Written by: Rebeca Marques Rocha
Students for Sensible Drug Policy and YouthRISE launch the Project Report and Consortium Strategy for the 2022 ERASMUS+ Project.
On February 2nd at 6 pm CET, SSDP, in Partnership with YouthRISE, launched the Project Report and Consortium Strategy for the 2022 ERASMUS+ Project.
Since early 2022, SSDP International and YouthRISE have been working with young people passionate about drug policy reform from across Europe to develop the skills, knowledge, network and strategy for young people to engage with drug policy nationally and internationally.
The Erasmus+ EU drug policy training and strategy series for young people engaged 24 participants who had previously been involved in grassroots advocacy efforts in drug policy and harm reduction.
The goal was to increase the capacity of youth-led organizations that engage in drug policy reform and young people to advocate at the European Union level. The training series equipped participants with the necessary knowledge, skills, connections, and strategy to engage with the EU Drug Policy Creation process and create a youth-led dialogue around EU drug policies. The cohort’s diversity meant that participants were exposed to a variety of expertise, lived experiences, and opinions, which enriched their learning process.
Besides online training and webinars, the project organized two in-person components with participants. The first in-person component in Dublin saw 18 participants attend in person, while the in-person component in Vienna gathered 22 participants. The project funded all expenses related to the travel and attendance to the components organized in Dublin and Vienna.
The ability of participants to engage with EU Drug Policy has improved significantly as a result of the training. During the launch event, two of the participants shared their experiences and key takeaways:
“I feel much more empowered to engage with drug policy at the local and EU level […] I feel more confident about the different avenues to engage and people to cooperate with.”
Judit Roca
“ I am more aware of the opportunities for civil society organizations to engage with the EU, and I better understand how the process is organized and structured.”
Pijus Petn
As a result of the success of the training series, SSDP and YouthRISE have established a consortium of young people and youth organizations dedicated to building drug policies rooted in human rights and compassion. The consortium brings together the participants from the Erasmus+ training series. It will develop activities lead by groups focusing on four target sectors, namely: Education, Community & Social, Legal & Political, Health & Accessibility.
The strategy for 2023 includes the development of the Pan-European Youth Consortium to coordinate actions and activities relevant to the milestones established for each target sector. Together, the consortium aims to advance with the mission of advocating a people-centred compassionate approach to drugs and working towards uniting youth and harm reduction movements.
We are grateful to the policy stakeholders, civil society members, and youth advocates who have contributed to the development and organization of this training. We also thank the participants for engaging with such commitment and passion in our sessions and for choosing to advance this work as part of a Consortium. Finally, we would like to express immense gratitude to Erasmus+ for supporting the implementation of our project.
You can read the Final Report of the Erasmus+ here and check out more about the Consortium Strategy here.