International Youth Day 2015 publication

T

he European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) is an organization dedicated to the promotion of good governance and citizen participation at the local level. ALDA in particular focuses on activities that facilitate cooperation between local authorities and civil society in the European Union and its Neighborhood. It is the umbrella organisation of the Local Democracy Agencies which are selfsustainable, locally registered NGOs that act as promoters of good governance and local selfgovernment.

WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT ALDA?

WHAT WE DO AND WHERE WE WORK?

Most of ALDA’s work is based on the method of multilateral decentralized cooperation. This method involves a multi-stakeholder approach, which focuses on strong partnerships between local authorities and civil society organisations. These partnerships create positive synergy and ensure that common goals are reached jointly and successfully.

In the framework of promoting good governance and citizen participation at the local level ALDA focuses on various themes, such as European integration, decentralisation, civic initiatives and volunteering, human rights, and sustainable economic development.

THE ACTIVITIES OF ALDA ARE ARTICULATED AROUND THREE MAIN AREAS: ALDA EUROPE The activities of ALDA help raising citizens’ understanding and sense of belonging to the European Union, and stimulate intercultural dialogue and civic participation in the EU focusing on five main thematic pillars: citizenship, culture, education and volunteering; social issues; youth empowerment and employment; health and environment; and reconciliation and community cohesion.

ALDA COOPERATION ALDA works in the Western Balkans and in the European Neighborhood– Mediterranean area, Eastern Europe, and Southern Caucasus–to foster good governance, citizen participation, European integration, and decentralization.

ALDA PLUS ALDA supports other stakeholders –local and regional authorities, civil society organizations, educational institutions–by providing a wide range of services such as training and capacity building activities, technical assistance, and ad-hoc consultancy on different topics, including: project development and implementation, project financial management and audit, EU institutions, EU funds and programmes, citizens participation (methods and techniques), non- formal education.

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n the framework of the European Development Year, July was the month dedicated to youth.

ALDA, the European Association for Local Democracy, has always been active in the promotion of citizen participation, particularly among the youngsters.

Young people have nowadays acquired a more central and decisive role in European policies, in particular in the light of the high unemployment rates they currently face. ALDA and the LDAs have always considered the youngsters as fundamental resources for the future of the EU as well as of the Enlargement and Neighborhood countries. Through a coherent

set of tools we have promoted economic, social, cultural and professional growth of the new generations of citizens. ALDA has therefore been at the forefront of youth policy and continues to be a key factor in promoting EU priorities such as European citizenship, participation of young people, cultural diversity, inclusion as well as youth employment.

In particular, as antidote to the economic crisis young people face on a daily basis, ALDA has been concentrating on three main youth related topics of concern:

Youth Employment

Health, Environment & Youth

Youth Participation & Inclusion in public life

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YOUTH EMPLOYMENT According to a statistic published by Eurostat, in December 2014, 4.960 million young people under 25 were unemployed in the EU28, which corresponds to a percentage of 21.4% of the total labor force (both employed and unemployed) in that age group. The highest rates were registered in the Mediterranean area, in countries such as Greece (50.6%), Italy (42%), Spain (51.4%) and Croatia (44.8 % in the first quarter of 2014).

In this perspective, ALDA has been contributing to meet two specific 2013 priorities of the Youth in Action programme • To tackle the issue of youth unemployment as well as to stimulate unemployed young people's mobility and active participation in society, • To stimulate young people’s spirit of initiative, creativity and entrepreneurship, employability, in particular through youth initiatives.

A set of tools, including both trainings and projects, has been applied in order to achieve the aforementioned objectives. As for trainings, FUNNY (Fighting UNemployement through Networking for Youth) brought together 40 youth workers from 17 states of the enlarged Europe and supported them to find partners for transnational cooperation in the field of youth work, with specific attention to the issue of the youth unemployment.

Projects tackling unemployment were both addressed to the social and political actors (e.g. youth workers, organizations and institutions), dealing daily with youth unemployment, and both to young people, with a special attention to the most disadvantages ones.

Project PATHS - Youth for Solidarity Economy and Entrepreneurship in Europe, for instance, aimed to create strategic partnership between European organizations active in the field of education, training and youth, and to promote cooperation and innovation in young social entrepreneurship.

Project W.O.SO.COOP - Work on Social Cooperation, provided a training course to youth workers with fewer opportunities, who then turned turn into multipliers, in order to transfer the acquired know-how to youth organisations in the respective countries.

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TYEC – Tackling Youth Employment Challenge: measures and strategies for European Social Dialogue Actors, in addition, had the purpose of guiding and indicating to the institutional, social and political actors and major associations in the 27 EU member States involved in the fight against unemployment which measures and approaches can be taken to ensure a better coordination between the various stakeholders and levels (local, regional, national and European one) and a greater involvement of young people in the search for and implementation of sustainable solutions.

YEP Youth Employment and Participation favored meeting between international young people, youth workers and experts in youth policies, in order to provide an opportunity for debate and build-up of a structured dialogue on a transnational basis with reference to youth unemployment.

POPEYE - Promoting Organic Production Enhancing Youth Employment aimed to involve disadvantaged youngsters from rural areas in their territories' life, to provide them with a deep understanding of their areas' economic and environmental demands and problems and of their potential role in local public life, by enhancing rural sustainable development through the promotion of organic farming and environmental protection.

The project YES TODAY! Youth Employment and Social Inclusion: Training and opportunities for Developing Azeri Youth, implemented by ALDA, offers to young Azeris trainings on the issues of youth employment and social inclusion. One on the part of the Yes Today’s project has been a study visit in Macedonia when azeris young people and their Macedonian peers, had trainings and meetings to get aware of the professional opportunities they have or they can obtain.

Finally, in the past 4 years, the project On the footsteps of Albert Londres each summer gathers young journalists that travel together while working as professional reporters. This year, 12 young people studying journalism are investigating in Macedonia and Albania about the First World War and its Eastern front. They had chance to interview local stakeholders and to see the places where the armies where fighting and the foreign cemeteries. This project has the goal to train young people to become journalist and to improve their technical skills in order to facilitate their entrance in their professional life.

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HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND YOUTH In the framework of this program, the main objective is to promote healthy behaviors and lifestyle, in particular through the promotion of the practice of outdoor activities and grassroots sport, as well as to foster social inclusion and the active participation of young people in society.

Three are the main projects that ALDA implemented in this field. LEADERS - Local Environments: Active development of environmentally responsible societies aimed at developing a global partnership of organizations working with young people interested in environmentally friendly societies and capable to act locally to enable a better environment and life for all. The project worked on enabling young people to acquire skills and enhance their employability, but also promoted a better intercultural understanding among youth in the world.

Young people were also one of the main target groups of project COHEIRS - Civic Observers for Health and Environment: Initiative for Responsibility and Sustainability, whose object was to support active participation of citizens in the EU democratic life and more specifically in the implementation of the precautionary principles, as detailed in Article 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (EU), through the establishment of citizens panels focused on health and environment. These groups of “civic observers”, duly supported and guided, will act as sentinels, by monitoring the condition of the environment and by paying special attention to those violations and misconducts directly or collaterally threatening the public health. The success of COHEIRS beyond the EU timeframe was particularly proved by the creation of SMA CAMPANIA app to help the sentinel signalize environmental abuses.

The principle of sentinels is also at the core of project EYES – European Youth Environment Sentinels, implemented in Vicenza last June, aiming to put the civic participation of young Europeans at the service of health and environment. The main objectives are to involve youth workers active in the field of health promotion and protection of the environment and to ensure their voice to be heard at the European level, while reducing at the same time the distance between citizens, Europe and daily problems that local communities have to face. The participants, in fact, will act as “multipliers” in their local communities, promoting environmental friendly behaviors and policies as well as multiplying effects in raising awareness about environmental issues.

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YOUTH PARTICIPATION AND SOCIAL INCLUSION The main objectives of this programme are to raise young people’s awareness about EU Citizenship and to increase the participation and role of young people at a local and international level.

Initiatives such as the Common Student Council and the Youth Advisory Council, implemented in Denmark and Italy in the framework of the project DECIDE, allowed young people to engage in decision-making processes at the local level and to experience democracy and participation in their daily life, while developing a sense of belonging in the community they are part of.

Fostering democratic youth participation is also at the core of Democratic Movements and Social Media project, which had the purpose of using and comparing different forms of social media tools in regards to their impact at a local and international level, and of project CHARM: Creativity and Healthy style: Advancing the Role of Music, which focused on music, not only as a non formal-learning tool but also as way of engage young people in the live of their local communities Through the implementation of ALDA projects, the participants could also dial with social and cultural issues such as racism, tolerance and cultural acceptance and intercultural dialogue that were respectively the core of the projects TOYS – Tolerance in Youth Sport and Intercultural Sensitivity is all around.

The cooperation between Lower-Normandy and Macedonia, coordinated by ALDA, is involving young people in several activities since 10 years. Through intercultural exchanges on society issues as environment, human rights, education, culture and cultural heritage, they are invited to get involved in the public life and policy making, especially at the local level. For instance, young people are participating to the University for Peace of Caen or to some intercultural exchanges organized by their Municipality and by their High school etc.

Each year, it is about 100 young people who are participating in those projects and meeting another culture.

Finally, the strong focus on youth has brought all the LDAs in the Balkans to join forces and launch the Balkan Regional Platform for Youth Participation and Dialogue. The initiative aims at promoting social and economic inclusion of age groups that risk marginalization and helping improve the environment for youth activism and participation, in particular of young people with fewer opportunities.

The Regional platform is the natural follow-up of a strong commitment to empower young and bring their voice to the local policy making. 8 LDAs from 5 Balkan countries are involved in this project coordinated by ALDA. Many local, regional and European activities are foreseen within this programme in order to enhance youth participation in decision making on local level.

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