CENTAR ZA RURALEN RAZVOJ - JIE STRUGA ZDRUZENJE

opis organizacji

The Association Centre for Rural Development – SEE (CRD-SEE) is an NGO from Struga, North Macedonia. CRD – SEE develops ideas into projects that meet the needs of the local youth and with that fulfil its work requirements. The main target group is local and youth from rural and cross-border areas aged 16-30.
We aim to:
- improve the conditions of all the people who live in North Macedonia’s rural areas in general, and of the young people in particular, mainly focusing on the western part of the country;
- promote tolerance, inclusion, peaceful communication and coexistence among minority groups by fostering cross-border cooperation between ours and neighbouring countries;
- honour our traditional heritage while adopting EU values;
- support active citizenship;
- develop rural areas to open employment possibilities for young people, and inspire them to engage in entrepreneurship themselves. Being competitive at the labour market, as well as taking on an entrepreneurial role will empower youth living in rural areas, support their personal and social development ultimately improving their situation.
- raise awareness about climate change and promote sustainable living.
Our values are: human rights, liberties and dignity; equality between women and men, and people of all races, backgrounds, education, religious, social and political views; youth citizenship and participation; creativity and social dialogue in overcoming conflict; intercultural exchange and preservation of traditional arts and culture; preservation of the natural world around us.
We advocate for education of young people and lifelong learning for all people. To achieve that, we raise awareness among all the citizens in our local community. We develop ideas into projects that involve youth and youth workers' mobility for ours and our partners’ activities to connect young people internationally and expose them to all the richness of our country, Europe and the world; to support intercultural exchange and to foster openness, tolerance and learning in every way possible.
It is our firm belief that investing in our youth education (formal or non-formal) will result in prosperity for them and the whole community, so we facilitate their active participation in the community.
CRD – SEE’s team has been involved into Erasmus, Youth in Action, and other EU programmes for nearly 20 years – since their teenage years. With such a long experience in a multitude of roles, we are capable to make a valuable contribution by providing our input and insight, applying our skills and knowledge, and making objective and constructive evaluation of the learning process of the people with whom we work. We are drivers of progress through learning.
Established as a grassroots organisation to deal with issues affecting young people from rural areas, CRD – SEE has contributed significantly to the region over the years and widened its scope of work. Hence, today we work with rural and urban youth; have excellent cooperation with local and regional organisations/associations and state institutions.
The majority of the activities of CRD – SEE refer to several main areas:
• Supporting informal and non-formal education through intercultural learning and international mobility activities;
• Strengthening civil society, citizenship and democracy in rural areas;
• Supporting the active role of youngsters in promoting rural environments;
• Promotion of rural tourism and agriculture;
• Cross-border cooperation;
• Facilitating multiethnic, multilingual, multicultural and multi-religious exchange;
• Promotion of culture and art;
• Underpinning gender equality and human rights;
• Promotion of European values and principles;
• Raising awareness about climate change and promoting sustainable living.

The activities include: youth and youth workers’ mobility (youth exchanges, training courses…), promotion and facilitation of cross-border and international cooperation, debates, campaigns, promotion of Erasmus+ and EVS in local context, promotion of tourism, hosting and sending volunteers abroad (Spain, Indonesia, Cameroon, Bulgaria, etc.). We have hosted and sent over 300 volunteers over the years and have 36 active volunteers now.
CRD – SEE does not work only in Erasmus+ but in Europe for Citizens, Creative Europe, the European Youth Foundation, and other programmes too.
Our active projects include:
1. promotion of volunteering in times of the COVID-19 pandemic (under the EYF of the Council of Europe);
2. training on entrepreneurship among rural youth while preserving the autochthonous PELAGONIA sheep breed in cross-border areas, debates and promotion of international cooperation and mobility (under IPA)
3. support of a local NGO given our entrepreneurship expertise and long-term youth work in the implementation of their own project under IME;
4. cooperation with the Red Cross for a future local project we are currently developing on the topic of youth participation and inclusion.