polifest
Programme Name
ERASMUS+
Awarding Body Details
EUPA
Reference
2018-1MT01-KA347-038455
Year of Award
2018
Project Status
COMPLETED
Description
The main objective of this project for Aġenzija Żgħażagħ was to continue facilitating structured dialogues between young people from diverse backgrounds and policy-makers that directly feed into the formulation, implementation and evaluation of Malta’s National Youth Policy. The core of this project was a series of activities, marking different United Nations International Days, through which all the different groups of young people that the agency had engaged with in the past, were invited to discuss and propose policy recommendations related to the three pillars that underpinned the Maltese National Youth Policy: Towards 2020 – A shared vision for the future of young people.
These pillars were:
(1) The continued development of Youth Policy;
(2) The lives and realities of young people in Malta today;
(3) Greater democratic participation.
With this project Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, together with a group of young people acting as ‘core youth leaders’, had organised a number of activities that ranged from information meetings, policy workshops, debates, discussions and a survey. The ultimate aim of these activities was the drawing up of a set of policy recommendations that had been forwarded to policy makers for consideration and had also been fed directly into the mid-term evaluation and review of the National Youth Policy: Towards 2020. During this process all the different groups of young people that had previously engaged in the Structured Dialogue process, with the help of youth workers and core youth leaders, had been given the opportunity to look into and discuss with decision makers one of the 3 pillars underpinning the National Youth Policy. Each of the 3 pillars was explored through a series of 4 different activities, each marking a particular United Nations International Day, in a build up towards the formulation of the final National Youth Policy recommendations.
Total Project Cost
€49,560
youth wiki
Programme Name
ERASMUS+
Awarding Body Details
The Education, Audiovisual And Culture Executive Agency
Reference
2018-0646
Year of Award
2018
Project Status
COMPLETED
Description
The Youth Wiki is an initiative by the European commission that is coordinated on a national level by Aġenzija Żgħażagħ as the National Correspondent. The Youth Wiki is an online platform presenting information on European countries’ youth policies.
The main objective of the Youth Wiki is to support evidence-based European cooperation in the field of Youth. It does so by providing information on national policies in support of young people – in a user-friendly and continuously updated way – following the adoption of the renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field 2010-2018 (EU Youth Strategy).
The overall purpose is to help the European Commission and Member States in their decision making, by providing information on state of play on reforms and initiatives. The collection of qualitative information allows the exchange of information and innovative approaches and substantiates peer learning activities.
The content of Youth Wiki is shaped by the policy priorities established by the European Commission and the Member States in the framework of the European cooperation in the youth field.
In particular, it has been developed in view of supporting major European-level commitments and policy developments for the fields of action identified in the EU Youth Strategy.
The information that is provided and annually updated by the National Correspondent (Agenzija Zghazagh), is essentially qualitative, and allows for the analysis of reforms and trends in policy orientations in the participating countries.
Total Project Cost
€18,847
S.H.A.M
Programme Name
ERASMUS+ KA 1
Awarding Body Details
EUPA
Reference
2018-1-MT01-KA105-38423
Year of Award
2018
Project Status
COMPLETED
Description
The project focused on mental health/wellbeing and also on youth space, or more so the lack of access to youth space for young people coming from a disadvantaged background. Discussions with participants in our services had highlighted that many young people were “finding themselves in a bad place” due to fewer opportunities available and not having amenable access to youth space to develop both personally & socially. This was resulting in young people becoming stigmatized within their communities due to ‘hanging around’ and being ‘up to no good’, which was leading to various consequences including mental health issues. This project provided a structure, space and opportunity to explore the links between lack of access to youth space and mental health, compared the associated problems being faced by young people in the participating countries, analyzed the possible solutions, developed participants’ resilience skills and attitudes, and shared their views with other people in the community.
The project objectives could be catagorised broadly under the following headings:
Positive Mental Heath & Wellbeing:
-Raised awareness of mental wellbeing and resilience especially for young people who are at risk of experiencing being stigmitised and othered
-Addressed aspects of life which impact on youth mental health
-Provided a safe and supportive environment where young people highlighted and seeked to address access to a safe space and mental health/wellbeing.
-Built resilience skills using practical tools and building resilience techniques (eg wellness toolbox)
-Highlighted the importance of structure and routine and positive healthy pursuits for mental health and wellbeing
-Developed an inter-cultural approach to addressing mental health/wellbeing and amenable access to space
-Explored balance in work-life / study-life and social-life
Youth Space:
-Increased the profile of young people in their community as a group in need of access to space
-Exposed young people to amenable youth space and its benefits for personal & social growth
-Bolstered young peoples self-esteem and confidence in collaborating as a group to seek regular access to a safe space within their community setting
Intercultural learning & progression:
-Built on cultural awareness and tolerance, and continued to build relationships between young people from different countries / cultures
-Built on a strong and growing collaboration between the project partners
Visibility:
-Gave visibility to young people, their issues, the partner organisations’ and the Erasmus+ Programme.
This project had clear and strong links to the objectives of the Erasmus+ Programme in the field of youth with regards to:
-Focusing on youth space and resilience building
-Supporting young people to increase their ‘visibility’
-Building a stronger connection and partnership between our organisations, countries and cultures.
-Utilizing non-formal / informal methods in increasing young peoples capacities to integrate with formal structures (education, training)
-Increasing opportunity for young people with fewer opportunity and integrating young people into communities
Total Project Cost
€42,182
Be Healthy be cool do sports
Programme Name
ERASMUS+
Awarding Body Details
EUPA
Reference No
2018-2-MT01-KA105-038529
Year of Award
2018
Project Status
COMPLETED
Description
At the end of November, 29 young people between the ages of 13 and 17 from 3 different countries came together for a multilateral youth exchange through the Erasmus + funding. After weeks of preparation by the Maltese youth from AZ@K, they welcomed their guests from the partner institutions in Ireland, Balleyfermont Youth Service and from Macedonia, Metamorphosis in the Youth Activity Center in Marsaxlokk.
The theme of the youth exchange was sports. The youth through various workshops had to create a video clip, organizing a sports day and develop a social media awareness campaign. They actively explored the subject to become aware of the importance of sport in everyday life and for young people, while learning important skills during the interaction with each other.
Besides the workshops, the youth had various outdoor activities which included a trip to the Science Museum Esplora, an adventurous hike to Ghajn Tuffieha followed by camping, and adventurous sports like archery and abseiling the next day. To promote the concept of inclusion the youth practiced Paralympic sports which included wheelchair basketball and frame football.
After 6 days, the youth said goodbye and started their journey home with new friendships, skills and the awareness of the importance of sport in everyday life. All participants will receive their youthpass certificate. Though the exchange is over, the young people have taken on the commitment to promote the work they did in schools and their local youth centres. This will be done through the inspirational sports clip and posters create by the youth. You can have a look at the inspirational video by visiting this link https://youtu.be/PatH2vt3szs .
Total Project Cost
€17,244