On the 23-24th of April, our colleague Diana, the Head of Digital and the Project coordinator on behalf of GEYC, was in Rome, Italy, for the kickoff meeting of UP2NEB project.
This 3-year KA2 cooperation partnership in youth, co-funded by Erasmus+ program of the EU, aims to engage, connect and empower youth workers from EU peripheral areas, equipping them with co-designed, practical learning resources and updated skills. They will then be able to train and empower young people (aged 18-29) from those territories, to engage with the New European Bauhaus initiative*, creating living space prototypes that benefit rural and peripheral communities' development. The initiative aims thus to foster positive change by enhancing youth engagement.
UP2NEB general objectives address young people, youth workers and the local communities they inhabit:
- For YOUNG PEOPLE: to upskill young people on topics connected to NEB pillars - sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics and to increase their capabilities to work together to realise entrepreneurial projects so to transform their lives for the better.
- For YOUTH WORKERS: to address multiple societal problems, promoting the use of innovative and practical resources and methodologies, as well as the acquisition of updated skills, to enable young people to engage with the New European Bauhaus initiative e.g. in the form of living spaces’ design and prototyping.
- For LOCAL COMMUNITIES: to support positive change in the local communities involved in the project through their engagement in project activities as well as thanks to youth initiatives contributing to co-create a sustainable, participatory and inclusive future that is beautiful for our eyes, minds and souls.
The expected concrete results of the project are:
- A training program, accessible through a Miro Multiverse board and built based on a bottom-up and creative approach, covering topics referring to NEB core values: sustainability; inclusion; aesthetics. It will be addressed to both young people and youth workers/trainers.
- A training methodology, in the form of a DIY toolkit, accessible through a Miro Multiverse board. It will be a practical guide and hands-on pathway towards the topic of transformation, based on design thinking and built up based on a bottom-up approach. It will be addressed to youth workers /trainers.
- A compendium of projects and related physical prototypes which include beautiful, sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurial projects: concrete initiatives created by young people, supported by youth workers/trainers during 4 transnational learning activities and connected to NEB prizes. It will be available to local communities interested in materialising the projects, together with young people.
- A well defined outreach, dissemination and follow up strategy which assure continuous support to young people, through mentorship, uptake of project results and self sustainability of the project itself.
During the meeting in Rome, partners got to know each other better, discussed the roles and project management plan, started to work on the dissemination and sustainability strategies, as well on the methodology for the living labs, and decided the next steps for the foreseen activities.
The consortium is led by CIAPE (Italy) and fosters cooperation between Materially S.r.l. Impresa Sociale (Italy), Quiosq (The Netherlands), IEC (Austria), Eco Logic (North Macedonia), Podgradom and STEP (Slovenia), The Santa María La Real Foundation (Spain), Ankara Aks (Türkiye) and GEYC (Romania).
* The New European Bauhaus (NEB) is a creative and interdisciplinary initiative that connects the European Green Deal to our living spaces and experiences.