<< Background >>Young Storytellers for Social Change (YES 4 CHANGE) will upskill youth leaders empowering them with new knowledge and practical training resources to help young people put technology and digital stories to good use. Our ultimate goal is to empower young people (15-24 years) to become active, empowered digital citizens capable of advancing strong social change missions online. The project addresses the needs of young people and the issues they face with regard to digital skills attainment, access to quality non-formal learning opportunities, active citizenship and employability. YES 4 CHANGE uses the term “youth leaders” to encompass youth workers, educators, organizations and institutions who care about the quality of their work with and for young people. The project partners are all engaged in informal and non-formal youth work and reflect the broad range and scope of youth sector supports. Technology was a saving grace for young people during the COVID19 lockdowns in Europe offering them an opportunity to escape, learn, socialise and connect. While technology is a great enabler, the current over and quite often misuse of technology by young people has been proven to be detrimental to their emotional wellbeing, mental and physical health, and many other areas of life. Despite increasing efforts and many projects to warn young people of the potential damaging effect of technology and social media, we have yet to see the issue systemically improve. Despite their prolific use of technology and social media, the EU Digital Education Action Plan tells us that in 2019, a fifth of young persons in Europe reported not to have basic digital skills. The Plan highlights digital literacy as an essential for everyday life but it also reports that more than 40% of young people consider that critical thinking, media and democracy are not ‘taught sufficiently’ in school. It is clear therefore, that more needs to be done in this space and that highlighting the negative effects is not enough. YES 4 CHANGE seeks to change the dynamic by engaging young people in the non-formal learning opportunities which build on their existing interest in social media platforms like Snapchat, Tik Tok.Across Europe, youth unemployment and disengagement is on the rise. In 2020 the share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) across Europe returned to the 2017 level (13.7%). In a short space of time, the global pandemic resulted in the gains from 3 years being wiped out. The situation is worrying for the youth leaders working for and with young people particularly in Lithuania. Last year, the number of young people under the age of 29 registered with the Employment Service increased 2.7 times, and the number of young people aged 16–24 - as much as 3.8 times. In addition, as much as 56% of young jobseekers under the age of 29 did not have professional training. Relative and worse statistics can be seen in partner countries. In Italy, youth-unemployment rate is at 32.2%. As of July 2021, 2,854 million people under 25 years of age were unemployed across the EU, of which a total of 2,339 million come from inside the eurozone, according to Eurostat. This issue is now of crucial importance to the European Commission. It has launched a series of strategies and initiatives such as the EU Youth Strategy which seeks to ENGAGE, CONNECT and EMPOWER young people. It has also designated next year as the European Year of Youth 2022. All of this comes at a time when social change has never been more urgent in Europe. Every day, we face new and increasing challenges concerned with the pandemic, poverty, financial crisis and security challenges to name a few. YES 4 CHANGE recognises the key role that young people can play as active citizens and actors of positive change in constructing a better and more sustainable future for Europe.<< Objectives >>Our ambitious project seeks to address digital transformation through development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity, promote active citizenship/young people’s sense of initiative and strengthen the employability of young people. Our main objective is to upskill project partners/associated partners/youth leaders empowering them with new knowledge and practical training resources to help young people put technology and digital stories to good use. Our ultimate goal is to empower young people (15-24 years) to become active, empowered digital citizens capable of advancing strong social change missions online. We want to improve the quality and relevance of non-formal youth education to the issues facing young people today. YES 4 CHANGE recognises the potential of non-formal youth education settings (such as the clubs, societies, non-formal youth programmes, creative hubs, out-of-class activities etc. run by the YES 4 CHANGE project partners) to provide enjoyable and fun settings to awaken young people’s creativity, self-expression, storytelling skills and ultimately a desire to improve/change the world. Via a tailored non-formal learning programme delivered by youth leaders, YES 4 CHANGE will develop a young people’s communication and digital skills related to storytelling, advocacy, communication strategies and social media campaigns. YES 4 CHANGE will teach young people that in the face of the great issues (e.g climate crisis) we need young digital storytellers around the world to communicate their realities, their victories, and their hopes for a better future. In this way, YES 4 CHANGE works towards the Erasmus+ PROMOTING ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP, YOUNG PEOPLE’S SENSE OF INITIATIVE. The project will contribute to the European Year of Youth 2022 which seeks to empower young people to become active citizens and actors of positive change.We want to improve young peoples digital skills and employability and increase their active citizenship. YES 4 CHANGE will result in an increase of young people competencies across the 5 key DIGICOMP competence areas 1: information and data literacy, 2: communication and collaboration, 3: digital content creation Competence area 4: safety and area 5: problem solving. For many youth, particularly those who have left school early, YES 4 CHANGE will be an accessible, new/second chance learning opportunity to acquire basic and key competences and develop their DIGITAL READINESS, RESILIENCE AND CAPACITY. Today’s young people are less interested in traditional forms of participation, but they are active in standing up for what they believe in and they NEED new ways of engaging in learning and development. YES 4 CHANGE will develop the digital skills and competences of Europe’s youth via an innovative digital storytelling programme designed to engage young people’s existing interest in social media platforms like Tik Tok. Storytelling is the quintessential 21st Century skill. Learning how to tell stories effectively, especially through the use of digital technology, will teach young people to become producers of digital content instead of just consumers. Storytelling is an important soft skill when used in tandem with communication, collaboration and critical thinking. In terms of employability storytelling and digital storytelling can be key interview and career skills. In this way, YES 4 CHANGE also addresses the employability skills of young people.The YES 4 CHANGE project partners seek to respond to EU Policy calls to :• boost digital skills at all levels, increase growth and innovation and build a fairer, more cohesive, sustainable and inclusive society (EU Digital Education Action Plan)• ENGAGE, CONNECT and EMPOWER young people (EU Youth Strategy)• advance the EU Youth Goals #1 Connecting EU with Youth, #3 Inclusive Societies, #4 Information & Constructive Dialogue, #5 Mental Health & Wellbeing, #8 Quality Learning, #9 Space and Participation for All, #10 Sustainable Green Europe<< Implementation >>The project involves the production of three project results (PRs) and a set of transversal activities required for successful project execution: management, impact evaluation, share/promote and sustainability. In order to ensure our project is capable of generating our intended results and overall impact, partners designed the pre-defined objectives in logical sequence to reach our final overall results. In the proposed development of the project results, we have included aspects which we know to be vital to ensure their longevity and effectiveness:- We have increased the quantity and quality of target group participation through associate partner involvement and robust user testing.- Project Results are mostly digital given the project topic but also to ensure widespread reach, use and impact across European youth sectorVILNIUS TECH will be responsible for project management, co-leading PR3 and co-leading the technical development pf PR1 and PR2. We have a strong track record in project management and as the instigator and as the originator of the YES 4 CHANGE project have a vested interest in creating relevant, exemplary youth work learning resources that match our needs and the needs of our diverse associated youth partner network. LE LABA is very active in the development of non-formal education for youth and youth workers. They design youth focused creative, digitally, inclusive programmes and deliver them in challenged communities. Le Laba have strong experience in Strategic Partnerships for youth. They have led 4 projects and have been a partner in 2 others. They will provide strategic direction and assistance to Vilnius Tech on the delivery of best practice youth projects. They will co-lead PR2 and will lead the Sustainability/Transferability Strategy for the project.ISTRATEGIES is a small but specialist company with a strong focus on the power and potential of storytelling. They are currently involved in youth orientated progammes on the topics of youth active citizenship, strengthening the employability of young people and promoting youth entrepreneurship. They will co-lead PR1 YES 4 CHANGE Non-formal Learning Resource Pack. They will also lead the Progress, Monitoring and Quality Management Strategy. MOMENTUM is a specialist youth training organisation with a special interest in inciting social change and impact as a result of their SICAP work in Ireland. They have strong digital storytelling expertise garnered from EU Stories an Erasmus+ project using storytelling to enhance the cultural diversity of European regions. Given this experience, MMS will co-lead PR2 Technology Toolkit. They will also contribute graphic design and branding expertise to the projects share/promote campaign.OUTSIDE is a newly founded inclusion specialist but staff have extensive experience in youth work. Outside bring expertise in video and multimedia production which makes them a natural co-lead for PR1. Given their expertise in developing content - websites, platforms, videos, blogs and case studies and their impressive reach (youth platform of 1300 members) OUTSIDE will co-lead the projects share and promote strategy/campaign.EUEI staff have over 30 years experience in EU projects and bring best practices with regard to the creation of online platforms for youth. Given their specialist technological expertise, EUEI will co-lead the development of PR3 YES 4 CHANGE Story exchange app. They will also co-lead the technical development and digital publication of PR1 and PR2 which will be published on the project website and Erasmus+/Youth platforms Each project result is designed to be used as an independent resource, but collectively, they are a 360-degree non-formal applied youth learning initiative which youth leaders can use to empower young people to become active citizens and actors of positive change. The multiplier events held in months 21 -23 will officially launch our project results and ensure their wide use.<< Results >>The main arc of the project methodology can be understood through the development of the PRs, user participation and multiplier events as follows:PR1 YES 4 CHANGE Non-formal Learning Resource Pack is a video-based set of training resources which youth leaders can use/deliver in informal youth learning settings. Essential training, activities and lessons on storytelling for social change will be scripted, shot, edited and published in video format to make the learning light, accessible and fun to consume and engage with. The resources which will be peer led, will explore topics and techniques connecting to creating digital storied for social change.PR2 YES 4 CHANGE Technology Toolkit will investigate, trial and test 20 of the best low cost or no cost tools and platforms for storytelling for social change. The toolkit will be a go practical resource for youth leaders across Europe. It will build young peoples digital and analytical skills and their knowledge of the tech for good movement. PR3 YES 4 CHANGE Story Exchange App will facilitate a transfer of knowledge into action. It will provide a story exchange space for young people across Europe to engage, connect, learn from, create and share inspirational youth led social change stories and projects. As well are as featuring the story exchange space, the app will feature cultivated and curated informal and bite-sized learning content for young people which will inspire and motivate them to create and share further social impact projects and stories in the future. The app will have a social element, making it fun and interesting for young people to engage with.PROJECT OUTCOMES - During the timeline of the project, 30 youth leaders, 5 from each of these partner organisations will pilot the YES 4 CHANGE resources with 120 young people. The results of the pilot will be shared and promoted leading to 200 youth leader organisations and 400 youth downloading and using the resources during the timeline of the project. Our main learning outcomes are linked to our project results and have designed according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. Youth leaders who engage with our suite of YES 4 CHANGE learning resources will be able to:• Define, explain and teach how storytelling can be used for social change and why young people should get involved in it? (PR1)• List, appraise, demonstrate and use 20 of the best low cost or no cost tools and platforms for storytelling for social change in their non-formal youth learning settings (PR2)• Connect, support and frame learning in a social digital space with allows young people to connect with their peers across Europe (PR3)Key learning outcomes for our young people will include:• Outline, recognise, compose and share digital stories which promote social change and initiate their active citizenship (PR1, PR2)• Identify, collaborate and connect with other Young European Storytellers for Social Change with similar or shared beliefs or missions across Europe (PR3)• Develop and explain their digital storytelling skills and their use for social change and in various employment settings (PR1)YES 4 CHANGE will upskill youth leaders empowering them with new knowledge and practical training resources to help young people put technology and digital stories to good use. On completion the project will result in an increase in youth led social impact projects and stories being created and consumed. On completion, our project will have made a concrete contribution to EU Youth Strategy, European Year of Youth 2022, Digital Education Action Plan and the roll out of the DIGICOMP framework.