who participated in the elaboration of the project idea will be actively involved in the next steps of the youth exchanges’ implementation.