Coletiva Jovem (Youths do Collective): a research and action project aimed at supporting production-oriented youth groups in the outskirts of São Paulo and Buenos Aires

Abstract

Work is a dimension that is present in young people's lives in Latin America, combined or not with academic studies. The persistent high rates of unemployment and the number of young people who neither study nor work - particularly those with lower income, those living in a socioeconomic context of high vulnerability, and women in general - pose challenges both vis-à-vis academic investigations and for the construction of public policies. This project aims to map and identify youth groups and institutions based in São Paulo and Buenos Aires that work with young people to build alternatives for social and labor inclusion. It also aims to develop experiences related to the implementation of support centers in both cities and the creation of networks of NGOs, public agencies, locally-based groups and organizations, which will provide resources, tools and services and coordinate their allocation, aiming to foster the creation of jobs and income, and strengthen education and training for young people. During the first stage, a qualitative survey will be conducted through interviews with local managers, by sending out questionnaires to 100 young people from three districts of the province of Buenos Aires and to 200 young people in two districts of São Paulo, and by setting up discussion groups with youth formed based on analysis of the questionnaires. The project will also include the participation of other young people from these cities in the planning, execution and analysis of results following a Peer-to-Peer Research methodology, already developed by FLACSO Argentina. It is hoped that the results may: 1) contribute to the production of knowledge about the relations between labor and youth in the fields of Education, Social Sciences and Public Management; 2) contribute to the elaboration and implementation of public policies, focusing on the creation of jobs and income for young people. (AU)