Youth co-design learning, civic and career pathways
Youth voice is needed to contribute to the development of existing and new policies, which trigger modernisation and reforms at European and national levels in the fields of education and youth. Project “Cities of Learning: Youth co-design learning, civic and career pathways”, which is a part of Key Action 3, aims to engage, connect and empower young people to co-design pathways to learning, civic engagement and careers in 8 countries and their cities:
- Breda City of Learning, Rotterdam City of Learning and Tilburg City of Learning (The Netherlands)
- Cagliari Metropolitan City of Learning (Italy)
- Ljubljana City of Learning (Slovenia)
- Lorca City of Learning (Spain)
- Novi Sad City of Learning (Serbia)
- Saxony-Anhalt Region of Learning (Germany)
- Vestfold og Telemark Region of Learning (Norway)
- Vilnius City of Learning (Lithuania)
The partners of this action implement the following activities:
- Youth consultations on youth learning, civic and career narratives;
- Youth pathways to leadership;
- Youth participation through digital platforms;
- Youth policy recommendations for learning, civic and career pathways;
- A communication campaign on Cities and Regions of Learning;
- Networking of Cities and Regions of Learning.
Below you can find described activities of working packages and materials that can be used in other projects or initiatives.
This project was implemented with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme by the European Union.
One of the first steps within the “Youth co-designs cities of learning project” was in-depth, qualitative research of learning, civic and career narratives by young people living in participating partner cities and regions. Partners adapted methodology and tools from “Global Youth skills“ and carried out youth consultations and workshops, with the purpose of better understanding young people’s narrative on learning, civic engagement and career possibilities in the future whilst also exploring their role and power in the creation of the future they envision.
We decided to reach further and involve not only 240 young people aged 14 to 30 through 16 focus groups meetings and another 16 participatory workshops. Due to exceptional circumstances of last year, we expanded our research and adjusted our methodology, adding surveys, personal interviews and online activities on the cities of learning platforms. We reached over 600 youngsters from 8 European countries: Lithuania, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Serbia, Norway and Spain.
Almost all research activities were performed online, while for the partner countries where covid restrictions allowed it participatory workshops and focus groups were also conducted in person.
DOWNLOAD: WP1 Youth Consultations International Report with local reports 4. 2. 2022
We were inviting future leaders to join the course “Youth Pathways to Leadership”. The activities seek to provide acquire skills needed for the future of learning, active citizenship and career development, and foster the peer-to-peer approach. The course involved a combination of individual learning, activities with the local team, online interaction with young people from other countries. You are still invited to to try out and learn new digital tools for learning, communication and active participation:
During the project, young people, local stakeholders and Cities of Learning partners engaged more than 600 young people in consultations about learning, civic and career pathways. From here, we empowered 40 young people to take part in our Youth Seminar in Lorca (Spain) in April 2022 to build on the outcomes of the consultations.
Finally, more than 100 young people, youth workers, educators, policy and decision-makers came together at the Cities of Learning Youth Forum in Magdeburg (Germany) in July 2022 collaborating to create and confirm these recommendations. Their aim was to respond to some specific challenges across five priority topics which were: non-formal learning, sustainability, inclusion, participation, mental health.
If your organisation is ready to support the recommendations, please express your endorsement to Nectarus: info@nectarus.lt. After receiving it, we will add your organisation’s name to the supporters’ list at the end of these recommendations.
Get to know the cities which grew up from the activities of this project:
You can join the growing network of Cities of Learning and have access to your localised version of the platform with your.cityoflearning.eu domain, bespoke branding, support, training and networking opportunities.
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This website is developed through the strategic partnership "Connected Spaces of Learning in Europe" with the co-funding of the European Union's programme Erasmus+