"BACKGROUND AND NEEDSIn 2019, there were more than 3.3 million unemployed young people in the EU. For the first time in history there is a risk that today's youth will end up less financially stable than their parents. 29% of16-29 years old are at risk of poverty or social exclusion and 11.6% of 15-24 years old are not included in the education, training and 15.9% of youth is unemployed in this age group. Social and economic exclusion go hand in hand. Financial literacy actually makes a difference. When young people learn to live independently, they will need to be able to plan and make the appropriate financial decisions, for example, to choose a utility contract, a mobile operator. They will have to manage the risks, e.g. save money for ""rainy days"", avoid unmanageable debt and take care of pension. At the same time, financial products are becoming more complex, thus making reasonable decisions became more difficult.PARTNERSThe FinLit project involves 4 partners from 3 coutries, with relevant experiences and competencies to successfuly implement the project activities and achieve its goals. GOALThe goal of FinLit is to empower young people with competencies, knowledge and confidence to take responsibility for their lives and create a secure future for themselves and their families. Specific objectives:• map existing competencies in partner countries on financial literacy (40 young people in each country will be included); young people will also identify their financial literacy needsKPIs: 3 competence folders / 40 young people / 120 completed questionnaires• Develop a platform (with an e-course) that will ensure that young people have acquired knowledge, skills and competences in financial literacyKPIs: 1+ integrated course platform,> 20 young, with certificates obtained• create training materials and deliver a course using ""short-term staff training"" and ""short-term youth blended mobility"" - 20 young people and 15 individuals (staff)KPIs: successfully completed activities and acquired knowledge, competences, skills• Perform multiplication eventsKPIs:> 110 participants• disseminate (n> 1000)TARGET GROUPSa) Young people (18-24 years old): integrated or have already completed formal and non-formal learning and training and are interested in acquiring additional or new financial literacy skills, competences and knowledge.b) Staff (youth workers, teachers, trainers, professors) at various institutions working with youth (e.g. youth organizations, non-governmental organizations, schools, universities) interested in increasing their knowledge of financial literacyc) Organizations active in the fields of youth as well as financial, financial sustainability. Their needs are largely intertwined with the educational needs of the staff.d) Project partnersMETHODOLOGYFinLit project will be implemented through O1-O3, C1-C2, and E1-E4.PROJECT IMPACTSThere are several types of expected FinLit impacts:Short term:1. Impact of (online) training actions during project lifetime. In the short term, the project will increase the competences and knowledge of> 100 young people through participation in project activities, validation of e-platform, e-material, ...2. Impact of Dissemination actions during project lifetime. In the short term, 1,000 people (young people and other stakeholders) from partner countries will be aware of FinLit's activities, mainly through multiplication events, dissemination activities, a closing conference.3.Impacts on youth and society - with new knowledge and competences, young people will be able to better manage their own financial resources, become more confident, make appropriate financial decisions, which will have a positive impact on their lives and society as a whole.Long-term:4. Impact of (online) training actions after the project life time. We expect that young people will show a strong interest in acquiring financial literacy competences and skills. In the long term, at least 10 young people will be trained in financial literacy every year, thanks to the work they have done and the results obtained, 5 years after the project is completed.5. Impact of Dissemination actions after the project life time. In the long term, we will continue to disseminate information with the website, social networks and annually inform at least 250 young people and other stakeholders, who will be able to share experiences on the existing website, e-platform, and acquire new knowledge."

The yearly award of European Youth Capital (EYC) provides title holders with an opportunity to not only present their existing initiatives targeted at youth but also an outstanding and utmost crucial platform to improve their programmes and policies for and by young people on various levels. Whilst locally addressing youth-related aspects, municipalities implement the frameworks of mutual European youth policy goals. Thus improving and strengthening a common European youth agenda as well as creating spaces and opportunities for youth participation and enhancing a sense of European, national and local citizenship. IIt is the goal of the project to facilitate the sharing and exchanging of best practices between Youth Capitals to ensure that whilst the title of European Youth Capital is duly transferred from city to city so are the lessons and knowledge associated with it. The basis considered is that, an awareness of the complementary nature of municipal, national and European levels amongst young people allows for a sustainable implementation and understanding of European policy dimensions. The project is specifically targeted at youth workers, leaders of youth NGOs, practitioners working on youth-related programmes within the municipalities as well as local authority representatives, all as the target group identified to be directly involved in the implementation of EYC related programmes as well as the youth agenda and activities of cities. The following objectives are intended to be met: - The exchange of best practices and lessons learned amongst past, present and future European Youth Capitals;- Identifying and analysing successful approaches and projects developed by past European Youth Capitals in order to understand the structures implemented to achieve this and therefore their applicability in other Youth Capitals;- Capacity building of practitioners within the partner cities to strengthen and ensure outstanding outputs and implementation of activities related to the awarded title of European Youth Capital;- Assessing the impact of and current link between activities locally carried out within the framework of the award and youth programmes at national and European level;- Developing a handbook including the outcomes of the knowledge transfer between the Youth Capitals, showcasing strategies and recommended successful practices that will support future title holding cities in the improvement of the quality of their youth programmes.During the project, a training course, a seminar, conference and the mapping of successful strategies and best practice activities will shape the outcome of a manual of best practices whilst building capacities of participants and partner organisations. These concrete outputs will serve as a support for the improvement of the quality of EYC youth activities and enable efficient achievement of positive and sustainable programmes. Also, municipalities interested in applying for the EYC award, through the documented outcomes of the project, have the opportunity to review methodologies that have proven successful and understand processes that have been optimised by past EYCs. Reducing the hurdle for municipalities to prepare themselves for an application and ensuring that the quality of outcomes continues to improve. The project will have an impact on over 5000 individuals and its outputs (e.g. manual of best practices) on even more. There will be an impact on the awareness amongst young people of the European dimension and its role and home on local level youth policies which will in turn lead to a society of young people aware of the meaning and outcomes of their European citizenship as well as their role at their local level.

<< Background >>THE CHALLENGEHUMANS“In learning processes, as machines become better at rote tasks, humans will need to focus on the skills that remain unique to them: creativity, collaboration, communication and problem-solving” - Karen Hao (Taught by AI) CURRENT PERFORMANCEWe believe our project is closely linked to the ability of young people for critical thinking and connecting theory with practice. With its format and MO, INNOVATORY aims to tackle the reversal of this trend through creativity, collaboration and communication which develop skills of young people that allow their performance to improve in the key. Students from Romania, Portugal, Serbia, Greece and Slovenia are on a descendent trend in the PISA 2018 tests compared to both 2015 and 2012 results, Lithuania being the only exception to this scenario. Most of the countries are being classified as level 2 in all three domains.(see detailed PISA performance in the 6 partner countries attached)Complementary, data showed youth aged 15-17 wish they were also equipped with life skills and better training of their teachers in order to transversally help in developing these skills. The consulted stakeholders shared this view, along with the impression that schools are not equipped with the proper methods and tools to stimulate creativity and critical thinking. (LEAP Cluj 2020)SKILLS, TODAY AND TOMORROWDebates regarding the future of work resound through society in the light of the emerging AI or what knowledge will be valid in one or two decades. However, there is no debate on the fact that critical thinking, ability to work in teams, problem-solving skills, creativity and new ways of applied learning won’t lose their relevance and utility.CRISIS AND RESILIENCEResilience was already becoming a theme of interest for urban areas, and the COVID-19 pandemic provided an additional argument. Communities around the world need to adapt, find new ways of dealing with crises and provide solutions to capital challenges. While the focus now is on short term solutions, the long-term sustainability through resilience lies in a widespread of skills through which crises can be managed. And this perspective starts with today’s teenagers as the key decision-making generation.<< Objectives >>GOALS, OBJECTIVES AND TARGET GROUPSWe aim to create European Innovatory, a European movement of 840 high-school pupils, 70 teachers, 50 experts and decision-makers involved in a creative and collaborative learning process identifying needs and problems in society and providing creative solutions on local and European level based on the method of Design Thinking until 2024.We aim for:• involving high-school pupils (aged 14-18) and their teachers from 7 urban areas in developing their critical thinking, creative and problem-solving skills and proactive attitude in a creative and collaborative environment, in a safe space where they can try themselves out while receiving proactive feedback while also improving teacher-pupil working relationships through the creation of 210 creative teams,• developing a creative way of promoting the creative and proactive problem-solving potential of young people towards local stakeholders and decision-makers involved in urban development locally, and overall community development at European level,• creating a Europe-wide proactive scalable learning movement based on social innovation and Design Thinking as key aspects of building individual and community resilience leading to a sustainable transformation in society, involving 840 pupils, 70 teachers and additional 150 experts, mentors and stakeholders,• creating sustainable cooperation, management and decision-making platform involving 7 starting cities and 10 additional European stakeholders aiming to take care of the results of the project including its consolidation as a European programme and movement and a scalable model in Europe and the world.<< Implementation >>A1 General management – full project periodProvides the general management activities and the monitoring of the progress. It also refers to organisational costs of the coordinator and each partner (office costs, stationary, partial salaries of administrative personnel, delegations and trips for the dissemination of the project in the country and abroad).Coordinator: project coordinatorA2 Accounting – full project periodFilling and financial management, according to the clauses of the financial agreement and its annexes.C: accountant/partner, supervised by the financial coordinatorA3 Project launch communication – 1st monthA special activity focusing on announcing the start of the project (objectives, timeframe and expected results), in 7 languages for enhanced acces. C: communication coordinator with partner coordinatorsA4 Dissemination on O1 and the launch of Local Innovatory actions – 6th monthWhen concluding O1, we will conduct a detailed, mostly institutional campaign, presenting the overall framework and next steps, aiming to raise interest towards the process, including local and European action. The public call for teachers will be launched.A5 Intermediate evaluation 1 – 8th monthIntermediate evaluation is conducted before and during the 3rd project meeting and it sums up activities and performance for the first 6 months, especially concerning the creation of O1 and the selection of teachers for the second output. The intermediate evaluation is conducted by a layman involved in the project.A6 Dissemination on O2 – 11th monthE1-E7 (happening simultaneously) are concluded with the dissemination of O2. We will address a wide range of audience and will focus on the simultaneity of the processes and the 200+ generated solutions by the teams. C: communication coordinatorA7 Intermediate evaluation 2 – 12th monthIntermediate evaluation is prepared during the 4th project meeting and it sums up activities and performance, especially concerning the creation of O2. It is done jointly by all partners. C: project coordinatorA8 Dissemination on O3 – 20th monthDissemination of O3 occurs in connection with the European SpeakOut Day and comes as a completion to the third multiplier event of the project, to be held in Cluj-Napoca, city hosting the overall project coordination. The dissemination uses a set of tools and targets a wide range of audiences, as it is presented in the special section dedicated to dissemination activities. C: communication coordinatorA9 Institutional dissemination – 21-23rd monthThis dissemination activity will focus on presenting all intellectual outputs and other results of the project through institutional channels. In this process, we will use institutional e-mail communication, but the management team will also organise a dissemination tour to Brussels and Strasbourg in order to meet key stakeholders. Visits to our associated partners will also be deployed during the last three months of the project.A10 Final evaluation and sustainability planning – 23rd monthFinal evaluation is conducted during and after the last project meeting. We will use the reporting period to enable a broad debriefing among partners and to plan future action and scaling of project results. Final evaluation also sets conditions for impact monitoring and draws up a sustainability plan for the results of the project.A11 Final communication on the project and results – 23rd monthA summary communication of the project’s results is published which provides a summary of all outputs and outcomes and it also reflects on the impact, continuation of the project and the sustainability of results. This communication will be done mostly through online tools on the internet, through e-mail and social networks.<< Results >>CAUSES OF THE CHALLENGELACK OF SOFT SKILL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLSIf one takes a glance at a weekly class schedule of European pupil in the countries involved in this project, it is shocking how any soft skills curricula is missing. Although these skills can be gained through involvement in non-formal learning activities, the burden of a school programme hardly allows a real chance in acquiring these skills without impacting one’s grades. OLD WAYS OF TEACHINGTeaching knowledge is still a mostly one-way process while validation is done with grades based on reproducing memorised information. However, the growing number of teachers trying to bring additional non-formal methods into their work is an opening. OPPORTUNITY IN DIGITAL, FOCUS ON HUMAN SKILLSAs Karen Hao expresses it quite simply, no matter of advance in technology, humans will need creativity, collaboration, communication and problem-solving skills. As Internet is relatively cheap and accessible, quality is good, there is an opportunity to deploy creative learning and collaboration processes supported by up-to-date digital solutions. There is a real opening for enabling a creative and collaborative environment focusing on problem-solving and enabling communication towards stakeholders.We aim to achieve the following results:AT OUTPUT LEVEL* the creation of an overall European Innovatory Framework comprising of an overarching context, a resolution on the needs of skills development, an open methodology for implementation at local level, an open platform supporting overall awareness, dissemination and enabling, recording and tracking of cooperation between teachers, young people, mentors and stakeholders,* the delivery of 7 Local Innovatory actions resulting in the creation of a total of 210 creative solutions developed by young people to problems and needs in their surrounding and society in general,* the delivery of 14 innovative solutions developed by young people, improved to the level of business cases ready for implementation on European level,* the formation of 210 working teams in which high-school pupils and teachers work together in developing their skills and competencies through Design Thinking,* the formation of Local Innovatory support networks involving teachers, stakeholders, decision-makers, their working ways being captured in 7 specific city-level study cases,AT OUTCOME LEVEL* 840 young people involved through 210 teams in innovative ways of developing skills and competencies regarding creativity, problem-solving, collaboration and communication,* (at least) 84 young people from fewer opportunities provided with an equal chance of developing they skills and competencies in a similar way to their peers involved in Innovatory,* 70 teachers with developed skills and competencies regarding creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, communication and facilitation involved in a pool of teachers supporting the skill development of young people, organised in local networks but also as part of a European movement,* 150 experts, mentors and coordinators are involved in supporting teachers and pupils themselves in developing new ways of collaboration in education processes aiming to develop skills and competencies of young people,* 7 local networks of stakeholders are created in support of young people’s skills development.* sustainability conditions are met for the continuation of the 7 initial Local Innovatory processes from 2024 on,* 30 more cities express their intent to adapt and deliver Local Innovatory starting from 2024.* a European Innovatory model and open movement is created for the support of skills development, able to extend and involve other cities and their local communities,* an enhanced cooperation of cities in the framework of the Network of European Youth Capitals and including a renewed commitment considering youth as a key priority in shaping the future of these cities in the long term.

Com’ON Europe connects two specific aspects, youth participation and participatory budgeting, and this way it becomes original, unique. The reason for this is that it keeps the principle of participatory budgeting (deciding on public money’s faith) but it provides a double-sided platform through the engagement with mostly unorganised young people willing to organise themselves but not in legally established organisations. This enables bringing forward untapped energies of young people in shaping community life in cities.All partners came from former European Youth Capital cities: Torino 2010, Braga 2012, Maribor 2013, Thessaloniki 2014, Cluj-Napoca 2015, Varna 2017 and Cascais 2018. The European Youth Capital is a title awarded by the European Youth Forum designed to empower young people, boost youth participation and strengthen European identity. Each year, a new European city is given the chance to showcase its innovative ideas, projects and activities that aim to raise up young voices and bring a new youth perspective to all aspects of city life.The GOAL of this project was to create an open source framework for European cities in implementing participatory budgeting processes for youth, which address young people not just as creators and initiators but also as decision makers themselves while also creating a platform for cooperation for cities which applied similar processes or are willing to apply it in the future.The GENERAL OBJECTIVE of this project was to contribute to the improvement of civic participation of young people in local life through local level participatory budgeting mechanisms. It sought to contribute to the increase young people’s spirit of creativity, associativity, entrepreneurship, and community development by providing a safe environment for planning and coming forward as informal groups with small-scale initiatives, while providing funding on behalf of the municipalities, and delegating decisions towards the local community about which initiatives to be supported.The project worked to achieve the following SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:O1: to create a clear general policy framework in order to increase civic participation of young people through dedicated participatory budgeting processes for youth in urban communities based on theory and practice which connects European policies with local level practical implementation, while also bringing up local experience to the European playfield (LOCAL-EUROPEAN),O2: to provide participatory urban environments for young people and for public authorities based on trust, assistance and easy access and with the active contribution of the civil society (DECISION, VOTE), to reach out to young people and to enable their creativity serving the quality of life and the sense of belonging and ownership in cities (IDEA, INITIATIVE),O3: to enable other cities to adopt similar participatory processes and to consolidate the cooperation of European cities (and especially cities involved in the Network of European Youth Capitals) regarding youth participation through the creation of the Citizen Y Resource Centre and an open source methodology and toolkit (NETWORK, FRAMEWORK).The project’s results in key numbers:* 1 framework in 7 European languages, available open source for scaling and multiplication,* 1 new brand for participatory budgeting for youth: Com’ON Europe, * 5 key elements of a framework for Participatory Budgeting for Youth in Europe (white paper, resource centre, toolkit for participatory budgeting processes and the European group of youth facilitators),* 7 Participatory Budgeting for Youth Action Plans in 7 cities from 6 countries for 2019, which are harmonised by methodology,* 24 tools of empowering young people at local level collected in a single toolkit,* 28 youth facilitators organised in a European network which can be deployed in an international environment in order to provide further scaling,* 2,885 young people involved in co-creating ideas and proposals for initiatives to be funded by participatory budgeting for youth,* 6,000 European level stakeholders targeted by dissemination activities and publications,* 63,550 people expressing their choice for initiatives proposed by young people,* 625,000 euro allocated for small scale initiatives of informal groups of young people through participatory budgeting for youth processes,* 1.611 million people reached altogether.The strategic project was built on 14 management activities, 4 intellectual outputs with a total of 12 activities, 2 training activities of staff (short term) and 4 multiplier events.

"BACKGROUNDIn the intervention work with young people, although there is a wide range of practice at European level, there is still no sharing and dissemination of practices carried out in European countries in order to identify and define the best and/or most young people's problems and needs.In addition, young people adopt an attitude of criticism and resignation to their problems and feel excluded from the decision-making process. Youth workers do not yet have adequate skills and tools to include young people in processes of active participation, co-management and co-responsibility. By precisely disregarding the needs of young people and lacking tools to help them diagnose them, they have difficulty reaching their target group and ensuring an active and empowering intervention of social transformation.OBJETIVES1) Identify, collect and systematize European good practice of intervention and response to the problems in youth;2) Reinforce European networks and the ability to operate at transnational level;3) Plan, test and validate strategies and practices in the youth context;4) Systematize a methodology (quantitative and qualitative) for obtaining, data analysis and support the development of a participatory strategy and their plans in youth;5) Stimulate a critical attitude, active and entrepreneurial society for the development of new youth policies;6) Develop knowledge, tools and content of free access to target groups.PARTICIPANTSParticipants are:- Youth workers.Indirect participants/beneficiaries are:- groups of young co builders who collaborate with the managing teams, assist the development of content, critics;- Young ""targets"" for the application of the methodologies, i.e., all the young people of the regions of partners.PARTICIPANTS PROFILE1) Youth workers over the age of 25;2) Share the problem, needs and objectives;3) Motivated to contribute at all stages, from planning to completion and sustainability;4) Motivated to disseminate the results;5) Proactive in creating impacts in themselves, in the target group and the communities of which they are part of;6) Interested in continuing to participate and develop projects that focus on the priorities of Erasmus+;7) Motivated to develop and stimulate the civic, participatory and entrepreneur spirit.ACTIVITIES1) Transnational meetings – initial meeting/preparation, to be held in August 2019; intermediate meeting/monitoring, to be held in January 2020; interim meeting/monitoring, to be held in May 2020 and final meeting/evaluation, to be held in September 2020;2) Preparatory and follow-up meetings (online) – July 2019 to October 2020;3) Training courses/ Seminars – December 2019 and July 2020;4) Identify, collect and systematize – September to December 2019;5) Implementation and planning – January to September 2020;6) Job shadowing – January to July 2020;7) Seminar – September 2020.METHODOLOGYNon-formal education.RESULTS AND IMPACTSAs a key result, we highlight the development of methodologies for guiding and obtaining the diagnosis of needs for the elaboration of strategic youth plans.The expected impacts on this project are:1) Training of youth and youth workers;2) Development of competences and learning based on NFE;3) Improvement of the quality of youth intervention;4) Openness to multicultural individual and collective learning;5) Increase of social, civic and democratic participation;6) Increase in the spirit of initiative and entrepreneurship;7) Increase in inclusive and participatory behaviors;8) Increase in territorial synergies;9) Development of new initiatives for civic participation, entrepreneurship and innovation;10) Promotion of values such as democracy, innovation, respect, change, tolerance, trust and dignity.BENEFTIS1) The adequacy of youth interventions will be reflected at the real needs of young people; to value youth action and the active participation of young people; the development of the sense of identity and belonging, social inclusion, intercultural dialogue and multiculturalism; the consideration of non-formal education methodology as a training methodology for youth action.2) Systematization of a methodology for guidance based on European practices of youth intervention, uniform, comparable, validated data collection and processing in terms of diagnosis and strategic planning."