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Description
Young Caritas Advocates is a project that primarily targets young people aged 16-20 years. Over the course of 18 months, it aims to provide them with the communication and advocacy skills needed for active citizenship, with the benefit of teaching the concept of sustainable development. At the end of the project, these young people will be able to identify environmental shortcomings in their area and suggest realistic improvements. They will also have the skill to independently plan and carry out awareness-raising events for the public and conduct a direct dialogue on sustainable development with decision makers.
The core activity of the project will be an Accelerator Program based on the Advocacy Toolkit, developed and published by European Caritas organizations in 2020. This program is specifically designed for young people with a demonstrable interest in active citizenship and consists of several phases.
Participants will be invited to summer, winter and spring camps, where they will learn to define important topics and plan related advocacy strategies. They will then prepare and execute a targeted awareness campaign in their residential area, and in the practical part, deal directly with people who have real decision-making powers – e.g., with local government representatives. This will make it easier for Young Caritas Advocates to approach and communicate with authorities, which is the project’s key motivating element.
Existing support for NPOs will facilitate the creation of a strategy for the program of Young Caritas Czech Republic, which will in turn help improve the quality of youth work within the organization.
Summary of project results
The project addressed youth engagement and the obstacles young people face when trying to become active citizens. Its goal was to support participants in their journey towards active citizenship and to establish a dialogue between young people and key stakeholders, mainly municipalities, who don’t usually have an opportunity to meet, discuss, and share ideas. These gatherings were designed as round tables, discussions, or meetings with similar settings to ensure all participants were equal. The project approached young people with well-worked and relevant program that encouraged them to take part in it and become aspiring active citizens. Last but not least, it aimed to conenct young peopel woth youth workers, educate the general public and raise awareness about the importance of involving young people in public life.
The aim of the project was to support the participants in their journey towards active citizenship. In a certain sense, the impact of the project is procedural and goes beyond
the framework of the awareness raising campaigns themselves. During weekend meetings, participants acquired a range of skills necessary for active citizenship, which they
themselves evaluate as very useful for their further civic and professional direction. However, the experience of actively contributing to positive change in their environment
is also important. We believe that the project implementation has shaped young active citizens who will continue advocacy activities even after the finish of Young
Caritas Advocates. This conclusion is also supported by the statements of participants during evaluation interviews.
At the same time, throughout the project implementation, emphasis was placed on a certain multiplier effect of the project participants, whose activities and awareness raising
campaigns aimed to further spread the value of involving young people in public life. The effort to establish contacts with key stakeholders, including municipalities, during
the advocacy phase was therefore not only to gain allies for the implementation of enlightenment campaigns but also to establish a dialogue between these actors and young
people in general. Some awareness raising campaigns conducted in public spaces or meetings with municipalities were attended by representatives of the implementation
team who attempted to further support this established dialogue. The multiplier effect can also be seen in inspiring classmates of project participants, as many activities were
carried out in the school environment and classmates often participated as survey respondents and participants in awareness raising campaigns. As an example of
good practice in involving young people in public life, space was devoted to project participants during presentations at the Young Caritas Forum. The awareness raising
campaigns of the participants and their media coverage were intended to reach a wide audience and contribute to raising awareness of the importance of involving young
people in public life.
The project carried out several activities with diverse outputs. Young people participated in educational weekend camps where they gained presentation, communication, and
advocacy skills. These trainings also prepared them for creating awareness-raising campaigns and concrete advocacy efforts on the local level. Awareness-raising campaigns
prepared by young people were one of the key outputs. Advocacy was realized by both offline and online gatherings with municipality representatives and other
decision-makers. All these activities and outputs were presented during the final conference, Young Caritas Forum, which brought together young people, decision-makers,
Caritas employees and youth workers. During Ideathon, which was part of Forum’s program, all these groups came up with ideas and recommendations for engaging
young people.
The project managed to empower young participants to become active citizens by helping them acquire skills necessary for civic engagement. Participants evaluated the skills gained during the weekend meetings as valuable for their future civic and professional paths. During the advocacy phase, a dialogue was established between young people and key stakeholders, mainly municipalities. While not all groups found municipalities to be relevant actors, several groups successfully established regular contact and collaboration. The project was an opportunity for decision-makers to get in touch with the young generation and youth leaders and incorporate them into active citizenship related to their specific location. The project impacted the general public by raising awareness about the importance of youth involvement in public life through the participants'' awareness-raising campaigns and media coverage, which reached a broad audience.