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Description
The aim of the project is to activate young people to participate in social life and to stimulate civic participation processes in the city of Namysłów. Our diagnosis shows that one of the biggest problems that have been recognised for many years in our city is the lack of participation among young people in all areas of local life. The project will equip the youth with the necessary tools and skills to become youth leaders. A Junior Academy will be created within the project – an undertaking aimed at conducting workshops, lectures and meetings with leaders. It will be an ‘incubator’ for young local leaders, who will become the seed of a well-functioning civil society. At the next stage of the project, young people will prepare a diagnosis of the local youth environment taking into account its problems and needs. As part of the Junior Academy, young people will meet with representatives of non-governmental organisations and participate in sessions of the town and district councils. At the final stage of the project, young people will elaborate project proposals to the Participatory Budget and the Youth City Council concerning the needs of young people in the city of Namysłów. Young people participating in the project will strengthen their skills of teamwork, co-decision, conflict resolution, as well as communication, project management, organisational and negotiation skills. The project will help build trust between different social groups in Namyslow. The involvement and participation of young people in the life of the local community will be strengthened, and the participants of the Junior Academy will become leaders of active youth. Direct beneficiaries of the project are 20 people participating in the Junior Academy (aged 13-15). Indirect beneficiaries are young people and officials, including local government officials, social activists consulting diagnosed needs and assumptions of the project proposals (approx. 40 people).
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to create a group of socially active young people who, thanks to the acquired knowledge and skills, will in the future activate the young community of Namysłów through action and stimulate the processes of civic participation in our city. In the first stage of the project, we planned the creation of a Junior Academy, a structure within which there will be a series of workshops, lectures and meetings designed for young people who want to be active in their area. The training was intended to contribute to personal development, building a personal brand and improving young people''s relationships with their surroundings. The Junior Academy was to become an "incubator" of young local leaders, and they were to become the "seeds" of a well-functioning civil society. In the next stage, young participants had the task of preparing a diagnosis of the local youth environment in terms of its problems and needs. In the next stage, young people were to initiate and implement the process of civic participation. Meetings were to be held with representatives of non-governmental organizations, young people were to consult the diagnosis results and observe local participatory processes. The last step was to be for the young participants of the Junior Academy to prepare applications for the budget of the Youth City Council in Namysłów. The project was to be completed with an evaluation. The project was supposed to respond to the problem of young people''s low participation in the social and civic life of Namysłów, and the lack of young people''s influence on the reality surrounding them. He was also supposed to draw attention to the needs of young people in Namysłów.
During the implementation of the project, 7 blocks of workshops/trainings were conducted for young participants of the Junior Academy: 160 hours of preparation workshops. 1 weekend trip integrating a group of 24 young people aged 14-15, 2 tutors, 6 volunteer guardians, including 2 members of the organization implementing the project. 1 social diagnosis of Namysłów youth. Applications to the Youth City Council. 1 project evaluation trip, attended by 20 project participants, 2 tutors and 4 volunteers.
The benefits resulting from the activities carried out can be classified as soft skills. The young people trained during the workshops strengthened their strengths and can (and do) try to define and eliminate their weaknesses; strengthened teamwork and co-decision skills; learned how to resolve conflicts; developed communication skills; she learned project management, time management, developed organizational and negotiation skills, and the art of decision-making; trust was built among the Junior Academy participants. Junior Academy participants gained civic knowledge and skills to influence social change in the local environment. Young people''s interest in the life of the local community increased. The results include a social diagnosis of young people in Namysłów prepared as part of the Junior Academy and applications to the budget of the Youth City Council, which indicate areas and activities that could change the situation of young people in Namysłów for the better. An example may be indications related to the lack of safe places in Namysłów where young people could meet and spend their free time. Another example is showing that the offer for young people in Namysłów is insufficient or inappropriate. Social consultations with representatives of local government institutions, culture and the non-governmental sector brought great benefits in terms of better mutual understanding between young people and adults responsible for education and cultural offers for young people. Both sides of the consultations benefited, and their first result is the launch of a youth basketball section in Namysłów. The benefit for young people participating in the project is a sense of agency.