3E by WCNE – A capacity building seminar for young NGO leaders to equip, encourage and to empower the youth on their rights and role as citizens in a democracy.

All too often, urban environments – with impersonal streetscapes, lack of community interaction on the street and inequitable mobility systems – tend to alienate and isolate young people from one another and from local institutions. There is an urgent need for more youth participation in decisions that affect the local physical and social environment that we live in each day. Policy-makers and organisations at all levels in Europe have recognized the urgency of rethinking our urban environments to be more inclusive of young people in particular. Civil disturbances in European cities have highlighted need for urban development strategies that reduce social exclusion and actively involve people of all social and cultural groups in decision-making.

Welcome to the how-to guide for our seminar in York, United Kingdom, held in June 2010, to bring together emerging youth leaders in our international network to study strategies for strengthening social cohesion across cultural boundaries with the aim of equipping, encouraging and empowering them to promote participation and active citizenship in sustainable transportation policies.

Through the exchange of ideas, networking and the creation of new cross-border projects we have strengthen the international ties between the European youth NGOs and fostered intercultural, non-formal learning in a multicultural framework; by monitoring and promoting local mobility, transport and urban development projects across Europe we will highlight the need for urban development to strengthen social cohesion and to become more inclusive of young people.