On the 22nd October 2024, the Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions invited the HUMANNESS project partners, as well as stakeholders and policy-makers in the field of youth work, solidarity initiatives, and youth participation to take part in the “HUMANNESS Final Conference: The role of Youth Work in advancing Social Justice”. The HUMANNESS project is a transnational collaboration between four European organizations - Libera (Italy), Between (Portugal), OBESSU (Belgium), and “Hope For Children” CRC Policy Center (Cyprus)—in collaboration with the Intercultural Development Agency (Uganda), to improve knowledge sharing related to cohesion, social development, democracy and inclusion.
With a diversity of stakeholders gathering together, the Final Conference was an opportunity to reflect on the outcomes and processes activated during the two years of the HUMANNESS project: EU Social Challenges and Civic Engagement for Solidarity. Amongst the outcomes presented and discussed during the Conference, participants gained a better understanding on how the project helped create and provided many opportunities for youth workers working with marginalized youth to learn and to exchange specifically on how to promote their participation and their active role within their communities.
To achieve that, HUMANNESS led and completed a series of processes, namely:
During the Conference, these diverse themes, outcomes and experiences had a central stage in the stimulating roundtable discussion. Chaired by OBESSU, the roundtable was composed by representatives of Libera - nomi e numeri contro le mafie, “Hope For Children” CRC Policy Centre, the World Scouts Movement (WOSM) and the European Youth Forum (YFJ).
Closing the Final Conference, the HUMANNESS Consortium wishes to thank all attendees and their respective institutions for their engagement and for actively supporting the efforts of all organisations and people engaged throughout this period. This is just a small example of how people - organisations and communities should take the opportunity to work together, to provide a space for them to learn with and from each other. Use the experiences and outcomes of the project and continue the necessary efforts that can help create opportunities for marginalized youth to play an active role in their communities.
To support those efforts and to better foster successful and empowering youth work, it is important to value certain principles which HUMANNESS could describe as fundamental. These include, yet not limited to, a) matching grassroots needs with institutional action; b) involving young people in the design of initiatives, c) protecting their political and civic rights; and d) working towards building more sustainable settings for frontline youth workers.
The Consortium would like once more to thank all organisations and people involved throughout the project's lifespan, looking towards further exploitation of the project’s outcomes and further cooperation and development that can support achieving its aims.