In September, 18 youth workers gathered in Strasbourg for an intensive two-day Training of Trainers (ToT), marking the start of YOUTH-ID’s activities.
YOUTH-ID’s ambition to equip young people with the practical skills to shape their communities starts with training youth workers to act as multipliers, bringing the project’s methodologies and approaches into their local contexts.
The ToT provided a comprehensive introduction to the key principles, methodologies and tools of participatory community design. Combining theoretical insights, practical exercises and collective reflection, the training drew on five interconnected modules developed for the YOUTH-ID Digital Handbook, a resource designed to support youth workers in their future training and community activities.
Five modules at the heart of the training
- Module 1 – Core EU Values & Democratic Engagement: explored how EU values translate into everyday life and professional contexts, encouraging participants to reflect collectively on their meaning and relevance in contemporary society.
- Module 2 – Participatory Design in Community Planning: introduced the principles and methodologies of participatory community planning, focusing on the active involvement of the people concerned throughout the process, from identifying needs to developing proposals and sharing outcomes.
- Module 3 – Intersectionality & Inclusive Practices: examined how to mainstream intersectional perspectives across the stages of participatory processes, with particular attention to how identity-based stereotypes influence whose knowledge is considered credible and, consequently, whose participation is effectively enabled.
- Module 4 – Collaborative Bottom-Up Planning Tools: presented practical tools, including participatory budgeting, advocacy mapping and group facilitation techniques, to support collaborative decision-making, understand group dynamics and translate shared objectives into action.
- Module 5 – Promotion of Transnational Peer Learning: explored approaches and tools for organising and sustaining transnational peer-learning initiatives, highlighting the value of exchanging experiences and perspectives across different contexts and strengthening the European dimension of local action.
What’s next?
The next step is to bring this learning into local communities. Youth workers will organise follow-up workshops in their respective countries, sharing the knowledge, methodologies and tools explored during the training.
Interested in taking part? Look out for upcoming YOUTH-ID workshops in your country and visit the project’s digital platform, where the YOUTH-ID Digital Handbook and its five modules will soon be available.