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The objective of the Route to Youth is to show the good examples of how youth takes part in society and develops initiatives which allow its assertion, autonomy and self fulfilment.

The first campaign was aimed at juvenile associability in respect of entrepreneurship and education, showing best practices where the spirit of initiative, capacity to assume risk and solidarity would be positively reflected in such differing sectors as agriculture, enterprise and the student milieu.

The second campaign of the Route to Youth intends to call attention to juvenile associability of a cultural and artistic nature as the catalyst for the social and economic emancipation of Portuguese youth, valuing art as one way of social reform, and as an opening of new professional prospects and self fulfilment.

Juvenile associability which works on and uses art and culture is also a valuable tool for community integration, whether in large urban centres or in the rural milieu, since it aggregates groups through a collective identity, values local culture and provides a strong impulse for the training of young people.

Artistic creation also promotes citizenry. It is through such organizations that volunteering, a powerful tool for social integration and individual promotion, is furthered and given incentive, and the real intergenerational alliance which is frequently established in the area of associative activities dedicated to art and culture should be strongly underlined.

Several generations are found in juvenile areas, since the spirit of solidarity and learning does not thrive on exclusion but on mutual exchange and dependency, creating a human enrichment that is projected on the new generations.

Juvenile associations and the good examples of intergenerational sharing and learning included in this Route are areas of creative freedom, of civic responsibility and great human ambition, bringing out fertile centres of value, of art and culture which must be recognized and stimulated.

There has to be belief in the strength of youth organizations and their mustering capability.

Non formal education, through associability, is a means to combat individualism and to teach values of participation, initiative and solidarity, thus establishing a network of personal relationships based on respect and responsibility.

These are the values that permit progress and sharing, from which benefits arise for both the associates and the whole community.

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