"Connect Yourself" project

Since 2021, the Lisbon Youth Center takes its Connect Yourself project to several municipalities in the Lisbon district, with the purpose of listening young people about the problems identified in their communities regarding the Youth Goals.

The essence of this project is to promote the active and democratic participation of young people and to strengthen, in educators and decision makers, the vision and work with young people, promoting interest and urgency in working with and for young people and their respective structured local policies.

Carried out in collaboration with the respective municipalities and schools in the municipalities covered, the project is developed in three phases:

1.    Presentation of the project to municipal representatives/technicians and school representatives/teachers. This moment aims to involve the municipalities in the project and, on the other hand, to provide information so that the teachers can present the Youth Goals to their class and prepare the session;

2.    Working and consultation session with young people, based on the chosen Youth Goals, who, through the methodology of Design Thinking, analyze their needs and discuss solutions;

3.    Presentation session of the results to the decision makers, carried out by the students.

For the consultation of young people (second moment of the project), a total of six sessions were held in the municipalities of Loures, Mafra, Oeiras, Sobral Monte Agraço, Torres Vedras and Vila Franca de Xira.

In the third moment (presentation of the results by the students), five sessions were held with young people from the following schools:

• Loures - António Carvalho de Figueiredo Secondary School;
• Mafra - Technical and Professional School of Mafra;
• Oeiras - Luís de Freitas Branco Secondary School;
• Sobral de Monte Agraço - Joaquim Inácio da Cruz Sobral Secondary School;
• Vila Franca de Xira - School Grouping Professor Reynaldo dos Santos.

Connect Yourself is a project framed within the European Year of Youth and Democracy Here. Democracy Now that will run until the end of the year 2022, which has already involved more than 200 young people until June.