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Description
With the aim of contributing to the fight against inequality and discrimination in Portuguese society, the project will, through the use of youth participation as a tool for social change, carry out “exploratory laboratories” where young people will identify areas and fractured themes in which equality is still a utopia, based on their experiences and perceptions. Based on these areas and themes, young people (15 to 25 years old) will be invited to build a community that will conceive and implement activism actions, campaigns and other activities that contribute to combating inequalities through action in the public space. This youth community will also prepare an equality open letter with reflections and recommendations for action that will be presented and discussed with decision-makers and strategic actors at political and civil society levels.
Summary of project results
The project promoted civic awareness and strengthened democratic values among young people, particularly regarding social inequality, by fostering youth involvement as key to creating more equitable and just communities.
The project began by engaging young people to explore their experiences and perceptions of equality and equity, identifying key issues through Exploratory Labs. The main themes identified by the 376 young participants (aged 14-19) were gender inequality, discrimination against people with disabilities, racial discrimination, economic inequalities, homophobia, and age discrimination.
The Etalks community was then created, comprising 12 active young members who met several times and served as consultants throughout the project. This community participated in public demonstrations and contributed to critical discussions on the project''s themes.
The project successfully influenced public opinion through an open letter advocating for "a school as a safe and diverse space". Throughout the project, the educational community in the three municipalities of the Lisbon metropolitan area (Lisbon, Barreiro and Azambuja) was engaged through 18 lectures on different topics (such as homophobia, ableism, political culture and youth participation, and gender inequality), five equality campaigns and actions, and a photo exhibition at the Lisbon Youth Center. A Human Library event was also held, which received very positive feedback from participants.
The open letter was sent to various media outlets, the educational community, and policymakers via email and LinkedIn. At the project''s final discussion event, the letter was presented, and several young people and European election candidates were invited to comment and discuss its content. By the end of the project, 33 subscriptions had been received.
In quantitative terms, the following was achieved:
- 5 awareness raising campaigns carried out;
- 2 NGO initiatives promoting access to information on public/private policies;
- 1 NGO-produced evidence-based report on public/private policies reported in the media;
- 93% share of target group showing civic concerns.
In terms of capacity building, the promoter had already developed an action plan based on a needs assessment conducted during a previous ACF project. This led to the training of 3 professionals in HR and financial management and advocacy.
All proposed targets were met and exceeded.