Activity sheets from the workshop

YUVA and Fields of View conducted a workshop on Livelihoods and Inclusivity with young persons from the Greater Mumbai metropolitan area between December 21-23, 2020. The objective of the workshop was to introduce the participants to the concept of livelihoods, distinguishing it from the concepts of ‘job’ or ‘career’. Further, participants would be introduced to macro-level policies and trained on techniques to examine and critically analyse public policies. Finally, the event would conclude with the election of the Youth Expert Group (YEG).  

Participants 

The participants had, to different extents, previously been involved with YUVA and their work, and they all belonged to the age group of 18-23 years. While some of them were in the final year of high school, others were either undergraduate college students or recent graduates having joined the workforce. They arrived at the YUVA Centre from various neighbourhoods and towns from around Mumbai. As for the organisers, the workshop was facilitated by Asma, Alicia, and Sachin from YUVA; and Srinidhi and Vaibhav from Fields of View. 

Objectives 

Through the workshop, we sought to achieve the following objectives: 

1. To collect the needs and preferences of the YEG for future policies on livelihoods for young persons. 
2. To obtain feedback on the objectives and functioning of existing policies on livelihoods for young persons. 
3. To gather data on what kind of mechanisms can be developed for monitoring existing policies. 
4. To obtain feedback on the objectives and functioning of existing policies on livelihoods for young persons. 
5. To gather data on what kind of mechanisms can be developed for monitoring existing policies. 
6. To understand the preferred methods of engagement through which the YEG seeks to engage with the policies. 
7. To understand the YEG’s essential requirements for any new policy. 
8. To gather data on the YEG’s nature of engagement while re-articulating policies. 

Outcomes 

For the participants, the activities were designed in such a way so as to achieve the following outcomes: 

1. Young persons will be able to identify specific sub-themes and concepts within livelihoods and inclusivity that are of importance in the short, medium and long-term. 
2. They will be able to understand the purpose of existing policies, identify crucial provisions that make up the policy, and critically analyse their current functioning. 
3. They will be able to understand the purpose of existing policies, identify crucial provisions that make up the policy, and critically analyse their current functioning. 
4. They will be able to identify different methods of engagement with policies, the stakeholders that need to be involved, and choose their preferred methods of engagement in the short and medium-terms.  
5. They will be able to articulate new policies on livelihoods or re-articulate existing policies with a clear understanding of their objectives, target group, and enforceability. 
6. They will be able to translate their prioritised subject areas under livelihoods to specific schemes or policies that help them achieve the goals identified in Session 1. 

Activity sheets on priority areas

Observations and Reflections 

• The participants maintained extremely high levels of energy over all 3 days of the workshop.   
• They engaged with new concepts from the first session onwards. Through their questions and doubts, they were able to explain the concepts to their peers by the end of the session. These concepts included the difference between ‘livelihoods’, ‘jobs’, and ‘careers’; the difference between ‘policy’, ‘rules’, ‘schemes’, ‘law’, and ‘rights. 
• Even while engaging with dense policy documents for the first time, they understood the main features of any policy and were able to apply this training to analyse certain crucial policies on livelihoods in India, such as the National Urban Livelihoods Mission. They were able to understand the main objectives of any policy and, by the end of the workshop, could question whether the proposed activities of the policy could achieve the stated objectives or not. They also framed policies for issues within livelihoods they deemed to be of highest priority. 
• The participants understood the basics of primary and secondary research, and were able to identify the need for different research methods in varied contexts. Many of them have previous experience with surveys and other research instruments, allowing them to independently lead research efforts.    
• They traced the changing nature of livelihoods over the last two centuries, highlighting the changes in livelihoods within their own families.  
• Based on their previous experiences, they were able to identify the role of certain identity markers, such as gender, caste, and religion, in access to livelihood opportunities and differences in livelihood security and peer interactions.  
• The participants themselves elected a group of (6 for the time being, since they equally voted in a sixth member twice!) persons to form the YEG. 

Looking Ahead 

Through the workshop, we accomplished our objectives of gathering data that will help us develop a relevant and useful toolkit, which can be used by the YEG members in their communities. Over the next few months, we will use the learnings from the workshop to develop this toolkit. We will also ramp up our interaction with the YEG, outlining the kind of efforts they will be undertaking in their communities. They will also help define the aspects of livelihood that the project will direct its focus during the remaining period.