Building visions with colourful building blocks, then debating the best solutions in a simulated city council: the Multiplier Training for Local Lobbyists in Bad Liebenzell took a highly practical approach. Young people from across Europe worked together to explore how they can influence political decisions right on their own doorsteps.
The training is part of the Erasmus+ project Youth Voices Rising. After the previous International Lobbying Training focused on the European level, the attention was now on local change: in Bad Liebenzell, participants learnt how they can organise their own training sessions for youth groups in their own communities, acting as multipliers. To make their concepts and experiences available to other people involved in youth work, the project partners are now publishing their report on the Multiplier Training.
(pdf | 1,5 MB)
The Fictional Municipality
How does political decision-making really work? To find out first-hand, the young adults created the fictional town of “Good Liebenzell”. In various roles – from city councillor to the environmental lobby group “Sunflower” – they formed strategic alliances, interacted with the press and wrestled with compromises. This practical experience was rounded off by further sessions, including the use of the Lego Serious Play method. In doing so, the participants visually displayed issues from their home towns and translated them into concrete action strategies. Their focus areas were as diverse as the participants themselves, coming from different European countries: the impacts of mass tourism, the housing crisis and a lack of local infrastructure were just three of the local challenges that the young participants addressed.
Knowledge Transfer and Real Connections
All of this was not just about personal development: the participants also used the four training days to design their own workshop concepts. For example, they explored how they could pass on their skills in stakeholder analysis and networking to other young people back home. In addition, the participants had the opportunity to experience real-life lobbying in action: during a direct exchange with politicians and activists from the Bad Liebenzell region, the international group was able to put into practice how strategic alliances can work in reality, and how important it is to deal with opposition constructively.
The report, which has now been published, documents these diverse approaches and outcomes. It offers youth work professionals detailed insights into the design of safe spaces and demonstrates how participatory formats are applied in practice within our network. As part of Youth Voices Rising, these experiences are now being used to organise local lobbying training sessions for young people in six European countries.
The cooperation partnership Youth Voices Rising is co-funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.