The world is gradually becoming witness to the disenfranchisement of youth. This is partially due to a global unrest in relation to the economic system creating a more complex societal equilibrium, placing young people at a disadvantaged socio-economic position with heightened youth unemployment, and also due to political distrust, a decline in values and socially-oriented causes as well as reduced belief in bottom-up social change. At the same time, the role of youth in development and decision-making is marginalised and/or undervalued and so the gap between local, regional, national and international development and youth engagement widens. The UN Secretary General admitted this during the High-Level Meeting on Youth in 2011: “The United Nations is doing a considerable amount to invest in youth. And we are making greater efforts to engage youth in our negotiating and decision-making processes. Still, I do not think we have gone nearly far enough”.

Even though young people are largely characterised as ‘passive recipients’, equally, a multitude of youth initiatives and concepts like start-ups have recently been in bloom. Participation can be strengthened by including youth in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of tools, policies and projects and setting youth civic engagement as a mainstreamed principle of initiative. Through active engagement, young people have the potential to become lifelong contributors to local well-being and a thriving social economy.

The project sets as specific objectives to:

• Improve self-esteem and confidence of young people by (re)introducing them in their local communities
• Reduce disenfranchisement of youth by instigating a sentiment of social responsibility and making way for local civic participation
• Tackle social exclusion through the active involvement and motivation of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and underprivileged communities
• Transfer know-how from successful youth civic participation models in implementing community actions for local development
• Designate bottom-up solutions to establish the link between youth civic participation, youth capacity building and local sustainable development
• Promote multi-level and multi-stakeholder collaborative approaches to address socio-economic issues
• Engage local stakeholders, private actors, training providers, and CSOs in joint planning for socio-economic growth and stability
• Bridge the gap between the world of formal qualifications, basic/key skills and social entrepreneurship.

Coordinator:

Fundación Almería Social y Laboral (FASL) http://www.fundacionalmeria.es/index.php/es/

Partners:

• CARDET, Chipre
• Innovation Training Center (ITC), España 
• Grecia
• Develop Athens, ADDMA Grecia
• Agios Athanasios Muncicipality, Chipre.