Friends of the Earth Malta (FoEM) and Generation (Change?) have set up a Youth Engagement and Activism Hub (YEAH) as a non-formal educational place.
This ongoing project involves youths of different backgrounds and abilities meeting up every Thursday between 5 and 8pm at FoEM’s Green Resource Centre in Floriana to socialise and engage with the monthly themes that focus on social or environmental awareness and personal development.
In Malta, as in other European countries, while some young people do engage and participate in democratic processes to shape the future they want, many still feel left behind; they feel alienated and do not feel supported by their peers. This alienation further deepens with limited opportunities for active citizenship of underrepresented youth.
The young people involved in this project are creating their own agenda in a democratic structure, and shaping the space to be inclusive, tackle injustices and intersectional issues within the group, which is in itself an experiment in active citizenship.
“The aim is to provide a platform for more inclusive democratic and civic youth engagement in decision-making by creating a structure to engage marginalised youth in intersectional cooperation for development of joint actions towards a socially just and ecologically fair future,” Anne Marie Apap, project coordinator at FoEM said.
The aim is to provide a platform for more inclusive democratic and civic youth engagement in decision-making- FoEM project coordinator Anne Marie Apap
Chris Mizzi, one of the founders of Generation (Change?) added: “This project was beneficial as it introduced youth work methodology in an environmental NGO. The youth workers from Generation (Change?) supported young people throughout the project to enhance their personal development, integrate socially and become more active citizens. The youth hub offered a safe space where young people could meet and be themselves, try new things and encouraged them to think critically about the world around them and the challenges that not only they themselves as young people face but also the wider community.”
Currently both organisations, along with the involved youths, are looking for means to propagate the youth hub and exploring ways to reinvent it in its next cycle. Any youths interested to join and continue following the project may visit the website below to find out more.
The Youth Engagement & Activism Hub (YEAH!) benefits from a €25,000 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants. The aim of the project is to provide a platform for more inclusive democratic and civic youth engagement in decision-making by creating a structure to engage marginalised youth in intersectional cooperation for development of joint actions towards a socially just and ecologically fair future.