<< Background >>Ballyhoura Development and the project partners are applying for support for this project to explore and address challenges for (i) young people living in rural areas in accessing volunteer opportunities within local community groups and (ii) community organisations in rural areas that are struggling with succession planning and transitioning of the volunteer base of the group to drive on with the next generation of community led local development.The project takes place in the Context of:(i) Rural Change - Understanding rural change and identifying the needs of communities and in particular young people living in rural areas to ensure a vibrant rural community is sustained. (ii) Rural Young People - Inclusive and youth centred approach is required to address challenges in rural areas such as inclusion, social services, economy, climate change.(iii) Community Led Local Development - Local actors are considered best placed to identify challenges and maximise the benefit of local assets by working collectively to implement local development strategies (iv) Covid 19 Impact - The crisis has highlighted the vulnerabilities of rural areas and a larger impact on young people in terms of inclusion in local food, education, social, environmental and economic systems.(v) The European Union Youth Strategy and the Commission’s Communication on ‘Engaging, Connecting and Empowering young people’ aims to support increased youth participation in democratic life, social and civic engagement and ensure that all young people have the necessary resources to take part in society.The Challenge is now to:(i) To raise awareness, improve knowledge and build capacity of young people to actively participate in community led local development activities.(ii) To build the capacity of existing community volunteers to listen, understand and include the voices of young people and those more marginalised in their structures and processes.The project Theory of Change is that:(i) Rural young people across Europe can contribute, if (i) capacitated and (ii) facilitated to do so, to local networks and structures and build resilience and sustainability by acting locally for global impact.(ii) Community led local development groups can better plan for volunteer succession and group transition by integrating youth.(ii) The project will focus on building the awareness, knowledge and capacity of (i) young people to engage, build capacity and participate and (ii) existing community volunteers to value of inclusion of young people and in doing so bring the two parties together to facilitate the next generation of young leaders.The project will use the following Methodologies in implementing activities:(i) Co-design and development(ii) Empowering young people for action(iii) Youth Inclusion communication tools(iv) Sharing experience and expertise(v) Intercultural approachThe project will establish a framework to develop the competencies of young people through effective pedagogies for active learning targeted at community led local development. The project will assess the information, knowledge, soft skills and training needs in key areas for the development of young peoples skills to engage effectively in community led local development. Based on the assessment, the project will design, develop and pilot 10-15 learning units that will incorporate blended learning and youth engagement methodologies to facilitate the development of key community led local development skills for the young participants.The project will also engage worth existing community development organisations to understand the challenges of transition of volunteers and succession planning and the perceptions and challenges of integration young people into the community led structures and to develop, through codesign with groups, a toolkit to facilitate best practice in the integration of young people to community led local development structures.<< Objectives >>The project prioritises Inclusion and Diversity and Participation in Democratic Life as strategic outcomes..General Objective:Enhance through life long learning the awareness, interest, knowledge and participation of young people living in rural and remote areas and facing socio-economic difficulties, in civic participation and community led local development activities, thereby contributing to community inclusion, social innovation, sustainable growth and quality economic opportunities.Specific Objectives• Promote informal learning and mobility and create key tools to facilitate 32 Young Rural Leaders, to develop skills to effectively engage with local community development groups around topics such as group succession planning and continuity, climate change, digital transition, growth and jobs and good governance.• Create key tools to facilitate community groups, to develop skills to effectively engage with young people to facilitate collaboration, inclusion and innovation at the level of local community organisations.• Strengthen young peoples professional and personal development and ability to engage with and contribute effectively to rural community resilience to future civic, social, cultural, environmental and economic challenges. • Improve the quality and capacity of the project partners and their activities, approaches and practices in supporting community organisations to facilitate 32 young people within community led local development activities. • Add value to EU funds by developing the skills and actively facilitating the inclusion of young people in the local design and delivery of community led programming.<< Implementation >>Project Activities1. Project ManagementProject & partner preparation, partnership agreement, structure, processes, methodologies, communications and stakeholder engagement, project planning, implementation and project monitoring and evaluation2. Transnational MeetingsTransnational Meetings- Participation in meetings between project partners for implementation and coordination purposes.3. Teach, Train, Learn ActivitiesMobility activities - Train the Trainer - Youth training and exchange4. Project Results(i). Completion of the research report.(ii) Design and development of youth engagement and training materials, trainer materials and eportal.(iii) Pilot Training(iv) Design and development of community inclusion toolkits.5. Multiplier EventsDissemination activities to share, explain and promote the results of the project though national workshops in each country and a transnational workshops and event.6: Communication & Plan and delivery of the ongoing communication and dissemination of project activities and learning 7. Monitoring & EvaluationMonitoring and evaluation activities to assess progress against objectives of the project to optimise the impact.Project Deliverables1. A plain English and engaging research report to provide a reference for understanding the dynamics and operating environment of community led local development and the EU Institutions.2. A training course, support materials and a trainer manual to develop key competences for the next generation of young rural community leaders. The training course material, co designed and developed by the young people involved in the projects, will form the primary content of the elearning repository which will offer an accessible suite of education resources to support young peoples learning, organisation training and network development.3. A toolkit and group engagement to support facilitation of young people in local community development planning, design and delivery. The toolkit and support activities will be a learner centered approach oriented to real, problem based learning and skills acquisition in youth engagement methodologies.4. A series of online and in person International training and networking events with the young people across Europe involved in the project and creation of a network of the young people and the project partners to future policy development and inclusion of young people. 5. A paper which will include innovative youth-led recommendations for addressing future community led local development. It is envisaged that the training courses and toolkits developed though the project will be available to groups across Europe to adapt to their local needs to support greater inclusion of young people in community led development activities.The project partners will implement the project through the combined experience and expertise of the partners across the two disciplines of community led local development and youth engagement and development. The 5 project partners represent the two disciplines and the partners will collaborate on all elements of the project design, delivery and dissemination. This will facilitate the exchange and codesign of practical learning and toolkits for implementation to enhance the skills of the young people and community groups participating in the project. In creating the project partner mix, it is anticipated that all project partners will enhance their skill sets and social innovation potential of their organisations and contribute to better outcome across young engagement and development and community led local development.<< Results >>1. Project ResultsR.1. Research ReportR2. Training Modules Development, Delivery Methodology & elearning PlatformR3. Pilot Training Programme. R4. Toolkit for Youth Inclusion in CLLD2. Outcomes1. 32 young people with an up-to-date and live reference context for understanding the dynamics and wider context of community led local development.2. Innovative approaches designed and tested for addressing young peoples participation in community led local development, by providing practical training materials to facilitate development of a new set of key competences for the next generation of community led development leaders, use of participatory approaches and digital methodologies and improved processes of engagement.3. Integration of young people and their voices, and particularly those from rural and remote areas and those marginalised and disadvantaged into the activities and development processes of local communities and new approaches for community groups to integrate young people and deal with differences such as socio-economic disparities, social, ethnic, or cultural diversity to create more dynamic and inclusive organisations capable of utilising young peoples insights and skills.4.Improved ability of the project partners to address future EU regulations related to community led local development to take account of young people and their needs and increased capacity, professionalism and competence to work at EU/international level.5. Creation of a new network of entities with similar purposes and missions that will be able to collaborate to sustain support and opportunities for young people to become more involved in community led local development.6. 40 young people with a focus on the EU and local Institutional framework, the real needs of the relevant rural contexts and the necessary soft skills to engage and contribute solutions to the challenges related to local development.3. Impacts• 32 young people across Europe with increased capacity and competence to understand and contribute to community led development and influence other young people to become involved.• Empowered and skilled young people as future rural leaders to address community led local development policies at eu, national and regional level.• A more diverse and better balanced approach to local development and more active participation in society.• Greater understanding and responsiveness of local community groups to all kinds of diversity, and diverse abilities.4. Change AchievedGreater awareness, knowledge and capacity of (i) young people to engage, build capacity and participate and (ii) existing community volunteers to value of inclusion of young people to facilitate the next generation of young leaders.