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Strengthening young people’s competences through activism

This toolkit empowers young people to develop key competences like resilience, entrepreneurship, and green skills through the lens of activism. Participants will explore the transformative potential of individual and collective action while gaining tools to support their personal and professional growth.

Activity 1

ACTIVISM AS A METHOD OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Estimated Time 30 Minutes

This activity encourages the participants to explore activism as a means of self-development, reflecting on the skills and competences it can foster.

Materials and equipment required:

  • Board
  • Large sheets of paper (min. A3, preferably flipchart)
  • Marker pens
  • Pens
  • Printed worksheets DOWNLOAD

Description of the activity:

I. Introduction - Definition of activism and its different forms (social, environmental, political) - 5 min.

  1. Ask participants to suggest words they associate with activism. Write them down on the board or on a big piece of paper.
  2. Based on their associations, participants create their own definition of activism.
  3. One of the participants or the facilitator summarises the collected statements at the end.

Hint: Activism is an effort to promote, obstruct, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reforms with the intention of bringing about change in society. It takes various forms, such as:

  • social activism, which addresses issues such as civil rights;
  • environmental activism, which focuses on environmental issues;
  • political activism, which involves efforts to influence government policies and decisions.

Each form of activism aims to raise awareness, mobilise support and bring about positive change in an area.

II. Introduction - Activism as a method of soft skills development and youth empowerment - 5 min.

  1. Introduce the topic of the workshop by saying, "Many analyses of activism focus on tactics and strategies, often overlooking the importance of skills, which are essential for effective campaigning. According to Amnesty International's research, the key skills for effective activist movements are:
    • strategic thinking
    • effective communication
    • structured conversations about campaigning
    • being authentic
    • being able to use digital skills."
  2. Ask participants if they would like to add any other skills needed for effective activism to this list. Write down all the skills on a board or piece of paper so that they are visible to everyone. If the group does not identify skills, you can use the following prompts:
    • Group cooperation
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Innovation
    • Critical thinking
    • Ability to formulate problems
    • Sense of agency.
  3. Tell the group that in this workshop they are going to focus on the competences that young people can achieve through activism and on development of some of them through active working methods.

III. Examples of effective activists - 15 min.

  1. Divide participants into groups of 3-4 people.
  2. Distribute a handout with a brief description of the profiles of successful activist (handout – annex 1). Each group shall receive one profile.
  3. If you have knowledge that participants can identify other examples of effective activists that are closer to them, you can ask them to name such people. You may then choose not to use the examples of people given above.
  4. The task for each group is to review the information about the activist and reflect in groups on what competences and character traits they think these people needed to realise their actions (max 10 min.). In groups, they should also prepare a 1-minute speech on this topic.
  5. Finally, ask each group to present the profile of the activist and the competences they needed.

IV. Wrap up – 5 min.

  1. Ask the participants if (after finishing the previous exercise) they would like to add some important skills to the list created in part 1.2. Write them down or ask participants to do it.
  2. Wrap up the activity and highlight the most important skills that can be developed through activism.

Tips for Youth Workers:

  • If you are working with a new group, take time to create a safe space. You can do this by developing a list of rules with the participants that will apply during the class, e.g. we don't interrupt each other, we only use constructive criticism if needed, there are no right or wrong answers, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, etc.
  • In the toolkit of Module 1, you can find some other ideas on how to create a safe space, have a look!