Description
The project addresses the need for voluntary action in community development, promoting volunteering, community organizing, cooperation with local administration, to counteract the tendency of inefficient dispersed actions of vulnerable groups to advance their issues. The Municipality of Bergen, Norway is project partner. Based on best practices of the Bergen Youth City Council and democratic processes that foster active citizenship, the project proposes a model of utilizing volunteering as resource for advancing Roma youth issues and influencing public policies in 5 deprived communities of Bihor. The volunteer work and the advocacy focus on improving the community facilities relevant for the youth, reducing the disparities that Roma face. The project increases the participation and the competencies of 100 youth - mainly Roma - to initiate volunteering programs in their communities, encourage civic participation, ensure the exchange of experience with 15 members of the Bergen Youth City Council. Other 150 volunteers are mobilized in implementing the local programs.
Summary of project results
Youth from Romania and Norway promoted voluntary civic community actions in order to influence local public policies in 5 deprived Roma communities from Bihor county, building on the good practices of the Local Council of Youth from Bergen. The project objectives converged to increase the capacity, involvement and competences of 100 youngsters, in order to initiate volunteering programmes in 5 rural communities. Through the experience exchange programme developed during the 14 months of the project, the Romanian Roma volunteers benefited of the know-how and experience in the area of participatory democracy of the Youth Council of Bergen Commune, further contributing to increasing the quality of life for over 3,700 citizens. Over 100 Roma youth volunteers, actively involved in the project, became aware of the importance of the participatory democracy process and especially that they should be active in solving their community problems. They personally experienced either the successful initiatives of influencing the local decision making process, or the rejection coming from the local councillors towards their community needs. Assisting the youngsters to learn through their own failures and moving on with an increased capacity and motivation is one of the most important outcomes of the project. In total, 274 volunteers actively participated in the project. Parts of the results are sustained by local council decisions, becoming subject of local public responsibility. It is the case of the bus stop from Tămașda (which was set to be rehabilitated), the set-up of the playground for children in Oșand or the sports equipment and infrastructure in Tășad.
Summary of bilateral results
The Norwegian partner through its Youth Council structure facilitated and transferred the best practices and experience of the Norwegian young volunteers towards the young Roma from Bihor County, Romania. The experience exchange covered areas such as: volunteering community actions; participatory democratic mechanisms; means, methods and instruments in influencing the decision making processes; community organising and needs assessment processes; formulating public opinions etc. The return exchange visit in Bergen allowed Roma Romanian youngsters and the Youth Council representatives to disseminate their lessons learned from the current project to different types of public: representatives of the local authority, students and teachers from different schools in Bergen and the general public by launching and presenting a Photo Voice exhibition. Norwegian NGOs and public institutions attended the final presentation. The youth together with different public figures were also invited to a special dinner organised by the mayor of the City of Bergen, using the opportunity to interact with the officials in a relaxed environment. The visit represented a learning experience for the Norwegian public as well, especially taking into account the image that Romanian Roma people have in Norway. An important and immediate positive response to the project was the fact that Bergen Kommune applied as a main promoter for a Bilateral Relations grant to the Romanian National Focal Point thus permitting to double the number of the Roma young participants to the exchange visit in Bergen. Thus, Bergen Kommune organised a large conference with the participation of public institutions, Romanian Embassy, City Hall representatives of Bergen and Oslo cities, regular citizens. During the conference the Roma youth had presentations and actively interacted with the audience. The challenging conference was meant to bring Roma realities into the public attention.