A group of activists and aspiring activists are in Gozo this week for training in the principles of democracy, active citizenship, and the social re-use of abandoned or confiscated assets.
The Youth Summer Camp in Democracy and Activism is organised by Repubblika as part of the EU-funded RESTART project that is taking place in five countries.
Two online onboarding sessions with prospective participants were held in August in the run-up to the training days. Participants could choose either one of the sessions to attend.
The sessions were conducted by Manuel Delia, Repubblika’s executive officer, Pia Zammit (for one session), the camp’s academic coordinator and lead facilitator, and Mark Wood, EU project coordinator for Repubblika.
Manuel explained the objectives of RESTART and of the camp. He said the EU project has two major aims:
- To teach attendees about participation in democracy, active citizenship and co-responsibility in protecting fundamental rights, promoting social justice, engaging in policy-making processes, and contributing to the fight against organised crime and corruption.
- To raise awareness about the public and social reuse of confiscated, unoccupied or abandoned assets as an instrument in social justice and the fight against crime, including through the involvement of participants in solidarity action on such a property.
Pia then took participants through the academic programme. This includes:
- A civic lab, in which the participants simulate the workings of an active civil society and citizen assembly. They build structures of cooperation and accountability, respond to real-world political and civic challenges, form alliances, advocate for causes, handle crises, and test what living democracy really feels like. Core Concept:
- Interactive lectures on a) the fundamentals of democracy and democratic principles, fundamental rights, the rule of law and EU values, and b) the functioning of government, policy-making processes, and the role of civil society.
- A workshop on positive psychology in active citizenship and activism, and the science of hope and resilience.
- Talks by three civil society activists sharing their experiences and strategies, accompanied by a workshop on developing advocacy campaigns.
- An evening discussion on the subject of “activism in challenging times”.
- A visit to a drug rehabilitation centre for a talk on how this once abandoned asset was turned into a property serving a social cause, as well as for background information on the re-use of assets confiscated from crime.
The participants were also given information about the contribution they will make to the rehabilitation centre as a solidarity action, which will consist of cleaning up the garden, installing new plants, putting new shelves into the store room, and restoring wooden features of the property.
Mark Wood then took the participants through the logistics of the camp, including transportation, accommodation, lecture venue, visit to drug rehabilitation centre, forms to sign, and EU survey to be filled in.
Question time was reserved for the end of the sessions.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.