Youthtalks

© Social Youth Development - K.A.NE., Kalamata 2014 This booklet was created as a result of the transnational seminar with the title “Europe 2020 strategy - Youth Policies and Public Consultation on the Importance of the Recognition of Non-Formal Learning”.

Editors: Filaretos Vourkos and Fotini Arapi Contributors: All the young people that participated in this seminar Nedko Nedev, Kliment Bonev, Desislava Hristova, Sebastian Kerbosch, Gergana Georgakieva, Adriana Kumanova, Momchil Zabunov, Ivaylo Nadeynov, Iva Sedlic, Tena Novakovic, Jurica Katavic, Ana Adrasic, Tanja Beslic, Matej Miletic, Filip Vuksanovic, Marin Cuk, Georgios Gevrekis, Efstratia Salteri, Giorgos Dimitrou, Alexandros Divolis, Mirto Arapi, Giorgos Koutsoukos, Fani Prisimintzaki, Kyriakos Theocharous, Sarafianos Karavatos, Lamprini Vetsopoulou, Nicola la Triglia, Mauro Filippi, Alexandra Puscalau, Aurora Passone, Emmanuelle Pope, Indre Minelgaite, Reda Zakarauskaite, Ruta Mikalajunaite, Indrè Pusvaškyte, Ugne Grigaite, Monika Osauskaite, Laurynas Puodziulaitis, Serap Mutlu Durak, Didar Gamze Ozcan, Huveyda Dogan, Enis Ay, Oguzhan Yldiz, Günes Ozdal, Huseyin Erdogan, Deniz Çaglayan

Contact Details Social Youth Development - K.A.NE. Address: Plateia Othonos 10, 24100, Kalamata, Greece E-mail: info@ngokane.org Url: www.ngokane.org Tel.: +30 2721110740 Fax: +30 2721095441 Website of the project: http://move4youth.wix.com/move4youth

Youth Talks

August 2014

“Let us acknowledge and celebrate what youth can do to build a safer, more just world. Let us strengthen our efforts to include young people in policies, programmes and decision-making processes that benefit their futures and ours.�

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon message on International Youth Day, 12 August 2010

Table of Contents A few words about the project

6

Partners 8 Youth Policies through the eyes of the youth Youth Work and Non Formal Learning Why Youth Work?

Why Non-Formal Learning?

9

11 12

14

A few words about the project This project, titled “Europe 2020 strategy - Youth Policies and Public Consultation on the Importance of the Recognition of Non-Formal Learning�, was implemented under action 5.1. (Meetings of Young People and those responsible for Youth Policy) of the European Youth in Action programme.

The main activity of this project was a transnational youth seminar, which took place in Kalamata, Greece, from the 22nd to the 27th of April 2014. In it participated 46 young people from 6 different countries (Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Croatia, Bulgaria and Turkey) and it was part of a long-term project which included several preparatory and research activities. During the seminar, an open conference was also organised, with the title “Young people’s role in Europe, Youth Policies and the importance of the Youth Worker�.

The project aimed, on the one hand to conduct a comparative analysis of Youth Policies in different European countries and of the relationship of the young people in Europe with the democratic processes, especially in view of the May 2014 European Elections, and on the other hand to promote the recognition of Youth Work, emphasizing its importance for supporting young people, and especially young people with fewer opportunities, and its contribution to the personal as well as professional development of the young people.

The project was organised and coordinated by the organisation Social Youth Development - K.A.NE.

Youth Policies through the eyes of the youth One of our main objectives through this project was to research and analyse how the young people in each participating country feel about their national youth policies, how aware they are of their existence, and what they feel that is missing or they would like to change.

During the preparation phase, we created and sent a questionnaire to young people in the different countries, whereas the participants also conducted personal interviews with their peers.

The survey revealed that 55,6% of the young people asked were not aware of any national youth policy and that only 10% believe that the youth policies that are implemented in their countries are satisfying. When it comes to European Youth Policy, the statistics are slightly better, as 26% of the young people asked think that the European Youth Policies are effective and another 41% that they are satisfactory.

Do you think that the youth policies implemented in your country are satisfying?

(1= Not at All / 5=Very Much)

1 8%

2

3 2%

4

5

How effective do you think that European Youth Policies are?

(1= Not at All / 5=Very Much)

1

2

24%

21% 6%

36%

41%

3

4

5

8% 24%

30%

Additionally, what the majority of the young people saw as a challenge for them both at national as well as European level, was the constant increase in youth unemployment and the social crisis that the economic crisis is bringing for the young people, and not only...

During the seminar, the participants presented youth policies in their countries, based on official data, the results of the questionnaire, as well as their own views and opinions. It is interesting to note that out of the 6 participating countries, only Italy and Greece do not have a National Youth Policy. Of the countries that do have a youth policy, the ones in Lithuania and Croatia date back to 2003, whereas Bulgaria adopted a “youth law� in 2012 and Turkey established their national youth policy in 2013.

Regardless whether a country has or not a National Youth Policy, in all of the countries, the participants acknowledged the existence of numerous practices and programmes for the young people, mainly connected to the provision of leisure activities and vocational and after school training, but noted that these practices exist only in the cities and that the young people of the countryside do not have the same opportunities.

Additionally, there are youth councils in all the participating countries, where young people can, through their representatives, have a voice and direct contact with national and European decision makers. However, it was noted that their role is in many countries not clear and that in many cases the opinions of the youth councils are not really taken under consideration by the policy makers.

To summarize, we have come to 3 main conclusions, regarding youth policies: 1. Decision makers need to realize that Youth is IMPORTANT for the future of our countries and of the European Union and act accordingly, taking their voices into account and putting themselves in the shoes of the young people, when taking decisions for them.

2. At the moment, young people in the different countries have a sense of unfairness and inequality when it comes to national youth policies and opportunities given to young people. The implementation of a common youth strategy/policy by ALL countries of the EU, and by the candidate countries, is vital so that Young people will feel equally treated everywhere.

3. There needs to be in every country a real assessment of the needs of the young people, followed by the creation of the necessary structures, programmes and facilities that will foster and support the multi-dimensional development of the youth.

Youth Work and Non Formal Learning Another objective of this project was to reflect on the importance of Youth Work as a means to support and empower Young people, as well as to emphasize on the need to recognise the skills and competences gained through non-formal learning.

In the questionnaire, the young people were asked to define the term “Youth Work�.

There were many different answers to those questions, but the thing that almost all of the answers had in common was that youth work means working with and supporting young people by implementing various educational and leisure activities.

Do you believe that the activities and work of youth organisations have a substantial impact on supporting and empowering young people?

83,30% 14,70% Yes

No

The vast majority of the young people that answered the questionnaire agree that Youth Work can have a substantial impact on supporting and empowering young people.

Why Youth Work?

Youth today have to face several challenges directly or indirectly concerning them.

Their everyday life, especially in an urban environment, is built around a model of life quite restrictive. The pattern imposes a daily circle which comes around school, studying and learning languages or making sports. For those who have the “luxury”, a music school, an arts school or travelling since very young, can be beneficiary for their creativity and personal development.

For the “unlucky” ones even finishing school can be a challenge. Unfortunately most of the young people do not have any “extra free time” activity, spending their time trying to be like the others want them to be...

Oscar Wilde said “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken”. But how easy is it to be yourself in the nowadays competitive environment? How easy is to be different? How easy is not to follow the “standards” of the society? Boys wear blue, girls wear pink.

A system of misrepresented set of principles which blocks the freedom of expression, the creativity and the uniqueness of the person which just puts young people in boxes with colourful labels.

And these boxes are becoming smaller and smaller as we are taking youth away from experiencing what they read. As we said, its ok if you are from the “lucky” ones and you can buy the experience. But the majority of youth have no luxuries like that. They have to face the everyday bullying at school, parents’ absence due to work or other reasons, lack of motivation, lack of courage, studying a lot and resting less, unfairness and injustice at school or at home.

Here comes the need of developing services and policies for youth. Structures which will give them the opportunity to think out of the box, to create and to make mistakes. Programmes which will offer them the convenience to experiment and experience as many different things as they can and want. Services run by trained people who will respect the uniqueness of each young person and will help him/her to go through his/her dreams.

Youth workers are playing this important role. In our modern times, and if the values and priorities of our society don’t change, youth work is necessary.

During the seminar, we discussed the impact of Youth Work for young people and society in general and came up with the following conclusions: Youth Work and youth activities: - Give a voice to young people - Create a sense of acceptance, belonging, and security - Provide activities to the young people that help them to develop personal, social and professional skills and competences - Contribute to social and community development in general - Allow young people to develop their creativity and imagination - Create a forum where young people can exchange knowledge and experiences - Promote youth empowerment and creates youth leaders - Foster active participation - Raise awareness of the young people on specific matters that concern them - Provide information to the young people - Allow young people to discover and evaluate themselves - Contribute to the personal, social and professional development - Help young people think “out of the box� and open their horizons

Why Non-Formal Learning?

First and foremost... because it is INCLUSIVE and LIFELONG. People from different educational, social, financial, etc backgrounds and of any age can participate in nonformal learning activities and develop through them transversal skills and competences that contribute to their personal, social and professional development.

In addition, in contrast with formal education that has a specific structure and is teacher-oriented, non-formal learning is mostly learner-oriented and can take into account different learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc). It also gives the learner the possibility to reflect and assess their own learning and explore their own learning styles.

The answers to the questionnaire showed that the majority of the young people believe that non-formal learning contributes to the development of skills and competences, youth empowerment, the improvement of the young people’s position in the labour market as well as the support of young people with fewer opportunities. The young people that answered the questionnaire were a bit skeptical, however, as to how much non-formal learning and skills gained through it are recognised at national level, whereas they were a lot more confident that they are recognised at European level (see charts below).

To what extend do you think that skills acquired through NFL are recognised at national level?

1=Not at all / 5=Alot

1 2 3 4 5 15% 19%

6%

15%

To what extend do you think that skills acquired through NFL are recognised at European level?

1=Not at all / 5=Alot

1 17% 36%

2

3

4

5

3% 6% 38%

45%

The recognition of skills and competences gained through non-formal learning is one of the priorities of the European Union and should be a main priority in every country, if we want to combat the phenomenon of youth unemployment and foster the connection between gained skills and competences and the labour market. Especially when it comes to young people with fewer opportunities (school drop-outs, people that did not have the chance to follow a higher education programme, people with learning difficulties, etc), the recognition of skills gained through non-formal learning is vital as it can give them the chance to improve their position in the labour market, as well as in society in general.

In every country, as well as in Europe, steps are taken and efforts are made towards a system that will facilitate the recognition of non-formal learning and the skills gained through it. However, we think that it is important to also make a focused, pan-European awareness campaign about the importance and the skills gained through non formal learning directed not only to young people, youth workers and educators, but also to actors of the labour market (companies, enterprises, human resources managers, etc), so that a direct link can be created between the competences gained and access to the labour market.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela