Youth work needs strong advocates! In our cooperation partnership Youth Voices Rising, we organise trainings that empower young people and youth workers to campaign for issues that matter to them. However, the impact should not be limited to those who can take part in these trainings themselves. That is why two collections of methods are now available for download.
We want to support youth organisations across Europe in involving young people as equal partners in their lobbying and advocacy work. Therefore, we are now publishing the complete training designs of our International Lobbying Training and the Multiplier Training for Local Lobbyists. Together, these documents contain 30 method sheets, providing direct, step-by-step guidance for individual training modules.
International Lobbying Training (PDF)
The design of the International Lobbying Training includes 16 method sheets. It builds on the participants’ experiences and explains national and European decision-making processes. The young participants bring their own issues to the table in order to develop effective messages and strategies.
Multiplier Training for Local Lobbyists (PDF)
The second design is aimed at people who want to teach the basics of local lobbying and support youth groups themselves. A core component is a multi-part simulation: participants negotiate interests, form alliances, and reach compromises within a fictional municipality, analysing both formal and informal power dynamics. A multiplier module guides participants through the planning of their own local training sessions, covering target groups, learning objectives, methods, accessibility, and realistic steps for implementation.
These methods can be used individually or in combination, and they are designed to be flexibly adapted to different local realities and group sizes. We have already documented what can be achieved when these concepts are put into practice in the reports on the International Lobbying Training in Thessaloniki and the Multiplier Training in Bad Liebenzell.
Learning by Doing
Methods like these work because they are based on the principle of co-production between young people and youth work professionals. The trainings rely on experience-based learning, using role-plays and storytelling exercises, in which participants actively develop their own problem-solving strategies.
We would be absolutely thrilled if other members of the Community of Practice connect with these experiences. Everyone is warmly invited to adapt the methods for their local contexts and try them out. Because that is exactly how genuine social impact is created: through sharing knowledge and developing it further together!
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.