APPLICATION STILL OPEN: The call for participants for the Advocacy Training for Young European Activists organised by the Assembly of European Regions and the Young European Federalists (JEF) has been extended! Submit your application by Friday 26th February 2021 via the online form!
APPLICATION EXTENDED TO YOUTH FROM ALL OVER THE EU: The application has been opened to young citizens that are member of JEF Sections and/or the AER Youth Regional Network and/or representative a Youth Regional Council within the European Union! Priority (not exclusion) is given to applicants belonging to one of the above organisations/networks that are located in one of the country covered by the Y-FED project, namely: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Malta, North Macedonia, Poland, Slovenia, and Spain.
The Assembly of European Regions, in partnership with JEF, is organising a training seminar on advocacy that will offer 30 young Europeans the opportunity to enhance their knowledge of the European Institutions and the Youth Strategy, as wells as develop advocacy plans to promote their rights and priorities among local and regional authorities.
The training seminar is being organised as part of the “Y-FED: Europe is what we make of it” project. The Y-FED project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the EU with the aim of empowering youth in the European and regional political dialogues and, in turn, building an Europe that it is closer to its young citizens.
About the Training Seminar
The training seminar will be held from the 4th to the 6th of March 2021 (dates to be confirmed) in an online learning format and will be conducted in English.
It will adopt methodologies from non-formal education to provide young citizens with the necessary competences and resources to boost their active citizenship. It includes sessions on the European Youth Strategy and its Youth Goals leading to the development of regional and local advocacy plans focused on one out of the eleven European Youth Goals, ideally goal 9, Space and Participation for All.
Throughout the training seminar, young citizens will develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to become Youth-Ambassadors in their local and regional contexts. At the same time they will design, organise and implement advocacy actions at a local and regional level. As a result of the training, participants will:
- Strengthen advocacy skills;
- Strengthen advocacy tools;
- Become acquainted with the European Youth Goals;
- Develop knowledge on the principles of multi-level governance and subsidiarity;
- Develop the skills to interact with decision-makers;
- Develop an advocacy plan.
The training seminar will be composed three modules that will be completed throughout 10 hours:
1. European Module: The European Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and the European Youth Goals (Thursday 4th March, 18:00 – 20:00 CET)
The training seminar will start with the introduction to the European Union Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and the European Youth Goals, which outline the main challenges that young people face in their daily lives and present the vision for a Europe that enables young people to realise their full potential.
2. Module on Youth and Regions: How can young people be engaged in the political development of their region? (Friday 5th March, 18:00 – 20:00 CET)
This session will focus on enhancing participants’ knowledge on the principles of multi-level governance and subsidiarity and deepening the understanding of active youth participation in the democratic and political life at regional and local level.
This session will be accompanied by some practice examples on how young people can be engaged in the political life of their regions. The module will analyse and present several examples from across Europe about how local and regional authorities have been involving their young citizens in the development, implementation and evaluation of youth policies, and other policies that are most relevant to them. These good practices will serve as the ground for the development of participants’ advocacy plans.
3. Module on advocacy: Introduction to advocacy and development of an advocacy plan (Saturday 6th March, 10:00 – 16:00 CET)
The objective of this module is to build participants’ competences and provide them with the tools required to advocate for youth participation at local, regional, and European levels. Trainees will work in groups of four and each group will jointly develop an advocacy strategy to advocate for one of the previously presented European Youth Goals and address the action to a regional authority from the following countries: Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Malta, North Macedonia, Poland, Slovenia, and Spain.
The developed advocacy strategy will serve the participants as a basis for the implementation of local and regional actions, activity which will follow the training.
Following the conclusion of the training seminar, participants will have the chance to engage with local and regional authorities across Europe by participating at the AER Spring Bureau Meeting and implementing local advocacy actions. Additionally, participants will be invited to submit the developed local advocacy plan and apply for micro-grants to actually implement the advocacy plans among their local and regional authorities with expert mentoring and under the coordination of the AER.
Profile of the Participants
The participants of the training course will be a group of 30 young citizens keen to develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to become Youth-Ambassadors in their local and regional contexts and design, organise and implement advocacy actions at a local and regional level.
In the selection of the participants, priority will be given to members of one of the Young European Federalists’ (JEF) national Sections, and members of the Assembly of European Regions-Youth Regional Network (YRN). The rest of the participants will be young representatives from Regional Youth Councils.
The application is open to young citizens affiliated to and/or representatives of one of the organisations/networks listed above from allover Europe. Priority (not exclusion) is given to young citizens within the country covered by the project, namely: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Malta, North Macedonia, Poland, Slovenia, and Spain.
Gender balance will be ensured in the selection process of the participants, as well as the geographical balance.
Specific requirements for the participants:
- Be aged between 18 and 30 years old;
- Be a member of JEF sections and/or member of the AER-YRN and/or representative of a youth regional council in Europe (priority is given to young citizens belonging to one of the above organisations/networks located in one of the countries covered by the Y-FED project);
- Be able to work and communicate fluently in English;
- Have some knowledge about the EU institutions;
- Be passionate about politics;
- Be willing to engage in the political dialogue at the regional and European level and advocate for youth priorities.
How to participate?
Participation in this training seminar is free of charge and all those who meet the specific requirements of the call shall send their applications online via the link below before the 26th of February!
If you have any question concerning the training seminar and the application procedure, please contact [email protected] and [email protected] !
