Activating Youth VI (AY6) is a European Voluntary Service project promoted by ECOS - Cooperative of Education, Cooperation and Development, CRL within the European Commission Program Erasmus +. This 6th edition of the EVS project sustains and reinforces its main goal of developing a new culture of youth participation at a local level in Faro and at a regional level in Algarve. AY6, where ECOS is the coordinating organisation, involves two hosting organisations: Ecos itself and Community Centre "Horta da Areia" of Fundação António Silva Leal (FASL). The activities will take place in the city of Faro, region of Algarve, Portugal and will last 12 months (from October 2015 to October 2016) with 5 volunteers from Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Serbia, 2 male and 3 female, in some cases facing economic obstacles, mostly due to unemployment. Through Ay6 we expect to: - Host meaningful EVS projects that can stimulates the acquisition of competences, considering the personal development and the future professional integration of the volunteers - Contribute for the capacity building of the organisations working with youth through its interaction with the innovation and creative spirit of the EVS volunteers, by the sharing and involvement in the network of diverse organisations working with youth, and also through the access to information about mobility and other opportunities; - Motivate and promote the access to volunteering, learning and mobility experiences to the local youth, as a way to promote their active participation in the issues of their local community, their sense of entrepreneurship and their professional and social competences. The project forsees to achieve these objectives, comprising ECOS network of local partners, including the regional department of Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth - IPDJ, through the following activities: - Youth Mobility and Initiatives Centre - for the information of youth on mobility opportunities, including Erasmus + and to promote active participation of young people at a local level. - Promotion of Youth Participatory projects through Image and Social Media – for the image and communication strategy of projects related to youth. - Urban and Contemporary Art in Faro - a project that sets a democratic approach to art, bringing it to public spaces and envisioning social change. - Campaigns and events for sexual rights – with focus on sexual and reproductive health, involving activities directly with the target groups of the project, as well as on a more strategic side. - Video Forum Faro - weekly video forums, followed by structured discussions and debates on social issues. In AY6, ECOS will also be acting as coordinating organisation of the EVS volunteer hosted in the Community Centre "Horta da Areia" from the FASL. The main aims of this partnership are the improvementation of the conditions for participation and activation of disadvantaged youngsters and the development of social projects and activities. The project hosted in FASL involves activities focused on Roma communities and inclusion. The methodologies planned for the project are diversified, but mostly founded in two main axes: non formal learning aspect in regards to the volunteers’ personal and professional development and the participative approaches employed in each different activity. The results and expected outcomes can be summarized as: - Creation and development of sustainable local and international synergies and cooperation. - Personal and professional development of people directly involved in the projects (EVS volunteers and local community, with focus on the youth). - Enhanced information on education, employment and culture towards youth. - Capacity building of local youth associations, associations working for and with youth and youth informal groups. Within a long term perspective, we envision creating in Faro a youth friendly culture, where there are spaces for participation and decision making, and where young people have the opportunity to express themselves, as well as to be an active element of their own development and construction of their local community. We visualize Faro becoming a model city for Youth and become an inspiring example and practice for others to follow.