Empowering Youth Work for the Green Debate

The course is primarily intended for youth workers (educators using non-formal education methods in their work with young people) and other educators, including teachers. The self-paced course will address approaching climate and environmental issues through debate methodology, supporting the development of critical thinking skills in existing activities, supporting young people in developing research, learning, and information-gathering skills, and recognizing misinformation content regarding climate-related topics. It will enable youth workers to ask more mindful questions, discuss more complex social issues, insert different discussion and deep thinking activities throughout their work.

Debate coaches, other youth workers, and teachers are already aware of the complexity of many of the issues under the umbrella of "green transformation". Coupled with a general lack of specific training in addressing those issues in working with young people, they face a difficult challenge in preparing for teaching about relevant topics. The materials developed under this result will use case-study debates to promote inclusive discussions about the issue, showing youth workers and educators concrete examples of how specific issues in this field can be discussed to create a comprehensive and inclusive environment where young people can present their questions, worries, and doubts.

To remove barriers to access to critical educational tools and help interested educators and young people create a stronger network for cooperation and learning, the project will develop an online platform facilitating user interaction and international collaboration. Our goal for the platform is to enhance IDEA's existing online environment of debate-based teaching and learning resources, creating a space for interaction, support, matching up for online debates, and opening up the world of debating to new participants.

The platform will let youth workers, educators, and young people to:
- Register as individuals or organisations and creating user profiles
- Interact with each other through groups and forum discussions
- Create and manage community groups and discussions
- Seek other local or international connections for activities such as workshops, cultural exchanges, or debating
- Seek guidance and mentorship from more experienced community members
- Access additional support from project consortium members
- Access educational content and connect it to their profile
- Share educational content with members of their community groups