rethinking inclusion in youth work: thecharm process

RWith financial support from the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Union

Compiled by Vladislav Petkov

This publication has been produced with the financial support of the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship

Programme of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of C.E.G.A.

Foundation and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission.

The Project Civic Help for Anti-Racist Measures in youth work (JUST/2012/FRAC/

AG/2723) is implemented with financial support from the Fundamental Rights and

Citizenship Programme of the European Union.

November 2014

ISBN 978-954-9630-57-2

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction ..............................................................................................................................4

Chapter 2: Attitudes towards anti-racism and human rights in youth work .................................7

Chapter 3: Training ....................................................................................................................................11

3.1. Political organizations ...................................................................................................................13

3.2. Leisure time organizations ...........................................................................................................16

3.3. Youth centres ..................................................................................................................................18

3.4. Organizations working with EVS ...............................................................................................21

3.5. Students school councils ..............................................................................................................23

3.6. Sports organizations ......................................................................................................................26

Chapter 4: Reflection and re-thinking ...................................................................................................29

Chapter 5: Make it into policy .................................................................................................................34

Chapter 6: Evaluating the CHARM process ........................................................................................37

Chapter 7: The CHARM project factsheet ............................................................................................40

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RETHINKING INCLUSION IN YOUTH WORK: THE CHARM PROCESS

With financial support from the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Union

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5RETHINKING INCLUSION IN YOUTH WORK: THE CHARM PROCESS

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share the opinion that in theory they have responsibility in promoting anti-racism as a cross-cutting principle, but they are still reluctant to challenge attitudes and stereotypes within their members and supporters.At the end, there is also another group of youth organizations who proclaim themselves open to traditional excluded groups, but would either work for them (as opposed to with them); or would engage people from these groups only after they have shown the motivation and competenciesneeded.

Based on that, we have created the profile of the Charming youth organization. That would be a youth organization that:

It has taken steps towards establishing a safe and inclusive environment for people from traditionally excluded groups;

It has reflected on how an organization supports the idea of inclusive youth work;

It has revised the way it runs its operation to make it equally accessible and friendly for the diverse groups of young people;

It has planned pro-active measures in insuring diversity and equal opportunities within the organization.

When we started working on the CHARM idea back in 2010 and 2011 we were looking on CHARM more as a characteristic one organization has or does not have (one of the reasons why our publication back then was called The CHARM Factor2). We now tend to look at it much more as Charming process a cycle of steps one organization needs to undergo in order to reflect on its own approach on anti-racism and inclusion and based on that to re-think it, take action and introduce concrete measures. Furthermore, we see it as a never-ending processwhich regularly checks what the situation with the organization is, what the current attitudes and operations are, what is the efficiency of its inclusive measures.

2 The CHARM Factor is accessible for free download on English and 6 other languages here: http://yar.charmingyouth.eu/?page_id=8

Youth work is on the rise in Europe. Not only there are tens of thousands of different youth organizations, centres, clubs and non-formal groups, but there seems to be a political will to support this sphere. The European Union has increased the budget for youth projects with the introduction of the new Erasmus + programme while this is only one of the youth-oriented initiatives in the Union and its member states. This is of course partly due to the fact that decision-makers are searching for ways to address the huge issue of youth unemployment, but nevertheless, youth work is here to stay and the expectations are it will be growing in quantity and quality in the next decade.

But is youth work accessible for everybody? Is it inclusive enough?Does it promote the values of equality and culture of fundamental rights? Does it outreach young people most in need and NEET1?Or is it an elite club for some? Does it recreate the broader social picture of exclusion and discrimination? Do young people from ethnic, sexual, religious minorities, young people with disabilities and other traditionally excluded groups have equal access to the learning and development opportunities provided by youth organizations?

There is no one answer to all these questions. Working on the CHARM project with more than ahundred organizations in different parts of Europe, our partnership has seen more than a hundred of answers. The youth sphere seems to be more open and open-minded than general society, but there are still sustainable harmful stereotypes towards some groups as well as intentional or unintentional exclusion practices in different forms. This is confirmed not only by our research on attitudes and practices (see summary of results in Chapter 2), but also by our direct training activities.

Our work in the last two years have reassured us that the CHARM project is very much needed as an initiative aimed at creating a youth work free of harmful stereotypes (see more about the project itself in Chapter 6). In the various phases of the project we outreached to organizations working in a wide variety of topics volunteering, political participation, sustainable living, environment, leisure time, students empowerment, sports and many more. Working with them, we have been confronted with opinions that anti-racism and inclusion are concrete spheres of work and as long as one organization is not working in these spheres specifically, they should not care about them. On the other hand, some organizations

1 NEET is a recently established abbreviation meaning Not in Education, Employment, or Training.

Chapter 1:

Introduction

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In order to plan a Charming process and make our organization Charming (as described above in the Introduction) we certainly need to understand how far we are from our goal. We need to first understand what is the current situation with diversity in our organization, what are the groups that are excluded the most and bear the most sustainable and harmful stereotypes. We should be able to identify the attitudes towards anti-racism in our organization. There are many ways to do that snapshot and that would depend on each organization.

Below, we will present some interesting findings from a research we have done with over 350 representatives of youth organizations in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain, Poland and Lithuania. While the results cannot be necessarily projected on the whole European Union, they can at least give hints what is the overall picture of the attitudes towards anti-racism and human rights in youth work. The findings below are based on online survey, focus groups and in-depth interviews in each of the six countries.

Current diversity situation

The current situation with diversity in the various youth organizations is similar, at least in the countries which have researched this issue. There seems to be clear (intentional or not) underrepresentation in youth work of groups which are traditionally excluded. In Lithuania, only every 7th organization would answer that they engage young people from different nationality, ethnic background or coming from the LGBT group. In Bulgaria the situation looks better from a first glance 30% of the organizations admit to have only members from the ethnic majority, while the rest engage people from at least one ethnic minority group. However, 78% of the responding organizations have purely majority-composed management groups. As visible from the graphic, less than 17% of the organizations in Bulgaria are aware if they have members with sexual orientation different from heterosexual. The 23% which claim they are sure they do not have people from this groups in their lines is particularly interesting it raises the question what kind of test members would undergo to prove they are not LGBT.

Chapter 2:

Attitudes towards anti-racism and human rights in youth work

This publication is built on a suggestion of what this process might look like:

Research on situation and attitudes in Chapter 2 we are summarizing the findings of our own research on the attitudes of youth organizations towards anti-racism and fundamental rights;

Training as one of the most condensed ways to challenge harmful attitudes and stereotypes within the organization and start building an open and safe environment for traditionally excluded young people. In Chapter 3 we are providing a summary of the training modules we have developed for 6 specific types of organizations;

Reflection and re-thinking in Chapter 4 we are presenting some ideas to boost the reflection process within a youth organization on their approach toward inclusiveness and anti-racism;

Changing policies and introducing measures in Chapter 5 we are presenting some guidelines and ideas on making our organizations more Charming, which have been generated within our project;

Evaluation in Chapter 6 we give some very basic hints on how to evaluate the progress of your Charming process.

At the end of the publication, we are presenting some facts and figures describing our activities and achievements within the CHARM project in the period 2013 and 2014.

Before we move on, there are two important terminology remarks that we would like to introduce.

When we speak about youth organization we mean any entity, legal or not, public or private, which is set to organize activities with and for young people. While the project targeted mainly youth non-governmental organizations, we have also engaged public bodies, students councils in school, non-formal groups and bodies who are not necessary youth, but work with young people.

The partners have also agreed on a broad understanding of the term racism as intolerance or neglect, based not only on race, but also on ethnic and religious belonging, sexuality, disability, gender and age. From this standpoint, anti-racist measures would be any measures that aim at inclusion of social groups of young people which are traditionally excluded and neglected.

Enjoy reading and good luck with planning and running your own Charming process.

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Which group, according to you, experience racism and/or discrimination in your local community? (Poland)

Understanding of racism, discrimination and human rights

The partners from all the involved countries reached the same conclusions when it comes to the understanding of racism, discrimination and human rights within youth organizations it is vague and unsufficient. From the Spanish report we read: Respondents did not understand clearly Human Rights as a concept. They defined Human Rights in a general way. Human Rights are somehow defined as a system of values and behaviours, which is connected to them.The picture is concluded with an example from Greece: In the online research, many respondents agreed with the statement: We organize our projects in respect with the Human Rights values and disagreed with the statement: Respect for human rights is a prerequisite for the functioning of our organization.

Similarly, there ispoor understanding among members of youth organisations when it comes to the definitions, reasons for, impact and manifestations of discrimination and racism. While the first one is clear in terms of legal definition, racism is even more difficult to define. It is also bearing a heavy luggage of stereotypes related to its understanding as being only about the skin colour. (Research report from Poland). This might be the reason why all the organizations in all the countries denunciate all kinds of racist attitude and practice.

Selfie in regards to practices

Do youth organizations already have some practices in terms of fighting for discriminatory attitudes and practices? This question is not so easy to answer. Some organizations claim

A positive sign from the Bulgarian research is the involvement of young people with disabilities 40% state they have people with disabilities in their organizations, while another 23% admit that they dont know.

What about attitudes towards changing the diversity situation in the organization? They are positive in theory. As found by our researchers in Greece, and confirmed by partners in the rest of the countries, excluded groups are welcome if they wanted to join us. This response, connected with the expressed opinion that we cant change the purpose of our existencejust to include excluded groups, shows that most organizations are not (and dont plan to be) pro-active in terms of insuring equal opportunities and diversity within their organizations. As it is pointed out in the Polish research report, organisations do not take any steps to include people of different backgrounds in general they do not see the point in doing it as they consider their organisations open and tolerant. There is little reflection that certain measures should be put in place in order to foster inclusion of people representing different minorities, especially the one who might have special needs.

Most excluded groups

According to the youth organizations, the most excluded groups in their societies are the Roma (and other ethnic minorities) (Spain, Bulgaria, Poland, Italy), young people with disabilities (Poland, Lithuania), immigrants (Spain, Italy, Poland), LGBT (Bulgaria, Poland, Lithuania). However, social grounds for exclusion are also pointed out in Italy youth organizations thought this is the second most widespread discrimination after the one based on ethnic belonging. In Bulgaria there is alarmingly high percentage of organizations who consider literacy as a MUST criteria for participation in the activities of youth organizations.

Yes, there are

No, there are notI am not aware

16.67%

Are you aware if in your organization there are members/volunteers with sexual orientation different from heterosexual? (Bulgaria)

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At the end of the previous chapter, we have established that training on anti-racism is essential to our Charming process and is identified as a need by youth organizations themselves.

It should be noted that the goal is not to provide any training, but to organize a quality learning process using appropriate methods. This is one of the pillars on which the whole CHARM project is built - we call it a Charming education. But actually it's just a name adapted for Human Rights education.

Human rights education is recognized and strongly promoted by the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe. Central place in its promotion has COMPASS - manual on human rights education with young people. In "Compass" human rights education is described as "educational programs with long-term goal of creating a culture that understands, protects and respects human rights." Human rights education uses an approach oriented to the learner, taking into account the social context in which he or she is. One of the most important benefits of human rights education is that it doesnt only aim to provide knowledge but also to build skills and form attitudes and values. This is essential, since one of the main objectives of havingtraining as an element in our Charming process, is to challenge problematic attitudes and harmful stereotypes.

Furthermore, we would like to use the training to further link the sphere of work of a certain organization to the idea of anti-racism and human rights. This way we can hopefully also challenge the notion, shown by our research, that Human Rights is a specific sphere of work and one does not need to take it into consideration if working in another sphere for example sports.

To better address this challenge, we have developed a set of training modules on anti-racism, designed for specific types of organizations. These modules take into consideration some common characteristics of the different profiles of youth organizations and use them to better promote the ideas of anti-racism and Human Rights.

Chapter 3:

Training

that such practices are in place, but when asked to list them, they relate to the fact that the organization has thehuman rights values as its "mission".Another practice that youth organizations cite is running specific projects for intercultural dialogue and social inclusion (Lithuania, Bulgaria). It has to be noted however, that almost always these projects concern groups of people outside the organization. As a prevention practice some respondents include the structure of the organization (the organization is not structured in a hierarchical manner, but there is a plurality and exchange of ideas Italy).

The situation is not much different when it comes to mechanisms to oppose discriminatory attitudes and behaviour in the organization. As respondents in general do not perceive their organisations as the ones using racist or discriminatory practices, they also do not see the need of implementing measures in case these phenomena happen in the organisation. This is a very misleading assumption as in the end if discrimination/racism occursthe organisation is caught by surprise with no commonly agreed and tested tools to be used. One of the practice, whichrespondents see as very effective in preventing racist or discriminatory practices, is the existence of commonly agreed code of conduct that is negotiated among all members of the organisation (Poland). In other countries prevention and dialogue are the main words mentioned by the respondents as the key tools for facing racism and discrimination.

Open to and in need of education and training

Even if in all the countries youth organizations presented themselves as open, tolerant and inclusive, they are in general very much willing to get trained on the topics of anti-racism, anti-discrimination and human rights. In Poland, 50% of the respondents admitted that it is necessary for the members of their organisations to undergo training on how to deal with racism and discrimination in their organisations. In all other countries youth organizations have expressed interest to undergo raining on those topics.In Italy, respondents agreed that training is important to raise awareness on the issues of anti-racism. Furthermore, they think that those trainings should employ experiential learning methodologies so that the participants can experience the situations of discrimination and racism, critically re-elaborate the experience, and learn how to transform the learning into action in their daily life.

The Spanish researchers note that young people tend to be reached easily with non-formal education. Researchers from Greece add that the problem is not just lack of knowledge that needs to be addressed, but also the lack of ability to recognize the existence of value in minor issues, such as silence, invisibility and vulnerability of some groups and individuals. Hence, there is no need for specific awareness about one group, but a broad awareness of what discrimination means to those who suffer it and to their society in general.

Based on these findings we have built the elements of the Charming process and this publication.

You can find the texts of the different researches in Bulgaria, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, Spain and Italy online: http://charmingyouth.eu/charmload/

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3.1. Political organizations

More people, especially young people, are realising that if they want change, they've got to go about it themselves - they can't

depend on a particular person, i.e. me, to do all the work. They are less easy to fool than they used to be, they now know what's going

on all over the world.

Aung San Suu Kyi

Introduction

This module is meant for the representatives of the youth political organisations (youth wings of political parties, local/regional/national youth councils or any other youth organisations that primarily deal with political issues, such as influencing policies). However, it consists of certain generic elements that can be used with other youth groups. Youth political organisations have several specificities:

They are connected with a more or less clear political vision that influences the way they function or issues they deal with;

Many young people in such organisation have aspirations to become politicians (or at least they dream of it);

Many of such organisations have a strong hierarchical structure;

They are very debate-oriented, especially when debated issue enters their political programme or agenda;

They care a lot about their image in the media;

Some of the organisations are not open to new members as the members might be elected (the case of local youth councils for example);

They might be very dependent on the political agenda of the parties or political views they are affiliated with;

The main focus of such organisations is often youth political participation;

Some of them may use quite violent political rhetoric to pursue their political agenda.

Due to these factors the work with such organisations may not be easy, however it seems very important. The political discourse promoted by such organisations is very often racist or discriminatory. This is not only the result of the political programme but also the lack of knowledge and sensitivity. This issues need to be addressed in the module.

On the next pages you can find a short summary of these modules:

Political organizations (developd by SZANSA, Poland)

Leisure time organizations (developed by Cazalla Intercultural, Spain)

Youth centres (developed by CEGA Foundation, Bulgaria)

Organizations working with EVS (developed by USB, Greece)

Students school councils (developed by YCAC, Lithuania)

Sports organizations (developed by Accademia europea di Firenze, Italy)

You can download the full modules with all annexes and detailed explanations from http://charmingyouth.eu/charmload/.

Note that some of the training methods that are proposed in these modules, are actually quite universal and could alsobe used by other types of organizations. Feel free to revise and adapt any of the modules to better fit the needs of your organization.

All the modules presented below are planned for 1 day of training.

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Summary of methods (agenda)ELEMENT METHODS

Welcome and introduction to the workshop

1. Participants and facilitators present themselves;

2. Introduction to the workshop: programme, methodology, CHARM project;

3. Expectations of participants.

Understanding discrimination and racism introductory activity

Activity: Fragments of my identity

Understanding discrimination and racism definitions

1. Case studies participants are provided with several cases and need to decide if the proposed case constitutes an element of racism/discrimination;

2. Brief explanation of the notions of racism and discrimination.

Discrimination and racism in our lives and the organisation

Activity: Electioneering (COMPASS a manual on human rights education with young people)

Racism and discrimination in political discourse

Activity: Mosque in the Sleepyville (COMPASS a manual on human rights education with young people)

Defining our goals and actions against racism and discrimination

Split participants in 2-3 smaller groups and ask them to discuss the following question: What can our organisation do to promote human rights, stand against discrimination and racism and be more inclusive;

Presentation of the proposals and deciding on the one the organisation will implement: deciding on the next steps and people responsible.

Evaluation of the workshop and ending

1. Short group evaluation;

2. Written evaluation.

Evaluation

The success of this workshop can be described in the following categories:

the objectives of the workshop will be achieved;

the participants will plan inclusion activities/strategies to promote anti-discrimination and anti-racism;

Aim and objectives:

The main aim of the training workshop is to raise awareness of the issues of racism and discrimination among the members of political youth organisations and develop strategies on how to promote inclusion, anti-discrimination and anti-racism in youth political discourse.

By the end of this workshop the participants will:

understand the notion of racism and discrimination, its roots and consequences

become aware of the manifestations of racism and discrimination in the political debate and how it affects young people

develop skills of respectful debate and argumentation

reflect on the incidents of racism and discrimination they occurred in their lives and therefore develop empathy towards people affected by racism and discrimination, particularly in the political debate

develop critical thinking skills

learn how to promote human rights through their political agenda

develop plans to include anti-discrimination and anti-racism in the agenda of the organisation

become motivated to promote human rights through their work

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Summary of methods (agenda)

ELEMENT METHODS

1. Welcome and general presentation of the objectives of the day and the program

2. Presentation of the Organisations

3. Exploring the needs of the participants working in the organization

Round of names and role in the organisation

Presentation of the aims, objectives and the programme

Expectations, why am I here (individual and sharing in plenary)

Work in 3 small groups for 10 min to present organization: aims, objectives, activities, etc. in the most creative way possible. They present it to the other groups.

Castle Exercise

Simulation Beginning of the year

1. Instructions to participants

2. Individual work

3. Group work

4. Debriefing

My organisation free of discrimination

1. Input about discrimination connecting with simulation

2. Vision of inclusive organisation

3. Obstacles on the way of making my organisation inclusive for all

My organisation free of discrimination II

1. SWOT analyses

2. Plan of action for my organisation free of racism

3. Evaluation of the day

Evaluation

At the end of the day the module envisions oral and written evaluation. What is very importantis a post questionnaire: ask participants to fill in a questionnaire 6 months after the training. The training will be successful if the organisation changes the attitude towards the most disadvantaged young people and implement some of the actions they plan during the training.

Download the full module from http://charmingyouth.eu/charmload/.

the participants will be able to identify their learning needs when it comes to the topic of the workshop.

This will be measured through the following means:

written evaluation form after the workshop;

the implementation of the plan (contact with the organisation some 1 month after the workshop possible visit).

Download the full module from http://charmingyouth.eu/charmload/

3.2. Leisure time organizations

Do you really know the needs of the young people youre working with? When you plan the activities for/with them, you take into

consideration everybody? This module will help you figure it out!

Introduction

This module is designed for the youth organizationswhich are working with young people and children in the area of free and leisure time activities (for example scout organizations and similar). The module is designed for youth leaders working directly with children/youth and taking part in the decision-making of the organization: planning the annual activities and choosing new members for the organisation.

Aim and objectives

The module aims to raise awareness among the participants on the topics of discrimination and inclusion, and to develop a plan for the organisation to be discrimination-free. The participants will:

- Learn about what is discrimination and understand different types of it;

- Reflect on personal needs and motivations to be in the organisation;

- Reflect on personal attitudes toward young people/children they are working with;

- Analyse organisational behaviour towards different groups of youngsters living in the community;

- Develop a specific plan for organisation free of discrimination with specific steps.

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The specific objectivesof the training module are to:

Discuss if some groups of young people are not as engaged in youth centres as others;

Identify the specific groups of young people that are usually facing exclusion and neglect in the specific centre;

Reflect on the factors and barriers that hinder some groups of young people to actively engage in the activities of youth centres;

Re-think the approach of youth centres towards these groups, particularly to do FOR versus to do WITH;

Brainstorm ideas and take responsibility for making the concrete youth centre more Charming.

Summary of methods (agenda)ELEMENT METHODS

Introduction 1. Welcome, presentation of the project and agenda;

2. Introduction of the participants;

3. Expectations of the participants.

Personal path part I Participants build and tell the story of how they got involved in the centre and ended up in the training. They do it using supporting questions.

Personal path part II 1. Participants receive a role and they need to build the same personal story from the perspective of this role;

2. Discussion on social exclusion and its dimensions.

Human rights and anti-discrimination

1. Participants work in pairs or small groups on results of a survey;

2. Input on human rights and anti-discrimination.

Exploring case studies

FOR against WITH

3. Participants receive and work on case studies, then they act them out;

4. Discussion on the different approaches.

Making our centre more Charming

1. Participants work on a set of questions they create their own criteria for being Charming;

2. Participants brainstorm on ideas for making their youth centre more Charming.

Conclusions and evaluation

1. Revision of expectations;

2. Filling up a questionnaire.

3.3. Youth centres

Through their development and learning many young people engage with local youth centres and use their

services or volunteer there to support the local community and develop their own competencies. Having open,

inclusive and well CHARMING youth centres is thus crucial to foster anti-racism and respect for human rights in

our societies.

Introduction

NOTE! In some countries the module will be more applicable to youth organizations promoting local volunteering and active citizenship rather than a public youth centre.

The training module is meant for staff and active volunteers of youth centres or other youth structures which are set to promote local volunteering and active citizenship. The status and the functions of the different youth centres might vary from country to country, however they are usually characterized as follows:

They are publicly funded (by state or municipality);

They are managed by a public employee or their management is sub-contracted to an organization under the supervision of a public body;

They provide a set of services usually informational, but also others like training, leisure time activities, counselling, career-guidance, etc.;

Many dont have a specific field of work in terms of topics, but run activities based on the interests of their active volunteers and/or on the request of the public body.

Many youth centres would have already been engaged with the topic of human rights/social inclusion/intercultural dialogue. However, their knowledge in the subject would still be limited and their sensibility not raised enough. Their understanding of social inclusion is often limited to providing services or doing activities FOR young people from groups that often face exclusion and neglect, rather than engaging them and working WITH them.

As the staff of the youth centres is usually not big, the training module is developed with the assumption that the on-site training will be provided for both staff AND active volunteers or even ONLY for active volunteers.

Aim and objectives

The main aim of the training module is to raise awareness on the issues connected to engaging young people usually facing exclusion and neglect within the activities of youth centres.

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3.4. Organizations working with EVS

I am truly free only when all human beings, men and women are equally free. The freedom of other men, far from negating or limiting my freedom, is, on the contrary, its necessary premise

and confirmation.

Peter Kropotkin

Introduction

This module is designed for the youth workers, coordinators, mentors, volunteers and other personnel of EVS3 organizations (sending, hosting or co-ordinating) Nevertheless, it may be easily adapted in the broader context of the youth work in youth organizations regardless the activities of the organisations

We have chosen EVS organizations, believing that they form a privileged audience for applying anti-racist measures, since they have capacity and possibility to receive and send volunteers from and to foreign countries and, therefore they were considered to have the potential to become successful multipliers of the Human Rights values.

In a time of financial crisis in Europe, targeting EVS organizations which depend on funding of projects and challenging them to reconsider their work adopting a Charming attitude,is not the easiest thing. We expect that this module will be a valuable asset for work with non-profit organizations in Europe in general.

Aim and objectivesThe main aim of the training module is to raise awareness on the issues of Human Rights violations in EVS organizations, in regard to the rights of either the youth workers or the volunteers (local and international), and to raise awareness on various discriminative isms (racism, sexism, ageism etc.), providing tools for identifying and managing these violations and promoting inclusion in the activities of EVS organizations.

By the end of this workshop the participants will: have a general understanding of the Human Rights values and their importance in

youth work and volunteering; be able to recognise discriminatory practices; be able to deliver their new competencies in their organizations; have obtained critical thinking skills; learn how to promote Human Rights through their work;

understand the importance of inclusion in their activities.

3 EVS is short for European Voluntary Service popular initiative in the framework of Youth in Action Programme (and now in Erasmus +) that gives the chance to young people to volunteer abroad.

Evaluation

The success of the seminar will be assessed based on the feedback of the participants on three main levels:

Their perception of how well the objective of the training have been achieved (through feedback form);

Their perception ofthe extent to which their expectations have been met (through revision of expectations at the end);

Their satisfaction with the products they have produced, in particular ideas and suggestions to make the centre more Charming (through the feedback from).

Their motivation to follow-up with the identified ideas and suggestions (through the feedback forms and post-training report).


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3.5. Students school councils

Intelligence is the sign of human maturity; respect and duty are the signs of citizenship.

(by a group of the CHARMing project participants in Lithuania)

Stand up for your rights and others too. Open the door. Show what people can do.

(by Mariana G., Voices of Youth)

Introduction

This training module is designed for the members of school students councils, who play a significant role while ensuring the respect for the rights and duties of students in a school environment. Their active participation in the school life is significant for the following reasons:

This is a representative structure for students, through which they can become involved in the affairs of the school, work in partnership with school management, staff, parents and other actors for the benefit of the school and its students;

It helps to promote the respect for dignity of every human being.

It helps to ensure the inclusion of every human, regardless his/her age, ethnicity, abilities, sexuality, in school life.

Aim and objectives

The training module aims to build the capacity of the members of school (gymnasium, lyceum) students councils in order to promote the respect for human dignity and inclusion of every individual in school life.

Objectives of the training module:

To raise awareness on the basic principles and highlight the importance of respect to Human Rights and their realities in school environment;

To explore the role of students and the members of students councils in respect to Human Rights at school;

To equip the participants with confidence and skills, so they are able to take an active role and ensure the respect to the rights and inclusion of all in school life.

Summary of methods (agenda)ELEMENT METHODSGetting to know each other Icebreaker and name games

Presentation of the participants, their organizations and their role in them

Motivation and expectations of the participants from the training

Introduction in Human Rights

Projection of the short video

The history of Human Rights (9.53 min)

Test our knowledge on human rights issues

Human Rights QUIZ

Anything that can create and reproduce stereotypes

MedicineWheel exercise

Awareness on EVS and gender issues

The keys game

Awareness on EVS and gender issues

A story in a box exercise (summary and the follow up)

Evaluation of the training Fill out the evaluation form

In circle share impressions, feelings, thoughts, ideas etc.

Evaluation

The success of this workshop will rely on:

1. In short-term, the objectives of the workshop will be reached;

2. In long-term, the participants will have engaged in the activities they organize with excluded social groups, and will have achieved creating a Human Rights respectful working place for them and their volunteers.

Consequently, the evaluation process will not end with the end of the training but will have continuity and will involve the participants in future evaluations through questionnaires and/or focus groups to research whether our long-term expectations have been met.

Nonetheless, directly after the official end of the training module, all the participants will fill out a written form, evaluating the quality of the training methods, the training tools, the effectiveness of the training in general, the importance of their learning achievements for their work.


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Evaluation

The success criteria of the training:

Achieving the aim and objectives of the training;

Meeting the expectations of the participants;

Commitment of the participants to promote the respect for human rights in school life.

The success of the training will be measureds by the following:

Reflections of all participants on what they have learnt and how they are going to use the knowledge and skills in their future activities;

Reflections during the whole training on the importance to promote the respect for human rights in school life;

Observation of the training process and performance of the participants;

Self-evaluation of the trainers team.



ELEMENT METHODS

Welcome and getting to know each other

Individual presentation of the participants;

Setting up the rules of the training;

Overview of the objectives and programme of the training;

Exploring expectations and fears of the participants.

Questions, questions

Photo cropping exercise;

Discussing and raising questions on the issues depicted in the photos in small groups;

Using Traffic Light method for sorting the raised questions from easy to difficult to answer.

Coming to Common Grounds of Human Rights

Theoretical presentation;

Comparative analysis of legal documents;

Presentation of practical situations;

Group discussion.

The Backpack of Rights and Duties

Brainstorming of main rights and duties that a student brings to school;

Discussing and sorting the rights and duties, if they are usually respected or violated at school environment;

Discussing real cases at school, when certain rights were respected/violated;

Discussing different approaches how the respect for human rights or their violations appear in the school.

School realities. Making Links

Assigning roles to 6 groups of participants according to the actors participating in school life;

Discussing and agreeing on 5 key roles each of the actor performs;

Discussing and agreeing on the two requirements for each of the rest 5 actors of the game;

Playing the Making Links game.

Evaluation

Reflection on what participants have learnt during the training;

Reflection on how to apply the gained knowledge and skills in the future activities of the students council.

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ELEMENT METHODSWelcome and getting to know each other.

Introduction of the programme, objectives and methodology.

Welcome;

Getting to know each other: round of names, role in the organisations;

Guess who am I? Participants work in pairs (possibly with people they do not know). They receive a form and they have to guess about the other;

Intro of the programme, objectives and methodology.

Group Building activity String game activity. Exploring the issue of co-operation vs competition; respect and diversity

Entering the main topics of the training:

Postcards exercise:

Just a minute exercise to brainstorm on Sport and Human rights, Inclusion, diversity, discrimination, racism. The activity stimulates participants to appreciate the fact that human rights are interconnected and indivisible, develop critical thinking, develop the ability to express own opinion.

Experiencing the main topics of the training through co-operative exercise

Sport for all: to experience the main topics of the training course such as cooperation vs competition, inclusion vs exclusion and so on. Finally, to extract learnings useful for the members, the sport organisation and its policies

Summing up the day Short input, revising the day and what participants experienced focusing on:

Human rights and Human rights education;

Sport and human rights to adopt an inclusive approach and promote anti-racist and non-discriminatory attitudes among young people and inside sport organisations;

Conclusions for the organisation and members attending the training course.

Evaluation and closing To finish the session, you may ask participants to reflect on what they feel:

they have learnt;

they have discovered;

they did not like;

they would like to change in their work/organisation after the training module.

3.6. Sports organizations

At the individual level, the adoption of the International Charter of Physical Education and Sport (UNESCO, 1978) entailed the recognition of a human right to sport. This right has been embedded in later human rights instruments, such as the Convention

on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This emerging

human right requires inter alia accessible and affordable sports facilities and physical education on a basis of non-discrimination.

Asser InstituteIntroduction

Sport and sport activities and especially football are,nowadays, scenarios for discrimination and violence. In many countries anti-discriminatory policies in sport have been defined and acted.

The module is designed for Sport organisations working mainly with young people. The target group for the training session is represented by educators, youth leaders, social workers, sport trainers, coaches and volunteers.

The module can also be used in other contexts, in which sport is considered a tool to explore issues such as inclusion and exclusion, racism and anti-racism, discrimination and anti-discrimination.

Aim and objectives

The main aim of the training module is to highlight the connection between sport and anti-discrimination, anti-racism, human rights and human rights education, providing participants and their organizations tools to run Charming youth sport activities.

In this training participants will:

reflect on sport as opportunity to promote respect, otherness, diversity, inclusion, anti-discrimination and anti-racism attitudes;

experience human rights education in sport contexts; learn about human rights and human rights education; develop their creativity, problem solving and co-operative skills; get to know how to use sport as a tool to promote HRE, anti-discrimination and anti-

racism attitudes among young people they work with.

Sport organizations will indirectly benefit from the training module, because they could count on aware and skilled youth workers and trainers, use inclusive approaches in their work, promote inclusion, anti-discrimination and anti-racism throughout sport activities.

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In this part of the Charming processes we need to take our magnifiers and take a close look at our organizations and the way they work, trying to identify if our general approach and the way we operateare supporting inclusion and culture of Human Rights.

The most important thing is that we are honest about it. It might be an uncomfortable process, but it is a crucial one. As our experience proves, no youth organization would come out and proudly say that it has a racist, sexist and homophobic approach, but we need to look much deeper than declarations. We need to see what is behind them and how they aresupported. Very often, people who have used the training opportunities we have offered within the CHARM project, state from the very beginning that their organizations are actually tolerant, open and inclusive. Throughout the learning process however, they would express issues with stereotypes towards certain groups, or would admit that the diversity of the team and the membership pool is actually quite limited.

Furthermore, we need to look for the reasons of certain situations, explore causes and consequences. For example, in pretty much all of the countries the majority of active members of youth organizations are girls. There are at least two ways to look at this situation: 1) Girls are more empowered and boys dont care about such kind of activities and there is nothing we can do about it; 2) Our organizations are perpetuating pre-defined gender roles where males need to be providers and females can deal with soft stuff like education and social work. So, which one is it? Another very typical example we have come across is the statement that one organization would be open to Roma (or immigrants, or other ethnic minority group), but they never showed interest to participate. Again, the important question is why. Is it because they dont care about participation, active citizenship and social inclusion; or is it because they dont know about us, there is no interaction, there is no trust or they dont even know that they can be engaged?Can it be connected to the way we do our outreach and dissemination activities (where, on what language, who is doing it)? Can it be connected to a simple thing like where our premises are located? And many more

Another important aspect is that we dont aim to re-think the sphere of work of our organization, as we will reconfirm in the next chapter. We believe that all the spheres of work in which young

Chapter 4:

Reflection and re-thinking

Evaluation

The training will be evaluated as successful if:

the objectives are reached (70%- 100%);

the expected outcomes become real (70%-100%);

participants are satisfied with their learning outcomes (70%-100%);

participants believe that the workshop support them in their work (70%-100%);

participants believe to have had the chance to make their organisation more charming (70%-100%);

organisations start to have a more charming attitude in their work (70%-100%).

In order to measure the success of the training module and its impact we will organise:

an evaluation at the end of the training to measure the satisfaction of the participants;

an evaluation at the end of the training between facilitators and organisers;

apost evaluation (3 months after the session) to check the impact of the training module in participants work and organisations.

Tools to be used:

online questionnaire and non-verbal techniques for the final evaluation;

focus group for facilitators and organisers;

online questionnaire, interviews and/or focus group for the ex-post evaluation.


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Equality Audit1. What is the mission of your organisation? Are there any references in this mission

to human rights, antidiscrimination or diversity?

2. How would you describe the culture of your organisation? Do people in your organization have the freedom to make decisions?

3. Are you and people in your organization aware of what human rights are? How do they get the knowledge about them?

4. Does everyone have the equal access to the services and activities offered by your organisation? Are any of the activities of your organisation very specific so they may make some people feel excluded?

5. Do people in your organisation (both employees and the volunteers) have a chance to personal and professional development through e.g. training courses? What requirement do they have to meet if they want to take part in the training course that is financed by your organization?

6. Do people in your organisation get the same pay for the same work, both women and men? Is the salary system transparent and equal for all?

7. Is your organisation accessible for people with disabilities? In what way?

8. Do employees and volunteers in your organisation know their rights and obligations? Do you have anyone in the organization who people can turn to in case they feel their rights have been violated or they were mobbed or discriminated against?

9. Is your organisation open for people representing different minority groups or people who are excluded? How do you involve them in your activities? Do you promote equality and human rights, both internally and externally? How?

10. Do you practice affirmative actions in your organisation? Which groups do they concern? How and why do you do it?

Developed by Dariusz Grzemny, SZANSA

While the Equality Audit is an universal tool that can be used with any kind of organizations, we have also developed a set of critical questions for the six types of organizations we have decided to concretely target with specific training modules. Some of the questions are of course repetitive in principle but formulated in a more specific way. Others are very relevant only or mainly for the specific type of organisations. We present some of them below.

people are active, are useful and needed. That is why, we need to set up reflection questions which are relevant to our sphere of work and take into account its specifics. For example we are a students organization set to represent the interests of students in the academic sphere and provide development opportunities for students. Undergoing a Charming reflection is not aimed at re-thinking if the mission of the organization is valuable, of course it is! Some questions we can ask ourselves in this regard: Are we representing all groups of students? Do we take into account the needs of students with disabilities, students from ethnic minorities, fresh-man students, LGBT students, elderly students? Do we even know what their needs are and how? Do people from these groups have influence on decision-making?And so on.

Training and reflection within the Charming process are very much connected. In our opinion, reflection is much more productive if we do it with already improved competencies in the sphere of anti-racism and Human Rights challenged stereotypes, skills to recognize discriminative attitudes and practices, sense of empathy, commitment to social inclusion, etc. Actually, as it is visible from the short presentations of the training modules in the previous chapter, we have planned reflection activities in all the modules. In some of them it is a cross-cutting idea and something that is discussed in each step of the training (for example, the module on Sports organizations); in other cases there is reflection and planning set of methods in the last part of the training (for example, the module on Leisure time organizations). This is done because of the limited time we could work with one organization within the CHARM project. Whether or not to merge training with reflection should be a decision based on the specifics of each organization and the way the training part is organized.

Apart from the tools we have offered in the framework of the training modules, we would like to present one more tool developed within the CHARM project. We call it an Equality Audit and can be a very useful kick-off of a Charming reflection in any kind of organization.

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- If the organisation is a part of larger political body, does your organisation have equal right in decision-making processes? What is the position of this larger political body on the topics of Human Rights, anti-racism, social inclusion?

At the end, we would like to give some practical advices on running a Charming reflection processes within a youth organization:

Make it participatory. Try to engage people with different roles within the organization. There is no point to do it only with volunteers and not with decision-makers, since the latter would be the ones to make it into policy. The opposite is also true if there is no involvement from the majority of members and volunteers, any change put forward by the management body might be perceived as an exotic idea that will not work.

Do it when youre ready. We have already mentioned the strong connection we see between training and reflection. There is no point to start a reflection if there are sustainable stereotypes towards excluded groups and if there is no commitment to strengthen anti-racist approach within the organization.

Do it honest. Within the CHARM project we are making the trainings and the reflection with facilitators who are external to the organization. While this has an added value to a lot of aspects, you should consider whether or not external facilitation will prevent honest reflection. We have come across cases where organizations were reluctant to be honest about their approach and operations because they were trying to keep the image of an open and tolerant group in the eyes of the external facilitator.

Make it into policy. Use the results of the reflection to bring some positive change in the organization. We will present some ideas in the next chapter.


CRITICAL QUESTIONS FOR SPORT ORGANISATIONS

- As an organization, do you have enough knowledge and information about Human Rights related to sport activities?

- Have the members of your organisationhad any kind of preparation (educational background) in relation to Human Rights?

- Has your organisation planned inclusive actions or used inclusive methods?

- Which kind of criteria do you use to select your participants?

- How do you evaluate if your activities are inclusive?

- Do you plan actions to promoter anti-racist practices?

- Do you promote sport for all?

CRITICAL QUESTIONS FOR EVS ORGANISATIONS

- How do you ensure non-discrimination and transparency in selecting and hosting volunteers?

- How did you create the profile of volunteers you would like to host? Why did you choose specific criteria?

- Is your selected profile inclusive? How can you make it more inclusive?

- How do you help the volunteers in the adaptation process (e.g addressing the organisational culture, inclusion of volunteers from the first day, etc)?

- What support do you offer to young people who want to do EVS?

- Do you share information about the selection process and criteria in the call for volunteers?

- Where do you promote your call for volunteers? Do you use communication channels that can disseminate the call to different excluded groups?

CRITICAL QUESTIONS FOR POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS

- Are all your activities/practices in accordance with existing laws?

- Do these laws comply with regional and international Human Rights standards/documents?

- Is non-discrimination principle applied in decision-making and in the general structure of your organisation?

- Is decision-making process participatory (Including all members)?

- Do you receive and take into account the needs of the people you claim to represent? Are these needs in line with Human Rights?

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the human rights in an organization and encouraging diversity. In most of the cases it is named a code of conduct.This is a sustainable way to put anti-racism forward and gives the added value that new members and supporters can get acquainted with the principles and rules of working together at a glance.

2. True mainstreamingmeans that the organization is revising its already existing documents and includes principles, rules, mechanisms and activities to make sure anti-racism and social inclusion are well rooted in the organizational culture. Such documents would include the statute of the organization, strategic plans, dissemination and visibility plans, codes of conduct, capacity building programs, action plans, check-lists for organizing activities, etc.

3. Practical mainstreaming is the situation where there is the agreement within the organization for new principles, rules, activities and ideas and they are being implemented, but they are not formulated in documents. While this is not necessarily a bad option, it has the disadvantage of being not particularly sustainable. It is known that youth organizations are changing their composition relatively often (school council members graduate, youth center volunteers move to another town to study, youth grow up and are no longer interested in youth activities). Changing most or part of the management team or the membership may lead to loosing these Charming practices if they are not somehow institutionalized.

It needs to be noted that we have come across some interesting cases in our project. Getting inspired by the CHARM process, some youth organizations start planning (and sometimes implementing) specific activities addressing disadvantaged groups and in some cases these activities are not fitting the regular work of the organization in question. While this is not a bad thing at all, what happens very often is that these activities are designed FOR rather than WITH young people for excluded groups. Charity campaigns in orphanages or refugees centers, while having their own value, are not a Charming action in our understanding, unless they are accompanied by measures for addressing young people as potential members or volunteers in our organizations. Looking at them as poor beneficiaries which we would help, but not engage, is not something we would call a good practice. Such actions neither solve the issue with limited development opportunities for excluded young people through youth work, nor address the problem of underrepresentation of these groups in youth organizations.

The content of the anti-racist policies and measures would of course depend on each organization. We could not give universal answers to this question for at least three reasons. The first one is that each organization has its own specific sphere, approach, ways of doing their work and we could not know what would be appropriate Charming measures to be introduced. The second reason is even more important the ideas should come from within, from the members and active volunteers of each organizations, since only in this case they would feel the ownership and the motivation to actually get them implemented. Thirdly, we would encourage thinking outside the box and would not want to put frames and limit

Its time to get real. Regardless of what we have found during the reflection process, if we dont plan some kind of change which would bring us closer to a Charming organization, we have not done much. In the youth sphere (and social sphere in general) we speak about change and how needed it is far too often. However, we usually try to change something outside of our realm our community, our region, national policies, our continent. Changing ourselves, our own organizations and our ways of doing things seem to be much easier, but it is hardly ever so.

We need to make it clear one more time we dont expect or even suggest a fundamental change of the sphere of work of youth organizations. That is why we are using the phrase mainstreaming of anti-racist awareness, which might sound a bit complicated, but actually it is not.

In order to explain more specifically what we talk about, we would give a few examples with cell phones companies. Almost every cell phones company has an environmental policy, which explains how the company supports the environmental protection (recycling of phones, batteries, etc.). That is their environmental protection policy. Some cell phones companies are also having policies related to sourcing materials that they use for production. Basically, their measures are directed at insuring that the materials they use are not mined by children in some countries of Africa or extraction does not fund military conflicts.

Both examples certainly do not change the aim and the main activity of the companies to produce and sell cell phones. But they show the companies responsibility towards the environment and human rights, i.e. these themes are mainstreamed in the activity of the company.

This is what we aim at to inspire youth organizations to plan some anti-racist horizontal policies that they will apply WHILE (as opposed to INSTEAD OF) doing their regular activities in their own thematic sphere of work.

There are a couple of ways one organization can turn anti-racism and social inclusion into policy:

1. Developing a specific internal document of the organization, anti-racist organizational policy. This is in fact a short document with principles and rules, something similar to internal rules of an employer, but in this case specifically directed to the respect of

Chapter 5:

Make it into policy

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It goes without saying that in order to know if our CHARM process has led to any change and results, we need to evaluate it. Evaluation is often neglected both in terms of specific projects, and even more so when it comes to internal organizational processes. It is however inevitable part of the CHARM process, since it not only indicates whether we have made progress, but it is also of a crucial importance to continue improving the organization in regards to anti-racism and social inclusion.

There are a couple of ways we can approach the evaluation of the CHARM process. Sine we have started the process with identifying attitudes and stereotypes through some kind of a research, one way is to repeat the same research and compare the data with the one we had in the beginning. At the same time, it is important to compare what the findings of the reflection process were with the policy measures that have been introduced and check on whether there is clear connection and coherence. Last, but not least, we need to look at how (or if!) the measures we have introduced worked, if they have been used, what are the attitudes of the organizations members and volunteers to sustaining them or improving them. To do that, we need to allow enough time between introducing the measures and checking their usage and impact. It is worth taking into consideration the motivation within the organization in the different phases of the CHARM process. Should you note a drastic decline of the willingness to work for mainstreaming anti-racism and social inclusion in the organization, you might want to analyse that and consider addressing stereotypes and negative attitudes once again.

All in all, we should not forget what we aim for. We would like to remind once again what the profile of a Charming youth organization is:

It has taken steps towards establishing a safe and inclusive environment for people from traditionally excluded groups;

It has reflected on how an organization supports the idea of inclusive youth work;

It has revised the way it runs its operation to make it equally accessible and friendly for the diverse groups of young people;

It has planned pro-active measures in insuring diversity and equal opportunities within the organization.

Chapter 6:

Evaluating the CHARM process

some innovative ideas. It needs to be noted, that many concreate ideas, measures and actions will probably come up still in reflection phase if done properly, the self-critical analysis will show us the way.

Having said all that, we are just going to throw some ideas generated throughout the CHARM project. They are not here to enlighten you, but to inspire you.

Possible Charming measures- Dont limit your recruitment efforts to schools. There are young people who are not in

school and this does not make them any less young and capable of thinking, acting and volunteering;

- Honour different dates, connected to Human Rights and use them to discuss related issues as discrimination, violence, equality, etc. You dont have to plan big events you can just organize a small meeting, movie screening, even party;

- Plan and arrange for feedback possibilities online or residential (box), where members and volunteers can share thoughts on diversity situation of the organization and the friendliness of the environment. Consider whether to make it anonymous;

- Set up a traditional CHARM caf where every month (or two months) staff, members and volunteers can discuss current issues in the community or the country in relation to anti-racism and social inclusion;

- Think about a system for reporting discrimination issues within the organization, especially if it is a big one. Organizational ombudsman might be appointed. Make sure staff and volunteers are well educated on this mechanisms also to avoid being addressed for issues which do not constitute discrimination;

- Invest in human rights and anti-discrimination trainings for your members and volunteers or encourage them to search for some training opportunities themselves;

- Create contacts or even a network between various organisations working in different spheres and with different groups of young people in order to co-operate and promote inclusive actions, to exchange experiences.

To see guidelines on Charming measures for the six specific types of organizations we have presented above, you can go tohttp://charmingyouth.eu/charmload/.

For more ideas on Charming measures and some examples of anti-racist organizational policies you can consult some of the results of our previous project

Youth against Racism here: http://yar.charmingyouth.eu/?page_id=10


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no discriminatory practices occurred (which is great), but doesnt make the measure itself useless. It might turn out that it has a good prevention impact.

We would like to highlight that this is not the end! As pointed out in the Introduction, CHARM is not a state, but a process and it is cyclic. Once evaluated, the process continues, using the achievements, the challenges and the areas of improvement to build another set of efforts to support anti-racism and social inclusion within our organizations. Firstly, we probably would not be able solve all the issues that need solving at once. Secondly, as it was already pointed out, the composition in youth organizations is very dynamic. We should make sure that the CHARM idea lives on and develops with every next generation of staff, volunteers and members. Last but not least, our communities change fast, too. If we claim to work for the improvement of our communities, we need to constantly be connected to these changes and ensure that our organizations reflect the needs, issues, wants and interests of the community. Thats what we work for, isnt it?

During the evaluation, it is worth coming back to this concept (or your translated version of it, based on specific needs) and evaluate every element of it.

At the end, it is also important to consider the impact. Did the whole process actually lead tochange in the organization? Below, we are presenting one exemplary set of criteria, which you can revise and then use to assess the impact of the process on your organization:

Charming Criteria (Example)InternallyCriteria Yes/

NoOur staff is aware of our inclusion policiesAll opinions are taken into considerationEveryone can access to our offices/organisation

Salaries are defined on the basis of the competences and roles regardless of the ethnic origins, religion, gender, different abilities, of the peopleOur workers are duly trainedIn our organization there is a referent person/committee to guarantee the respect of HR, inclusion practicesExternallyOur organization includes all young people regardless ofthe ethnic origins, religion, gender, different abilities, of the peopleOur organization believes that in order to promote a culture of HR, it needs to support changeAll opinions are taken into considerationEveryone can access our offices/organisation

Our organization includes all young people regardless of the ethnic origins, religion, gender, different abilities, of the peopleOur organization believes in promoting a culture of HR thatsupports change

Developed by Silvia Volpi and Stefania Zampareli, Accademia europea di Firenze

We need to be careful when using the results of our evaluation. The fact that one measure isnot used, does not necessarily mean that we need to give it up. For example, should your organization introduce a reporting mechanism for discrimination and it is not used within the evaluated period, this does not mean that it is not useful. This might be an indicator that

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Following the training for trainers, we have organized an overall of 15 in-country trainings for a wide variety of youth organizations working in different spheres. The main aim of the trainings was to raise basic awareness of anti-racism, human rights and social inclusion and present and encourage application of the CHARM process. We have engaged more than 100 youth organizations in these trainings.

Adding to that, we have also organized a set of 6 exchange trainings, which again targeted youth organizations in each of the six countries, but also included a trainer from another partner country.

Following all these trainings, the project partners have selected 6 specific profiles of youth organizations and have developed one-day training modules for them on the topics of anti-racism and human rights. 24 people from the six countries gathered in Italy in May 2014 to discuss and feedback those training modules in a specifically organized International Workshop.

The developed training modules were then used in 36 on-site training workshops with 36 different organizations in the six countries. Apart from building competencies on the topics of anti-racism and human rights, the workshops also served as a space to reflect on the approach of the trained organizations and in many cases brought action plans for making these organizations more Charming.

In parallel, the CHARM project offered an online course for youth workers around Europe on the topics of anti-racism and human rights. Over 400 people applied for the course, which is run on two rounds. 50 youth workers are expected to complete the course.

The CHARM project offers a wide range of dissemination measures, among which a website, Facebook page, media outreach, documentary, international final conference, local dissemination events and more.

Find out more onwww.charmingyouth.eu and www.facebook.com/Charmingyouth.

The project Civic Help for Anti-Racist Measures in youth work (CHARM) is a 24-months international project which was mainly implemented in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain, Poland and Lithuania. The project started on January 1st 2013 and endedon December 31st 2014. It is branded as CHARMing youth work.

The overall aim of the project is to transform the youth work in Europe into a sphere free of harmful stereotypes and thus to insure that racism and other forms of intolerance do not exist in youth projects and activities across Europe.

The specific objectives of the project are:

to identify attitudes of youth organizations toward anti-racism, fundamental rights and related themes in relation to their own sphere of work and to articulate tools for increasing their interest in these themes;

to raise the overall awareness on anti-racism, fundamental rights and related themes among youth organizations in the respective countries;

to enhance mainstreaming of anti-racist measures in the everyday work of various organizations through offering training modules to youth organizations in accordance with their profile of work and tailor-made guidelines for the process of mainstreaming.

The project started with a research on the situation of youth work in the six countries in relation to anti-racism and human rights. The research included 6 online surveys on national languages, 40 in-depth interviews and 10 focus groups. The research involved more than 350 people engaged with different youth organizations.

25 people from the six countries gathered for an international workshop in Spain in June 2013 to present and analyze the research results and plan dissemination tools for engaging mainstream youth organizations in anti-racist educational activities.

In July 2013 twenty-four trainers and facilitators attended a week-long International Training for Trainers in Halkidiki, Greece, to prepare for the following in-country training opportunities to be offered by the project. 20 of the participants stayed actively involved in the project until its very end.

Chapter 7:

The CHARM project factsheet

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Juanimo Karjeros Centras (Youth Career and Advising Center),LithuaniaThe YCAC is a non-profit, non-governmental institution founded in 1999 and based in Kaunas, Lithuania. The main objectives and goals of the Center include development of social, educational and cultural programs as well as endorsement of civic initiatives and advancement of the system of public service.

Web: www.jkc.isprendimai.ltFacebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Jaunimo-karjeros-centras

Association for children and young people CHANCE (SZANSA), Poland SZANSA is a local non-governmental organization, based in Glogow, Poland and working in many different activities with children and young people. The main areas of activity include youth work, training, counseling and therapy.

Web: www.szansa.glogow.orgFacebook: www.facebook.com/SzansaGlogow

Cazalla Intercultural, Spain Cazalla Intercultural is a local non-governmental organization, located in Lorca, Murcia, in the South East of Spain, founded in 2007. Its mission is to promote active citizenship, social inclusion, youth mobility, voluntary service, sustainable development, stand up for human rights, integration, non-discrimination and against gender-based violence, through non-formal education, youth information and international cooperation.

Web: www.cazalla-intercultural.orgFacebook: www.facebook.com/cazalla.intercultural

Creating Effective Grassroots Alternatives C.E.G.A. Foundation, Bulgaria C.E.G.A. Foundation is a non-profit organization registered back in 1995 and is based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Since then the organization worked for sustainable development of disadvantaged communities, mainly the Roma minority, on the local level while advocating for policy change in both local and national level. Young people and youth work are currently a priority in the work of the organization.

Web: www.cega.bgFacebook: www.facebook.com/CEGAFoundation

United Societies of Balkans, Greece U.S.B. a non-governmental organization, established in 2008 in Thessaloniki by a group of active young people experienced in volunteering programs. The vision of the organization is to mobilize the youth to be active in volunteering, to sharpen the sensitivity of the young people towards social problems and to provide them with access to knowledge.

Web: www.usbngo.grFacebook: www.facebook.com/usbngo

Accademia europea di Firenze, Italy AEF is a cultural organization, established in 1992 and based in Florene, Italy, which popularizes the European dimensions, and it is an accredited educational agency in the field of qualification courses and trainings. The main activities of the organizations are: language courses for Italians and foreigners, informal trainings for young people in the field of intercultural learning and human rights, and many others.

Web: www.aefonline.euFacebook: www.facebook.com/AccademiaEF

The CHARM Partnership:

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Pages from THE CHARM PROCESS_English_KORICA_4 pagesTHE CHARM PROCESS_English

rethinking inclusion in youth work: thecharm process

Documents