ARTive Citizens

<< Background >>Our project has been strongly linked to relevant priorities, topics and objectives of the youth field, not only aligned with the European Youth Strategy, but also addressing crucial issues that emerged in light of the COVID-19 emergency and its consequences on society, which led to exacerbate some negative trends already present at various levels (e.g., isolation, social exclusion, xenophobia and Euroscepticism).Starting from these premises, the partnership wanted to focus on the importance of the creative and cultural sector in the search for innovative ways of community development and inclusion, especially for minorities and categories at risk; through improvements in youth work, and by supporting the empowerment and development of youth potential, the project aimed to greater civic engagement and active participation in society.The project, therefore, focused on empowering young people through creativity and art, making them experience first-hand roles as active citizens, starting from intercultural dialogue between young people and promotion of inclusion, diversity and common European values<< Objectives >>Main objectives of the project were identified as follows:- promote quality and innovation in youth work to support the creative potential of young people- raise awareness among young people on European issues by stimulating them towards active citizenship initiatives- support the social inclusion of the most vulnerable young people through the involvement of participants with fewer opportunities and the promotion of European values- improve partners' capacities and base of competences to strengthen their role as key actors in their communitiesSuch objectives are aligned with the EU Youth Strategy and with the selected horizontal and youth-specific priorities of the project<< Implementation >>The project was made of 3 blended mobilities, consisting of 2-days online events followed (few days apart) by 6 days (travel included) of residential youth exchanges. These mobilities have been preceded by a kick-off meeting and followed by a final evaluation meeting.The online part of the blended mobilities, that took place before the residential ones, served as introduction and complement to the latter, which has been carried out by young people with the support of leaders and youth workers from each partner NGO.Local follow-up events, organized by partcipants with the support of the partner NGOs, were implemented after each of the mobilities, to replicate activities and methods from the project, as well as to give visibility and disseminate its results<< Results >>Participants and partners significantly improved their competences, especially in terms of greater participation in social and civic life, promotion of common European values and contribution to the social inclusion of the mostdisadvantaged.Participation to this project also contributed to let them feel more engaged and committed to address the problems of their communities, making them more active and responsible promoters of social change but also, in a longer term perspective, increasing cooperation, volunteering and employment opportunities in the local context and beyond.Partner NGOs learned new and innovative practices, increased their base of competences and capacities to organize and host local and international activities, as well as enlarged their networks and strengthened abilities to operate within the youth field.Specific and concrete outputs of the project were the blogposts and the booklets developed digitally by the participants during each exchange (all of them merged into a final toolkit and uploaded on the project website), including a description of their experience and of the implemented activities and methods used. Everything can be found on the project website: https://artivecitizens.wordpress.com/