Do you know YOUR DEMOCRACY?

ongoing

Today in Europe, we are witnessing different phenomena: shrinking space for civil society, the rise of populism and illiberal regimes, a decline of trust in the institutions, the changing role of media and diffusion of fake news, lack of access to rights and rapid development of digital technologies. All this together influences political participation, especially of young people (source: SALTO). According to the needs assessment and research, youngsters that lack political and media literacy and are least active and engaged in democratic processes belong to NEET youngsters or youth facing economic difficulties. In order to address these needs in the long term we plan to establish 5 Youth Leaders’ Hubs (2 digital - in Sweden and Estonia and 3 in person - in Croatia, North Macedonia and France) where we will organise workshops on local level (face to face, online, and blended learning activities) that will raise political literacy and active citizenship competences of these youngsters. In these Hubs young people will create and promote culture of participation. But first, we need to educate our youth leaders to develop and implement workshops on these topics. Accordingly, we developed the concept of implementing activities and producing outcomes focused on 2 main interrelated topics: 1. democracy; democratic values; the importance of democracy in our societies; political participation; 2. media literacy; disinformation; fake news like a propaganda tool for attacking democracy. Youth recognition of EU values, including human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and active youth engagement in political processes is paramount, as it is through democratic engagement that young people can help to shape the future they want to live in. More active participation and investment in civic and democratic life at a local, regional, national and European level will foster more resilient societies and prosperity in the future for both the EU and for young people.