13 September 2021, a five-day training seminar for partner communities of the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” started in Kyiv.

The training seminar is participated by the teams of Kuyalnytska Community (Odesa Region), Velykokopanivska Community (Kherson Region) and Pryshybska Community (Poltava Region).

This is the second meeting of the communities' teams within the third stage of the “Young People are Full Citizens” component, which was aimed to support meaningful youth participation at the local level by reviewing youth policy and implementing the necessary measures based on the Council of Europe standards. The training seminar aims to strengthen the ability of representatives of partner communities of the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” to implement youth policy at the local level and carry out youth work based on approaches of public activity and involvement of young people.

In the course of the training seminar, representatives of community teams partnering with the project will jointly explore and discuss:

• the role of young people in the life of the community and that of the community in the life of young people (opportunities and areas of responsibility);
• inclusive approaches in youth policy and youth work, recognizing the value of the participation of different youth categories;
• standards and approaches of the Council of Europe and the legislation of Ukraine in the field of youth policy and youth work, the ability to apply them in practice;
• the potential of youth councils and youth centres to strengthen youth participation and their possible impact on making decisions related to the lives of young people in the community;
• the legal framework regulating certain issues of the work of youth centres, and examples of advocacy of their proposals;
• youth work forms and methods, in particular approaches to non-formal education, etc.

One of the tasks of the training seminar is to create a space for exchanging opinions, building networks and finding new partners for representatives of community teams partnering with the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”.

During the first day of the training seminar, community teams reviewed the results of the study on the state of youth policy and needs conducted by the research team of the Council of Europe project in ten partner communities in February-March 2021. These results enabled community teams to discuss the relevance of ideas proposed for implementation in the context of cooperation with the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” and to analyse these ideas using the RMSOS approach (Right-Means-Space-Opportunities-Support) compliant with the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life.

Partner communities of the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”

• Vasylkivska community (Kyiv Region)
• Velykokopanivska community, Kherson Region
• Kurnenska community, Zhytomyr Region
• Kuialnytska community, Odesa Region
• Novoukrainska community, Kirovohrad Region
• Opishnianska community, Poltava Region
• Prysyvaska community, Kherson Region
• Pryshybska community, Poltava Region
• Uzhgorodska community, Zakarpattia Region
• Khoroshivska community, Zhytomyr Region

As a reminder, on 13–16 July 2021 representatives of the teams of Pishnianska CC (Poltava Region), Prysyvaska CC (Kherson Region), Uzhgorodska CC (Zakarpattia Region) took part in the online two-week-long training seminar on the strengthening of youth participation and public activities.

On 5–9 July 2021, representatives of Vasylkivska community (Kyiv Region), Kurnenska community (Zhytomyr Region), Novoukrainkska community (Kirovohrad Region) and Khoroshivska community (Zhytomyr Region) took part in a five-day training seminar on the strengthening of youth participation and public activity, which was held in Kyiv.

Read more about the Council of Europe's project and resources in the field of youth at: https://www.coe.int/uk/web/kyiv/youth-for-democracy-in-ukraine

The Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” is implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018–2022 and is based on previous experience and efficient bilateral cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine as part of the Framework Programme on Cooperation between the Council of Europe Kalmykia and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine in the Field of Youth Policy in 2016–2020.