Project: 101051370 — EMYS — ERASMUS-YOUTH-2021-YOUTH-TOG
EMYS (Engaging Marginalised Youth for Sustainability) is a two-year project which aims to trigger the motivation and enhance the capacity of young people to take actions and implement initiatives on local, regional, national and European level. By doing so, young people will become change makers equipped to advocate and deal with the challenges they face in their communities but also on a European level.
EMYS aims to achieve that through the cross-border Sustainability Training, the toolkit with the training material, the Local Advocacy Groups which will be created and trained on a national level, the Public Debates, Consultation Meetings with decision makers and the Youth Networking event, which will conclude with the creation of the EMYS Network Manifesto.
Objectives:
- Create networks and coalitions among youth organizations, young people and activists in youth movements across the EU
- Foster and develop increased opportunities for young people, by supporting them in creating grassroots initiatives and youth-led projects
- Empower marginalized youth and underrepresented youth and improve their capacities to become informed decision makers and change makers in their communities
- Raise the need for awareness, that only through transcultural cooperation we could provide a solution to the global crisis of climate change
- Explore and develop NFE methods and techniques
- Cultivate lobbying and advocacy competencies among young people
- Enhance cross-sector innovation and collaboration with young people
EMYS will engage young people between ages of 18 to 35 years old, with a focus on marginalized groups that experience social, political, and economic discrimination and exclusion. Other target groups include youth ambassadors, youth workers, youth organizations/councils/centers, and youth community movements, policy/decision makers and public organizations.
The Activities
Sustainability Training I Vienna, Austria I 6-11 November 2022
The Sustainability Training took place in Austria on the 6 – 11 of November and was attended by 24 youngsters from the partner countries, namely, Austria, Cyprus, N. Macedonia, Spain and Sweden. The participants and trainers stayed in Wildegg castle outside Vienna where the training also took place. The Training used mainly non-formal activities and educational games, focusing on topics such as communication skills and group dynamics, problem solving, idea generation, design thinking methodology and idea pitch. Through the Training, the participants learnt basic skills which are necessary to create ideas and put them into action in their local communities.
Advocacy and Lobbying local workshops I Summer 2023
Over the summer of 2023 the partners organized local training activities that introduced groups of youngsters to the basic steps of advocacy and lobbying, empowering them to start and/or improve their advocacy and lobbying actions. The sessions were interactive and allowed participants to identify and prioritize their main advocacy goals, map the stakeholders they should reach out to, and helped them design an advocacy action and/or campaign.
Consultation Meetings with decision makers I autumn 2023
Following the local workshops, the partners alongside the local groups of youngsters organized and participated in Consultation Meetings with decision-makers and politicians in each of the partner countries to explore their views on various issues about youth participation in democratic life.
01/11/2023 Hugo Cejas
Hugo Cejas is a Spanish politician born in Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife. Currently, he leads the regional list of the coalition “Unidas Sí Podemos” for the Parliament of the Canary Islands. He is recognized as an emerging leader for the left in the Canary Islands. At 26 years old, he was one of the youngest candidates in the regional elections in the Canary Islands held in 2023.
09/11/2023 Noemi Santana Perera
Noemí Santana Perera is a Spanish politician born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. She began her political career in the Podemos circle of her hometown, becoming involved in this project. She is a former deputy in the Parliament of the Canary Islands and former Minister of Social Rights, Equality, Diversity and Youth of the Government of the Canary Islands. Now she is a member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
28/12/2023 Amaluige Correa
Amaluige Correa, born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is a youth technician for the government of the Canary Islands. Currently, he is the coordinator of a revitalization project throughout the province of Tenerife, bringing energy to the streets and presenting new proposals to the youth.
Public Debate I autumn 2023
Following the Consultation Meetings with local decision-makers and stakeholders, the local groups, together with the partners, organized a Public Debate in their country to discuss the meaning, benefits, and realities of active citizenship and youth participation for european youth. Key figures of influence in the sector of youth, participation and politics were invited and shared their views and experience on the topic.
Public Debate on civic education in the youth of the Canary Islands that was held on October 25, at 11:30 a.m. at the facilities of the University of La Laguna – Calle Heraclio Sánchez, 43, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, with the participation of 70 Education students. The event was attended by:
- Laura Fuentes Vega, general coordinator PODEMOS Canarias, former general director of the General Directorate of Youth of the Government of the Canary Islands
- PhD. Itahisa Pérez Pérez, Professor of Theory and History of Education at the Faculty of Education, University of La Laguna
- Adelina Luntraru, APOD President and former director of the Ideo Canarian Youth Foundation
International Youth Networking Event I Nicosia, Cyprus I 1 – 5 December 2023
The Youth Networking Event was an international gathering designed to bring together 55 individuals from Cyprus, Spain, Sweden, North Macedonia, and Austria. The objective of this multi-day meeting was to share best practices in the fields of advocacy and lobbying among young people and to establish networks to implement common European activities, enhancing their participation in public affairs. Throughout the event, the participants had the chance to get to know local projects and initiatives, while additional discussions focused on effective communication methods and funding opportunities for implementing initiatives with a social impact, such as Solidarity Projects or other local funds to support their actions.
EMYS Manifesto
The Manifesto is the result the collaborative work of the EMYS Network, a group of 50 young people from Austria, Cyprus, N. Macedonia, Spain and Sweden. This network was created during a Youth Networking Event that took place in Nicosia, Cyprus between the 1-5 of December 2023 in the framework of the Erasmus + project EMYS – Engaging Marginalized Youth for Sustainability.
The EMYS Manifesto consists of a declaration of intentions and views of the EMYS Network regarding the participation of youth in civil society. It includes a series of aspirations and guiding principles that should be internalised for the creation of sustainable initiatives and for effective activism that will lead to social transformation and justice.
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