Project on international mobility, networking and democratic competence-building for Swiss and Western Balkans Youth.
Civic and social competences are being recognized as one of the key competences in the developed democratic world, not only because they encourage active citizenship and democratic participation but also because they enable and allow for the continued existence of democracy. Civic competences are the complex mix of the sum of the different learning outcomes (knowledge, skills, attitudes and values), which are necessary for an individual to become an active citizen. Youth and other civil society organizations play an important role in fostering active citizenship and tackling social exclusion. The project is therefore designed: a) to fight the underdeveloped competencies for active democratic participation, and b) to reduce the feeling of gap between youth on one side, and NGOs and political decision makers on the other side.
The main outputs of the project are:
Participants will be selected in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and Switzerland. The project is designed for 45 young adults between 18 and 30 from diaspora, minorities as well as marginalized, vulnerable and underrepresented groups. To reach the target audience and select 3 to 5 participants per country, we rely on in-house resources and the network of coordinating organizations.
At the local level: youth organizations benefit from newly acquired competences (verbal skills; project planning; advocacy skills; intercultural dialogue) of the participants to become more inclusive, community oriented, attract more active members and improve their local recognition and credibility. It will also enable organizations from the diaspora to reach out to their members and get better involved in the local Swiss communities. The participants are also enabled to actively engage in the democratic processes and therefore shape the future of their respective communities.
At the national level: participants and organizations learn various mechanisms for enhancing inclusion, democratic participation and active citizenship and become able to apply these mechanisms to their context and frame relevant future projects, oriented towards tolerance and democratic inclusion.
At the international level: the project helps organizations to build an international partnership. This will trigger cultural understanding among participants and enhance the international openness and presence of youth organizations. By setting up an online platform, the project sets the basis for sustainable cooperation between youth organizations for continuous peer-to-peer learning and mobility projects.
The project is run by the Swiss National Youth Council (SNYC) and its long standing partners i-dijaspora in Switzerland, Youth Center “Perspektiva” in Albania, Udruženje Za Brigu i Opšta Prava Djece “Naša djeca” Zenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina and IPM Inštitut za politini menedžment in Slovenia.