Civic Engagement through Volunteering for Youth

Access to civic engagement opportunities remains sometimes unequal and isn’t always the same for all young people. This can lead to a lack of knowledge of existing opportunities, but also to a lack of motivation in the face of the barriers that can arise. However, civic engagement can be a real added value. The project’s general objective is to promote civic engagement towards young people with fewer opportunities, making it a lever for socio-professional integration.

Objectives

Identify civic engagement issues at the European level and compare information in four different countries from a double perspective: youth workers and young people.
Raise awareness among 40 young people with fewer opportunities on civic engagement issues, especially volunteering, by training them on interculturality and solidarity, in order to encourage them to engage in civic projects.
Engage 20 young people with fewer opportunities in a mobility program around civic engagement and solidarity.
Inform 100 youth workers and young people on civic engagement opportunities that exist at local and European level.
Make the project’s results visible to 35K people, mainly young people, youth workers and youth associations by promoting and disseminating its activities.

Project results

The Field Study (WP2)

This study looks at civic involvement among young people in France, Greece, Portugal, and Hungary. The aim of our research is to obtain a thorough understanding of youth civic engagement issues in these four countries. Specifically, we want to know

why young people are not aware of opportunities for civic engagement,
what obstacles stand in their way of participating in these initiatives,
and how organizations can better support them.

Our work integrated several components: desk research, reviewing relevant literature and national policy documents, online surveys for youth workers, country specific focus groups with young people.

Research Report is available in English and in Hungarian.

Workshops and Mobility program (WP3)

The work package included 2 main activities:

Local workshops in each country with 8-8 young people on 5 different topics (Citizenship, Discrimination, Human rights, Interculturality, Sustainable development / Responsible consumption) conducted on the Summer of 2024.

The Pedagogical material we used is available in English and in Hungarian.

You can also read the a brief Report on the Workshops in English and in Hungarian.

A 3-days long Youth mobility in Athens, with 24 participants from the 4 partner countries.

Testimonies of the Hungarian team

"In October I was able to participate in a 5-day mobility to Athens to travel with five wonderful people from three other countries besides us (Hungarians) which were Portuguese, Greek and French and it was an eternal experience for me to meet these people 😊♥️" (Jázmin)

"I had a very special experience at the Youth Exchange in Athens! As a hearing impaired person, I was a little apprehensive, but in the end it exceeded all my expectations. The participants were incredibly understanding and helpful, so communication went smoothly and the whole programme went super smoothly. It also helped me to open up more to foreigners, which I don't regret at all. During the five days, I had a lot of unforgettable experiences, full of laughter and smiles, which made this time really special!" (Márk)

"It was an incredible experience to spend a week in Athens. Not only the Hungarian team, but also the Greek, French and Portuguese teams were very open and accepting. We got to know a lot of new customs from different cultures. The programmes were interesting and colourful. I loved every minute I spent there and with them, I still do we still talk about when we can meet up next." (Bori)