How can youth workers ensure to include all young people? Which practical tools can be used in youth groups to foster diversity and make sure equal participation? And how can youth workers be trained for a better understanding of inclusive youth work?
The RIDE project addresses these and other questions. As described in the Erasmus+ Inclusion and Diversity Strategy, there are different reasons for which young people may have fewer opportunities in society – these can be health problems, educational difficulties, social and economic problems, cultural differences etc. RIDE develops a comprehensive Toolbox for youth workers to support them in developing strategies and methods for the promotion of inclusion, diversity and equality.
Why engage with inclusion, diversity and equality? What do these terms mean, and which are the different understandings in European countries? The first element of the Toolbox is a report which explains in a concise way the principles and approaches leading youth work policy and youth work practice in European countries. The report invites the readers to think deeper about these well-known terms and consider their own response for their practice. It is currently being finalized and will be available for download on the RIDE website by December 2016.
How do youth work organisations put in practice inclusive youth work? A Good Practice Directory builds the second element of the Toolbox: here, various cases from the UK, from Italy, Slovakia, Turkey and Croatia are presented. The case studies describe, for example, how a youth organisation in Slovakia brings together people with and without disabilities, how a project in Croatia supports young men at risk in their social development, and how a project in Italy established relationships between young migrant women and local senior women through cooking. The Good Practice Directory provides youth workers with new ideas for their practice, including useful tips from practitioners. All case studies include the contact details of the organisations, so that youth workers can get in touch to seek further information. The Directory will also be available as of December.
Further to these, there will be two other elements: a Practice Resource, which will collect different kinds of existing practical tools for youth workers, such as icebreakers, websites, session plans etc.; it will also contain new practical tools, which the RIDE partners will develop together in the coming months. The Training Resource builds the fourth element, it will provide two different kinds of training contents: 1) a University module content which can be used and adapted for University studies in youth work and related subjects, and 2) a Training Course content designed for youth work practitioners.
At their 3rd meeting in Trnava, Slovakia, on 25th/26th October 2016, the RIDE project partners discussed all the work done so far and the next steps of the project. Both the RIDE Practice Resource and the Training Resource will be developed in close cooperation with practitioners from youth organisations and Universities. If you are interested in cooperating with us in Palermo – do not hesitate to contact us!
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For further information on the project, please get in touch with Dorothea Urban: dorothea.urban@cesie.org.