Rua das Ameixoeiras, 3
2635-465 Rio de Mouro - Sintra
PORTUGAL
Sintra
Portugal
- Youth and education
Dínamo is a local/regional youth NGO born in Sintra aimed at raising and facilitating youth participation in civil society.
Since 2011 Dínamo works in a long term strategy called “Sintra is Also Yours!” based in three main aims linked to specific objectives:
Empowerment of young people and local community development. To develop activities and support the empowerment of young people, through youth exchanges, communities initiatives and other educational activities.
Promotion of mechanisms and necessary conditions for youth participation: to create and support mechanisms of youth participation in the district of Sintra and to raise the public opinion for the importance of youth participation in the civil society.
Youth work empowerment: to qualify youth workers, through training courses with Non-Formal Education principles, to improve the youth work and the social responses at local level, mostly in the field of youth participation and the Human Right education.
Following the “Sintra is Also Yours!” long term strategy Dínamo develops several projects in cooperation with its local and international partners.
The main projects in the strategy are the creation of the first Local Network for Youth Participation (2011-2012) and the following Local Needs Assessment for Youth Participation (2012-2013).
Beyond this, Dínamo is working in the development of a Non-Formal Education Training Center and in other local and international youth projects.
At local level Dínamo is member of the working group “(I)Nova Tapada”, in strict cooperation with the Associação A Comunidade Islâmica da Tapada das Mercês e Mem-Martins, that aims to build an intercultural dialogue and respect in the community of Tapada das Mercês promoting intercultural activities and creating occasions of mutual learning and cultural diversity.
Dínamo works since 2008 in the youth field and has developed since then several local and international projects. During this period it has improved its experience in the youth work and in Non-Formal Education and now is ready to share these competences in the ALF network in a local, national and international level.
With the long term strategy “Sintra Also is Yours!”, officially recommended by the Council of Europe, Dínamo focus on the youth participation field, becoming a national reference in term of training courses and good practice about youth participation and Non-Formal Education.
We can offer to the National Network and to all the ALF members our experiences in these fields, such as our practice in the Euro Med cooperation with the Associação A Comunidade Islâmica da Tapada das Mercês e Mem-Martins in the district of Sintra. We will realize also all the effort to be an active member of ALF, sharing our project and activities, applying for the ALF grants and collaborating with the other members in order to realize meaningful project about Euro Med cooperation, intercultural dialogue and citizenship.
During the Long Term Training Course for Euro-Arab Cooperation in Youth Project promoted by the Council of Europe and the League of Arab States, Dínamo took contact with a person of ALF and understood immediately the importance of being part of the Portuguese National Network with its main local partner, the Associação A Comunidade Islâmica da Tapada das Mercês e Mem-Martins (AACITMM) to increase their cooperation at local level and to improve the action for the promotion of pluralism and cultural diversity.
Dínamo and AACITMM work together in different projects in a complementary way. AACITMM has developed a great social work in the multicultural community of Tapada das Mercês giving support in different ways to the migrant people, fighting against the social exclusion and promoting a culture of respect and mutual understanding. Dínamo adds to this cooperation its experience in youth work, also with young migrants and youth at risk, mainly, but not only, in the field of youth participation and Non-Formal Education. Nowadays Dínamo and AACITMM share the same space in the Tapada das Mercês neighborhood giving to the community a daily support.
Dínamo and AACITMM work together, with other public institutions and NGOs, in the community development working group “(I)Nova Tapada” promoting intercultural activities and sharing experiences since 2009. However this group is aware of its limits in term of budget and possibilities. Is exactly for this reason that Dínamo has decided to present this expression of interest to be a member of the Portuguese National Network of ALF. We decided to apply this expression of interest also because ALF offers one of the few possibilities for grants for Euro Med cooperation from an international independent organization.
We strongly believe that, through the support of ALF, we can increase and improve the local cooperation and the community development in order to provide to the local community, in which are represented more than 28 nationalities, the necessary social support in the field of intercultural dialogue, civic participation and democracy.
We want also to join the ALF network to learn more with the other members about Euro-Arab cooperation, sharing experiences and good practices. ALF is a recognized international network in Euro Med cooperation and being a part of it can introduce us and put us in contact with important organizations and NGOs to develop more and better actions and projects. We consider that the cooperation with the ALF and its members will show quickly its results at local level, among the working group and the local community, improving our action and our work for the mutual respect between cultures and to support civil society working for a common future.