creating relationships safely and sensitively
YOU*TH has been brought into life to help deconstruct societal categories by letting go of familiar working structures and giving space to young people’s thoughts. This is to happen through cooperation on the process of methodology development. Our vision is the contribution to a positive shift in society, as well as a change in how relationships of all kinds are shaped. We want to achieve this by supporting young people in creating their own content - one that is truly relevant to young generations and not consisting of topics and methods imposed onto them by grown-ups.
YOU*TH aims for a so-called domino-effect - we want to give a first impulse that makes a societal change and positive development tangible. In the process, the mic will be handed over to young people which will lead to youth workers knowing better how to tackle relationship-related topics relevant for youth. We strongly believe that it is necessary as well as possible to contribute to positive changes in society by taking young people and their concerns seriously. This is what YOU*TH stands for.
The project With You*th is a result of international cooperation between POIKA (Austria) and NESEHNUTÍ (the Czech Republic). Both organizations have many youth work experiences in their countries, especially in gender-sensitive education. Our long term effort is to promote a systemic change in gender-sensitive education in both countries.
We build our project on previous cooperation that started in 2016 as an exchange of good practice, internships and study visits. Organizations focus on the area of cross work and boys’ work as well as specific issues of gender-based violence, sexual education, media stereotypes and ethnic diversity in the context of gender identities. We are aware of the specific cultural and social context of each country. Our methods and work with you*th reflect on religions, minorities, migration and other crucial social aspects in our societies. Both organizations are thus able to convey expert insights and experiences of other parties active in gender-sensitive education.
The gender-sensitive approach is one of the key requirements for the development of democratic culture, mutual respect as well as self-respect of young people. Gender sensitivity includes a variety of aspects - exploring and accepting one´s own gender identity, ability and opportunity to fulfill the personal image of a relationship or career, achieving equal opportunities in education and workplace, equal pay for men and women, gender-motivated violence prevention and reduction of negative pressure of gender stereotypes which affects self-perception of young people.
The result of our cooperation with you*th will be four gender-sensitive methods reflecting YOU*TH partnerships in the area of economic (in)dependence, social, ethnic, health related disadvantages, new media, and variety of gender identities.