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Module

     

Facilitating youth projects



Introduction
Every time we plan an activity, whether in a youth club, in an association or within the family, we start a project. But we don’t talk about the vacation in terms of a “travel project” or about the activity in the local soccer club as a “tournament project”. We simply plan a trip or organise a tournament.
When we work with these things we work in a more or less systematic way. We find out the relevant conditions, collect facts and material, calculate and gradually come up with a result.
A project is carried out!

A project is distinguished by its systematic structure. It contains a number of steps to work through in order to reach a result. It is not complicated to be the leader of a project; it’s a question of order, leadership and administration.

A project contains clear tasks, a clear organisation, a fixed time plan and allotted resources. This is why the project work calls for order, leadership and administration.

Experience shows that we work better together than alone and this is the basic idea behind projects. There are a lot of different tasks in a project and in general one group member cannot manage them all in the best way possible.
Diversity – multitude – a mix of people from different cultures, of different sex, with different values, skills and experiences often create new ideas and a better result than if all members of the group are, for example, white 15 year old boys who listen to hip hop.

“The only true knowledge we have about the future is that we lack in knowledge about it”. But we are interested in finding an advanced planning so that we, if possible, can control our insecurity. This can be done by analysing the problems we expect to occur and prepare ourselves to solve them. This is what this two days module “project and youth” is all about.
The aim, thus, is to find the knowledge and the tools which are needed to coach the youth in their projects and turn the problems into possibilities, yet also to find the necessary knowledge in order to benefit, inspire and lead the youth to start up new projects.

The module contains a detailed description of the project to be used and studied by the youth leaders, but also a simplified description of the project which is to be used by the youth. The module also contains tools elaborated in order to avoid pitfalls.

It’s also important to be open for the ways in which participants confront the tools and their ways of working with the problems. The tools are a means to reach a good project result, not the aim of the project itself. If you have tested the tools in advance you also dare to stretch the limits to make a better result and to involve the youth even more.

The module “Project and youth” should be connected to and used as a continuation of the Norwegian module (an idea-developer), or as a practical tool to further implement already existing ideas.

The training exercises of the module

Day one
Exercise 1: The project description for youth leaders
Exercise 2: the project description for youth (depending on which group you are working with)
Part one:

  • The portrait (Icebreaker) Appendix 1.
  • The cow (Icebreaker) Appendix 2.
  • background
  • idea
  • purpose
  • organisation

Exercise 3: The Sculpture
Exercise 4: Forum Theatre, connected to the internal project organisation

Day two
Exercise 1: The project description for youth leaders
Exercise 2: The project description for youth (depending on which group you are working with)
Part two:

  • Ahoy (Icebreaker) Appendix 3.
  • partners/network, external
  • action plan
  • marketing

Exercise 5: Marketing the project

  • budget

Exercise 6: How do you finance your project?

  • financing
  • send a flash (Icebreaker) Appendix 4.
  • evaluation
  • documentation
  • after the project is over
  • game of character (Icebreakers) Appendix 5.

Exercise 7: Positive evaluation

Module Summary

The aim with the module “Project and Youth” is to turn the youth centres into project stations by giving the youth workers new competence.

A project station is a place where the youth leaders have been given the tools and the knowledge to help young people to realize their ideas in the form of a project, but also where the youngsters can receive help with practical problems.


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"Developed with the support of the European Community, within the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme. The opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Community, nor does it involve any responsibility on its part."