On 5-9 July 2021 in Kyiv, the representatives of the Vasylkiv community (Kyiv oblast), Kurne community (Zhytomyr Oblast), Novoukrainka community (Kirovohrad oblast), and Khoroshiv community (Zhytomyr Oblast) took part in a five-day training seminar on strengthening youth participation and civic engagement.

This is the second meeting of the communities' teams within the third stage of the “Young People -  Full Citizens” component, aiming to support meaningful youth participation at the local level by reviewing youth policy and implementing the necessary measures in line with the Council of Europe standards. The aim of the training seminar is to strengthen the ability of representatives of the communities – partners 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 civic engagement and youth participation approaches.

Thanks to the professional work of the project training team composed of Iryna Bodnar, Diana Dubynska, Ihor Nosach, and Mariia Yasenovska, it was possible to create a space for competence development, sharing opinions, networking, and finding new partners for teams of communities – partners of the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”.

In the course of the training seminar, the participants met with Iryna Beliaeva, Director of the Youth Policy Department of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.

During the training session, the Director of the Youth Policy Department of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine presented regulatory documents governing youth policy in Ukraine, in particular the Law of Ukraine “On the Main Principles of Youth Policy”, National Strategy of the State Youth Policy 2030, State Targeted Social Programme “Youth of Ukraine” for 2021-2025.  This meeting helped the teams of the communities find answers to practical questions about the application of these regulatory documents to strengthen youth participation in decision-making, the work, and the establishment of youth councils and youth centres at the local level.

In addition, Iryna Beliaeva shared her experience of participating in the European Steering Committee for Youth and drew the attention of the participants to the co-management system existing in the Youth Department of the Council of Europe as an example of meaningful and effective participation of young people in the decision-making process. This system involves decision-making based on the voices of Europe's young people with the voices of public authorities in charge of youth affairs. Thanks to this dialogue, where each party has an equal say, it is possible to share ideas and experiences in keeping with the spirit of mutual understanding and respect. In particular, the Joint Council on Youth adopts decisions on the work priorities of the Council of Europe youth sector, the programme, and the budget.

On one of the days of the training seminars, the participants paid an introductory visit to the All-Ukrainian Youth Centre and met with its team. This visit enabled communities’ teams to learn about the approaches and activities of the All-Ukrainian Youth Centre (AYC), find answers to practical questions about establishing a youth centre in the community, and opportunities for cooperation with the AYC to strengthen youth participation in the communities. It is to be recalled that the All-Ukrainian Youth Centre is a partner of the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” within the “Revitalizing Youth Centres and Youth Work” component.

Volodymyr Onyschuk, director of Koriukivka Youth Centre “KUB” (town of Koriukivka, Chernihiv oblast), met with participants, outlined the centre's work experience, and answered practical questions from teams of partner communities of the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” on the establishment and operation of a youth centre based on youth participation approaches.

In the course of the training seminar, the teams' representatives of the project partner communities jointly explored and discussed:

• the role of young people in the life of the community and the community in the life of young people (opportunities and areas of responsibility);
• inclusive approaches in youth policy and youth work, recognising 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;
• 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.

During the first day of the training seminar, the communities’ teams reviewed the results of a study on the state of youth policy and needs conducted by the research team of the Council of Europe project in ten partner communities during February-March 2021. These results enabled the communities’ teams to discuss the relevance of the 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.

The further activity of the teams of the partner communities involves the local project's implementation to strengthen the youth participation and civic engagement with the expert mentoring support of the Project.

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 fruitful bilateral cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine within the Framework Programme on Cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine in the Field of Youth Policy for 2016-2020.

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