The project "Gender journey and young women empowerment programme 2022" increases young people`s knowledge and awareness about gender equality and reinforce young peoples role in creation of an inclusive and equal school/environment with a focus on increased youth active participation and women empowerment by tackling gender based discrimination.
The aim of the project is to raise awareness among Nordic (Finnish, Swedish and Danish) and Estonian students school and university students about deep-rooted gender inequalities in everyday social contexts and the stereotypes and prejudices that fuel it. Also to create values for young people, that will promote the development and care of our society and spread tools to reduce inequalities. Advance discussion on gender roles and stereotypes needed to find constructive solutions. Provide constructive knowledge and skills on gender equality in the education system to ensure early intervention in the perpetuation of prejudices and stereotypes. This will be achieved through five main activities, which involve young people, students’ councils, teachers and student representatives in secondary schools and youth organisation.

The target group of the project is young people upper secondary school students and young people 14-31+ years old and various local youth organizations and educators. The stakeholders are the educational institutions, governmental bodies and youth associations/civil society organisations, and certainly also the young parents and their networks. Schools and Youth organisation should contribute to equality and democracy, according to the curricula of Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Estonia.

Project’s activities include:

  • Local Workshops to provide a basic knowledge for young people on gender equality, equal treatment, own rights and participation – May - Aug 2022 (60 participants per country)
  • International training - on gender equality and norm criticism plus partner meeting
    • 15-17. September 2022, Sweden, Göteborg (6 participant per country)
  • Two Youth & Experts meetings will give an opportunity to systematise the bits and pieces of knowledge on gender-responsive education and facilitate process of establishing educational toolkit on gender equality a guidelines for the youth organisations and educational institutions. (5 participants per country)
    • 17-20. October 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark – First Youth & experts meeting
    • 18-21. November 2022, Tallinn & Haapsalu, Estonia – Second Youth & experts meeting
  • International Gender Equality Youth Conference 2022 – It will be constructive exchange of ideas, as well as for making summaries and general statements. Also presentation of main project outcomes and acknowledgement of main contributors and partners. (8 participants per country + experts)
    • 05 -07. February 2023, Helsinki, Finland
  • Development of educational toolkit, web-resource and proposals for education institution in mainstraiming gender equality 
  • Communication activities related with promotion of sustainable development themes.

Main practical outcomes: Youth Network / Gender Journey Toolkit / Web-resource / Guidelines for the youth and educational institutions on integration of Gender Equality at all levels / new skills and knowledge.

Based on the experiences from local workshops held with the students, training and discussions with NGOs and the school teachers, and the process of developing and testing the method material on youth and experts meeting, we will also establish guidelines manual for educators.

Results:

Individuals have the skills to meaningfully participate in democratic society

Individuals have the skills to meaningfully participate in democratic society – increases their skills and knowledge how to participate in democratic society by promoting gender equality and women role in society, how to avoid gender based stereotypes and empower men and women to a new understanding of social roles and importance of diversity. Participants will gain new skills and positive experience on gender issues and they will exchange their experience between each other and moreover young people will receive an opportunity to share own ideas and skills with governmental stakeholders and a mentors for own friends on issues of gender equality, as knowledge of it is important part of democratic society. Diverse communities work together around common agendas, building trust and positive perspectives.

Diverse communities work together around common agendas, building trust and positive perspectives

Project involves people with different genders, with different ethnicities and economic backgrounds, this will strengthen them together with general tasks and challenges, they will have time to build trust, positive perspective on gender equality theme and important of acceptance of differences.

Institutions connect with diverse communities and build social cohesion

Young people will join with a non-formal network of young activist promoting importance to be tolerant, diverse and be an agents of change who will build social cohesion within communities. Youth will have more trust in governmental institutions and a civil society organisations, who deals with gender equality, gender based violence, women empowerment.

Students and educators gain insight into their own rights

Learn into norm-critical and 4R method, and gain tools to evaluate their own school/organisations or in relation to, among other things, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, school legislation, and political goals concerning equal rights.

Manual and advanced discussion

We will produce a manual and advance discussion on gender roles & gender equality in the education system to ensure early intervention in the destruction of prejudices and stereotypes.