This is an archived version of http://civic-europe.eu/ideas/todays-youth-for-tomorrows-civic-leaders/
Today’s youth for tomorrow's civic leaders | Civic Europe
Community development

Today’s youth for tomorrow's civic leaders

Creators

Who is behind this?

Pascanu Cristina

Regina Maria Foundation for Social Innovation

http://www.fundatiareginamaria.ro

Romania

Idea

Idea pitch

In a country with an undeveloped civic society, we want to implement a project that creates the future civic leaders. 30 children will be the catalyzers in their community, increasing its capacity by identifying problems, developing and managing their own projects in areas like vulnerable people, environment, disability.
The children will develop social cohesion and address two social needs: the need for involvement of young ones and community leadership.

Where will your project idea take place?

The project will take place in Baneasa, a neighborhood in the city of Bucharest, Romania.

What is the specific societal challenge faced by this region?

Baneasa is located in the northern part of Bucharest and is characterized by a polarized society. Even if in Romania, statistics show that poorness has decreased and Bucharest has a GDP higher than the rest of the country, the city is hugely socially polarized. Material deprivation is hidden among us in an unseen way and is often associated with poor education and low civic involvement. Citizens come from very different backgrounds, and social cohesion is inexistent. The social discrimination based on material goods has an impact also upon children's life – the poor community with low access to education and high class with access to private schools. Our foundation, and our Center, helps the children coming from vulnerable communities to access education and build a dignifying future.

Who are you doing it for?

The project is developed in order to involve different levels of society, aiming for societal change by raising the cohesion among citizens through projects for mutual benefits. 30 beneficiaries from our educational Center (7-16 years) will be trained in project management basics, civic education, and leadership, and they will activate the local community through multiple directions of involvement.
Through the project we will help 15 vulnerable children with disabilities with very high social needs.
Another project will be designed for 20 vulnerable older adults (low income, health issues, lonely), helping them with their needs.
Environmental aspects will address the whole community in different actions like recycling, planting … (5000 beneficiaries from the community).

How do you plan to get there?

- Creating the organizing team (project manager and three coordinators). They will guide the teams in their project implementation;
- Equipment acquisition;
- Training coordinators in project management and children adaptive learning methods;
- Identification of the 15 teens that will form the working cell and will be part of the 3 working groups (and other 15 team members);
- Children training on project management with specialized volunteers (activities, budgeting, communication, responsibility..);
- The teams will choose their areas of implication and will MAKE THEIR OWN PROJECT PROPOSALS;
- Every team WILL HAVE AND MANAGE THEIR OWN BUDGET for acquisitions needed for the project;
- Project implementation (minimum 2 projects/month/working group);
- Closing event in the community.

What are the expected results?

- developing a project with high potential of replicability and continuity,
- developing project management skills (data collection, need analysis, implementation, budgeting, communication, evaluation) through practical implementation for 30 future civic leaders,
- 20 projects implemented in the community,
- increase in self trust, responsibility and civic skills for 30 children,
- improving social skills for 15 orphan children with disabilities,
- 5000 persons from the community will find out about the project,
- a more cohesive community that voluntary gets involved in planed activities.

How does your idea strengthen active citizenship at a local and community level?

The teams of children that are implementing projects at the community level will increase active citizenship among Baneasa community through projects that will bring together the community. Implementing the process is participatory; it involves a screening of community needs and develops a solution that generates participatory action.
Children will be the catalyzers in the community showing up the problems and gathering all to find and implement solutions.
The change will come from grass root through children. The project addresses problems for the common benefit and targets vulnerable groups of the society who will have a voice through this process. Young ones, beneficiaries of our Educational Centers, will help the community in one of the most severe problems.

Why is this idea important to you?

We know the children and their abilities and we are confident that a project like this will boost their self esteem and can transform them in active citizens.
It is an idea that helps the 30 children to develop skills needed for a healthy civil society in the future, so needed for our young generation.
The project will impact different levels of society from vulnerable groups (disabilities and elderly) to residents that aren't socially deprived.
The innovative aspect is that besides the community impact the project addresses also social and environmental problems.

€ 13859,-

Total budget

€ 12290,-

Funding requested from Civic Europe

Major expenses

Human resources (3 coordinators and 1 project manager) - 5400 euro
Direct costs with children project implementation (team budget, communication, materials, office supplies, community event budget) - 4690 euro
Indirect costs (admin and operational) - 2200 euro

Team

Fundatia Inovatii Sociale RM

Idea created on May 27, 2020

Write comment