The training in reliable journalism for young local activists should provide the youth aged 15-19 with effective tools to tackle the challenges of climate and ecological crisis, political populism and abuse of power, fundamentalisms, violence, and limited rights of various social groups. Young project participants will learn how to find and use reliable sources of information as well as to report on local problems in a balanced, responsible manner in order to support finding solutions.

Warsaw & other locations in Poland

The real challenges that this project is currently addressing in Poland, and which are compounded at the local level, are:
- extreme polarization of society for political reasons,
- frustration or apathy among young people resulting from a sense of powerlessness, resulting in a lack of interest in civic engagement,
- real limitation of media freedom in Poland (see the current mission report of Media Freedom Rapid Response by International Press Institute),
- weakening of non-governmental organizations due to financial problems caused by both the pandemic and the distribution of funds to local governments from the party key,
- lack of civic education, which results in unawareness of civil rights, duties and possibilities of political participation.

We will invite 45 young local activists aged 15-19 from all over Poland to participate in the project. In three groups of 15 they will take part in three-month training sessions on reliable journalism. We especially would like to recruit young people from small towns and rural areas, because they often act alone or in small groups, and therefore need a strenghtened support and a network of contacts with young people in a similar situation. By disseminating their reporter work, young participants will multiply the results of the project, which will encourage more young people to engage in civic journalism.

The training in reliable journalism for young local activists should provide the youth aged 15-19 with effective tools to tackle the challenges of climate and ecological crisis, political populism and abuse of power, fundamentalisms, violence at various levels, and limited rights of various social groups. On the one hand, young project participants will learn how to find and use reliable sources of information as well as to report on local problems in a balanced, responsible manner in order to support finding solutions. On the other hand, they will gain knowledge about the principles of the media operation.
For this purpose, we will offer three-month courses (three a year, each for 15 people), incl. 3 weekend meetings, during which participants:
- meet with representatives of civic media and activists cooperating with them;
- take part in a seminar on journalistic research methods - finding reliable sources, conducting documents and internet research, practicing interviews;
- participate in reporter workshops, incl. both writing and creating audiovisual materials;
- create - under the supervision of tutors - their own reportages on a local problem,
- practice difficult discussions and expressing arguments during an Oxford debate,
- enter into a dialogue and create a network of contacts thanks to which they will be able to support each other in their civic activities.

- Empowerment of local activists by the professionalization of their social and political engagement;
- Contribution to reliable journalism thanks to the educational work;
- Hearing the voice of young people as respected partners in the public debate;
- Raising awareness of possibilities for social and political engagement;
- Encouragement for local civic engagement in terms of both decision-making and impact on public opinion;
- Involvement of communities in dialogue on locally relevant topics thanks to the competent reporter work;
- Convincing the people doubting the value of democratic institutions by reliable journalistic work;
- Enabling to a dialogue with people of different views through conscious practicing debates.

- Activists of local communities will be provided with proper skills to effectively take part in public debates on equal level by appropriate research, gaining knowledge, preparing arguments, openess for dialogue and unbiased attitude.
- Members of local communities will be prepared to a critical perception of media through an appropriate training and thus building awareness of its mechanisms.
- By providing local activists with journalistic competences, we increase trust of local institutions to media and encourage them to participate in public debates.
- Through the civic education we offer as part of the project, we encourage young people to channel criticism against political and social reality into civic involvement at the local level.

A wide range of topics in the educational area and various target groups we work with require different skills of the Association’s members. Our backgrounds range from culture creators and artists, through sociologists and psychoeducators, to journalists - and we all combine experience with great commitment. The topics we cover are the result of direct contact with recipients and the diagnosis of their needs. The areas of our activities range from supporting local communities in their participatory processes, through inclusive education for people with special needs, to social skills trainings as a supplement to school education. This journalism project for young activists, we have been planning for a long time, and the Civic Europe Idea Challenge is a great opportunity to implement it.

- supervision process of tutors 11250 EUR (250 EUR per participant);
- travel and accommodation costs 11250 (250 EUR per participant);
- personnel costs 6000 EUR
- trainers 4100 EUR
- workshop space 2400 EUR

We would very much appreciate practical tips from organizations that ran similar journalist projects for youth and/or civic activists.