Even though our focus is youth, the associations that compose MCN Network have several different paths to reach the goals envisioned regarding that field. Different origins, different countries, different realities, all of that contributes to a rich variety of perspectives, skill sets, and expertise.
In order to better know our strengths and needs, MCN went out to find out the real people that contribute to this project. We shared a form with every partner with questions regarding their collaborators that shed an interesting light into the composition of the MCN group. The result is a diverse and complete team, composed of people of different ages, from different countries, with different educational background. The way we work with youth is very wide and is put into practice with diverse emphasis. Lastly, we shared our interest in improving our knowledge and skillset and gave some hints on the way we prefer to do it.
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Planning the future of society can sometimes feel overwhelming: how do we even know which will be the challenges of tomorrow to prepare and tackle them today? This is even more magnified when we talk about youth, as this shifting group has an ever-evolving set of values and interests. How to plan long-term policies with such fickle target audience to apply them to? The thing is, youth has a specific set of needs inherent to their characteristics that should always be addressed – education, access to competitive job markets and children right’s, for example, should all the time be concerns of public legislation. Besides, an increasingly crystallized set of values is being shared internationally by young people. Topics like the protection of the environment, LGBTQ issues or digital rights have united young people across different countries and through different age groups. It is with this framing in mind that the Youth Goals were planned. The EU Youth Dialogue that took place in the years of 2017 and 2018 identified those needs and interests and started creating the necessary framework for them to be addressed by the EU Youth Strategy for 2019 – 2027. The result is the Youth Goals, a set of 11 points that describe what the EU Youth envisions and strives for its future. They are as follow:
The Youth Goals are created by, with and for Youth. They were written with the hearing of thousands of young people spread around Europe via meetings, surveys, think-groups, etc. The young people voiced their concerns, as well as their suggestions for improvements. Experts were also consulted and able to give suggestions and comments.
To better prepare ourselves for this new reality, Associação Mais Cidadania took part in a Training Course in Mollina, Spain, organized by the Consejo de la Juventud de España - The Spanish Youth Council. During one week, we shared with other associations how can we use the Youth Goals, help implement them and improve them even further in the future. For Youth Workers, the Youth Goals must be one of the main focus of our activity, for they represent a guide to the issues that should steer and potentiate our intervention. Following the topics addressed in the Youth Goals, and even the solutions suggested in each of them, is the simplest and most direct way to undoubtfully work towards the needs of European young people. With this rich tool at our disposal, we can further legitimize our initiatives and pair them with official EU strategy. |
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