EUROPEAn youth conference
Programme Name
ERASMUS+
Awarding Body Details
The Education, Audiovisual And Culture Executive Agency
Year of Award
2017
Project Status
COMPLETED
Description
Over 200 young people and policy makers from across Europe participated in the EU Youth Conference took place in Malta from 20th – 23rd March. This conference is the flagship youth event of each Presidency and was organised by Aġenzija Żgħażagħ together with the European Youth Forum and the support of Erasmus+. The aim of such a conference was to bring together young people, policy makers and relevant stakeholders to consider and discuss youth policy development and implementation. It also gives young people the opportunity to inform and influence policy makers on the issues that are impacting their lives.
The Structured Dialogue between young people and policy makers is a central feature of each Youth Conference. This edition hosted during the Maltese Presidency marks the conclusion of the V cycle of the Structured Dialogue process under the Presidency Trio of the Netherlands, Slovakia and Malta. The overarching theme of the V cycle of the Structured Dialogue is ‘Enabling all young people to engage in a diverse, connected and inclusive Europe – Ready for Life, Ready for Society’. During the conference the Joint Recommendations of the Structured Dialogue on Youth agreed under the Slovak Presidency, resulting from a wide-ranging survey initiated under the Netherlands Presidency, will be further discussed and considered by youth delegates and policy makers, and prioritised actions for implementing the recommendations will be drafted and agreed.
Workshops were held in relation to the implementation plans for the recommendations they developed in Kosice, Slovakia. Furthermore the participants had the opportunity to visit different Ministries and Government entities to discuss these recommendations and eventual implementation ideas with Maltese policy makers. A high-level policy discussion was also held on the overall priority of the Structure Dialogue Enabling all young people to engage in a diverse, connected and inclusive Europe.
In parallel a group of around 25 young people went to Villa Psaigon Youth Activity Centre in Ħad-Dingli. They participated in a 24-hour hackathon where they collaborated in exponential teams to solve youth policy challenges to help decision makers and people working in the field to realise their European dream. The conference came to an end with an address by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
Total Project Cost
€249,999
Evidence based dialogue
Programme Name
ERASMUS+
Awarding Body Details
The Education, Audiovisual And Culture Executive Agency
Reference
2017-0779/001-001
Year of Award
2017
Project Status
COMPLETED
Description
In an effort to increase the numbers of young people who actively participate in the Structured Dialogue, the Maltese NWG coordinated by Agenzija Zghazagh had implemented a project called Evidence Based Dialogue.
Through this project the Maltese NWG came up with better methods to reach out to young Maltese people and get them to engage in this process by devising an outreach strategy built on scientific evidence attained from a national research. Through such research the National Working Group identified the best methods to reach young people and what would incentivise these young people to participate in the Structured Dialogue.
The results of this national research had been used to come up with better strategy on how to reach out to young people that were up to now unreachable or not motivated to participate and offered these young people a feasible incentive to participate in the Structured Dialogue.
The Maltese NWG felt that this strategy, combined with good practices it had in previous cycles, facilitated young people’s engagement and increased the number of those actively participating in the Structured Dialogue process.
Total Project Cost
€41,751
the s.h.a.m
Programme Name
ERASMUS+ KA 1
Awarding Body Details
LEARGAS
Reference
2017-1-IE01-KA105-025601
Year of Award
2017
Project Status
COMPLETED
Description
During the hot Maltese August days, 16 young people from the Youth.inc programme participated along with a group of Irish young people in ‘The S.H.A.M.’ (Space Helps Attitude and Mental Health). This an Erasmus+ funded meeting held at Limerick, Ireland between Sunday 13th and Sunday 20th August 2017 hosted by the Limerick Youth Service.
It was the first of a three part project on mental health issues. The main purpose of this youth exchange was to encourage young people to reflect and take concrete action to safeguard and improve their mental health. The programme intends also on providing tips and abilities to help the young people take care of other close people who might have mental health issues.
Total Project Cost
€6,640
let’s talk about life
Programme Name
ERASMUS+
Awarding Body Details
EUPA
Reference
2017-1-MT01-KA105-026918
Year of Award
2017
Project Status
COMPLETED
Description
A group of young people from 4 EU countries involved themselves in an Erasmus + Youth Exchange. The title of the project was ‘Let’s Talk About Life’ which focused on tackling youth related issues. The main focus of the project was to introduce peer education to the young people coming from Estonia, Poland, Ireland and Malta. The exchange was held at Marsaxlokk activity centre and 36 young people participated. The climax of the exchange was the delivery of activities to other young people at different youth centres.
This was the first youth exchange for the majority of the young people involved. Over the six day programme the young people through different icebreakers and energizers got to know each other and cooperated together during the various workshops and activities. One of the main goals of the exchange was to develop activities for other young people to discuss issues related to bullying and gender stereo typing. A board game, short film and role play activity were developed. The activities were delivered at the Kottonera youth centre and other youth centres.
Through this process the young people in the project learnt that they can be active citizens in their respective communities.
During the cultural nights the young people got to know each other’s traditions, history and folklore. Through interactive games the group bonded together and quickly shifted from being strangers to becoming friends.
Total Project Name
€22,785
youth work and learning for life and work
Programme Name
ERASMUS+
Awarding Body Details
EUPA
Reference
2017-1-MT01-KA205-026913
Year of Award
2017
Project Status
COMPLETED
Description
The project has two of its partners ie. Agenzija Zghazagh and Mets with an already established education programme for young people who are no longer in the education system and who are not working or being trained for work. These programmes however need to review their curriculum to give it a holistic youth work approach which enables the development of skills through activitities rather than formal lessons. Trainers and youth workers running such programmes think that a more innovative approach including youth work practices within the learning activities needs to be adopted. As a result YMCA College which specialises in youth work training adds values to the research and studies AZ and Mets want to undertake to develop a new innovative youth work curriculum. In turn the college will further develop its ethos in youth work practice and enhances its body of knowledge through the research carried out.
The objectives are premised on the young people’s journey from not being engaged in any form of education, training or employment to being engaged in one, by way of non-formal/relational approaches to learning. The project will look to innovate responses that can be deployed and/or adapted across Europe within a non-formal curriculum. In the process of the development of such non-formal youth work curriculum, the project will initiate training in non-managerial supervision. This will energize the generation of a dialogical ethos (the examination, analysis and sharing of practice) that can provide the scaffold on which a learning organization can be established. The project will undertake ongoing evaluation of this practice.
There are various target groups that will be involved in this project but the main are the young people over the age of 16 which are not participating in an educational programme, training or work. Locally the Youth.inc programme is under the remit and management of Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, which adopts a more youth-centred approach and seeks to strengthen the complementary role of formal and non-formal learning. Youth.inc is an inclusive education programme, based on applied learning, for young people between the age of 16 and 21. The aim of the programme is to help young people to improve their standard of education and gain more knowledge, values and skills to enter the labour market or gain qualifications to continue in further education and/or training. The other target group is the trainers providing vocational training to the young people and also the youth workers that are providing life skills within the respective programmes. In Uk the METS programme is very similar to the Youth.inc Programme. The Mets educational course is based on the premise that success can be achieved by young people if they are engaged and motivated to participate actively in an applied learning environment which is practical in its approach. Mets Programme is a second chance education programme which offers training and work experience to young people. It offers them the opportunity to consider and identify career and work options for adult life and also provides them with opportunities to acquire certification that will help them to continue to study or enter the labour market.
The project needs to be carried out transnationally because the aim is to develop a non-formal curriculum that can be replicated and refined on a pan-European basis. The techniques and processes involved require testing and distilling cross culturally and between social contexts. The partners in this project are private, public and educational, thus making the approach towards the intellectual outcomes more holistic. It is impossible to have such a project locally done only because the Youth.inc programme is the only one of its sort locally. Having transnational projects also encourages institutions to widen their horizon, be open to collaboration, sharing and acquiring new ideas.
Total Project Cost
€211,515