Yellow Shirts
TAKING THE FIRST STEP ~ Study cases ~
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Yellow Shirts
SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT The feasibility visit “Taking the first step” is to take place from 1st August to 1st November 2012, with the activities between 27th and 31st August 2012 in the nearby area of Baia Mare, Romania. The project will gather a total number of 8 youth coming from Romania, Italy and Turkey which, for a period of 5 days, will be working on the preparation of a training course about qualitative youth exchanges under the frame of Youth in Action. Our objectives are to prepare a qualitative training course application form, by working on the specific needs of the partners, increasing the quality of the partnerships by working at least for the next 2 projects together with same promoters, to encourage young people to take actions in their communities, promoting the participation of young people creating projects for young people, promoting cultural diversity and usage of creativity and entrepreneurship skills by using the non-formal education’s methods. Activities such as getting to know each other and the sending organizations, discovering what Youth in Action is about, defining objectives, activities, methods, trainers, visibility and dissemination elements, sharing tasks and responsibilities, writing parts of the application form together as well as evaluation of the activities shall be done through methods such as games, presentations, brain storming and round tables.
HOST ORGANIZATION YELLOW SHIRTS Association activates at the local level for and with young people. Our aim is to sustain and help the young people to integrate in the community. In order to achieve this, our activities are done in such way to promote the active citizenship, solidarity and tolerance, the cooperation at the local, regional, national and international level, the cultural diversity, by offering counseling and promoting our members’ and volunteers’ ideas. Our activities are based on organizing, implementing and participating in local, regional, national and international training sessions, seminars, exchanges, conferences, debates, work camps, festivals, or other such events. The activities involve the stimulation of our volunteers’ and members’ creativity, imagination, spirit of gaining new knowledge, solidarity etc. in order to help them put a basic over their skills by developing their personal interests. The main domains in which we activate are the culture and arts, sports, environment and health, human rights and media communications tools according to the present staff, members and volunteers we have.
STUDY CASES This document comprises the problems that have been identified in Romania (Baia Mare and Bucharest), Italy (Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and Minturno) and Turkey (Ankara and Çanakkale).
Yellow Shirts
ROMANIA – Baia Mare The city is located in the North-West of Romania and has a population of about 150.000 inhabitants. The encountered problems are: -
the surrounding forests are very dirty
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lack of activities for young people
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no places where NGOs to develop activities – no youth center
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accessing the local funds is very hard due to the bureaucracy
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people and youth in particular do not want to get involve in social activities
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the city is “dying” due to the lack of production – only consumption
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the young people are leaving the city for studies and few return
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the young people are leaving the city for better jobs and life standards
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high unemployment rate, especially among young people
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low salaries comparing to the prices of the products
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a lot of teenagers are being raised by their grandparents while the parents are at work in foreign countries
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the level of graduated teenagers is decreasing alertly
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teenagers are starting drinking alcohol and smoking at very early ages
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too many youth associations that actually do nothing
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a platform where all the activities destined to youth (in the city) is high likely to exist
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high level of pollution in the air and river due to the industrial activities that were taking place in the city
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the youth department from the city hall has employees over 50 years old that are not that open minded
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these employees don’t know the real needs of the youth
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no collaboration between the active youth association
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a high competition between the youth association that leads nowhere for the youth
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homeless people are begging in the public places
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so many churches and so few parks and green spaces
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no access to the public toilets (are locked and/or very smelly)
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lack of employees in the public institutions
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low promoting of the youth activities
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no arranged spaces for bikers, skaters or rollers
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no alternatives of spending the free time except computer/internet and bars
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no arranged space for cycling
Yellow Shirts
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lack of parking places
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no arranged places for free outdoor sports
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the streets become racing places for cars at night – very dangerous
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very few cultural activities
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low involvement of the local media in promoting the youth activities
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some NGOs work exclusively with a target group excluding a big majority of the young population
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no book fests
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very few and with not many books second-hand bookstores
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very few activities in cafes such as theatre or book releases
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high prices of the books
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very few trees
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the museums don’t have interactive programs to attract the youth
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no infrastructure for disabled people
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insufficient places at public kindergartens
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high prices for utilities
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few help from the local authorities for the young families
Yellow Shirts
ROMANIA – Bucharest The city is located in the South-East of Romania and has a population of about 2.000.000 inhabitants and is the capital of the country. The encountered problems are: -
a lot of stress and traffic jams
- high level of pollution - high level of corruption - lack of interest from the local authorities concerning the welfare of the population - high abuse of narcotics and alcohol among young people - very poor rate of graduated teenagers -
lack of involvement of youth in social activities
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high rate of unemployment
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high rate of unemployment for the recent graduated students
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graduated students that get a job is not in the domain that graduated from
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many homeless people
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a lot of street dogs
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lack of recycling
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lack of interest to help the community
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no interests in the political life
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rare or non existence of public transportation at night
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no police at night on streets – high criminal rate
- even with the sales for students, the tickets for opera, theatre or other cultural activity are still high
- low perspective for future life standards - the general level of education is decreasing - very few arranged space for cyclers – very dangerous to cycle - high number of beggars - lack of green spaces - high fees for libraries - lack of parking places - very dirty streets - neighborhoods where you are afraid to go due to high criminal rate - no playgrounds for children or the existing ones are in a very bad condition
Yellow Shirts
- lack of employees in the public institutions -
the medical system is deficit
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the ambulances don’t get free way in traffic and reach the emergencies very late
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many people prefer to go by car then walk or make sport
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no arranged places for free outdoor sports
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the streets become racing places for cars at night – very dangerous
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the media influences negative the population
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a lot of asphalt that in summer makes the temperatures go higher
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not too many trees to prevent the heat in summer
Yellow Shirts
ITALY – Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto The city is located in the South of Italy, in Sicily and has a population of about 42.000 inhabitants. The encountered problems are:
- high level of corruption - lack of parking places -
lack of recycling
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high rate of unemployment
- lack of interest from the local authorities concerning the welfare of the population -
no arranged places for free outdoor sports
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lack of interest to help the community
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a lot of bureaucracy
- very few arranged space for cyclers – very dangerous to cycle -
many people prefer to go by car then walk or make sport
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small place and not so many people/youth to work with
- lack of green spaces -
no arranged spaces for bikers
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teenagers are starting drinking alcohol and smoking at very early ages
- very dirty streets -
not too many trees and green spaces
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the media influences negative the population
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the young people are leaving the city for studies and few return
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very few cultural activities
Yellow Shirts
ITALY - Minturno The city is located in the Center of Italy and has a population of about 19.500 inhabitants. The encountered problems are: -
lack of activities for young people
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high unemployment rate, especially among young people
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very high level of bureaucracy
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the young people are leaving the city for studies
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lack of motivation of young people to act
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no places where NGOs to develop activities
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very few cultural activities
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big environmental issues
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no alternatives of spending the free time
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low promoting of the youth activities
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very few green spaces
- the general level of education is decreasing - high level of pollution -
no recycling
- high level of corruption - low perspective for future life standards
Yellow Shirts
TURKEY – Ankara The city is located in the Center of Turkey and has a population of about 3.500.000 inhabitants and is the capital of the country. The encountered problems are: -
big unemployment rate
- traffic jamss -
high unemployment rate, especially among young people
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no collaboration between the active youth association
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low involvement of the local media in promoting the youth activities
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a high competition between the youth association that leads nowhere for the youth
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lack of employees in the public institutions
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not enough of parking places
- high level of pollution -
very few cultural activities
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low promoting of the youth activities
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few alternatives of spending the free time
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homeless people are begging in the public places
- high level of corruption -
a lot of asphalt that in summer makes the temperatures go higher
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low recycling
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the ambulances don’t get free way in traffic and reach the emergencies very late
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the inequality between genders can still be felt
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high rate of criminality
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youth forget about the old traditions
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very crowded city
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not many cultural or touristic places
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high prices for products such as clothes or food
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low numbers of hospitals
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the city is growing too much and too fast
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clean water supplies
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bad infrastructure
Yellow Shirts
TURKEY – Çanakkale The city is located in the North-West of Turkey and has a population of about 106.000 inhabitants. The encountered problems are: -
inequality between men and women for getting a job
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high pollution of the sea
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low promoting of the youth activities
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lack of green spaces
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the ambulances don’t get free way in traffic and reach the emergencies very late
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traffic jams
- few playgrounds for children -
no arranged spaces for bikes
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lack of parking places
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no arranged space for cycling
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high unemployment rate, especially among young people
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low level of cultural activities
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crowded city
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health infrastructure should be improved