Empowering the Young (SocIEtY) for the Common Good (7181)

The overall goal of SocIEtY is to improve the quality of life of disadvantaged young people through social innovation. In doing so the aim of SocIEtY is not only to identify opportunities to reduce inequalities, but also to extend and builds knowledge and tools for the ultimate policy goal of a ‘good life for all’. The project consequently takes the perspective of how young people aged 15-24 live in different European countries today; and examines what can be done to create social and institutional opportunities which will better enable them to live lives they have reason to value. This will include the participation, voices and aspirations of the young people themselves. Taking the Capability Approach as the conceptual basis, SocIEtY will in particular refer to the concept of “Informational Basis of the Judgement of Justice” (IBJJ) introduced by Amartya Sen. Thus the project will deliver an empirical foundation to broaden the informational basis of local policies in two ways: it will widen the focus on the policy fields of employment and education to a more coherent perspective taking more policy fields into account (1). Secondly, the basis will be informed by a bottom-up perspective, including the voice and aspirations of young people and their participative engagement (2).
“Social Innovation – Empowering the Young (SocIEtY) for the Common Good” will systematically build knowledge on
(i) how existing policies and social practices of networks of social support tackle the problems faced by disadvantaged young people,
(ii) how far, and in what ways, young people’s ideas, experiences, aspirations and voices can be included in policymaking,
(iii) how social innovation can establish a link between these two issues, which can lead to social inclusion and to sustainable and inclusive growth.