Practical local activities are the result of regional seminars. Follow-up activities included creation of Youth information points and other awareness-raising, informational, educational activities in organizations, schools and youth centres (workshops, presentations, practical exercises, discussions, information campaigns, meetings, courses, etc). Below is a brief description of the activities.
The project of self-government of the Narva Soldino gymnasium (Estonia)
The participants of the regional seminar, who study at the Narva Soldino gymnasium, implemented an information project for high school students.
The project included an information campaign and workshops in classes on youth rights and youth information.
Workshops at schools (Estonia)
On November 13, at the Narva School No. 1, the participants of the regional seminar held a workshop in grades 9 and 10. The young people were told about the opportunities of young people, about their rights, about what youth information is. In total, the event was attended by 34 students. On November 27, a similar workshop was held at Narva School No. 7.
Workshops in Tallinn (Estonia)
The participants of the regional seminar from Tallinn conducted several workshops for the youth of Tallinn.
The organizers presented the work plan, told about youth information and the rights of young people, discussed with the participants how much they know the information they need, whether they know where to find the information they need, presented useful resources in Estonian, English and Russian.
Workshops for rural youth of Karelia (Russia)
In the period from July to October, the participants of the regional seminar held seven events for young people in the areas of Karelia: in Belomorsk, Kolezhma, Seryozha, Medvezhiegorsk, Kondologa, Kiteuzhe and Podporozhye. During the events, the organizers made a presentation of the work plan, told about youth information, about the rights of young people, about the possibilities of active participation. As a practical part of the event, the organizers, together with the participants, came up with advertisements for local cultural objects, social problems, and discussed possible local projects for young people.
Training on youth rights for students of Petrozavodsk State University (Russia)
The main task of the training was to increase the level of participants’ knowledge about their rights and obligations. During the training, the participants were informed about the Human Rights declared by international and Russian documents, the significance of legal literacy in the life of a citizen. A presentation was prepared in which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Constitution of the Russian Federation were included.
Meeting of the Youth Council of Ivangorod (Russia)
On June 7, a meeting of the Youth council of Ivangorod was held. The meeting was attended by the deputy head of the administration, the chairman and 8 participants of the Youth council. The participant of the regional seminar made a presentation of our work plan, told about who such a youth worker and what his duties are, on the basis of this he proposed the methodology of the work of the Youth council to attract and socialize young people.
Workshop on youth policy (Russia)
The participants of the regional seminar held a workshop for local youth in Ivangorod on youth policy. Participants were informed about the possibilities of youth policy. They told about the planned activities that are held in the district, region, country, as well as opportunities to realize themselves in the areas of youth self-government, youth entrepreneurship, project activities. They talked about the problems of youth, about access to rights and information. At the end of the lesson, participants painted portraits of a modern young man by age, in which they had to display strengths and weaknesses.
Networking seminar “Challenges of the youth in the modern world” (Belarus)
The seminar was held in the city of Mogilev and united 8 public organizations and initiatives of the city.
The event was organized with the aim of strengthening ties between non-governmental organizations of Mogilev, developing a unified plan of action in the regional youth policy; presentations of existing youth initiatives of Mogilev in the format of “NGO Fairs” to search for potential partners and the target audience of youth projects.
The seminar was attended by over 60 people. Participants were presented the project “Development of youth work and access of young people to rights and information”. The participants of the seminar discussed the situation with youth access to information about their rights, assessed the state of the youth sector of the city, its key problems. Participants made a basic plan of joint activities for the next six months.
“Volunteer Fest” (Belarus)
The participants of the regional seminar took part in the “Volunteer Fest” organized by the organization RADA in Minsk. The event was held in order to attract volunteers to the organizations, to acquaint participants with various social initiatives. The event was attended by 20 organizations of regional and national scale.
During the event, the participants of the regional seminar presented our work plan and carried out a workshop on information literacy and access to information for young people.
Conference “Young people’s access to information: the challenges of the twenty-first century” (Belarus)
October 7, 2018 NGO “Civil Forum” held a conference in Minsk “Youth Access to Information: Challenges of the XXI Century”. During the conference, the speakers spoke about projects aimed at increasing youth and civic activity, improving the access of young people to rights and information.
A round table was organized with the participants, which allowed to discuss their vision of the problems of young people’s access to information in modern Belarusian society, ways to overcome them and potential projects of the organization aimed at achieving the goals set.
Debates (Belarus)
On November 10, 2018, in Mogilev, within the framework of the project “Access of young people to rights and information” debates were held on the topic “Should freedom of information be restricted?”. The speakers held an introductory block on teaching debates for the participants, and then divided them into 2 teams. The debates were held according to the American scheme.
Both teams argued in support of the fact that in exceptional cases access to information should be limited (for example, for state security purposes, for terrorist threats, etc.), and that freedom of information should be absolute. With a small margin based on the analysis of communication skills and presentation of their position, the jury gave the victory to the first team.
Polotsk hakaton (Belarus)
In November, a hackathon (a kind of non-stop project development marathon within 24 hours) was held in the Vitebsk region in order to accumulate ideas on the development of student governments. Within the framework of the event, projects on youth rights and youth access to information were developed. In 2019 presentation of the developed projects and their implementation are planned.
Gender Film Screenings (Belarus)
Each film screening includes the game “Step Forward” on the participants’ assessment of the situation in the society of certain categories of the population (for example, single mothers, victims of sexual harassment, etc.), watching the film, reflection on the results of film screening with the evaluation by participants of the gender issues raised in the film, participants’ visions of ways to solve them, relevance for the Belarusian society. On November 24, the first film screening of the project took place in Grodno. The Billy Elliot feature film, which raises the issue of gender roles in society, opened the film screenings series. After watching the film in an informal setting, participants talked about important issues for society, such as gender stereotypes and gender roles, family relationships. A lively discussion after the film showed the relevance of the topics discussed, and many did not want to leave the improvised cinema hall so soon.
Workshop for participants of the Ukrainian Academy of Leadership (Ukraine)
On December 25-26, 2018, a meeting was organized with members of the Ukrainian Leadership Academy in Mariupol. As part of an informal session, participants learned about opportunities for young people, where to look for information about activities for young people and how to participate in them. The meeting was attended by over 40 participants who showed particular interest in the subject of the meeting.
Meeting of youth workers (Ukraine)
In September 2018, a meeting of leaders of the public movement of the Dnipro region with leaders of the student self-government of Donetsk National University and members of the NGO Youth Initiative of Cities was organized on the basis of coworking of the Donetsk National University. Three years ago, in connection with the fighting in eastern Ukraine, the university was evacuated to the building of the former jewelry factory “Crystal” in the city of Vinnitsa. As part of this meeting, a series of team building exercises for all participants of the event was held. After the event, all participants in open space format discussed joint cooperation and further development vectors.
A series of seminars for youth (Ukraine)
In November 2018, the participants of the regional seminar in Kiev conducted a series of seminars for young people “Equal Rights – A Strong Society” in the city of Dnipro and in the city of Krivoy Rog (based on the displaced Donetsk Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine). During the seminars, participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, learn more about youth access to social rights and the Council of Europe documents that regulate this access, participate in role-playing and better understand the problems of internal displacement as a result of the conflict. Participants in Dnipro had the opportunity to play the “Country of Dignity” game, which was developed by the Council of Europe and transferred to Ukraine. The workshop participants in Krivoy Rog focused more on the protection of the rights of internally displaced persons and on the work of state structures that ensure the protection of the rights of internally displaced persons.
Workshop on youth opportunities (Ukraine)
On November 22, a seminar was held for students of Donetsk National University on the opportunities for young people to participate in projects and programs at the local, national and international levels. Students are most interested in international academic mobility programs, international exchanges for young people and initiatives within the framework of the Erasmus + program. At the end of the seminar a presentation of the concept of the Youth Information Point was held.
Seminar for students (Ukraine)
In the village of Melekino, Donetsk region, a seminar was held on the topic of leadership, the main directions in youth policy, youth participation in self-government, their rights and opportunities in cooperation with the administration, the rights of foreign students, students of internally displaced persons through familiarization with the legislation, the country’s regulatory acts away meeting “Nauka Weekend”.
Seminar on the use of information on the Internet (Ukraine)
October 26 in the city of Krasnorechensk, Lugansk region, a seminar was held for young people – high school students, among whom are internally displaced persons, regarding the safe use of information from the Internet, Internet security along with the Youth Council of Krasnorechensk and local police.
Training on youth rights (Ukraine)
In early 2019, it is planned to conduct a series of trainings in different regions of Ukraine on human rights, which will include such topics as combating discrimination, gender equality, integration and protection of the rights of IDPs, and young people’s access to social rights.
NGO market in Gagauzia (Moldova)
On November 14 an NGO Market was held, in which the participants of the regional seminar took part. More than 100 representatives of NGOs and civil society on the same platform for several hours discussed the challenges and realities of the public sector. The event included a presentation of our work plan and a discussion on the topic of access to information and rights for young people.
Local project “Initiative” (Moldova)
In order to increase the awareness of young people in the city of Vulcanesht about fundamental human rights and access to information, the following was conducted: a survey among young people on the rights of women and men; film screening of thematic film for discussions and flash mob to raise awareness of the rights and civic obligations of men and women; debates and workshops with experts on the discussion of gender equality; showing a social video calling for the destruction of stereotypes about the role of men and women in society.
Camp “Youth ProEurope Leaders” (Moldova)
The camp gathered young people from different settlements of Gagauzia. The camp program was dedicated to the development of leadership skills and teamwork, non-formal education tools for working with youth groups, active citizenship and access to information for young people.
Meeting with volunteers of Comrat Euroclub (Moldova)
On October 16, a meeting was held with the Comrat Euroclub volunteers. Participants learned about the work experience of foreign volunteers, talked about their motivation to become volunteers and their expectations from volunteer activities. Participants were informed about existing opportunities for young people, about information resources and about the rights of young people.
Discussion club “Youth information and youth opportunities” (Moldova)
On November 29, the first discussion club out of seven was held at the mayor’s office of the village of Kongaz within the framework of the project “Active participation of young people in the life of the society “You-Movement”. The discussion club was devoted to the theme “Youth information and youth opportunities”. The event was attended by about 30 people. Among the issues discussed were such as access of young people to information and the creation of local youth information points.
Youth Forum Choose Klaipėda (Lithuania)
As part of the Klaipėda Youth Forum Choose Klaipėda, the participants of the regional seminar organized a series of events dedicated to the interaction of young people with local authorities. During the practical session, the key recommendations of the Council of Europe regarding the work of the authorities with young people and the need to involve them in political and civic activism were presented. Also, during the events, participants learned about the basic requirements of the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life. Participants received a discussion on access to information and development of youth information centers.
Seminar for Russian-speaking youth (Lithuania)
The activity was held in Vilnius and was devoted to the problem of the integration of minority youth. Participants spoke about the need to encourage the development of activities of various local youth organizations and initiatives not only in the state language, that is, in Lithuanian, but also in Russian and Polish. As a rule, local governments and youth councils working under the municipal authorities ignore this need. The presentation of the work plan “Development of youth work and access of young people to rights and information” was held. Following the event, at which the debates and the block called Step Forward took place, the Klaipeda youth presented a new youth public initiative – “Russian-speaking Klaipeda”, which will focus on cultural projects.
Workshops for rural youth (Lithuania)
The participants of the regional seminar in Palanga conducted a series of workshops for young people living in rural areas, for example, in the localities of Antaliepte, Plunge, Vydmantai, Kretinga and Salantai. The organizers introduced local youth to the concept of youth information, youth work, and active participation. Participants received information about various youth projects and initiatives in Lithuania and the opportunity to participate in them, learn about various information resources.
Lectures and workshops in schools (Latvia)
The participants of the regional seminar conducted introductory lectures and workshops at schools in Riga, Rezekne and Daugavpils for students of upper classes.
The idea was to reach whose young people who are not involved in social life and do not participate in youth work, and tell them about opportunities for youth, about various youth projects and initiatives, to show the importance of access to youth information and rights.
In total, eight such workshops were held during the first school semester. Work is planned to continue in the second semester.
Leadership Course (Latvia)
The participants of the regional seminar held a workshop on the topics youth work, youth information, youth rights as part of the course for young leaders. Within the framework of the workshop, the work plan was presented. The workshop was attended by 34 people.
Intellectual game for students (Latvia)
Within the framework of the project “Intellectual games for students and schoolchildren”, a thematic game was held in Riga in October on the topic of youth rights, gender equality and access to information.
Information Literacy workshop (Latvia)
Members of the organization “Culture. Tolerance. Friendship.” held a workshop on information literacy. As part of the session, issues of creating and operating youth information centers were discussed, and a presentation of our work plan was held. During the debate, participants discussed the topic of access to information for young people.
Workshop for youth in Warsaw (Poland)
On November 22, an event was organized in Warsaw on the problems and challenges associated with finding work for young people and access to information. Foreign students of the University of Warsaw actively participated in the discussion and sought to speak on this topic. The organizers also shared information about the regional seminar held in Palanga and about the work plan “Development of youth work and access of young people to rights and information” in general.
Seminar in Bialystok (Poland)
The seminar, organized by the participants of the regional seminar, was attended by 34 people. In addition to the information blocks on the rights of youth and youth information, practical activities were held: discussions and games. Polish social activist Borys Bura, who is a lawyer of the public organization Watchdog Polska (specializes in the right of access to information), took part in the seminar programme. Thanks to the invited guest, the meeting was even more productive and efficient.
Meeting of young people in the office of the Belarusian House (Poland)
A meeting of young people in Warsaw was held in the office of the Belarusian House to get acquainted with the situation of access to information in Poland and Belarus. The meeting was held in the form of a presentation and a subsequent discussion.
Information Literacy workshop (Finland)
The participants of the regional seminar conducted information literacy workshop for minority youth and migrants. During the session, participants received information about the work plan, about young people’s access to information, about various information resources in English and Finnish languages that could be useful for young people.
Film screening and debate (Finland)
In October, participants of regional seminar organized a youth meeting, during which movie „Norma Rae” about women’s struggle for their rights was shown. After the film, there was a debate on women’s rights. In addition, the organizers told the participants about our work plan and youth information.
Youth centers in Eastern Finland
In Finland, in 3 districts of Eastern Finland, there is its own system of information centers for young people called Point. The system is engaged in informing young people about various opportunities, from the possibility of anonymously asking some questions to a real job search, both permanently and temporarily, about the activities of youth clubs and their schedules, etc. The participants of the regional seminar visited one of these centers, met with the workers, and discussed the urgent problems of young people.