Participácia

Textbook for Self-governments

This publication is meant for the workers of self-governments, who have issues of youth and youth policy in the villages or regions in their agenda. The publication contains basic European and state documents and presents a wide range of activities the self-government is responsible for. This is primarily the development of active youth participation in the village life (support and development of youth parliaments, sensitive creation of participation opportunities and the like), youth volunteering as a part of the community life of the village (opportunities for volunteers, volunteer centers and the like), information for youth. In the last part of the publication the interested self-government workers can find useful instructions concerning the creation of an active, modern youth policy at the local level (subject networking, partnership building, strategy planning, action plans and the like).

We Are Concerned as well

Student self-governments do not have as long tradition in Slovakia as they have in western countries. It is only since 2003 that the concept of “the student school council” has been in existence. However, the creation and operation of these councils is fully dependant on the will and support of the school administration. This publication is a brief guide for students advising them how to begin. It offers information about what a student school council is, what is its role, significance and merits. It shortly describes the legislation of SSCs and refers us to the relevant law. In the conclusion there is also a sample statute.

The Third Wave or Professional Support of Student School Councils

The aim of this publication is to address those who work with the student school councils or are thinking about creating them. This usually applies to teachers. Without their support the student school councils would act just as an organizer of cultural and sports activities and would never get in to the true participation in the school life. This publication also describes the creation and development of student self-governments at secondary schools in three waves, which helped to move these issues forward. It gives answers to questions about the school councils, describes trends, ideas and practical experiences with SSCs in Slovakia and abroad. It recommends the means of elections and the composition of the SSCs.

Youth under the Self-government’s Wings

This publication is a product of a long-lasting project of the Slovak Youth Institute created in cooperation with the British Council – “Training of the trainers for youth work at the local level”. The project ran from 2001 until 2004 and its aim was to prepare a group of trainers working as a think tank for this area. During the project a dissemination workshop was organized and later this publication was issued. Its main objective is to provide educational themes for professionals, but also public active in the local youth work. It also offers a small analysis of the whole situation, an outline of starting points and issues that should be thought about by the responsible ones. Later, the “Textbook for Self-governments” publication followed the work of this group.