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From January – June 2023, in partnership with Youth CSOs and educational institutions we run a programm “Youth Advocacy Alliance”, which main aim is to create a sustainable “Youth Advocacy Alliance” network that brings together youth, non-governmental youth organisations (CSOs), decision makers of the Nordic & Baltic Sea Region to share experiences and combat joint challenges faced by young people of today in the regions. Also we aim to raise awareness across youth organisations of the Nordic & Baltic Sea Region about the benefits of youth advocacy and the youth advocacy network.

Target group of the programm are young people age 16+ interested to become a youth leader or already being such, Civil society youth organisation, experts and youth workers willing to improve their own skills and knowledge in the field and gain practical experience in making real changes and supporting structural dialogue by advocating youth interests. 

Local workshop and International training sessions

All together 5 step-by-step training sessions (Local workshop and International trainings)

Local workshop will be conducted by each partner to introduce the programm, to map the existing worries and challenges what young people are facing right now. Also local workshop will discover the level of skills on concrete themes related with project and their motivation.

Each national youth training session will focus on one of the themes below and other themes more reliable for the country situation:

– Youth capacity and the civil society
– Youth and the labour
– Youth and Sustainability

A 3-day (2 night) international training sessions on youth advocacy will take place in each of the countries involved. Each training session will focus on different level of operation from the smallest to the largest

The aim of the training sessions is to provide constructive knowledge and skills about the concept and practice of advocacy training from public speaking, presentation, advocacy strategies and other such skills.  The Second section of the training session is dedicated to gain practical experience by visiting various institutions who promote/help and contribute to the Youth Work and works in Youth interests. The Final section of the training session covers the issues facing young people in each of the partner countries, what joint problems exist that could be resolved through joint effort and how to relate and use methods of advocacy to advance awareness on these issues. This is supplemented through strategic dialogue discussions with experts, exercises and group work in order to use the Nordic cooperation angle to exchange experiences and best practices on how to initiate change (organise campaigns etc.) and create a comparative perspective on developing solutions for the future. Each training session follows the same structure but addresses the core topics on the different levels of operation detailed above to ensure comprehensive review of the topic.

Each training session includes 5 people from each of the participant countries. Among each country’s delegation can be members of partner organisations and possibly other local youth organisations from their country who in their everyday work deal with the issues regarding young people.

2.Youth Advocacy Toolkit + Youth Advocacy Network website

One of the aims of the training sessions is to use the comparative perspective to find common ground and common solutions in advancing advocacy for young people. The results of this process will be compiled into one toolkit for youth advocacy that will include theoretical background on advocacy as well as advice and simple steps that can be undertaken to advance advocacy. The toolkit will be first completed in English and then translated into the languages of the project partners.

The information gathered and the completed toolkit will provide the basis for the content of Youth Advocacy Network website to be launched near the end of the project. The website is the home base for the network that will provide resources, theoretical information and other supporting measures, as well as opportunities for other organisations from Baltic Sea Region who weren’t a part of the original project to join the Network.

For the completion of the Toolkit and the design and content of the Youth Advocacy Network website, digital editorial meetings between the representatives of all partner members will take place in the second part of the project.

3. Grand Youth Conference “YOUTH NOT AS A PROBLEM, BUT THE SOLUTION!“ in Porsgrunn, Norway,  1-4th of June 2023

Grand Conference will be the final event of the project and act as an official closing event of the project and first informal meeting of Youth Advocacy Network and include an interesting discussions on the role of youth in decision making, discover existing challenges, and of course presentation of the project outcomes: Follow up project, Youth Statement, Advocacy Toolkit  and the website (youthadvocacy.eu).

Conference will be clarifying the role of young people in our contemporary world and specifically how youth interests could be protected, advocated at different levels and be on the top priorities of politicians. Conference is aiming to spread the message that Youth is not a problem, but a solution and a resource.

Among the participants are representatives of the partner organisations and representatives of other youth organisations from across the Nordic & Baltic Sea Region who could stand to benefit from the work of the Network and potentially join as future members of the Network. 

5 participants per country and 25 from Norwegian local organisers will be invited to the Grand Conference, additionally to them also experts and invited stakeholders and lobbyists.

Results:

  • Programm has trained and prepared more than 225 youth advocators / people in 6 countries.
  • In frame of the programm we have finished and distributed Toolkit on Youth Advocacy to participants and youth organisations (both direct partners and conference participants).
  • Youth Advocacy Network website has been finished, includes all project material.
  • Project partners has positively changed own communities and promoted of youth advocacy as a tool to address joint challenges.
  • Youth Advocacy Network will become a nonformal collaboration platform for promotion of youth interests, providing necessary guidance and feedback on international youth work and advocating for youth sustainable development and support of peace questions.
  • The Youth Advocacy Network website is finished and includes technical information on how the network functions, the basic principles of the network and how to join the network, developed during other activities of this project.

Short term project objectiveActivityIndicatorExpectd outputs
To develop comprehensive resources on youth advocacy that can be used as tools to aid in resolution of shared challenges1 local training session, 4 International training sessions, development of toolkit and website, editorial meetings– Toolkit on Youth Advocacy is finished – Youth Advocacy Alliance website is finished– Toolkit on Youth Advocacy is finished and distributed to participant youth organisations (both direct partners and conference participants). A digital tookint has been made. – Youth Advocacy Network website is finished, includes all project material (including an electronic version of the toolkit) and is used by Nordic & Baltic Sea Region youth organisations.
To create technical requirements for the development of the network “Youth Advocacy Network”Training sessions, development of the website, editorial meetings– The Youth Advocacy network website is finished– The Youth Advocacy Network website is finished and includes technical information on how the network functions, the basic principles of the network and how to join the network, developed during other activities of this project.
To raise awareness across youth organisations of the Nordic & Baltic Sea Region about the benefits of youth advocacy and the youth advocacy network.Development of the toolkit and website, grand conference on youth advocacy in Oslo– Toolkit on Youth Advocacy is finished – Youth Advocacy network website is finished – Grand Conference in Oslo  has been held.– Toolkit on Youth Advocacy is finished and distributed to participant youth organisations (both direct partners and conference participants). A digital toolkit has been developed. – Youth Advocacy Network website is finished, includes all project material (including an electronic version of the toolkit) and is used by Baltic Sea Region youth organisations. – Grand Conference in Oslo that includes the promotion of the project outputs (all) and promotion of youth advocacy as a tool to address joint challenges, has been held and promoted youth advocacy and peace questions.