Educational Programme for Strengthening the Role of New Generation in Decision-Making Process

The action aimed to strengthen the role of the young people in the decision-making process by introducing a comprehensive educational program for the local youth in Ukraine.  To achieve the above objective, Yaroslav learned and disseminated the Danish model of the DAOS (Diversity Ambassadors Open School) approach and strategy. To study good practices and Danish youth empowerment methods, Yaroslav visited an arts college – Hojskolen Snoghoj and Danish National Youth Council. Both institutions share efficient methods of empowering a new generation and strengthening youth participation on local and national levels. After the field visit, Yaroslav developed the local “DAOS” program along with seven alumni (aged between 14-17) of Youth organization “STAN” and designed for the three Ukrainian cities of Ivano-Frankivsk, Sloviansk, and Zhmerinka.

The action raised awareness of 550 youngsters in three Ukrainian cities of Sloviansk, Zhmerinka and Ivano-Frankivsk by the 3-month Diversity Ambassadors Training Program. Nowadays, the project participants represent a network of more than 100 active citizens calling themselves the Diversity Ambassadors. From 2019, they are promoting human rights, gender equality and tackling climate challenges in their communities all over Ukraine. In addition, the training delivered by Yaroslav at the Youth Climate festivals and the Cultural Management Schools promoted youth engagement in the larger audience.

A number of stories about the impact of independent groups of youth and youngsters where published on STAN website:

• Ukrainian Youth – Portrait of the Movement, Part 1 (in Ukrainian)
• Ukrainian Youth – Portrait of the Movement, Part 2 (in Ukrainian)

Apart from empowering local youth, the action built the capacity of Yaroslav since he enjoyed an opportunity of pursuing a field trip to Denmark and attending Eastern Partnership Youth Summer School 2019 in Tbilisi, Georgia.