Generation Europe – The Academy is an international network of youth organizations comprising 42 organizations from 14 European countries, divided into 14 partnerships. Their aim is to develop local projects that address various types of local problems. One of the objectives is to include and bring young people from a wide range of social contexts closer to political life, thereby strengthening their active role in society and showing them the impact that their actions and their contribution have on the reality around them.
This happens through an education in politics that inspires curiosity and stimulates the critical spirit of all young people.
At the same time, it aims to give policymakers the opportunity to get closer to the youth world by allowing them to understand the needs of younger people. All this clearly makes it possible to analyze and tackle youth issues with a broad European dimension.
Here is the link to the project website that Explorer is a partner of: https://generationeurope.org/en/
The project’s goals:
- To help young people understand concepts such as: democracy, human rights, national and European institutions, geopolitics, history of the European Union, promoting them not only at local level, but also at international level;
- To facilitate the exchange of European values with people from other countries, in order to enable young people to act in their local situation.
- Motivate young people to become more aware and critical.
- Deepen the meaning of concepts such as: active participation, civic and social awareness, inclusion;
- Reflect on racism – origin, stereotypes, fear of politics;
- Develop an active research with respect to the territorial problems experienced by the youth;
- Stimulate dialogue between young people and policy makers.
ACTIVITIES OF THE PROJECT:
To achieve the above objectives, the project has established several action lines, each carried out by different actors depending on the area of improvement on which you work.
Creation of international partnerships
The 42 countries forming the network are divided into 14 partnerships. In each partnership, three groups of young people from three European countries work together for three years. They are held for international youth meetings, each year in a different country, where youth exchanges are organized on the theme of active citizenship, civic responsibility and exchange of good practices.
Local activities
This is a three-year structured action; each phase has a duration of one year. Young people form local groups, identify the characteristics of their realities, develop local action plans and implement them with the help of the organization to which they belong.
Training for professionals
Good work with young people requires well-trained staff. In the Generation Europe – The Academy project, the professionals of the youth associations involved have at their disposal material and training meetings to ensure the correct management of the groups.
Long-term strategy
With a tight budget, work with young people is under pressure across Europe. Exchanges between policy-makers, academics, professionals and young people are organized to support a long-term strategy for youth policy, with appropriately funded structures.