Under the Loupe: Rural Youth Work!

The project “Under the loupe: Rural Youth Work!” is a 15 months Erasmus+ KA2 project involving partners from Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia - NAPOR, Prizma, Idrija2020, and two research institutes: Institut drustvenih nauka and Institut drustvenih znanosti “Ivo Pilar” with the aim to explore Rural Youth Work.

Rural youth are constantly facing one or more challenges related to basic economic and social infrastructures. Their access to quality youth services that are providing possibilities for personal and social development are very limited and often totally inaccessible. Therefore, it is important to create youth work programs where young people are, and based on their needs. Evidence-based research and support in creating new innovative programs and strategies based on good practice examples will make significant step towards rural youth work development and youth engagement.

The partnership aims:

  • To ensure social inclusion of rural youth by creating preconditions for their active involvement in community life, through building capacity of youth workers and raising awareness of decision makers, underpinned by relevant policy development.
  • To establish cross-sectoral cooperation among research community and youth workers in order to identify the needs of rural youth and introduce and encourage evidence-based practice.
  • To increase visibility and recognition of youth work potential to respond to the needs of rural youth at local, national, regional and EU level.
  • To increase quality of rural youth work programs by introducing innovative and inspiring practices from local to EU level.

Several activities are planned in order to reach the results:

  • Research in Serbia and Croatia (analysis of the situation of young people in rural areas and needs of rural youth and rural youth workers)
  • Booklet on 20 innovative and inspiring practices in rural youth work in EU and non-EU countries,
  • Public awareness campaign “Let’s go rural!” with 48 created segments and total reach 1.500.000 people for 12 months,
  • Three webinars involving 60 rural youth,
  • National discussions in Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, involving minimum 90 participants from various target groups including decision - makers,
  • Study visit to Slovenia for 18 rural youth workers from 3 countries to exchange good practices and introduction of innovative methods, approaches and tools used among rural youth workers,
  • Advocacy documents– 3 Final drafts of advocacy documents prepared: Rural Youth Work Strategy (Serbia), Action plan on setting the strategic development framework of municipalities that focuses on rural youth (Slovenia) and Guide for developing supporting program for rural youth organisations, youth and youth workers (Croatia).

Partnership:

Start: 01-02-2020 - End: 31-07-2021
Project Reference: 2019-3-RS01-KA205-065027
EU Grant: 71 460 EUR

Contact person: Drejc Kokošar
E-mail: drejc.kokosar@id20.si
Phone: +386 51 255 788