Because in Râmnicu Vâlcea there is no functional space for young people, in 2019 our association opened the first space for young people where they can meet and participate in various workshops.
In order to reach young people from all social categories, from 2021 we want to connect young people with people from different categories based on "Meetup" events, to implement a program of activities in English for disadvantaged young people and to make "Coffee with debates" workshops.

Ramnicu Valcea city, Oltenia region, South-West of Romania

In the eyes of the authorities from Vâlcea County, the youth sector has no priority, and the pandemic caused by COVID-19 showed the importance of digitalization. The lack of various artistic events with topics of general interest has an effect on the community,
One of the challenges young people face is the lack of a free space to connect with other young people and people from other categories, to learn how to write a project, to have a psychologist to discuss their challenges and to learn English.
In our city there is no place where young people can participate in a regular program with educational activities coordinated by a youth worker.
The city does not offer cultural diversity, so contact with artistic events will encourage young people to express their opinions freely.

The target group for this project represents young people aged between 13 and 30 from Valcea County, with a focus on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
From 2019 until now we have hosted over 500 young people from Valcea County in various activities, events and courses.
Our main focus is to have a regular program of educational activities for a number of 50 children and young people from disadvantaged environments of our city (low financial situation, learning difficulties, young people of Roma ethnicity, rural areas).
In addition to the regular program, we want to involve over 200 young people in the artistic workshops, over 100 young people in informal meetings of youth organizations and over 100 people in the meetup events.

A project manager will be responsible for the project management and a marketing specialist for the visibility of the activities in the center.
In October we will create the 5 groups of young people with fewer opportunities for permanent activities. The activities will be weekly and will be carried out by international volunteers hosted through the European Solidarity Corps program. The groups will be at the level of understanding the English language.
NOV-We will start the workshops "Coffee and debates". The workshops consist of connecting young people with the cultural themes of the city. Each month, 30 young people will participate in a local play and then open meetings will be organized with the artists and people from the community including authorities where they will debate the themes of the show connected to our community.
DEC. The psychologist will start emotional support workshops for teenagers. He will have a fixed schedule of two hours per week.
JAN-A trainer will start digital skills and graphic design courses. Each course will have 10 sessions.
FEB- We will start the “meetup” events with people from different categories to present examples of good practices, but also free discussions on various topics of general interest.
From March we will organize forum theater on issues in our community, the shows will be a start for a process of community organization.

Keeping the center open is the only way for about 500 young people to interact annually through informal meetings and various workshops organized by international and local volunteers.
Through the permanent program, the 50 young people with fewer opportunities will have a higher level of communication in English, will be more open to cultural diversity and will have a higher self-esteem.
Permanent meetings with the psychologist will have a beneficial effect on the harmonious development of young people.
Meet-up events and "coffe an debate" workshops will be useful to develop public opinion and support an idea in front of the crowd for 200 young people
The forum theater will develop the imagination and the possibility to see more endings for a problem in the community.

The center was opened as a space where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities,
In addition to the permanent educational program, we offer a safe socializing space for youth organizations in Vâlcea County, where young people can plan and design projects with impact in the community.
The Coffee with debates meetings will encourage young people to express their opinions freely in front of artists and people from different institutions.
Forum theatre will learn there isn’t a correct answer, important is to discover all possible answers which may be further examined.
Meet-up events are opportunities for young people to build networks about common interests, discover new opportunities for the future and to extend though new ideas for community.

To support active citizenship, we work with competent people in the field of youth.
Project management will be the task of the manager. He is the project manager for our association for European projects from 2019.
For visibility and graphic design courses, we have a member with 10 years of experience in graphic design and marketing, he has made an excellent visual contribution to the projects so far.
For artistic events we have an authorized trainer in the forum theater and he has over 10 years of experience in cultural projects in our community.
In the center we have 10 local and 4 international volunteers, they will help the instructors with specific tasks for the meeting events. For the Cofee with debates meetings we will collaborate with the cultural institutes in the city.

Rent and utilities of the Center-5000 euro
Coordinator of the Center/manager (medium salary plus state taxes) 10.800 euro
Marketing expert (social branding, management of social media, communication strategy) 6000 euro
Trainer in forum theatre (24 courses, 4/month, 3h/course) 2000 euro
Cofee with debates meetings - 5000 euro
Trainer for courses in digital competences and graphic design 2100 euro
Psychologist 2500 euro
Consumables-1500 euro

We would like to receive feedback on activities that can be done in a youth center for young people with reduced opportunities. Inspirational examples of community organization in the youth sector.