It’s been an exciting and busy period for the CIVACT project, in which five partners will develop and test new methodologies for engaging disadvantaged young people in their neighborhood development as the first step towards familiarizing them with other forms of civic participation.
Following the needs analysis, we developed a database of ten methods which has now been published on the project website. We have grouped the methods into three categories: observing, interacting and proposing.
Following the completion of the methods database, the five partners co-produced a curriculum for training youth workers and district managers working with youth a risk of social exclusion. We tested it and got valuable feedback from youth workers from the five partner countries between the 15th and 17th of October in Palermo.
The methods specifically work toward addressing the identified needs. That means, the methods should be fun and interactive, actively address language barriers and a lack of positive experiences with authority figures, and help informally train the youths’ judgement, expression, and analysis skills.
The training took place over three days in which each category of method had its own day. In this way, participants could reflect, compare and contrast, and consider the applicability for their own local contexts.
Thank you to all the participants for making it an amazing training!
On day 1, the youth workers learned and tested “observing” methods such as perception mapping and instawalks.
On day 2, the youth workers learned and tested “interacting” methods such as role play using personas and feeling cards.
Finally, on day 3, the youth workers learned and tested “proposing” methods such as the youth forum. As you’ll see from the photos, we ended with a prototyping solutions workshop in which four groups designed and created physical prototypes to synthesize solutions to the challenges they had seen over the course of their time in Palermo’s Capo district.
In the next step, each partner will conduct multiplier events to disseminate the training to other youth workers and district managers in their cities, after which they will test them in their day-to-day work until Spring 2020.
A finalized version of the curriculum which incorporates the youth workers’ feedback will be available for download by December. I look forward to hearing the youth workers’ local experiences!
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