persistent development of skills important for participation and active citizenship

The results of both research strands provide evidence that E+/YiA projects contribute to the development of skills important for participation and active citizenship, and that these developments are persistent. Several results of the online survey study suggest a gain in participation and citizenship skills of participants. There is a small positive shift between the first and the second survey waves in the self-assessment of the participants (median levels change from 7.3 to 7.7; in the third and fourth survey waves the levels reach 7.6). In contrast, the control group sample does not exhibit any changes in between the measurements. The same is the case for detailed subgroup analyses, whilst in the participant sample there are several subgroups that indicate an increase between measurements, this does not apply to the control group sample. The primary increase between the first survey (before the project) and second survey (after the project) and a rather constant median level for the second, third and fourth survey suggests strong evidence that this increase of skills is actually caused by the project, in particular because the self-assessment of the control group does not change over all four survey waves. Furthermore, the participants themselves indicate rather high skill gains as an effect of the project when asked about this during the second, third and fourth survey wave. The median scores are rather high between 6.7 and 7.3. [...]According to the interview study, participants benefit from the project in the first instance by becoming aware of participation and citizenship skills they already possess, and by developing and deepening them through application in the project. To a smaller extent, interviewees also acquire new skills important for participation and active citizenship. The difference between acquiring new skills on one side and becoming aware and deepening already existing skills on the other side cannot be distinguished exactly. The interviews show a learning effect for the ability of individuals to negotiate successfully with other people (e.g. to cooperate, to communicate, to come to a compromise). The strongest effect can be seen for project management skills, whilst there is little evidence in the interviews that ‘discussing political issues seriously’, ‘keeping up with changes’ and ‘forming independent opinions’ are fostered through project participation.