Youth Social Changemakers: Launch of the training dedicated to the young promoters of change

Is it possible to promote the development of the so-called ‘soft skills’, such as interpersonal and behavioural skills, of teenagers while promoting their active citizenship? School-based innovation could improve the quality of life of the surrounding community? Can non-formal learning improve students’ performance and capabilities measured by formal systems?

These are some of the premises on the basis of which the Youth Social Changemakers project was born. The project, currently ongoing, engages the students of the Liceo Artistico of ‘Rosina Salvo’ Institute of Trapani and the Istituto Tecnico of Zaragoza (Spain) and will lead them on a year-long journey made of discovery, ‘learning by doing’ and innovation.

The path, focused on topics such as ethical finance, project design, design thinking and project management, runs through an initial training phase (dedicated to know-how and tools transfer), a second “challenge” phase (participants will be divided into groups to develop thematic project ideas) and a final third phase of implementation (the winners of the contest will use a monetary award to develop the selected project ideas, supported by their peers and supervised by the peers based in the partner country).

Thanks to memorandum of understanding signed between the Community Foundation of Agrigento and Trapani, project leader, and the “Rosina Salvo” High School of Trapani, hours spent on YSC project will be recognised to students as PCTO (Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation), an extracurricular programme focused on job experience acquisition that in Italy is mandatory for all high schools.

In October, the non-formal training activities were launched: during the first workshops, students had the opportunity to discover the opportunities offered by the European Union, measure themselves in the construction of active citizenship concept definition and reflect on the relationship between business and ethics through brainstorming sessions and workshop activities.

Thanks to the e-learning platform developed by the project partner, Instituto IKIGAI, each topic tackled with students in the class can be further explored through interactive didactic modules developed to promote the acquisition of digital and intercultural skills through experimentation and peer-to-peer dialogue. For the same reason, it is foreseen the implementation of several transnational sessions held in digital spaces through which to promote mutual knowledge, peer learning and confrontation on collaborative tools.

In November, the first transnational session took place and saw the Italian and Spanish youths get to know each other and build together, through brainstorming sessions facilitated by the tutors of the two partner organisations, an international and multicultural concept of active citizenship.

The project Youth Social Changemakers, Reshaping youth role in societies and fostering social cohesion through bottom-up solutions generation (Project No. 2021-2-IT03-KA210-YOU-000049530) is a project funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus + programme (through the Italian National Agency for Youth) within the action KA2 Small Scale Cooperation Partnership.

The project aims to promote youth leadership and active citizenship among adolescents through an innovative model based on non-formal education and learning by doing. The action aims to promote both the empowerment of teenagers and the resilience of local communities as the participants, after an initial training phase, will engage in a “challenge” dedicated to the development of initiatives aimed at improving the welfare of the communities in which they live.

The project, officially launched in March, will involve adolescents from the territories of the provinces of Agrigento and Trapani (Italy) and Zaragoza (Spain) for the next two years and will be carried out in parallel by the Community Foundation of Agrigento and Trapani and the Instituto Ikigai (Spain).

• Fondazione Comunitaria di Agrigento e Trapani – Italia (coordinatore)
• INSTITUTO IKIGAI, Asociaciòn Espanola Para El Emprendimiento Y El Desarrollo Personal Y Profesional – Spagna

Visit the project page and follow us on Facebook e Instagram.
Contact Ms.Mariacristina Morsellino: m.morsellino@fcagrigentotrapani.it