“DIAdvocate”

Inclusive Youth Information Award category

Organisation

Jugendhilfe und Sozialarbeit e.V

Country

Germany

WEBSITE

https://www.jusev.de

Project link

General Overview

The main objectives of our projects were:

To bring together people with and without diabetes from Germany, Turkey, and Bosnia-Herzegovina to learn from one another.
To tackle the stigma against diabetes.
To learn how to start their own advocacy, raising awareness for issues in the diabetes field and turning around false narratives.
To develop a guideline for organisations on how to support people with diabetes in their international projects.
To educate about mobility opportunities and encourage peer-to-peer youth mobility sharing.

Participants were aged 18 to 30, either with diabetes or interested in learning about chronic conditions and their impact.

We organised two activities: one youth exchange in Bosnia and one in Germany. The same participants attended both exchanges. The first focused on researching the situation of diabetes in each country, while the second focused on understanding advocacy and creating materials.

We used different methods in order to achieve our goals, such as:

A World Café ensured everyone was aligned with the same information about diabetes.
In Live Library, people with diabetes shared their stories and struggles.
Good Practice: We visited a fitness trainer with diabetes and participated in training sessions together.
We developed stop-motion movies for advocacy purposes.
We created a brief guideline for organisations on how to support people with diabetes in international youth projects.
Workshop sessions: We informed participants about mobility opportunities.

We, as Eurodesk Fürstenwalde, acted as the Eurodesk project partner.

To search for participants, we used our list of interested individuals who had contacted us in previous years, e.g., through a Eurodesk fair event.
We used the Eurodesk logo in our guidelines.
During our youth exchanges, we held sessions discussing opportunities for young people. We provided links to the European and national Eurodesk webpages and materials.

Thematic Category Correspondence

(50 points max)

How does this initiative (project, event, material) correspond to the thematic category

Our project implemented inclusive youth information by focusing on young people with diabetes, informing them about mobility opportunities, and encouraging their participation in this project and further international initiatives.

By raising awareness about the challenges faced by young people with diabetes, our project educates others on the importance of inclusivity. This can help break down stigma and misconceptions about diabetes.

Motivating young people with diabetes to apply for international projects empowers them to take an active role in their communities and pursue opportunities that may have previously felt out of reach.

Developing a short guideline for organisations on including young people with diabetes in their international youth work is a practical step towards creating more inclusive environments. These guidelines can help organisations understand how to accommodate and support young people with diabetes, ensuring they have equal opportunities to participate.

The guidelines assist Eurodesk and similar organisations in enhancing their information work. With the help of these guidelines, they can inform, motivate, and encourage youth organisations to realise inclusive projects for young people with diabetes.

By creating a framework for inclusion, our project contributes to long-term change by encouraging organisations to adopt inclusive practices that benefit not just young people with diabetes, but all marginalised groups.

This project is a valuable contribution to fostering inclusivity and ensuring that young people with diabetes can fully participate in international projects and initiatives.

Moreover, the young participants can offer peer-to-peer information to young people with or without special needs.

Impact

(30 points max)

How did your project impact young people / your community?

By bringing together individuals with and without diabetes from three countries, the project promoted understanding and empathy across diverse cultures. Youngsters learned the importance of inclusivity, breaking down barriers, and building supportive relationships with peers with different health experiences.

Through collaborative learning, participants gained a deeper understanding of diabetes, its challenges, and the realities faced by those living with the condition. This education is crucial for dismantling misconceptions and stereotypes, equipping youngsters with the knowledge to advocate for themselves and others. Increased awareness can lead to more informed conversations within their communities, promoting a culture of understanding rather than fear or stigma.

The project provided young people who had never been part of an international group with their first international experience. The project’s Eurodesk workshops informed young people about further mobility possibilities and encouraged participation. As a result, some participants from Turkey have since taken part in another international exchange.

The project encouraged young participants to become advocates for diabetes awareness and empowered them to share their stories and educate others. Additionally, they were motivated to inspire other young people with diabetes or special needs to pursue mobility opportunities.

By learning how to effectively raise awareness and challenge false narratives, youngsters developed critical skills such as public speaking and leadership. This empowerment can inspire them to take active roles in their communities, e.g., promoting health literacy.

A major outcome is the guidelines for organisations on how to effectively include and support individuals with diabetes in their projects. They can serve as a resource for Eurodesk counsellors, local organisations, schools, and community groups, fostering an environment that is more accommodating and supportive of individuals with diabetes. This can lead to improved participation of affected individuals in community activities, enhancing their overall well-being and integration.

Green Focus

(10 points max)

Did your project have any green focus and/or did you implement any eco-friendly measures when organising it?

We invited participants of our project to use eco-friendly transport in order to reach the venue as sustainably as possible. For those coming from nearby, this was manageable, but for people from Turkey, it was not as feasible as for others. Additionally, while implementing our project, we took care to consider the materials we used and tried to reuse them whenever possible. We had two birthdays during our project, and we celebrated them; the decorations for the party were made out of leftover paper that we had used before.