On 10-12 July 2023, a long-term training programme "Youth work based on the Council of Europe standards and values" for the newly established youth centres in the Lviv region was launched.

The Council of Europe Project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" and the Lviv Regional Youth Centre in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Department of Youth and Sports of the Lviv Regional Military Administration are implementing the training programme.

The programme for the newly established youth centres will last for five months in 2023 to strengthen the capacity of youth workers of the newly established youth centres in the Lviv region to implement youth work and non-formal education in accordance with the Council of Europe standards and approaches.

The programme includes asynchronous learning on the platform of the Council of Europe Youth Department, synchronous three-day training in July, mentoring and expert support, face-to-face training for trainers in September, implementation of non-formal education activities and a consolidation evaluation meeting in November.

On the first day, Roman Khimiak, Head of the Department of Youth and Sports of the Lviv Regional Administration, Ivan Sapsa, Acting Director of the Lviv Regional Youth Centre, Natalia Rudnytska, Deputy Director of the Department of Youth Policy of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Olena Chernykh, Senior Project Officer of the Council of Europe Project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" took part in the opening of the training programme.

The second day began with a simulation game to create a youth center in the community "Red Lines"  from the Lviv Regional Youth Centre. The game "Red Lines" was developedby the center  in  2021 in cooperation with the Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine" and can be downloaded in English  here. The point of the game is not to achieve any result, for example, to create a youth centre in the community, but to simulate real life situations as much as possible, to see your own stereotypes and prejudices, to bring painful issues to the discussion and try to solve them.

On the third day, to study the experience of youth work and youth participation, participants met with representatives of youth centres from Sweden, Finland and Romania. About own experience and the activities of the youth centre, secrets and advice of working together with young people and for young people told:

• Peter Knutsson, International Coordinator in Haninge Municipality near Stockholm (Sweden)
• Irina Firsa, volunteer of the National Youth Foundation, former employee of the youth foundation in Tulcea County (Romania)
• Joel Kronqvist, Lyan Youth Centre of Parainen (Finland)
• Borje Brand, Youth club manager at the Holken Youth Centre, Skellefteå (Sweden)

Based on the results of the first three-day training and in accordance with the request, in addition to the individual mentoring programme, it is planned to explore together the Living Library method and digital tools for non-formal education activities involving young people (in July and August respectively). The Living Library is planned to be held  on the basis of the methodology of the Council of Europe manual Do not judge by the cover.  

About Lviv Regional Youth Centre

In 2021, the Lviv Regional Youth Centre became one of 14 partner youth centres of the Council of Europe Project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine" and took part in a long-term training and capacity building programme to strengthen youth participation and civic engagement of young people, in line with Council of Europe standards and practices. Within the framework of such cooperation and with the support of the Project, the youth center has developed a simulation game "Red Lines" (How to create a youth center in the community?).

On February 27, 2023, the implementation of the project "Development of a network of youth centers in Lviv region" began in Lviv region, as a result of which it is planned to create 16 youth centers of communal ownership in the communities of the region, and also plans to cover up to 100,000 young people in the region by the end of the year. It is implemented by the Lviv Regional Youth Centre with the financial support of UNICEF in Ukraine. Also, the partners of the event are the Department of Youth and Sports of the Lviv Regional State Administration and the NGO "PI "Teplytsia".

The project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" is implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2023-2026 and is based on the results and experience of the projects "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine" in 2020-2022.  The project will expand the systematic impact by strengthening participatory youth policy and strengthening youth work during the war and in the post-war context, taking into account the special needs of young people.