Partners
- KAINOTOMIA & SIA EE (Greece) – coordinator
- SocialDNA (Netherlands)
- MARKEUT SKILLS SOCIEDAD LIMITADA (Spain)
- Solution: Solidarité & Inclusion (France)
- SMARTUP N.B. SYSTEMATIC MANAGEMENT S.L (Spain)
- Polygonal (Italy)
Project description
Young people and especially those with fewer opportunities have been strongly affected by different economic crises and recessions, the last one being due to COVID pandemic that considerably impacted their perspectives of future and created a general distrust toward policy makers. Indeed, it is undeniable that, since the Covid-19 pandemic, a big portion of citizens have a negative perception of the EU.
This negative feeling is further triggered by the loss of jobs and lack of welfare measures to sustain our citizens during these hard times. This situation is negatively affecting our youth (our future) which is constantly undermined by fake news and negative messages from any sort of media. Different Eurobarometers published since 2016 show that youth feel, more than others, marginalised from their economic and social lives, they don’t think that their voice is being heard. While working with youth, partners face the limited understanding of youth about how the Union and its institutions work.
They observe that too many of them do not know their EU capitals or ignore the difference between the European Council or the Council of Europe. Meanwhile, 90% of youth respondents to Eurobarometer (1) say that it is important for young Europeans to learn about the EU and how its institutions work. They consider that social networks represent progress for democracy. This generation is rather interested in practical and directly applicable knowledge than theoretical speeches, and is used to dealing with the latest available ICT as entertaining. Young people lack easy access to tools (such as games, mobile applications) or initiatives, which help them to better know and understand the EU and its institutions.
As a consequence, many youths, especially those belonging to groups at risk of exclusion, are unaware of the opportunities that EU programs can offer them. To answer this need, workers and volunteers supporting youth lack innovative teaching material, which they can use to cover this lack of knowledge. As youth support organisations, we need to improve the way we explain and publicize the opportunities that the EU offers, thus helping to better understand the EU and its values. As an answer to this situation, the EU Values project was born out of the need to encourage young people to become active citizens, agents of solidarity and elements of positive change for communities across Europe, inspired by EU values and European identity.
Knowledge of the EU, its origins and how it works, as well as its member states, will lead to greater respect, understanding and cooperation among European citizens. In addition, this greater knowledge will encourage young people to form their own opinions and have the necessary knowledge to participate in their communities or the Union’s political and social life.
To summarize, EU values aims at following the main recommendations of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027. Europe cannot afford wasted talent, social exclusion or disengagement among its youth. Young people should be architects of their own lives and contribute to positive change in society.
Website and social media
To learn more about EU-VALUES, please visit the project website and Facebook page:
