#UComE; A systematised and digitised approach for the reconstitution of community engagement in youth-oriented activities'

Young people have been hit very hard by Corona. Of course, the impacts of COVID-19 have not been uniform, varying by demographics, location, and individual circumstances; however, pre-existing ine...

The most important element of creating a methodology for this project was the application of creativity as an engine for participation. A creative approach was reflected in exercises, workshops, materials and the way of working. This enabled young people to feel in their territory and free to express themselves in many fields and mediums (including online and offline), thereby increasing their participation in society. The two main objectives which we as a consortium were able to achieve were: I)The design and implementation of successful Action Plans through the #UComE Online Project Management Platform, which mobilised local communities, made possible community engagement and addressed concerns such as youth democratic participation and the organisation of youth volunteering structures, through the systematisation of information, the provision of digitised project tools and the stimulation of dialogue by the mining tool. II)The development of social infrastructure through the circulation of relevant information and knowledge within the community, as well as the provision of guidance and training to support the organisations in creating and carrying out initiatives that address their community problems.

As the application said, the project was organised in activities, output creation and multiplier events. Each activity was led by one partner according to its proven expertise. The same happened with the outputs; one partner was responsible and the other partners cooperated to make it possible. The activities were: General management and coordination led by ZID; quality management, research validity and evaluation of content by Logopsycom; platform, design and innovation management by CIP Citizens In Power; dissemination, exploitation and sustainability by ZID; and management and evaluation of training activities by IASIS NGO. Regarding the first activity - coordination and general management: ZID theater led and controlled all the processes, making sure all activities were done efficiently and meeting the stipulated deadlines, leading the monthly meeting that the consortium decided to do and controlling the overall budget and time management by providing templates to the partners to report the time and budget invested on each activity and output. Concerning quality management, Logopsycom carried out meticulous work by completing evaluations to monitor the quality aspects of the whole project. To be more exact, Logopsycom carried out 4 Output evaluation reports (UComE IO1 internal evaluation report, IO2 workshops evaluation report, IO3 platform evaluation and IO4 public awareness evaluation), 4 Project process evaluation reports (general project internal evaluation report -Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4) and 4 transnational meeting evaluations (the kick-off meeting internal evaluation report, transnational meeting 2 internal evaluation, the LTTA report and the final meeting evaluation report). All this helped assess the project and – where necessary - appropriate changes could be made along the process. Concerning platform, design and innovation management, CIP played a critical role in ensuring that the project adhered to all digital requirements related to platform design and innovation management. They ensured stakeholders were fully involved in the process, by creating user-friendly digital tools and a web platform that met their needs. The platform was designed to be user-friendly and easy to navigate, which made it effortless for users, be it young people or organisations, to structure their ideas, and conduct consultations with platform managers. CIP went above and beyond to ensure that the platform was designed to be accessible to everyone. They ensured that the platform's interface was intuitive, making it simple for users to navigate and carry out tasks. The platform's design is clean, and the information architecture is well-structured, making it easy for users to find what they are looking for quickly. In summary, CIP's efforts in platform design and innovation management were crucial to the success of the project. The user-friendly digital tools and web platform they created, allowed stakeholders to participate fully in the process, and the platform's intuitive design made it easy for users to structure their ideas and conduct consultations with platform managers. In relation to dissemination, exploitation, and sustainability, ZID created a communication strategy that was discussed with all partners during the kick-off meeting. The idea was to feed the web platform and create social media content with the idea that partners could share the content on their own social media. We created monthly blog posts with relevant information on youth participation and community engagement, which were shared both on the web platform and on Facebook, the social media we decided to have. We also updated the news and the outputs happening along the way and we completed this strategy by creating newsletters every 4-5 months. We have a total of 5 newsletters that can be found on the platform under the news section. Regarding the sustainability of the project, each partner has a different strategy available on the Ucome website.

We successfully implemented the 4 intellectual outputs described on the application form, all available in 4 languages and in digital format on the Ucome website. IO1:Guidebook on "Contemporary Methodologies and Tools on Community Engagement . IO2:#UComE Toolkit on Community Engagement for Youth Organisations and Youth Workers. IO3 the UComE Online Project Management Platform and the IO4 Public Awareness campaigns and outreach activities. The first intellectual output consists of a theoretical guidebook for youth workers that introduces the theories and concepts of community engagement. The second intellectual output consists of A Manual for youth workers and organisations, entailing 16 training workshops relating to different forms of community engagement and a Toolkit comprised of 8 existing software and digital tools. Tools that are helpful for management, coordination and communication processes and can be used during the lifetime of an initiative. Tools that help systematise and modernise how processes are carried out in management and communication. This toolkit aims to help the readers put an idea into action more efficiently and effectively. The toolkit includes a reference to the use of the European Youthpass and the findings of the LTTA and local trainings carried out by the partners to inspire social and youth workers. The third intellectual output is a tailor-made online project management platform offered in 4 languages, which will guide the user electronically on how to create, analyse, plan and manage her/his community engagement activity to produce a custom-made, comprehensive action plan for community engagement. This IO includes a case studies publication summarising the results of the offline consultation and the lessons learned by the participants. Finally, the fourth intellectual output consists of awareness campaigns through video recordings. The 8 most relevant action plans and the people behind it were invited to create an explanatory video. A short movie of these initiatives can be seen on the Ucome website.