U part of EU
Start date: Aug 1, 2014,
End date: Feb 28, 2015
PROJECT
FINISHED
The overall project objective was to increase participants' awareness of being citizens of the European Union and the rights andobligations that such membership entails, the goal can be regarded as an incentive and encouragement for young people to activeparticipation. EU citizenship , which saw the light in 1993 with the Maastricht Treaty confers on all citizens of the member States aseries of new rights. The citizens of the Union has the right to move and live freely within the EU, to vote and stand for local andEuropean elections in the Member State in which theye reside, may submit a petition to the European Parliament, to the institutionsof the EU. Many rights derived from European citizenship, but Italians, and also calabrians are not always aware of it,. The youngCalabrian, in fact feel distant from Europe, thus failing to seize the best opportunities to build their future. Many local young peopleactually feel Europeans only when in direct contact with the financial opportunities that Europe offers them through the StructuralFunds.The project wanted to promote active citizenship of young participants through a reflection on the topics of European awareness,importance of democracy and the role of young people in this context.The specific objectives awee:- Diffusion of a greater knowledge of the history of the European Union and its institutions, from birth to the present day;- Diffusion of a greater knowledge of the tools that the EU has taken and is taking to promote its policies;- Initiate a reflection from the bottom and participated with 24 young people on the issues of the common good and activecitizenship in the concrete commitment to the promotion of democracy;- Strengthen citizenship and active participation, including participation in the voting;- To strengthen the knowledge of young people about the potential economic and cultural rights of their respective territories;- Strengthen the skills of young people;- Acquisition of a greater awareness of their own cultural identity;- Encourage non-formal learning, especially that of other languages;- Encourage the exchange of ideas and expertise of young Europeans.The objectives were achieved easily by using the non-formal learning methodology during the implementation of the activities,through the practice of " learning y doing" . The young people played simulation games, practical activities, interaction with the localcommunity, discussions, practical action. The topics required not only formal knowledge, but also reflection on values and attitudes,non-formal education was used in a casual and multicultural environment.The participants were young people from Italy and Spain, aged between 13 and 15 years, belonging to one of the first generation tobe born and raised in a united Europe, largely devoid of boundaries. These young people have a strong need to be informed andinvolved, we felt the need to bring in them a stimulus to facilitate the change on the current state of things. In order for thecommunity to really benefit from the involvement of young people, it was necessary to provide them with the tools andopportunities to take advantage of their right to participate. Young people with economic difficulties were also involved to give astrong signal of social inclusion.The measures we got to create a strong impact in the long term were: promotion (advertising and newspaper articles, the finalevent, the promotion of the magazine at all European associations active in the field of youth); the magazine U part of the EU wasalso implemented in digital format, uploaded on the websites of partner organizations, on the Facebook group of the exchange andon all other Web media that is suitable for dissemination thereof, and which can be downloaded to support other Europeanassociations and operators in the youth sector. The benefits will be visible in the long time, in fact the participants assimilated a lotduring the week and all the information will be used during the whole course of their lives.