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Babel
Start date: Feb 15, 2015, End date: Oct 15, 2015 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Although rural areas represent more than 90% of EU territory and contain more than half of the EU's population, youths in particular keep facing certain challenges including: - fewer opportunities in terms of formal and non-formal education: specialised schools and universities as well as youth NGOs are often non-existent, - employment: a reduced job market and high unemployment rates among youngsters, - leisure time activities: few or non-existent cultural activities, - lack of information about youth-related issues, opportunities and initiatives. ... Additionally, the lack of access to employment, education, mobility, information and leisure facilities, is often equally the case for young people living in isolated urban areas. They are more disadvantaged compared with youths living in the city. As a reaction to this situation, they seek to manage and cope with the uncertainties of society by developing a virtual, parallel life on social networks. The resolution of this issue, however is a task not only for young people themselves but also for the ability of the society to meet young people’s needs. Young people seek empowerment, they have important skills to be shared, but they also need improved reliability around them. Following these issues, the project “Babel” aims to foster and promote social inclusion of youths living in rural or disadvantaged areas. It will bring together thirty youngsters selected among this target group by five European youth organizations working in five countries: Poland, Spain, Romania, France and Italy. The aim is to equip the participants with direct and transversal skills in order they become more competitive on the labour market. The main event will be the youth exchange that will take place in Savigno, close to Bologna,in May 2015. During those 12 days the activities will be run using non formal methods, a mix of workshops, exercises, debates, role-plays, simulations, outdoor activities, etc. In the first part of the youth exchange the main method will be the “time bank”, a pattern of reciprocal services exchange that uses units of time as currency: the participants will share their skills and competences on ICT and foreign languages. This helps youngsters to enhance their skills and exchange them among peers, fostering active participation and learning from each other. Then, according to the knowledge they've acquired, they will create several tools to teach/learn ICT and foreign languages through non formal methods. The impact on the participants will be deep, both in the short and in the long term since they’ll gain transversal skills (such as deeper self-confidence, attitude to the intercultural dialogue and active citizenship), as well as some specific skills useful into the labor market (such as ICT and foreign languages). Additionally other stakeholders could acquire and benefit from the project results by attending the final event, where the participants will share the tools created with other youths, teachers, youth workers, representative from public bodies. It will not only the young people taking part in the project and the locals, profiting a great deal from the project, but also the entire local and international community. Through the dissemination events, the project and its results (in particular the non formal tools) will be spread into the partners' communities thus attaining an international impact. The results will be spread even in partners' channels reaching mostly other youths that could be taught foreign languages and ICT in an amusing way. Thanks to Babel, the promoters will acquire competences, tools and skills to insure a stronger support and improve life conditions of even other youngsters living in rural and urban, disadvantaged areas.
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