ESC: Youth for a Better Future Teams

Since 2015 Be You Association is the first landmark of non-formal education in the local community. It is a youth organization that ensures the personal and professional development of all young people without discrimination, with emphasis on identifying and developing each young people potential, developing the civic sense, active citizenship skills, openness to internationalization, European values and a sense of belonging to the Union through non-formal activities. Be You Association is permanently open for involvement in local, regional, national and international projects that support the stimulation and involvement of young people in activities carried out within the association and local community, that support the continuous training of youth workers. Be You is a non-profit organization created in November 2015 by a broad group of people with a range of professional, social, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, energetic members with a sense of initiative and experience working on national and international youth programs. Be You promotes and supports the personal development of youth through non-formal education, national and international projects, workshops, seminars, training, volunteering, and sport activities. Our organization's goal is to instill in young people European values, a sense of belonging to the European area, and a desire to be active citizens in society. Our purpose is based on the notion that the capacity for action and engagement of youth holds the key to society's future. Our main aim is to offer young people the opportunity to be active in society fostering social cohesion (a sense of belonging to the local community, equality between community members, participation of youth in decision-making) through personal and professional development. We encourage youth to value and develop their abilities and skills such as active citizenship, participation in civic and democratic life, sense of initiative, green skills, countering bullying and hate speech, career orienteering skills, etc., as well as to learn new skills and obtain information for a better social integration and active citizenship. The statutory objectives of our association are: • To involve youth in non-formal education on a variety of topics through national and international projects organization, workshops, seminars, trainings, volunteering and other activities; • To promote among youth active involvement in society, democratic participation and active citizenship; • To encourage involvement in democratic life, as well as the promotion of European ideals and citizenship • To develop the civil society and to encourage the active participation of youth in the social process; • To implement activities which support and promote human and youth rights; • To promote equal chances and access, diversity, and fairness in all of our operations in order to enhance the social inclusion of young people, particularly those with fewer opportunities; • To support positive behavioural changes among young people in personal preferences, consumption habits and lifestyles for the transition to sustainable development and care for the environment; • To assist the development of young people's digital abilities, as well as to create innovative digital non-formal instruments to aid in the transition to digitalization • To assist young people in selecting the appropriate sort of education in order to further their careers and achieve financial independence. Our target group is formed by youth aged between 13-30 years, living mainly in the Center- North area of Dambovita County (Targoviste, Aninoasa, Branesti, Razvad, Pucioasa, Fieni), rural and outskirts areas, but also in urban areas. We are working mainly with young people with fewer opportunities, including NEETs. They are youth who come from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds (from broken families, with parents working abroad, from families with poor financial situations, health problems, youth with cognitive developmental delays, but also very skilled youth, capable of performance). We organise around 20 projects, activities, initiatives that involve over 2000 beneficiaries each year. Be You develops non-formal programmes, projects, workshops, consultation, youth exchanges, training courses, campaigns, sport events in the field of youth democratic participation, inclusion and diversity, environment and healthy lifestyle, career guidance and social entrepreneurship. Examples of activities relevant for the mentioned fields are available also on our website https://beyoueurope.eu/evenimente. The main funding sources for the above mentioned activities are: Erasmus+, Europe for Citizens, local and national funds, private sponsorships, donations.