The European youth organizations are using different methods to involve young people into civil society. This process is less effective in rural areas, but in other hand, youth organizations are using different creative methods. Armenia’s largest youth organization Federation of Youth Clubs of Armenia (FYCA) implemented “Youth work outside” project from May 12-19 within the frame of EU “Youth in Action” program, where 40 representatives from partner organizations from Armenia, Romania, Turkey, Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia, Italy, Belarus and Germany took part in.

«The idea of this project was discussed during the international youth meeting organized by Federation of Youth Clubs of Armenia, May 2012, where representatives of 6 promoters were presented both from EECA and program countries. Youth activities are about organizing leisure time activities for young people, supervised by adults but based on the interests and needs of the young people themselves. As a part of public youth services, youth activities are equally open for every young individual. This project ideally provided an arena for increased contacts with young people with different (ethnic) backgrounds and possibilities. A previous study has shown that current youth activities are more and more focused on urban areas to stimulate and develop social participation, empowerment and active citizenship among young people»,-mentioned the project coordinator Mariam Sahakyan.

“Youth work outside” allowed participants to visit youth organizations,  and governmental structures working with rural youth in Armenia, to explore their good practices and approaches and reflect on those in relation to the participants’ home realities designed for youth workers involved in rural youth work and young people from rural areas.

“We will use all the methods developed by our European partners and also during this study visit to involve the rural youth into decision making processes in different levels”,- summarized  Mr. Atom Mkhitaryan, president of FYCA.

During this project youth workers and young people from rural areas exchanged life stories which made them reflect on their own reality, their own values and ideas. This was a great source of personal development and of inspiration for their personal lives. They had an opportunity to reflect on their own realities, network with potential project partners and focus on the importance of organizations.