Youth and participation

This project wants to investigate the participation of young people, in a qualitative as well as in a quantitative way.
In the first phase we want to find out what participation means to young people in Flanders. Decentralisation of the youth policy to local levels in 1993 has caused a new dynamic in the local youth policy and in new forms of working in the civil society in general and in youth work in specific.
Social participation can't be reduced to participation in youth movements or youthclubs. Investigation has shown that participation in youth movements, as well as in youth organisations outside the traditional youth work, has a positive connection with various indicators of socia integration. We try to develop indicators of social participation. These indicators are related to various forms of youth work, quality and intensity of participation. To realise this, there will be a study of the existing literature and interviews with experts will take place.
In a second phase, we investigate factors (individual as well as structural factors) and the motivations of social participation and the effects of various forms of social participation on citizenship attitudes, self-image and social skills. To realise this we question a representative sample of the Flemish young people in at least 60 Flemish towns.