One of the main tasks of partners at the local level was to reach out to young people belonging to disadvantaged communities or being in a disadvantaged position.
One of the main questions throughout the project was – who is actually disadvantaged and is it ok to put labels on people? Maybe those that people would immediately label as being in a situation of disadvantage don’t feel like that and might be offended by this approach.
One definition says that disadvantaged young people are those with fewer opportunities compared to their peers because they might be facing one or more of these problems: social obstacles, economic obstacles, disability, educational difficulties, cultural differences, health problems, geographical obstacles.
In certain contexts, these situations or obstacles prevent young people from having effective access to formal and non-formal education, transnational mobility and participation, active citizenship, empowerment and inclusion in society at large.
In the context of BNY, this definition might be even wider including people have less opportunities due to their gender, nationality or religion.
There are many way to approach those who might be in a situation of disadvantage and each approach depends on a specific context, existing narratives in the community and resources at your disposal. Sometimes, the most valuable resource you might have are people and their willingness to support building bridges between groups, mentoring or guiding young people through a specific or a fragile moment of their life and ensure that they matter. That they bring an added value and are not a burden.
Building trust is always one of the first but most difficult steps in every outreach action. Below, you will find specific examples from the local level tested throughout this project.
Some approaches worked, some didn’t – building bridges and trust between groups and communities takes a lot of time, energy and can be very fragile.
First tip – be patient and approach people with open heart. It is more than fine to admit that you don’t know something – people will give you information, show you and help you understand. This can only be achieved with an open heart and mind.
Every approach is an example of partner’s work in their own community and covers the following aspects:
- Target and context in the community
- Specific methods you use to reach targeted community
- Specific steps to reach the targeted community
- A good practice to reaching your target
- Obstacles faced
- Pro’s and Con’s to this approach
You are welcome to try the approaches below or tailor them to your needs. Note that several approaches were developed specifically for COVID19 times.
CGE e.V Erfurt Germany
Target and context in the community
At the beginning, we are aiming at reaching out to the local community in the Thüringen region, especially getting in contact with youth organisations working with young people through network contacts, as well as through social media. Thüringen is already experiencing with demographical shrinkage and far right movement. Our target group are young people coming from Economical, disadvantaged city districts. Nationalism and racism are really present in some city districts. People living here are normally poor and have less opportunities. Also, Youth in villages, such as youngsters living in small cities and villages in Thuringia with less opportunities to spend their free time.
Rustem is a 14 years old young man who has been involved in the process of project planning and implementation of Werkhaus since he was 11 years old. He has a migration background and finds Saalfeld as a city where he would like to live and go back after his Apprenticeship in Frankfurt. In the Summer of 2017/2018, when the project first launched in the community, he was involved as a moderator for ‘’Jungen-Moderatorausbildung’’, where we moderate the process of training for youth participation in the community for his peers. He was also involved in the ‘’Freisitz’’ event and other activities such as ‘’KuJA’’ and ‘’Mutmacher, where young people can do several activities such as hiking, summer holiday program and healthy living.
He wished to have more spaces that are addressing the needs of young people after school-hours, and would like to continue his participation in events/activities related to the community project. According to him, ‘’In some cities, I have experienced it, foreigners or Germans, whatever, are put in one place and here in Saalfeld it is not like that. I like it best that our city is active, politically, projects...’’. This refers to the integration process and cultural moderation that has been put into focus by the municipality to support their citizens.
Specific methods you use to reach targeted community
We worked mostly through social media. We implemented a social media strategy consisting of 7x Information, 5x Engagement, 5x Entertainment for a period of 2 weeks.
|
Topics |
Aspects |
Notes |
Säule |
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Communication |
Digital communication e.g. fake news, hate speech, tips and tricks |
|
Information |
|
“Mecker-/Jammer-Runden”: feel free to tell us what makes you angry/ upset/ … |
Next day: positive counterpart; framing: “Mecker-Mittwoch” |
Engagement |
|
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Speak up! No Self-doubt, tell what you care about! How to get your confidence (back) to speak up |
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Information, Entertainment, |
|
|
Community |
Digital participation e.g. petitions |
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Information |
|
Corona-Projects: help older people, join local actions, etc. |
#Erfurtsolidarisch (telegram group) |
Information, Engagement |
|
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Networking/ good vibes community (create the world around you as you like it) -🡪 support community, grow together |
|
Engagement, Entertainment |
|
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Personal development |
Meditation/ mindfulness-based trainings/ self-awareness |
~ Physical and mental aspects; live action in a virtual way (zoom)? |
Information, Engagement, Entertainment |
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Journaling self-reflexion e.g. writing as coping strategy |
~ tracking daily training, pure mental z.B. Live Session machen |
Information, Entertainment |
|
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Personal growth e.g. goals, setting directions, focus-topics, productivity |
|
Information, Engagement, Entertainment |
Specific steps to reach the targeted community?
|
Day |
Instagram (daily) |
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1 Mi |
Mecker-Mittwoch: Insta-Live! Post about project → Engagement |
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2 Do |
Don't-Dos-Donnerstag (What we do regarding our Bucket-List, what we normally don't do e.g. call grandma, go for a walk… regarding to weekly topic!) → Entertainment |
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3 Fr |
Fire-up-Freitag (~ Lion! “Erklär-Löwe”) e.g.digital participation like petitions |
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4 Sa |
Catchy name? Corona projects e.g. Tafel, Einkaufshilfe, Zettel in Hausflur → Information and Engagement |
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5 So |
Slow-Down-Sonntag e.g. Gif, Meme; heute bewusst mal keine schweren Weltretter-Themen → Entertainment |
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6 Mo |
Mutiger-Montag: “Alltagshelden”, be a brave hero for your own community e.g. participate online demo, in family, regarding work, friends; idea: mark friends who are your heroes and say why → Engagement (Challenge) |
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7 Di |
Giveaway-Dienstag; Quiz: 3 questions, get a giveaway when you have everything right! → Information |
A good practice to reaching your target
We are implementing two-weeks of social media campaign for Brave New You call for action. Divided into several topics, such as: Topics Aspects Notes Communication Digital communication e.g. fake news, hate speech, tips and tricks “Mecker-/Jammer-Runden”: feel free to tell us what makes you angry/ upset...
Next day: positive counterpart; framing: “Mecker-Mittwoch” Speak up! No Self-doubt, tell what you care about! How to get your confidence (back) to speak up Community Digital participation e.g. petitions
Corona-Projects: help older people, join local actions, etc. Erfurt solidarisch (telegram group) Networking/ good vibes community (create the world around you as you like it) → support community, grow together Personal development Meditation/ mindfulness-based
We also conducted live Instagram interview with our local partner organizations:
interview Vannesa von Bäämm Erfurt. Talking about the BNY project and the options of young people these days.
Interview with Schülerparlament!Talking about BNY and how to reach young people. Also talking about what is the biggest challenge faced by young people in the region.
Interview with Fritzerhaus. Talking about the BNY project and invitation to attend the kick off meeting on 19th May 2020.
Fryshuset, Sweden
Target and context in the community
Fryshuset's activities and programs are open to all young persons. But we have a special focus on disadvantaged youth at risk of being excluded from society at large. Irrespective of the reason for being excluded we try to meet every young person with respect and without judging where he or she is. The overall purpose is to include these youngsters in positive contexts and to make them play a constructive role in the development of their future lives.
Most of our programmes are of a primarily preventive nature. But we also work with people who want to leave violent and extreme groups. These programmes are of a more "reparative" nature, aiming at reintegrating these individuals into society. We give these individuals the tools they need to change their lifestyle and to strengthen their motivation.
Specific methods you use to reach targeted community
Two crucial elements of Fryshuset's method to reach out to these youngsters are: credible messengers and passionate interests.
We strongly believe that it is essential to use credible messengers, i.e.: individuals who have their own experience of the environments and situations of the target group, who "know what they are talking about", people who can understand and meet the target group with hope and trust.
The mission statement of Fryshuset is: We make it possible for young persons to change the world through their passions. We are convinced that all human beings have a passion, although it is sometimes well hidden and hard to discover. But if you do not give up you can sooner or later identify that passion. It might be about sports or music, about arts or theatre, about anything that makes you feel engaged and committed, something that could attract your attention and interest. Lots of Fryshuset's programs are based on the passions of young people. They are often the key with which doors can be opened to new communities and which will open up for personal development and belonging to a positive context.
Specific steps to reach the targeted community
In order to reach out to the targeted community we thus engage persons with a background in and knowledge of the areas of the actual community. We support, train and educate them in how to meet and build relationships with the target group. Through these credible messengers we reach out to the disadvantaged youth and their communities. We invite and include them and offer them possibilities to engage and participate in various activities based on their interests and passions. At the same time we work to empower them and to give them the tools they need to play an active role in the shaping of their future lives. We also use all types of social media to reach out to the target group.
To demonstrate how the above works in practice we will describe how we reach the target group for this project.
Firstly we contacted a participant from a former project on Children and Armed conflict commissioned by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The participant is a local young role model in a marginalised area of the city of Örebro. He is very involved in engaging other young people in marginalised situations in his community through the work of the foundation For The People, where he now is chairman of the board. Moreover, he has been involved in other of Fryshuset’s projects on Peacebuilding.
Secondly, another positive role model and credible messenger from the same area was contacted to be part of this project. She is the sister of the former Chairman of the Board from For The People and also involved in its activities.
Through these ‘credible messengers’ and the local meetings and activities provided by For The People we are able to engage young people for this project.
A good practice to reaching your target
One example of how we implement the above mentioned method on ‘credible messengers’, of a good practice that Fryshuset has been working with for many years, is our training of young security and safety "hosts" or leaders. We select a group of young persons from the target group, some of them with a "mixed background" and offer them an education and training in issues such as morals, values and ethics, conflict handling, anger control, basic legal issues, first aid, trust and confidence. Then they are employed by Fryshuset (it is often their first regular job) with the task of working in areas where they meet and reach out to our target group. They invite teenagers who are at risk of "going the wrong way" to be part of junior groups where they meet regularly to discuss and learn about issues of great importance to their every-day life, to their future and to the development of society. After some months of meetings and education they get a kind of "diploma" and are invited to work as volunteers in their home areas and communities together with the employed leaders.
Obstacles you faced during the reach out
With regards to the good practice under question 5: in some cases we have a problem to convince the general public, the police or decision-makers that our method of employing young persons with "mixed backgrounds" to work with youth at risk. The credible messenger concept is sometimes hard to explain. This can make some people suspicious, and perhaps even afraid, concerning our methods.
And, since we work with a group of young people, some of whom are on the "wrong path", it can not be avoided that some of them do not succeed to change their life. This happens very rarely, but when it happens, the publicity about it is of course a problem and an obstacle, at least temporarily, for the further development of the concept/program.
This concept is obviously of a preventive nature. The purpose is to avoid that these youngsters at risk end up in environments and communities where we do not want to find them. The fact that prevention is often hard to get funded, as it is difficult to measure the results, is a constant problem and obstacle.
Pro’s and Con’s to this approach
Pro's:
•The fact that we work with credible messengers is an important success factor when it comes to building relations with young people, not least disadvantaged youth. The fact that we make young people grow by showing them trust and giving them responsibility is a great pro in our work.
•Our success record when it comes to getting youngsters to change the direction of their lives in a positive way, is very positive. A very low percentage of youngsters fail to (re)integrate in society after they join Fryshuset.
•Our positive focus on the passionate interests of young people is another strong pro! By engaging youngsters in something they really love to do we support their self-esteem and strengthen their feeling of being part of something positive
Con's:
•The fact that we work with credible messengers, some of whom have mixed backgrounds, can also, as mentioned above, create suspicion and misunderstandings among the general public, politicians and the police.
•There is always a risk that the young leaders we employ do not fully leave their previous life behind.
•The funding of organisations like Fryshuset and similar NGOs is a constant challenge. Too much time and staff resources have to be used to get the funding instead of working with the youth.
MOJU – Associação Movimento Juvenil em Olhão
Target and context in the community
First, we found it pertinent to work with a target group to which we are not directly and daily connected, so that we could have another perspective on the needs of young people in our city. Secondly, in order to implement this project with one of our partners
Since the BNY-Reloaded project will use Non-Formal Education as a method, we wanted to involve a class that was somehow studying the same so that they
Then, after a first contact with the school principal, it was decided that we would carry out the local activities with the students of a Vocational Course for Child Caregivers. Normally, the students who sign up for this type of Vocational Courses are bullied because these courses are seen by society in general, but mainly by young people, as courses for students with learning difficulties and for the students in risk to fail school, hence they transfer them to a ‘’easier’’ curricula as a last chance to approve the year. Therefore, the education system itself deprives these young people of the possibility of participating in some of the regular school activities, such as Erasmus+ projects, and for these reasons we thought it would be very important to have these students as a target audience. These young people have many needs that are invisible in the eyes of their teachers, colleagues and the education system itself, as well as their opinions being considered irrelevant to others.
Specific methods used to reach targeted community
The first step to reach this group of students was to
Then, on the 4th of May 2020, we held the first meeting online, through a video call using the ''Jitsi'' website. We presented our Association, the Erasmus+ Program and the Brave New You
We also asked for a brief presentation of the young people, in which
A good practice to reaching your target
Considering the fact that this project has international
Therefore, during communication with the teacher responsible for the students and with themselves, we mentioned different times the possibility of being able to travel and meet other young people also working on the same project.
As well as the language used to communicate with the young people during this first meeting, we believe it had an impact on their interest. Often the way a project/activity is communicated can have a negative influence on the motivation of the participants in it, so we think we should always take into account the target audience with whom we are working. We have tried to be brief on the theoretical parts and have given each student time to express themselves in an informal way.
Obstacles you faced during the reach out
We were expecting a larger number of participants in this first meeting, since the teacher would have mentioned that there would be 18 students from two different classes but from the same course. However, only about 13/14 pupils participated and not all were actively involved during the call. When asked to present themselves or participate in the small exercises on the 'Jamboard' and 'Mentimeter' websites, only 10/12 students actually did so.
Afterwards, in a feedback call we asked the teacher about the activity and we reflected on the possibilities that might have cause
Pro’s and Con’s to this approach
Pro’s:
-communication adapted to the target group
-duration of the call, short but concise
-support of the teacher to reach out
- active participation of some students motivated other to be involved as well
Con’s:
- the fact of meeting the group for the first time using digital tools might have caused some
distancing between the group and project itself, since not everyone was actively present.
- the participation of the teacher in the future activities might make it uncomfortable and not a
safe space for young people to share their personal needs and opinions, as it might make
students still feel like in formal education setting
Center for Intercultural Dialogue
Target and context in the community
CID
Specific Methods you use to reach targeted community
CID’s main approach is youth work and NFE methodologies
Specific steps to reach the targeted community
CID has developed a Leadership Module “CID Academy” which provides varieties of opportunities for personal development of young people.
Young people are reached through:
Open Calls for participation;
School meetings;
Peer recommendations;
Being active volunteer
Showing interest in community engagement initiatives;
The programme of the module covers the following topics: intercultural learning, youth participation,
A good practice to reaching your target
In the past 5 years a very productive approach to engaging young people has proven to be
Obstacles you faced during the reach out
Sometimes, young people know how to show too much enthusiasm, but it is important to keep further contact and maintain the new network
Pro’s and Con’s to this approach
Pro’s:
Easy to
Positive
Big reach out.
Con’s:
too many applications;
possible difficulties with school administration to enter.
Tips to consider
A good social media campaign prior to the start of the open day will help the process of
ActionAid Italy
Target and context in the community
We chose to reach out to a group formed by some of our young activists and other NEET youth. We chose to mix up these two groups since we are not exactly working in a specific community, and so it wasn’t representative to just choose a specific group. Our young activists are 4
Specific methods you use to reach targeted community
Because we started the project
We also use
Participants follow a cycle of reflection and action, which involves:
- Understanding the context
- Identifying and prioritising an issue
- Planning and action
- Participatory monitoring and evaluation
- At each stage, a variety of participatory tools are used to support analysis and planning.
- Reflection-Action is the foundation for building people’s agency, starting with their own awareness and working together for empowerment.
Specific steps to reach the targeted community
Since we are working with youth, we have to be aware about which is the best way to communicate with them. It is important to try to understand which is their way to communicate, which are the
Getting their trust: After we individuate our target group, and since we already knew some of them, it was relatively easy to
Find a common language: we chose to focus on social media, because it is the main way th
Let them be: we didn’t put any gate anywhere in shaping the activities. Everybody was able to shape his/her own version of the task asked, because the aim wasn’t to have the same output but instead to give the possibility to express themselves. Of course, during follow up of the exercise we reviewed together what was more or less relevant to our task;
Shape the path together: as this is
Have fun: it would be impossible to work properly, on a voluntary base, if the job wasn’t a little fun
A good practice to reaching your target
We made a small game, which they found fun and helped them in getting to know each other: since they
Obstacles you faced during the reach out
The main difficulties ha
Pro’s and Con’s to this approach
PRO’S: youngsters feel more involved
CON’S: it is more time consuming, it is more difficult to engage them at first. You don’t have to have a
ADEL Slovakia
Target and context in the community
People from rural areas and
Specific methods you use to reach targeted community
Due
A good practice to reaching your target
Our expert who want to approach more Roma Community created this “practice” to reach them:
- Call to adventure. This activity is an introduction and also a chance for signing up for Hero's Journey (4-5 activities at various places- outdoor, indoor + project in between). This activity contains 3 main phases:
- Collecting a map (activists, theoretics) - passing a various small missions in different groups of 2- 5 people, each mission they pass they receive a peace of a Hero's Journey map by Joseph Campbell + storytelling, explanation
- My Hero (reflectors, pragmatics) - groups according to their favourite fairytale or movie suit the journey of their main character to Joseph Campbell
’ s map + group presentation - I am Hero (activists, pragmatics, reflectors) - facilitating discussion about similarities in their characters
’ journeys and possible comparison to our stories, real stories + motivation, calling them to adventure
Obstacles you faced during the reach out
Sauga Open Youth Center (Sauga ANK)
Target and context in the community
Short throwback
Administrative-Territorial Reform (2015-2017)
The Government of the Republic appointed to office in 2015 was the first one to agree upon implementing administrative-territorial reform of local authorities during 2017 elections. The purpose of administrative reform was to support the increase of the capacity of local governments
Tori municipality is a network based local government unit with four well established local
City of Sindi;
Hamlet of Sauga;
Hamlet of Tori;
Hamlet of Are.
All local
After administrative-territorial reform
Tori municipality has three youth
Overview of some obstacles of youth work in Tori municipality:
- There are no more modern and spacious environments for youth activities;
- Sindi Open Youth
- There are few opportunities for youth work in sparsely populated areas (mobile youth work);
- Young people living in villages away from the
- There are no opportunities and places for young people in Tammiste, Urge and Tori areas to engage in activities to be developed together;
- Low participation in various youth work programs, including at the international level;
- There is no local youth council;
- Lack of support services for NEET youth (currently only the Youth Support Program (Youth Prop Up Program), coordinated by Pärnu Youth Leisure
- Low participation of young people aged 18+ in youth
Objectives
- Create conditions for the development and improvement of youth work activities together with the planning of the necessary resources;
- Open youth
- Hobby education and activities for young people are diverse and accessible;
- Tori municipality youth council has been established;
- Young people are involved in youth work activities and are aware of the possibilities of youth work;
- Young people and youth workers are recognized;
- Transport facilities for going to youth institutions are improved;
- Creation of a program providing services for NEET youth.
Source: Tori Municipality Development Plan 2018-2030
After administrative-territorial reform youth work in Tori municipality is still facing the problem of sparsely populated areas, so Estonia as a project partner focus
Youth
Summary
- Sauga ANK focus on age group 14+;
- Sauga ANK focus on young people from rural and sparsely populated areas;
- Sauga ANK cooperates with other youth and educational
Specific methods you use to reach targeted community
Sauga ANK and other youth
Our team had a discussion about young people who are visiting youth
- Youth
- Young people who participate in different hobby activities;
- Young people who participate only camps, work camps, trainings, seminars, outings etc;
- Young people who are only interested in project activities.
So,
Because of the COVID-19 period
- Communication and cooperation with other youth
- Communication and cooperation with local schools and youth workers there (mostly online);
- Communication and cooperation
After isolation period:
- Face to face information sharing in youth
- Peer to peer information sharing;
- Public events and meetings with interest and target group;
- Mobile youth work: Sauga ANK youth workers visit other youth
Also Sauga ANK has
Specific steps to reach the targeted community
Overview of specific steps to reach the targeted community:
Youth workers do not label youngsters. All youngsters are equal, no matter
Youth
All activities and events are created
Active communication through social media (Facebook, Instagram);
Sharing information from peer to peer.
A good practice to reaching your target
Summer work camps, also known as
Summer work camps are very popular and needed. Participation in camp helps to
Obstacles you faced during the reach out
- Lack of interest and passive
- Mental fatigue;
- Smart world (young people have lost themselves into smart phones or other devices) that brings up the fear of interacting with people from face to face;
- Local decision makers do not involve young people, lack of communication;
- Political situation and decisions;
- Lack of financial sources;
- Lack of labour (lack of needed specialists, youth workers etc);
- Lack of transport;
- Economic and social difficulties;
- Abundance of choices;
- Social exclusion;
- Wrong/bad decisions in life (belonging to gangs etc).
Pro’s and Con’s to this approach
Pro’s:
Good cooperation with other youth and educational
Motivated youth workers.
Con’s:
During
UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS
Target and context in the community
Our assessed group are teenagers living in the outskirts of our city, Thessaloniki. The west side of Thessaloniki is known as the industrial area. Industrial areas are considered to be under-developed due to the fact that there was no plan of inhabiting the place. After the boom
Specific methods you use to reach targeted community
The methods we want to use are the purposeful sample and techniques of qualitative methods. We have tried to be as inclusive as we could, so that the group is diverse and truly representative of the community. We worked hard to persuade people that are generally not offered a voice such as low-income people, immigrants, teens and parents. We tried a complete assessment which gave a signal to community members that they are part of the process. While gathering the data, we remained objective and wrote down anything said relevant to our questions. All interviews and study were done
Specific steps to reach the targeted community
The first step is to find at least one person that lives outside the city
A good practice to reaching your target
Because of the lockdown due to covid-19, we found that it would be a useful idea to use other forms of connection, like zoom meetings but difficult though. So, we came in contact with two persons, who brought their friends/classmates/people from the
Obstacles you faced during the reach out
The main obstacle was the lockdown that the whole
Pro’s and Con’s to this approach
Using the aforementioned techniques, we believe that the group will be diverse and at the same time will have a mutual characteristic, that all of them live in the outskirts or far from the
Tips to consider
Build personal
