INTERCULTURAL URBAN-RURAL YOUTH DIALOGUES FOR COLLECTIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

<< Background >>At the beginning of 2021, in all partner countries, there was a significant amount of NEETs and high youth unemployment, with increased rates of both in rural areas. Given the Covid-19 pandemic and climate situation, promoting green self-employment collective strategies that would articulate urban-rural collaboration seemed to be able to promote innovative forms of social and collective entrepreneurship among young people, particularly those with fewer opportunities, and actively involve them in the fight against climate change from an intercultural, systemic, and skill building perspective. YURI aimed to address the following needs: - Support policy orientations aimed to bring youth employment and green practices together- Offer more numerous and attractive self-employment strategies- Promote youth leadership, creativity and influence capacity- Foster skills and competences related to green, collective, social entrepreneurship amongst young people- Provide information and training to youngsters to address their frustration and helplessness in regard to climate change. - Combat rural-urban stereotypes and prejudices<< Objectives >>YURI aimed to work with 394 participants, of which 87 young people with fewer opportunites to promote inclusion, a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, and climate action, by providing young people and youth workers with the resources, inspiration and encounter spaces to: - Critically address belief systems, prejudices and stereotypes (regarding rural and urban settings but also interculturality, gender roles, entrepreneurship, climate and collective action, etc.) that affect the way young people see themselves in relation to their professional projects, to others, to their communities and to the environment- Promote the development of the necessary competences and social emotional skills to successfully engage in collective green social entrepreneurship projects, taking into account the importance of urban-rural collaboration, the potentiality of digital contexts, and the know-how to search for and identify the necessary resources and support- Foster advocacy, exchange and mutual learning among young people, youth workers, and organisations, and generate fertile ground for dialogue with policymakers at local, regional and European level, to share, debate and find common alternatives to the current climate crisis<< Implementation >>In order to implement the YURI project, the consortium undertook the following activities: - Continuous management, dissemination and evaluation of the project - Development of a methodological innovation based on bringing together theatre of the oppressed, participatory action research, process work, and study of cases into the field of social entrepreneurship, collective action and climate action (YURI method) - Undertaking of 4 meetings and case-study visits to partner countries - Training of 13 staff members in a blended training where participants trained each other in their YURI-related methods of expertise - Co-construction and validation of the YURI method through the implementation of pilot 1, pilot 2 and the two LTTAs- Production of a 306-page book “The rural-urban Youth Handbook for collective and Green Entrepreneurship” in English and all partner languages (the YURI handbook) - Implementation of a YURI-based 3-day training (blended mobility) for 24 young people from the different partner countries- Implementation of 6 local multiplier events and an international conference to share, promote and train youth workers, youth organizations and policymakers in the YURI method and handbook<< Results >>1. Contract and partnership agreements2. Budget management tool3. Communication, collaboration and information exchange protocol4. Global Manangement tool5. Risks and Conflict Management Protocol6. 4 Meeting reports7. Dissemination plan8. Dissemination SWOT9. Partners' social networks10. Plan to ensure dissemination and exploitation11. Visual identity and logo12. Roll-up design13. Brochure in English and all partners' languages14. Videos in English and all partners' languages15. Website in English and all partners' languages16. Online presence report17. Dissemination report18. Evaluation plan19. Evaluation reports20. Blended joint staff training with 13 participants21. Pilot 1 with 122 participants22. Pilot 2 with 174 participants23. 306-page handbook in English and all partners' languages24. Blended training for youth with 24 participants25. Multiplier events and final conference with 282 participants26. 581.285 approx. participation instances and/or interactions in social media via face-to-face and online efforts