YOCOMO - Being Civically Engaged attitudes - European Training Strategy

Being civically engaged

…means being aware of and taking a principled stance on political and societal issues affecting young people, challenging power dynamics, supporting value-based processes, co-creating with young people and encouraging their critical civic engagement in their communities, in Europe and beyond.

The single attitudes are summarised in different headlines that illustrate what “being civically engaged” means for youth workers attitudes-wise. The “cluster headlines” do not name attitudes as such; these can be found through clicking on the lists.

A belief in young peoples’ ability to engage and participate is crucial to what youth workers do. + -

Thus, a supportive attitude means:

to trust in young people’s potential
to trust in young people’s competences for meaningful participation and change-making

It is important to reflect on one’s values and social status and generally on societal developments and politics. + -

Thus, helpful attitudes are:

a readiness to critically reflect on one’s values
a readiness to critically reflect on one’s perception of privilege, personal motives and urge for social and political action
curiosity about political and social developments, including research and fact-checking of information obtained online

Engagement means to take a stance and to act in the face of injustice and other issues. + -

Corresponding attitudes are:

a readiness to stand up and speak out when social injustice occurs, no matter the perpetrator or the victim
a readiness to engage with relevant political and social processes and the life of the community and society(ies)

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