Glocal Move: local action, global impact

Background The main objective of the project was to promote and increase the involvement of young people in civic activities and active citizenship. The goal was to find a way to motivate and captivate more young people for civic participation, promoting a more active society in the countries that participated in this project. Based on this, the project tackled a very concrete need: the low civic participation of young people between 14 and 30 years old. To this end, Glocal Move motivated and stimulated civic participation through a digital platform, using “gamified” processes, that is, using the (motivational) techniques of digital games. It also trained youth workers to boost their participation through this platform. The platform is now a convergent and dynamic place, where individuals, young people and civil society organizations create challenges that are carried out at local, national and European level by registered users. These challenges are all linked with one or more Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which allows for greater achievement of the same. By meeting the digital skills of young people, Glocal Move intended to increase their involvement and civic participation and support youth professionals in this task. Objectives The "Glocal Move: Local Action, Global Impact" project aimed to:promote civic participation, volunteering, solidarity and active citizenship among young people; improve and deepen the political, civic and social participation of young people at different levels; strengthen young people's sense of initiative in the social field and in supporting their communities; promote synergies between different intervention areas relevant to young people; enhance synergies between the different domains of civic intervention; create systemic processes of participation in democratic and civic life at all levels; promote quality and innovation in youth work and cooperation between youth professionals; promote the support and capacity building of youth professionals, leaders and educational entities that work with/for young people; promote good work practices with/for young people; reinforce the international dimension of activities in the youth sector; strengthen the capacity of youth organizations to support young people; create a tool for creative civic engagement based on ICT; improve young people's digital skills and abilities, without distinction of any kind; and use open resources and innovative practices (gamification) in the digital era. Implementation The project implemented all the activities in the application.The initial phase involved preparation and initial decision-making on the 2 products to be built: 1 digital platform and 1 guide for youth professionals, during meeting 1 (online due to the pandemic).Then the creation of the products began.Meeting 2 (online) closed the materials in English.This was followed by the translation of the products into German, Spanish and Portuguese, followed by Training (Cyprus), where the test phase was done through national workshops with young people and youth workers.After that, the Austrian, Spanish and Portuguese participants who would test the Platform and the Guide were selected, as well as the implementation and impact analysis of this test. In the 3rd meeting (Austria) the collected feedback was shared and steps were defined to conclude the test and implement the necessary improvements. At the 4th meeting (Portugal), the products were finalized and their sustainability in each partner country was discussed.The platform was also migrated to Neo Sapiens and the preparation and implementation of multiplier events (done by all partners). This last phase included the justification of the partners and preparation for the Final Report. Achievements The project had 2 tangible results: a digital platform and a guide for youth professionals. In terms of intangible results, the knowledge and experience acquired by partners or target audiences stands out. In young people: digital skills and contact with digital challenges of participation in the community. In professionals: contact with other teachers and organizations, by strengthening the capacity to work with young people through new digital resources. In entities: access to a collaborative context (challenges shared online). Through activities with schools and universities, we created bridges between formal education and an adjustment of curricular programs, according to the reality of communities, the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. With political power and municipalities participating, collaborative action, sharing of resources and networks and active citizenship were encouraged. In the community, local problems were thought of in a “centralized” way, stimulating a thought of acting locally with a global impact. Other products we created were: website, administrative and financial management documents, satisfaction questionnaires, diagnosis and impact analysis, monitoring and evaluation reports and dissemination materials.