The PIVOT project: supporting an engaged and active European citizenship for young people!
The project in short
In France as in Europe, young people are committed to the causes that are close to their hearts . Many young people are part of associations, collectives, or take part in major social movements, for gender equality, antiracism, or environmental protection for example. Young people are therefore interested in current societal issues, and have a vision for the world of tomorrow.
However, young people tend to be less interested in conventional forms of engagement : fewer of them join parties and vote in local, national and European elections. The participation rate in elections, and particularly in European elections, remains particularly low among young people.
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Among the factors explaining this trend, researchers cite the feeling of not being listened to by elected officials, a lack of impact of the vote, a lack of representativeness, but also a lack of knowledge of the issues of citizenship and institutions.
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Faced with this observation, and on the occasion of the 2024 European elections, Femmes Entraide & Autonomie is launching the Youth PIVOT project , which aims to promote engaged and informed citizenship among young people at a European level. It focuses on three central subjects for building the social and united Europe of tomorrow: gender equality, migration, and climate change.
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PIVOT: a European project
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The Youth PIVOT project, coordinated by Femmes Entraide & Autonomie, is set up in partnership with CESIE (Italy), Save a Girl Save a Generation (Spain), and People In Focus (Albania). These four associations campaign for a truly human and united Europe.
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In practice
For who ? The Pivot project is aimed at young people aged 18 to 25, regardless of their gender, ethnic origin, social background, level of education, training, sexual orientation, etc.
How ? The first phase of the project takes place over the period March-June 2024 :
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Development of training modules: each partner association was responsible for developing a module on the European Union, gender, migration, or climate change. These modules will be a basis for the training of young participants in the project, and are intended to be communicated to professionals who wish to train their audiences.
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Recruitment of a group of around twenty young participants, aged 18 to 25, living in Île de France.
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Raising awareness among participants on the societal subjects of the project (Europe, migration, gender, climate) through 4 days of training.
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Organization of soft skills development workshops (self-confidence, public speaking, etc.).
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Development of an evaluation grid for candidate programs , in co-creation with participants, in order to enlighten young people on the positions of candidates for the European elections on the subjects of the project.
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Interventions and meetings with candidates and experts , in order to challenge them on the subjects mentioned and invite them to integrate them into their programs and their future decisions.
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Promotion and communication of work among young people, associative partners, experts, journalists.
Following the European elections, regular meetings with the group of young participants will be organized. Actions and events will take place during key moments in the mandate of future elected representatives of the European Parliament, in order to continue to challenge them and defend the ideas put forward by young people.
We invite you to follow the Youth PIVOT account on Instagram to find out everything about this project, and also to follow us on our social networks!
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Do you want to participate in the project? Simply fill out this form in a few minutes, and we'll get back to you! (French is required)
Our tool for evaluating the programs of candidates for the European elections!
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Following the awareness sessions, the participants formulated 11 proposals on gender equality, migration, and climate change, on a European scale : placing humans at the heart of European migration policies, implementing measures to raise awareness in society about the cause of migration, harmonize European legislation on gender equality and gender-based violence, promote effective access to sexual health and abortion throughout the EU, adopt legislation clear and binding at a European level, for an ambitious and long-term policy... They will defend these proposals to candidates for the European elections and future European deputies! They are also the basis of an evaluation grid for the programs of candidates for the European elections.
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Project duration and funding
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This project was launched in November 2023 and will end in October 2025.
This project is funded by the Erasmus + program and the European Commission. In a desire to promote European citizenship, paying particular attention to youth, the European Union supports projects which aim to promote the participation of young people in democratic life, the civic and social engagement of young people, and the gender equality and inclusion. Our project is fully part of this dynamic.
You are a candidate, expert, interested in this project, you can contact the project team by email: pivot@feaasso.org