YCARE: Youth Counselling Against Radicalization.

YCARe is a unique international project aimed at supporting youth counsellors in preventing and combatting radicalization. Eight countries participate in the project, Austria, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and The Netherlands. They collect guidelines and best practices.
YCARe’s added value stems from the feedback that is collected among the youth counsellors who use the tools. A teaching environment is created in which best practices and guidelines can be improved. The idea is that young workers may eventually be better equipped if countries learn from one another. The project Youth Counselling Against Radicalization (YCARe) is now carried out with funding from the Erasmus+ programme, but in the near future the project will find another funding resources.

The project aims at supporting youth counsellors in preventing and combatting radicalization.
Because of recent terrorist attacks, an increase in young people who participate or sympathize with extremist groups and an increase in other forms of violence and intolerance (e.g. juvenile gangs, xenophobia, islamophobia etc.), radicalization has become a priority and a challenge on the political agenda.
The project aims to build professional capacity of first line practitioners and to foster empowerment, participation and active citizenship of young people. As regards the requirements to prevent radicalization a distinction can be made between three categories: Needs focused on professionals, needs directed to youth and needs addressed to the general population. Particular the first category is included in Ycare.

The project will be sustainable to the extent that funding is available to continue with it. The economic resources are being sought for the continuity of the project.

The project is transferable to other topics, in fact there are several platforms that facilitate the sharing of good practices in different areas such as Strong Cities, the innovative in this case is that the target group are young counsellors which makes easier to reach the final working group that are the groups and communities at risk.

The project is monitored at all times by the National Erasmus Agency of the country leading the project, the interim reports on previously established criteria such as the scope of training or the number of workshops.
On the other hand, the first year of the project was a report on the conclusions reached after a mapping on the training and information that had the young advisers.

The cooperation is established between the entities that form the project since it requires a strong partnership and a constant collaboration to evaluate the effectiveness of the tools proposed, the add and the platform with the manuals and the work material.
Cooperation has also been needed at the local level between the different institutions that make up the consortium and local actors.

The project Youth Counselling Against Radicalization (YCARe) is now carried out with funding from the Erasmus+ programme.

The Verwey-Jonker Institute: http://www.verwey-jonker.nl/english
E-C-C Association for Interdisciplinary Education & Consulting: http://www.e-c-c.at/cms/index.php?id=2&L=1
The Greek Academic Network: http://www.gunet.gr/en/home-page/
Culture & Work (Verein Kultur und Arbeit e. V.) : http://kultur-und-arbeit.de/
QUALED - non-profit organization for qualification and education: http://www.qualed.net/cms/
Integra Institute: http://www.eu-integra.eu/Default.aspx?lang=SI
Meath Partnership: http://www.meathpartnership.ie/
Aldaima: http://www.aldaima.org/

UNESCO report, 2016:
Social media and youth Radicalization in digital age:
http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/news/background_social_media_radicalization.pdf
Ycare Guideline about the process of radicalization: https://www.ycare.eu/files/YCARE%20Project%20Guidelines.pdf
SALTO: Youth Work Against Violent Radicalisation:
https://www.saltoyouth.net/about/regionalcooperation/current/againstviolentradicalisation/

The relevance of this initiative is maximum as in the past few years radicalization towards violent extremist and terrorist positions is considered an increasing threat in the European Union. Because of recent terrorist attacks, an increase in young people who participate or sympathize with extremist groups and an increase in other forms of violence and intolerance (e.g. juvenile gangs, xenophobia, islamophobia etc.).

The main measure to verify that Ycare is effective is the feedback of the professionals that is collected in the training workshops and good practices that are shared during the formations, as it appears at the conclusion of the 2016 report: https://www.ycare.eu/news/conclusions/

The efficiency is measured through the products launched, both the platform, the guide or the tools were provided in the preparation of the budget with the corresponding budget line, so the budgeted products are those that appear on the platform and this form ensure the efficiency of the project.

The impact is positive to date since all the young people who have participated in the training have shown interest and have given their opinion openly for what has created a relationship of trust necessary for the development of this type of prevention from a pedagogical approach. It is still too early to measure the local impact of the project but an evaluation is expected at the end of the project.

In social terms the practice is partially sustainable since the presence of the medium-term project is necessary to consolidate the training and follow-up of young counselors, since the project has limited funding (until 2017), it will be necessary to look for another lines of financing.

Ycare is very inclusive since the stakeholders involved, are from the grassroots as the goal of the project is to intend the intervention from the prevention and this, can only be achieved from the main actors as youth counselors, teachers and social workers.