European Rally "DIY in the countryside: think global, act local, be vocal!"
31 July ‐ 7 August 2010
Halmstad, Sweden

The main purpose of this activity was to empower 60 rural young people to take an active role in their local communities through entrepreneurship. Rural communities in Europe are suffering similar problems – high levels of social exclusion, low youth participation, lack of employment opportunities and growing poverty. The economic crisis of the last few months has greatly exacerbated these social problems and negatively reinforced the position of rural youth as being “disadvantaged”. We feel it is essential to invest resources in rural youth and support their role in developing, strengthening and reinvigorating their local communities. As poverty and social exclusion have clear links to youth unemployment, our goal was to include this activity as part of the 2010 EU Year of Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

Through this activity, we wanted to support our member organisations in a positive and constructive way by exploring youth employment and entrepreneurship in rural areas. The practical exchange of best practice and new ideas amongst rural youth organisations was a key element of the programme, as well as exploring the current challenges and successes of youth entrepreneurship in rural areas. Our aim was to encourage rural youth in Europe to utilise their creativity, innovative ideas and energy to find new possibilities for rural development and to build long-term sustainability in their local communities.

By thinking globally, acting locally and doing it practically, young people can find their own solutions and at the same time solve social and economic problems in rural areas. This activity gave young people the practical ideas, tools, skills and confidence to do it by themselves and for themselves.

Objectives:

• To empower rural youth from across Europe with the skills, tools and confidence to change their own situation
• To support rural youth in exploring possibilities in their local communities and encouraging them to put their ideas, creativity and energy into action
• To raise awareness regarding entrepreneurship opportunities for youth in rural areas
• To exchange creative ideas, methods, and activities for innovative rural development and entrepreneurship across Europe and share best practice between rural youth organisations.
• To develop new rural youth initiatives and find new ways for youth in participate as active citizens of their rural communities
• To develop and strengthen the network of rural youth organisations in Europe

All working methods and activities aimed at fostering intercultural learning and exchange between participants from different backgrounds. Participants met a range of experts and representatives from NGOs and were involved in workshops and different kinds of activities using non-formal education. Young people were involved at all times in the exchange of experiences, ideas and opinions and their contributions were vital for the whole project. All sessions provided opportunities for participants to develop their skills and knowledge as well as to share their experiences. The free-time activities were also planned to give participants the chance to continue mutual communication and co-operation.

OUTCOMES

The Rally was successful in empowering 60 young people with practical ideas, tools, skills and confidence to find their own solutions and help rural communities become more sustainable. The lively exchange of ideas, information, experiences and knowledge was another great success: through the workshops, discussions, group work and excursions, the international participants gained a taste of local rural life in Sweden and knowledge about youth work in other European countries.

The main outcomes of this event were:

• Personal level – participants gained greater confidence in their abilities and are now able to take on a more active role in their organisations and local communities. Participants obtained knowledge, skills and confidence to plan, organise and implement entrepreneurship activities in their local communities. Participants are also acting as multipliers in their local organisations and communities and are sharing their new skills and knowledge with other young people. Participants were inspired to continue developing international co-operation through the Youth Employment Action project and several have already applied for future events.
• Organisational level – apart from the impact of youth multipliers in each partner organisation, there was also an exchange of best practices in rural youth organisations. New activities and projects were planned and will be implemented during 2010-2011.
• International level – future activities, materials and e-tools were developed on the European level. A key result was the establishment of new partnerships and the strengthening of existing co-operation between rural youth organisations in Europe. The participating organisations were able to find potential partners to develop follow-up activities and increase the mutual co-operation within the rural youth network.

Follow-up activities for 2010-2012 include:

• A training on jobs skills in Scotland, September 2010
• A study session on peer-to-peer support, March 2011
• A multilateral youth exchange in Slovenia, August 2011
• A seminar on rural development in September 2011
• A seminar on volunteering and youth employment in Germany, October 2011
• Bilateral youth exchanges between several countries

In addition, the report and USB from the event were distributed to all participants and their sending organisations. Rural Youth Europe is now communicating the results of the event to the entire rural youth network, the European Youth Forum, the National Agencies of the Youth Programme and other interested youth and NGO bodies (for example, MIJARC, CEJA and ECYC). All information and results will be upload to the Rural Youth Europe website for use by participants, member organisations and other interested organisations. Articles were published in the newsletters and websites of the participating organisations.

See photos from event here

Attachments:

Rally 2010 - participant's story.pdf

Rally 2010 - report.pdf

Rally 2010 Programme.pdf