Empowerment and Transition to Adulthood

and transitoon

9 – 12 May 2013Lisbon & Cascais

How to measure the success of a Scout

organization ?

•By the number of young people leaving the organisation with the motivation and the skills to play a constructive role in society

Transition to Adulthood: Four

thresholds•From the care of others to managing

their own health and well-being

•From their family home to creating their own family

•From school to work

•From being responsible members of a nuclear family to being responsible contributing members to the community

Current challenges in Europe

•Health challenges

•Intimate relationships challenges

•Unemployment challenges

•Citizenship challenges

Health challenges

•Obesity

•Substance abuse

•Risky behaviours, road accidents

•Sexually transmitted diseases

•Mental and psychological distress

Intimate relationships challenges

•Today, young people experience with partner intimacy is quite different.

•Young people are marrying later, most births occur to women over the age of 25

•Until recently, the form and function of the male/female relationships were carefully prescribed by family, society and religion

•Today, to sustain a life’s journey together only counts the intrinsic quality of personal relation

Unemployment challenges

The transition from education to employment occurs between the ages of 20

and 24

European average: 22 per cent unemployed

Economically active young people

Youth unemployment

Youth unemployment

Citizenship challenges

•Becoming acquainted with the social and political environment

•Learning the ”Rules of the Game” in a democratic society

•Developing personal political views

•Becoming involved in the political debate

Young people’s interest in politics

Participation of young people in elections (aged 15-30)

Young members of national parliaments (aged under 30)

Young members of political parties

16-24 having used the Internet to access or post opinions on political issues

15-29 working in civil society organisations

3. What can we do?

a. Focus on youth empowerment

•Many young people doubt they have the power to change anything

•Empowering young people is making them more aware of the power which is within them to make change and improve situations

Levels of empowerment

Learning through experience and cooperation

A tool for youth empowerment and citizenship

education

The programme Cycle

Peer to peer education

•The team system gives the possibility to get the best from peer influence and to achieve peer to peer education

•Team leaders are peer mentors offering listening, attention, empathy, role models, transferable skills

•Peer mentoring allows for a ”youth for youth philosophy”

b. Focus on life skills

•Lifeskills are psychosocial abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour to deal effectively with the demands of daily life

•Cognitive skills for analysing and using information

•Personal skills for developing personal agency and managing oneself

•Inter-personal skills for communicating an interacting effectively with others

The outcomes of Lifeskills Based Education

•LSBE helps young people improve their lives in general: planning ahead, decision-making and positive relationships

•translate knowledge, attitudes and values into healthy behaviour and protect themselves against risks and diseases

•adopt responsible and safe sexual behaviour, sensitivity and equity in gender relations

•improve their employability

c.Opening new fields of experience and

cooperation

•The current challenges that young people face in their transition to adulthood are calling for innovation

Youth observatories

• A Youth Observatory (YO) is a unit of information aimed at grasping the trends, issues or phenomena that affect the generation of 15-30 years in order to inform media and decision-makers and influence youth policies.

• Creating and managing a YO is a good opportunity for young people to engage themselves into active citizenship and political education.

Youth social enterprises

•Social enterprises are businesses which exist to address social or environmental needs

•They can enable young people enter into the work market while serving the community

– The Unique Coffee Bar https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/charity/view/4895/unique-coffee-bar)

– Santropol Roulant (http://santropolroulant.org)– LOFT Youth Centre for Social Enterprise and Innovation

(http://www.loftycsei.org)

Conclusion

• Education either functions ‣ as an instrument which is used to facilitate

integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity

‣ or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world

– Paulo Freire