Each intellectual output will be detailed and will present the responsibilities of the leading organization, in charge with coordinating the development of the output, and the responsibilities of the partners.
IO1 EMPOWERing the Informal – Research on Informal Groups in the Youth field
Leading organization: Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Output Type: Research — Language: English
IO1 is going to be a well needed research done on defining the informal groups of young people with different backgrounds, coming from different areas (small and big cities, marginalized communities, with high education or not, volunteers etc.). Moreover, the research aims to identify typologies of social groups that turn into informal groups with the aim of bringing a contribution to the community. The research aims also to analyses civic groups that come together for developing actions of social intervention in the communities they are based. The research will also include the analysis of charitable groups that unite to raise money for a cause, or groups that just come together because they have common passions. The research will emphasis similarities and differences between these groups and the informal groups in term of their motivation to come together, to act, to be coherent in their actions and to remain united. This will lead to a set of recommendations on how informal groups of young people can become sustainable and can overcome barriers they face in their activities. Furthermore, one focus of the research will be identifying types of motivations people have when coming together and working in a team.
The research will be analyzing the evolution of informal groups as a social movement and the impact of informal groups of young people upon the community. It will analyze how informal groups are formed, how they evolve and how they transform with the passing of time. Close attention will be given to the transformation of informal groups into formal structures (NGOs for example) and what is the reason this happens and which was the path these ones followed.
The research will be a starting point on making suggestions at national and international level on how policies can be improved to favor the growth of informal groups and the impact they have upon youngsters and the community they are based in.
The results of the research will be useful to youth centers, NGOs, public institutions engaging young people in their activities as volunteers, interns or beneficiaries. They will have a clearer view upon what are the needs of young people when talking about affiliation, niting for a cause, taking responsibilities for their views and actions and when having (or not) a visible sense of initiative. Thus, these will be able to adapt their engaging and communication strategy, as well as their management style.
Innovation of this output is set by the fact that none of the partner counties none in other parts in Europe (at least) has a developed infrastructure on researching this topic. The research does not focus only on one type of beneficiaries of the result but is transferable to other types of contexts and structures involving young people.
IO2 Online platform for informal groups
Leading Organization: Timis County Youth Foundation
Output Type: online. — Languages: English,
This on line platform will allow the informal groups to create an account that can give them several benefits:
- Tools and instruments that can help them improving their work
- Having an on line page on which they can promote their initiatives
- Finding other informal groups that can work with them locally or multiplying their initiatives in other places across countries
- Getting models and best practices from other informal groups from the other countries
- Getting information regarding the legal framework from their countries or the other countries that are represented on the platform.
The platform will have different facilities for its users. It will have a matching algorithm that will link resources some informal groups have with other informal groups that are in need of those resources in order to grow.
The matching system will function as it follows:
- When enrolling on the platform users will fill in a form that will be created in order to find out: resources and expertise the user has in the field of youth participation, youth involvement, informal groups coordination, social intervention and others, the needs of development the user has in its process of making an intervention and being more and more active; resources they need in order to gain skills and knowledge on the topic; what is their aim and what are the types of activities it conducts (if any).
- The questionnaire is going to be created so that the answers automatically result into a score/parameter of the user that just enrolled. That parameter will prioritize 3 main needs of the new user and 3 main resources it has. The next step is the matching. The algorithm will connect the needs of the new user with the resources of another so that they exchange practices and support.
- When the matching is made users will be able to contact each other through a build in chat that the platform will have.
This platform can have a great impact, providing the meta data from each country, from all the informal groups that have an account. Each NGO will be in charge with promoting the platform and gather as many informal groups as possible. This meta data can help each country to further develop strategies and action plans to improve the activities of the informal groups. Also the meta data will serve as a research that is done in real time on the learning and developing skills and competences to youth workers and young people part of informal groups.
At the end of each year, each NGO will provide and promote on this platform a annual report with statistics and recommendation for the next year, aiming to improve how the informal groups can work with NGOs, companies and public institutions, how they can preserve their motivation to continue their actions, how they can move to next steps such as becoming formal structures of intervention and representation.
Furthermore, the platform will be designed in a way that other countries can join, developing a new module for them, in their national language. (example: www.ro.theinformals.com / www.theinformals.org/ro ).
The innovative aspect about this output is mainly the matching algorithm and the system connecting needs with resources empowering youngsters to cooperate, work together, creating, at the same time, the context for them to gain skills and competences needed to increase the impact of their activities on the community and the youth movement. The article/blog facility comes in support of a need of young people to have access to information and opportunities from where to chose before deciding to engage in some activities.
IO3 Give POWER to Youthwork
Leading Organization: Szubjektív Értékek Alapítvány
Output Type: Learning / teaching / training material – Manual / handbook / guidance material, Publication/Paper Brochure
Languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish, Romanian, Hungarian
The tool represents a guide that has as a starting point the Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio and comes in support of youth workers. The guide that will be created will come in support of the process of applying the Youth Work Portfolio with informal groups and going beyond to developing professional skills and knowledge to youth workers in order for them to offer support and mentoring to informal groups to turn into formal structures – NGOs.
Moreover, after informal groups turn into NGOs, the guide will also offer guidance in the area of organizational development of the NGOs so that they become active in the community, access funds to implement their activities and evaluate the impact of these.
The guide, therefore, aims to be a resource for young people in informal groups, youth NGOs and youth workers. It will include tools, handouts, assessment of learning needs methods, assessment of organizational needs methods, instruments to identify learning outcomes of youth workers coordinating informal groups and youth workers in NGOs in the youth field.
The guide will propose a matrix of assessing the steps conducted by informal groups in their path to becoming formal structures with impact in their communities, according to the importance and relevance of each step.
The guide will include instructions on how to apply each instrument.
The guide aims to develop skills and knowledge to youth workers such as: communication, negotiation, organizational development, management, empowering and motivating young people to get involved in their community, motivating young people to assess their learning needs and outcomes, assessing the youth work they are part of.
The product is innovative since it offers three instruments in one: Support of youth workers in assessing and developing their professional skills, support of informal groups to turn into formal structures and support for small NGOs to grow.
IO4 EMPOWER the non formal for youth participation and active citizenship
Leading Organization: Timis County Youth Foundation
Output Type: Learning / teaching / training material – Toolkit Publication/ Paper Brochure
Language: English, Spanish, Romanian, French
This is a compendium of non-formal education methods and social intervention methods that can be used by informal groups, young people, NGOs and public bodies with two purposes:
- To develop skills to young people and youth workers to become more active and participate more in their community, raising awareness and taking a stand for social inclusion
- To offer a set of methods that can be facilitated and put into practice by the actors mentioned above in order to empower young people to stand for their beliefs, to challenge youth participation, to develop skills in the area of active citizenship, solidarity and respect, human rights and social inclusion.
The material will look like a curriculum with minimum 70 methods out of which minimum 25 will be develop during the project together mainly with the support of POD Association and Szubjektív Értékek Alapítvány, the partners that the most experience in this field. The methods and activities will be described including information like: description of the activity, aim, resources needed to put it into practice, time allocated to the method, learning outcomes envisioned, number of participants the activity is suitable for and the main theme it goes under.
The compendium will be tested and improved during 2 blending mobilities (one for youth workers and one for young people). The first mobility will take place in Canary Islands, Spain and the second one in Timișoara, Romania. The aim of the first mobility is to create a context of co-creation of new methods and activities that aim youth participation, social inclusion and human rights awareness but also to create a laboratory context in which young people test activities and methods, see their effect and choose which ones are more of an impact to them. The second mobility will come in support of finalizing the output by testing the methods and activities in it and offer last feedback. Last but not least, the second mobility will aim to build facilitation skills to youth workers to apply the compendium and to empower young people to become active citizens (whether it is in informal groups, individually or as part of an organization).
This compendium of methods will be targeted specifically on youth participation and active citizenship. All the games, exercises and methods included in it will be either new or adapted to fulfill this aim.
