REV 01. Timeline Tool to Analyse  Historical and Social Processes

Introduction

Designing or reviewing your NSO’s Youth Programme cannot be done without considering the social, economic, and cultural context in which it is inserted. In this way, the Youth Programme is a product that answers the needs and interests of certain people, at a specific time, in a specific place.

The timeline tool is intended to help you identify the relationship between historical and social processes and the most relevant events that occur within your NSO. The timeline is a useful tool to build knowledge and to organise information that we consider relevant. It orders a sequence of events or milestones on a particular topic in such a way that the timing between events can be easily seen and understood. Use it to visualise the relationship between the most important events that occurred at a sociocultural level in your country – such as the common habits, patterns, and beliefs – and what happened in your NSO at the same time.

Objectives

This tool is intended to

• identify the main events that occurred at the social level in your country and those that occurred in your NSO.
• establish a connection between the events that occurred at the social level in your country and those that occurred in your NSO.

This tool is intended for

• the team responsible for designing or reviewing your NSO’s  Youth Programme.
• participants in studies or discussions (seminars, workshops, etc.) organised by your NSO when designing or reviewing its Youth Programme.

How to use this tool

1. Prepare a timeline that includes relevant dates and events that have taken place in your country (perhaps also in the world), and the relevant events that occurred at the same time in your NSO.
2. Analyse the relationship between the events that occurred in your country and the events that occurred within your NSO.

To develop a timeline

1. Define the period of time you consider necessary to analyse. It is important to have a vision of the short, medium, and long term to identify trends and recurring events.
2. Identify the historical facts you are interested in knowing and analysing in a comparative way.
3. Select the most relevant events and dates in your country and identify the most relevant events that took place at the same time in your NSO.
4. Prepare a timeline and organise the sequence in an orderly manner, being careful to show these events on a scaled graph. For example, 1 cm equals 1 year.
5. Put the dates and the data on the chart, stating the information as simply as possible while at the same time ensuring it is understandable.
6. Add images to the timeline to help improve understanding. 

   Other possible actions

7. Summarise the comparisons made to identify the degree of relevance between your country’s dynamics and that of your NSO.
8. Extend the timeline into the future, estimating possible plans for your country as well as preventive and proactive measures to be taken by your NSO.