Partnership building activity “Building synergies for quality local democracies” and Study visit “Youth participation for quality local democracies” in Braga, Portugal.

The Partnership building activity “Building synergies for quality local democracies” and the Study visit “Youth participation for quality local democracies”, two parallel events organised by DYPALL Network in cooperation with Braga municipality, took place from 12th to 17th May in Braga, Portugal.

Over the week, participants from 18 countries came together to explore the European youth policy frameworks. The study visit aimed to build strong partnerships between youth organisations and youth workers while opening space for new projects, while the PBA aimed to create a space to exchange different realities, promote good practices, methodologies and tools and for developing cooperation projects on the topic of youth participation in decision-making at the local level in the alignment of the EU Youth Strategy for 2019-2027 and the Erasmus+ programme.

The Study visit brought participants to discover Synergia, an organisation that supports kids with disabilities and elderly people by offering them spaces for leisure and activities. It’s one of the biggest organisations in Braga, managing several public spaces, including a medical space used for different activities.

Another organisation they visited is the school Dona Radio, one of the biggest in Braga. They have an inclusive radio project that helps make school breaks more fun by playing music and making announcements. As part of an inclusion project, they use these TVs to display content for deaf students.

Finally, the visit to the Red Cross Braga showed us how they support Roma people to integrate into the community, encouraging them to find jobs, get involved, and join cultural activities. They also work with young people, promoting volunteering and political participation, and collaborate with student associations.

Specifically designed for members of DYPALL Network, the PBA activity served as a platform for networking and getting to know other European organisations working in the field to develop projects that can promote the participation of young people in designing local policies and reflect on the state of democracy. The participants explored the framework of support provided under the Erasmus+ programme and took a closer look at the priorities it promotes and key actions it offers as tools to support their project ideas.

The activities were co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union through the Portuguese National Agency, and they saw the participation of the following organisations:
Local Councils’ Association Malta, Centar E8, Youth Horizon, CARE Caucasus, INEDNET Information and Education Development Network Armenia, Habitat Association, Agenzia per la Promozione dei Giovani APS, Youth for Democracy (Georgia), Asociatia Nuclee, Democracy and Law Youth Association, Danish network of local youth councils, Donum Animus, Rural Development Foundation, disINFORMED Foundation, Nationale Jeugdraad (Dutch National Youth Council), Mitrovica Municipality, Academy of Applied Technical and Preschool Studies, Euro-Med Jugendverband e.V., Berlin Institute of Nonviolent Communication, Level-Up Ukraine: Open Hub for Development and Initiatives, Paris Youth Council, Foundation for local democracy and development, Focus and Youth Center Veles, Movement for a Cooperative Europe.