A few months before the end of the Erasmus + program of the European Commission, the time has come to look back and analyze which elements would be good to preserve and which would be preferable to change in future Youth Community action programs.

At FCV we consider the Erasmus + program to be very successful, as it facilitates the mobility of thousands of young people to be volunteers around Europe, exchange with their peers and develop relevant competences, being a valid tool not only for learning languages and travel, but also for building a common European citizenship (while plugging some of the holes of the educational systems of the EU member countries). However, from a constructive criticism approach, we consider that there are a few elements to improve as well. Throughout this pandemic year, leaders of non-profit and youth organizations from more than a dozen countries, with a relevant background in organizing youth activities in the international arena, we have stopped to make this proposal, moved by our co-responsibility in a responsible management of very limited community resources (at least for youth projects).

At FCV we share the result of this reflection 99%, and we join efforts in spreading what the concrete proposals are, so that the next community youth action programs will have a more relevant and continuous impact over time, so that young people will be the real leaders of social changes and improvements, which are now more urgent than ever, and for the potential of youth associations and the work of youth professional workers to be recognized as well, being the youth sector very much in need of investment, so that young people can participate equally, in conditions and opportunities, in initiatives that might be relevant for them, since have a great value for their personal, social and professional development. The answer to the question may seem obvious. We hope so. It will largely depend on the national agencies responsible for managing the program and their willingness to incorporate some of the elements that we propose.

In Inter Alia’s facebook you will find different videos of the campaign.

For more information about it, you can also send an email to projectes@catalunyavoluntaria.cat (Lluc).