The art of youth participation: building connections to shape our future- CONNECT

CONNECT is a 24 months project planned by a partnership composed by 9 partners based in 8 countries geographically located in different areas - north, south, east and west of EU (France, Slovakia, Lithuania, Estonia, Serbia, Turkey, Cyprus and Italy).CONNECT is a funded under the Erasmus + Programme, KA3-Policy Reform and specifically call for proposals "European Youth Together."The action tackles the problem of the increasing number of young people who lack trust in the EU and public institutions in general, encountering difficulties in understanding their principles, values, and functioning. The main need identified is the lack of youth INVOLVEMENT and dialogue in all stages of the policy making decision and the consequent necessity to improve the existing participatory mechanisms and creating new ones.The actual situation given by the COVID 19 showed exactly how we have been missing a solid and immediate reaction from the civil society and therefore from the youth sector to give answer to the fear, doubts and more in general to the “unexpected”. We believe that the youth organizations organized in local networks could plan activities to instill resilience in the young people and equip them with competences and skills that could help them in facing and overcoming situations like the one created by COVID 19 and prevent similar ones that could eventually occur, as we learnt.The project targets young people and youth organizations in Europe, creating new models of cooperation among different actors of the society. It supports the birth of new networks which facilitate the recognition and the development of youth work, providing youth with competences, tools and strategies useful to increase the impact of the activities implemented at local and international level with the aim of fostering active participation.The consortium aims at supporting youngsters' development, enabling them to become more active members of society, improving their citizenship skills and fostering their capacity to intervene and take action in support crises situations that could affect the community in which they live and as a larger effect the European Community.This project is co-funded by the Assessorato della Pubblica Istruzione, Beni Culturali, Informazione, Spettacolo e Sport Direzione Generale della Pubblica Istruzione Servizio Politiche per la formazione terziaria e la gioventù, Regione di Sardegna.Public Notice for the granting of contributions for the implementation of international youth mobility projects, promotion of interculturalism and European citizenship, youth exchanges, Regional Law N. 3/2009, art. 9 paragraph 9 Annual 2021.