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Description
Civic participation in Narva is quite low, as evidenced by participation in elections and several surveys. Young people of Narva have no alternative for political and civic education except the school and the support provided by people working with youth on the issue is not sufficient. Young people have little interest in community, city, country and European issues.
The aim of the project is to increase active citizenship and awareness of young people on political process. To achieve this goal, we will educate young people on the basics of democracy and the processes of other forms of governance; raise young people''s awareness of how they can have a voice and engage in active citizenship; we bring together young people and decision-makers and train people who work with young people.
Expected outcomes are educated young people who understand democratic values, distinguish between different forms of governance, know how to contribute to society and solve problems, and express their views. Young people have a realistic attitude towards decision makers and are ready to work with them. In addition, people working with young people are able to encourage and properly engage young people in order to raise their civic initiative and to create the right conditions for them to express their views and bring about the changes they feel need for.
Summary of project results
One of the problems in the city of Narva in North-Eastern Estonia is the lack of civic engagement, especially among young people. This is evident in the low participation in both national and local elections. People in Narva are dissatisfied with the work of the city government, but they don’t feel that they have the power to change the situation. Additionally, there are few social enterprises in Narva, and the voices of young people are not heard.
Young people aged 16 and older are eligible to vote in local elections, but no changes have been made in the city’s education system to support this, and there were almost no meetings or training sessions in Narva before the elections to help young people understand the voting process.
In addition to civic education, young people need encouragement and belief that they can influence life in Narva. Many young people say they don’t believe they can make a difference in the city and don’t even know what they would want to change, though they are not satisfied with the current situation. Some are afraid to express their opinions or don’t know how to start making changes. Others think that decision-making is someone else’s responsibility and feel disconnected from it. Young people also lack contact and experience with decision-makers.
In summary, the current situation in Narva is that there are no alternative ways to access civic and political education outside of school, and the methods offered in schools are not effective.
The project activities included three "Your Impact" active citizenship programs for young people, three summer schools for children, training for people working with youth, and organizing open meetings between youth and decision-makers.
The most impactful activities were the "Your Impact" programs, where young people learned about democratic principles and decision-making processes at both the local and national levels. They learned to recognize their needs and problems, how to solve them, and who to involve in the solutions. A total of 60 young people completed the "Your Impact" program; they remain actively engaged in youth work and continue their initiatives independently or with the support of VitaTiim. These young people are using opportunities to make their voices heard and raise issues of interest to them. Among their projects are urban art projects, sexual education for youth, organizing cultural events, art clubs, media literacy development for youth, and more. These young people gained confidence and connections with decision-makers, helping them understand that their voices matter and are expected, making them more willing to improve life in Narva.
The project also included five summer schools for children aged 10-13. With the help of volunteers and program participants, more activities were organized for children than initially planned. Different methods and approaches were tested to introduce democracy to this age group and increase their engagement, with a primary focus on volunteer work. Through the project, many young volunteers joined VitaTiim. For instance, summer school participants helped organize subsequent summer schools, served as volunteers at participatory festivals, and assisted at other events.
Training was also conducted for people working with youth, but due to low demand, the focus shifted mainly to training young people who work with other youth, such as youth organizations created by young people, youth project organizers, camp leaders, student councils, etc. A key outcome of the training was that these young people and youth organizations began collaborating more and carrying out projects independently.
The open meetings aimed to establish a dialogue between youth and decision-makers. Meetings took place with school principals, city government officials, the mayor, public officials, and local politicians. As a result, young people began to be included more in decisions affecting youth, such as developing strategies, school initiatives and projects, and enhancing the city’s cultural life.
The project also built relationships with new partners, including the Estonian National Youth Council, the Student Councils'' Union, Peace Action Community Estonia, the Estonian Cooperation Assembly, Tallinn Mobile Youth Work, and the Tartu City Department of Culture.
The project introduced several systematic solutions to improve youth engagement, such as creating mobile youth work to engage more at-risk youth, improving youth information dissemination, making participatory budgeting and city grants more youth-friendly, supporting youth initiatives, and supporting youth parliaments and student councils.
Outcomes of the project are educated young people who understand democratic values, know how to contribute to society and solve problems, and express their own views. Close to 2000 city participated in project activities, most of them Russian speakers. In Narva there is now a community of young people who have a realistic attitude towards decision makers and are ready to work with them. In addition, there are new methods and instruments in place on the city level to increase young people’s civic activity and initiative. The project contributed to the creation of the culture of youth involvement in decision-making processes.
There are several initiatives that will last after the project. For example, a community of “Your Impact” youth who continues developing their own initiatives and projects. VitaTiim has new cooperation partners to work on new initiatives in the field of youth involvement in decision-making, youth entrepreneurship, supporting student councils etc.