RomânăYouth Vote Matters! is a project dedicated to encouraging youth in Romania to vote by making informed decisions about their candidates and representative democracy.
Unfortunately, Romania’s educational system fails systemically to provide youth with the necessary instruments they need to become involved citizens. The curricula for high-school students does not include notions of democracy, rule of law, elections or public participation. This contributes to the little interest younger generations have to be civically involved.
The goal of the project is to increase the level of knowledge and interest for voting and democracy for high school students in Alexandria and in Bucharest.
Building on EFOR’s long experience working on elections and youth on elections and active citizenship, the project will consist in a series of workshops and holding a mock election for students in two high-schools in Alexandria (Colegiul National Alexandru Ioan Cuza) and in Bucharest (Colegiul National Iulia Hasdeu).
We will be working with around 200 high school students from Alexandria and Bucharest. This project provides a learning by doing experience regarding community, elections and voting by encouraging them to voice their concerns and work together to find possible solutions.
The workshops will provide students with the tools needed to make informed decisions about how they cast their vote and understand the importance of their vote, making them informed voters on the long term. Lastly, we will encourage and help them share these tools and experiences with other members of their communities.
A closing event will take place in Alexandria where we will bring together students from Bucharest and Alexandria to present their conclusions, to exchange feedback and work together on possible follow-up activities on the topic of informed voting for youth.
Calendar of activities
| Bucharest | Alexandria | |
| Introductive workshop – How can I be involved in my community?
|
6th of February 2020 | 12th of February 2020 |
| Introductive workshop – How do elections work?
|
13th of February 2020 | 17th of February 2020 |
| Introductive workshop – How to detect fake news and manipulation?
|
20th of February 2020 | 24th of February 2020 |
| One day event – Holding mock elections and campaigning
|
21st of March 2020 | 14th of March |
| Closing Event – Conclusions and steps forwards | May 2020 |
Introductive workshop – How can I be involved in my community?; Bucharest – 6th of February 2020
Introductive workshop – How can I be involved in my community?; Alexandria – 12th of February 2020
Introductive workshop – How do elections work?; Bucharest – 13th of February 2020
Introductive workshop – How do elections work?; Alexandria – 17th of February 2020
Introductive workshop – How to detect fake news and manipulation?; Bucharest – 20th of February 2020
Introductive workshop – How to detect fake news and manipulation?; Alexandria – 24th of February 2020
This project was funded in part by a grant from United States Department of State.
Disclaimer
The opinions, findings and conclusions stated herein are those of the author[s] and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State