Transcript Slide 1

Presenter: Brooke Galloway
Authors: Elena Aristodemou, Tatjana Taraszow, Yiannis Laouris
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
UCYVROK
Overview:
The concept ‘youth’ in European policies has been
introduced only recently and it stresses the importance of
actively including young people in European matters. The
treaty of Maastricht in 1993 laid the foundation for a more
active contribution of youth in society. Specifically, in this
treaty it is stated that the EU should “…encourage the
development of youth exchanges and of exchanges of
socio-educational instructors…” In satisfying the treaty,
the European Commission implemented a program, in
2007, that promotes youth active participation in
European matters. The program is called ‘Youth in Action’
and it aims to include all young people, irrespective of
social, educational or cultural background, in the decision
making that will shape the Unions’ future.
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
UCYVROK
Purpose and Methodology:
• Along with the EU guides and under the UCYVROK project, the research
team prepared a survey that attempts to examine from the youth directly
the reasons that participation is minimal or non-existent in EU projects.
• The survey consisted of 23 statements that are possible reasons for non
participation and on which participants were asked to check the degree to
which they agree or disagree with the statement on a 5-point scale. The
responses ranged from Totally Disagree to Totally Agree.
• The 23 statements derived from a structured dialogue conducted on 17
and 18 March at Future Worlds Center in Nicosia, Cyprus. The structured
dialogue co-laboratory lasted two days. The first day focused on the Vision
of an ideal society, whereas the second day focused on the Obstacles that
prevent the ideal society from being materialised. Further to the above the
participants and the facilitation team developed a comprehensive list of
statements regarding the participation of less privileged youth in
European Youth projects and activities, based on the root cause map
created in the interactive workshop session.
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
UCYVROK
• Demographic information was also asked from the participants in order
to be able to compare responses based on country, background or
educational level.
•In addition, participants were asked to give their own opinion on the
topics the responsible bodies should focus when designing youth
programs as also on the means that are most appropriate to them for
receiving information on existing and new youth programs, opportunities
and choices.
• The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 30 years old as per
requirements of this project.
• The survey was administered in the eleven countries that constitute the UCYVROK
partnership of this project. Each country was asked to collect a sample of
100 questionnaires and return them to the research team in Cyprus. All
questionnaires have been translated to the native language of each country
and answers were translated to English before being sent back to Cyprus.
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
Preliminary Results:
The results were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS). The sample at present consists of 227 males and 311 females from
nine countries (Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, France, Latvia, Slovakia,
Hungary and Romania). The mean age of the sample is 22.5 years old.
An analysis of the participants’ responses on the statements revealed that
14 out of the 23 statements constitute important reasons for nonparticipation in EU projects from Youth. These statements are:
In many European countries young people still have stereotypes and
prejudices.
Youth don’t feel confident enough to participate in EU projects.
Youth show less interest for communal politics compared to national
politics.
Most of the activities for youth are placed in big cities rather than in
rural areas.
European youth programs can cause expense to participants such as
time, petrol, travel etc, thus it makes participation difficult.
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
UCYVROK
Many young people are not financially stable.
Young people are not aware of the opportunities and benefits that
are available to them.
Many young people feel they have no power to actually change
policies.
The decisions and activities of Brussels and the EC are far away from
the personal realities of young people.
Many less privileged young people have the feeling of being outsiders
in the country they live in.
Many young people do not have a sense of belonging to a community
thus they do not take it into consideration.
Less privileged young people are not asked for their needs,
expectations and wishes.
Young people are not aware of the existence of and access to youth
programs.
Young people are not aware of others’ behavior, cultures, values and
environment.
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
UCYVROK
Root Cause Map of the Challenges faced within the European
Youth Environment
16: Lack of knowledge about
opportunities, about benefits for the
persons and language skills
20: European youth programs
are
usually very expensive to
participate for young people
16: Lack of knowledge about
opportunities, about benefits for the
persons and language skills
3: Lack of information about
access possibilities, other cultures,
values etc
2: Lack of identification of the needs of
the less privileged youth. Cycle with 1,
23, 24, 31, 32, 50
58: Less interest for communal
politics compared to national
politics
43: Activities offered by
organizations are more based on
fashion than social analysis
60: The involvement or participation of
representatives of specific less privileged groups
is sometimes just for the eyes of the others or
for fulfilling criteria
22: Exclusion of non-English
speakers
38: Existing stereotypes and
prejudices
17: Lack of the interest to learn more
about other cultures, languages, and
people
34: Bad personal experiences of
victimization, heteronomy,
arrogance, ignorance, alienation,
discrimination or suppression
42: Most of the places and
activities for
youth are based in big cities
26: Lack of self-confidence
36: Concentration of the privilege of
participating among a specific and
small elite
45: Lack of a coherent strategy for
youth at local and also different
levels
15: Lack of sufficient language
skills to participate in European
projects
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
UCYVROK
Reason: Programs in most cases don’t reach young people.
Suggestions: 1. Creation of TV spots
2. Specialized magazines that inform about available programs
3. Promotion through Social Networking Sites
Reason: The current youth programs don’t adequately address the real
problems that young people are facing in their everyday life.
Suggestions: 1. Career opportunities
2. Gender Issues
3. Drugs
4. Unemployment
UCYVROK
5. Addiction
6. Discrimination
7. Prejudices
* Many participants stressed the importance of offering adequate incentives
and low costs that will allow greater participation in these programs.
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
Reason: Many young people feel they don’t have a power to actually
change things and this prevents them from dealing with EU matters.
Suggestion: EU should find ways to ‘convince’ youth that their
involvement can have a real impact – Example: UCYVROK project.
Evaluating reasons:
• This European Youth Survey is attempting to examine real problems in
the communication between the European commission and the European
Youth.
• Results show that the EC has some real issues to address and work on, for
offering young people a better chance in being active citizens..
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
UCYVROK
Complete Data Analysis:
Country comparisons
Conclusion:
It is clear that young people are a part of the EU community and
are really interested in becoming active. All that is needed is to
find the appropriate tools to implement programs that deal with
their needs and reach out to them
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
UCYVROK
Thank you!
UCYVROK
FUTURE WORLDS CENTER (LEG. REG. CYPRUS
NEUROSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)