Projects in 2014

Here is the list of projects, where Seiklejate Vennaskond was partner in 2014 :)

Training Course "Peers-to-Professionals", Belgium (December 2014)

A 4-day pilot training defined as a revised, quality-oriented version of an EPTO training enabled peer trainers and youth workers to develop professional training skills within and beyond EPTO network. All participants gained professional training skills in the fields of pedagogy and learning theory, group dynamics and communication, self-management and attitude. The approach was highly participatory and interactive, using non formal education techniques, but also developmental psychology methods (for instance a session on group dynamics), skills management, nonviolent communication tools, change management, etc.

Participants gained professional training skills in the fields of pedagogy and learning theory (inner diversity, learning and human development, learning environment, adaptability, etc.)
Participants aquired group dynamics and communication knowledge (managing a group and a process, transforming conflicts, leading debates and presentations, adjusting verbal, non-verbal and intercultural communication, etc.)
Participants learnt self-management and trainer attitude (commitment to values and quality as a trainer, team work, problem-solving, critical thinking, etc.)
Participants were certified as an EPTO professional trainers and could co-facilitate EPTO Awareness trainings and Train-the-Trainers at European level

Project took place in Brussels, Belgium from 7th to 12th December 2014.

Training course “Empowering European Youth Workers: Portraying Migration through Cartoon Drawings”, Germany (December 2014)

Training course “Empowering European Youth Workers: Portraying Migration through Cartoon Drawings” organized by Mostar Friedensprojekt e.V. took place in Potsdam (Germany), from 5th until 14th of December 2014. 36 participants from 15 countries took part in this training course.
The main topic of the training course was the phenomenon of migration, its significance and meaning for our European society throughout history. Participants discussed and analyzed the migration process, which is comprised of any kind of movement of individuals or group of people (with particular focus on refugees, displaced persons, uprooted people and economic migrants). They got to know the situations in other European countries as well as about the main actual issues in the whole Europe. The purpose of this training course was to analyze and discuss such issues as lack of personal or community support mechanisms for migrants, which can be exposed to racism, xenophobia and discrimination.

Youth Exchange "Re-Act through Art", Bulgaria (November 2014)

The idea of the Bulgarian Association “Professional Forum for Education” for the international youth project “Re-Act through Art” was to tackle the consumerism as a global problem of contemporary society as whole, and particularly in Europe. The main methods used were related to contemporary art – performances, art installations and video art. Through non-formal educational tools: presentations, discussions, games and different workshops, the participants were encouraged to learn more about consumerism, to realize what this concept involves, to realize the importance of sustainability and conscious consumption, of recycling and reducing waste, etc. After being introduced to the topic, its main characteristics, as well as to the forms of contemporary art, they developed their own creative ideas on how to act upon the issue, how to inform society about it, and to realize a positive change in people’s minds – through art. They organized various actions in the city of Veliko Tarnovo, in order to promote the idea of conscious consumption of goods, in their own way, through the techniques they had learnt. With the knowledge acquired during the youth exchange, the participants were strongly encouraged to organize such actions in their respective home towns and communities as well, in order to ensure the sustainable impact of the project, and to inform more people about the existing problem of excessive consumption of goods.
Project took place from 20th to 30th November 2014 in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.

Youth Exchange "Our Future Together", Romania (November 2014)

“Our Future Together” was a youth exchange that gathered a total of 46 young people from 7 European countries (Romania, Poland, Estonia, Denmark, Turkey, Spain and Latvia) to form a group, exchange knowledge and work together to raise awareness regarding the issues immigrants are confronting with in our societies. The activities took place between 19 and 30 November 2014 in Dorna Arini, a village near the mountain resort Vatra Dornei, in Romania’s historical region Bucovina.
During the project, the participants were involved in different activities that stimulated both individual reflection and group work and also created materials to help disseminate and promote the values and the raising of awareness about immigrants’ issues. There were conversations about cultural differences, discussions about real-life situations and sharing of views.
Read more here: http://ourfuturetogetherblog.wordpress.com/

Training Course "NFe-LEARNING", Spain (November 2014)

Aim: acquisition of skills for the development and use of learning platforms (Moodle), applications and complementary tools, and their usability in non-formal education.
Objectives:
 Make known the Moodle e-learning platform: main features, functions and utilities
 Empowering young people in the use of free software tools that can be used in a training platform
 Creating and training the profile of the "NFe-TUTOR"
 Creating active and participatory methodologies adapted to e-learning and non-formal education
 To know the importance of collaborative learning in e-learning
 Implement knowledge acquired in the training by participants
 Share experiences through Moodle.
When? 8th to 16th November 2014
Where? At GRANADA (Loja)
Who? 4 participants from each association (18-30 years)

European Voluntary Service project "Culture Lab", Italy (November 2014 - November 2015)

This is a new structure and new 5 years project which L'Arcobaleno" as a main coordinator in partnership with 4 other partners is implementing and is financed by regional youth policy European creativity programme Bollenti spiriti. The main aim of this centre is promotion of cultural community life, youth policy and education possibilities in order to activate and enrich local community life. The cultural community centre "Rina Durante" situates in the centre part of the Melendugno city 30 km from Lecce. The cultural centre is 2 floor building is nearly 400 sq.m. There are library, reception and information point, book shop, cafe-bar, workshop and exhibition room, conference hall and a garden here.There are 6 employers who manage this centre through different responsibilities and activities. Regular activities. 3-4 times a week - artistic workshops for children, Italian and foreign language courses, books presentations, meetings with the writers, cultural events, creative informative work in library. The target group is local community (people with fewer opportunities, children, youth and adults).
The work of the volunteers will include:
- support and back-up during the organisation and realization of the project;
- supporting the ordinary work in the library (cataloguing, library loan, activities);
- planning, preparing and organizing the activities of centre;
- helping in designing & creating of print materials (photo & video; PR materials and info-
materials for the public media);
- promoting and disseminating the activities of the centre with advertising campaign (poster,
videoclip, website, web radio, etc.);
- support and organizing afterschool activities for children;
- cleaning and caring of the centre;
- taking part in project in the school and in the L’Arcobaleno rehabilitation centre in Lecce;
- attendance and realizing of public events aimed to popularize and promote ERASMUS+
- programme of EU and EVS among the italian youngsters

Estonian volunteer is in the project form 03.11.2014 - 03.11.2015.

European Voluntary Service project "HEAL", Romania (November 2014 - April 2014)

With HEAL project we aim to train 14 EVS volunteers as HEALTH promoters and show the new age opportunities for being healthy for the local community. The volunteers will learn how to eat healthy, how to do efficient sport, how to make a massage as treatment, what are the benefits of the medical gymnastics and kinetotherapy and howto practice them, what is chiropracticand what they need to make from this a real profession, how brain works and why is important to really know yourself, what are the best ways to socialize and fit into society. They will know at the end of the project how to use these skills for themselves and how to use them in helping others around them in improving their life.
From Estonia 3 volunteers participate in the project.

Youth Exchange “Playground.gr”, Greece (October 2014)

“Playground.gr” was a youth exchange that will brought together 36 young people from six European countries (Latvia, Romania, Czech Republic, Turkey, Estonia and Greece) for ten days, 22 October till 1 November 2014. During the preparation each group prepared a short presentation, (video, power point, interactive game) about the traditional games and table games in their countries. During the project, the groups had an active role: every day one country group was responsible for keeping the timetable, making photos, organizing the evening free time activities. We worked in multicultural groups using non formal education’s and interactive methods, like icebreaking games, presentation of the organizations, intercultural nights, workshops in intercultural groups, discussions, visits in local context. English was the working language of the project. We identified the similarities and the differences in the games of the participant countries and through workshops and dialogue we used them for creating our own multicultural Euro Games. We found creative ways to design and paint the Euro games on the yard of Prinos primary school. We found ideas of advertising the program,street actions, poster making etc. The participant had the chance to cooperate with school children and the local community.Through Euro games the young people had the possibility to learn by playing, communicate with each other and find more information about the European countries. The aim of the project was the empowerment of the dialogue between young people from different countries and from different backgrounds. Working in multicultural groups they had the chance to meet each other, create strong friendship bonds, improve their foreign language skills and learn to cooperate and share their knowledge. They came closer to the Greek way of living and mentality, by contacting locals and kids. Furthermore, they improved their creativity and knowledge on the European values. At the end of the project we presented the results in an open air celebration, inviting the local community and the school kids.

Youth Exchange “Connecting through Science”, Czech Republic (October 2014)

The Erasmus+: Youth Exchange “Connecting through Science” aimed especially at youths who were interested in the world around them, who were interested in science, who were looking for an opportunity to experience other European countries and who wanted to learn something about science as well as active citizenship. This project encouraged participation of young disadvantaged people (special needs, learning difficulties, socio-economic status or cultural differences). The main aims of this youth exchange were the following:
1) to increase mobility opportunities in order to discover new cultures, traditions and lifestyles (learning from others)
2) to improve the level of key competences and skills of young people in order to enable them to expand their career perspectives (growing as individuals)
3) the presentation of science as a means for developing participants’ abilities and competences using non-formal and informal educational methods (I am impressed by nature + learning through game)
The project aimed at the personal development of participants: supporting them in expressing their own opinion and presenting their own ideas, views and expanding their mental horizons. During the six working days of this youth exchange, the participants worked with the following topics: integration, sharing ideas and experience, bioethics, physical and visual impairments or disabilities, interactive genetics and active citizenship. All the topics and activities lead to developing the key competences and to achieve all the mentioned goals, methods of non-formal education, improvising the disabilities on ourselves (in order to gain empathy) and discussion with experts in the field of science were used.
Project took place from 24th to 31st October 2014 in Lednice, Czech Republic.

Youth Exchange "A Fairy Europe", Italy (October 2014)

This international youth exchange, lasted from 17th to 26th of October 2014, in Omegna (Quarna Sotto), Italy. It promoted the exchange of fairy tales from the childhood of young people from 4 different european countries. The youth exchange program brought the educational and healing value of fairy tales and storytelling to the young peole and helped them to confront on their cultural identity, and european common values. In fact a project dedicated to the legends helped the young people to understand the formation of the European Union and to demonstrate it in a very creative way. Activities that were used in the project reviewed the main concern of legends and fairy tales directly related to Europe. In the described frame participants confronted on how fairy tales deliver messages of growth and transformation of their societies. Especially the young participants looked at how traditional stories can teach them how to overcome challenges and help them cope with their feelings and future challenges. In the frame of the project 28 young people and their leaders creatively cooperated through story telling and learnt how to listen and develop empathy towards others. During 9 days of workshop, debates, games, artworks the young people created an art exhibition (theatre, comics, video), which enabled participants and the public to reflect and learn more on community values promoted trough traditional and modern fairy tales. The final outcome was a European fairy tale (a fictional legend, in which the main characters were italian, Polish, etc.) as a vehicle for telling about traditional and modern values relevant for the present and the future of the local and european communities. At the end of the exchange the group presented a final performance of the fairy tale at a local primary school in Omegna in front of school children and their parents and other members of the community. Through the project activities participants were introduced into the creativity by exploring the connection of the creative process (creativity mechanisms and phases), the creative person (traits and characteristics) and the creative product (practical application). They learnt about creative problem solving as a personal and leadership skill and the use of creativity to spread civic message in their local communities.

Youth Exchange "Fusion Youth!", Spain (October 2014)

Fusion Youth! was a multilateral Youth Exchange in the north of Madrid, from 21st to 30th October 2014, in which 40 young people from five countries in the EU area (Spain, Italy, Romania, Croatia and Estonia), aged between 18 and 25 years worked for ten days with the issue of UNEMPLOYMENT, CREATIVITY and ENTREPRENEURSHIP as background activities. These issues were tackled through dynamic animation, participation and proposal, in order to be dynamic activities supported expression techniques, verbal and nonverbal communication, etc., which provided it with dynamism to the Exchange at the same time contributed to the strengthening and transmission of values and experiences to the participants in the thematic identified. Some of the activities included were: discussions, roundtables about youth unemployment, creating an informative blog and a video-blog, creating an informative fanzine in participants' own languages. All this, through games and activities that promoted the integration and participation of all participants.

Youth Exchange “Social Inclusion+: No Socially Excluded Young People in “Erasmus+”!”, Bulgaria (October 2014)

We prepared a project called “Social Inclusion+: No Socially Excluded Young People in “Erasmus+”!” related to the topic of social inclusion and exploring the opportunities the new programme offers. We explored the the major socially excluded groups of young people across Europe and tried to find ideas for future cooperation projects for social inclusion for these young people. For 6 days we exchanged best practices and projects we have implemented on the topic. We presented the new “Erasmus+” programme and worked together for the establishment of strategic partnerships in the filed of youth. There was an intercultural night when each of the participating groups represented its culture, cuisine and traditions. In the course of the daily discussions, energizers and role plays the participants developed intercultural consciousness, tolerance and improved their socio-cultural skills.
The exchange took place in the period 19.-26.10.2014.

Seminar “Quality in Peer Education”, Hungary (October 2014)

A 4-day seminar gathered 30 participants trained during the previous activities delivered by EPTO as well as representatives of youth-serving organisations willing to implement quality peer education projects. The seminar was dedicated to coaching and supporting youth and youth workers in the implementation and development of their own peer education project. 10 existing peer education projects were selected. Each project had to be represented by minimum 2, maximum 4 people coming from the same organisation/informal group. Professional trainers and coaches supported and accompanied participants in the development of their own quality peer education projects. The main goals of this forum were:
• To increase participants skills in project development and implementation;
• To increase participants ability to mainstream quality and sustainability into their projects;
• To provide coaching and support in the development of quality peer education projects;
• To open a reflexion on what is quality in peer education;
• To share good practices and be inspired by other initiatives;
• To help participants evaluating existing peer education projects.
We achieved above mentioned goals by informative and interactive sessions, working groups and practice, peer lead activities and discussions, coaching and support, participants’ reflections and evaluations.
Seminar took place from 19th to 24th October 2014 in Budapest, Hungary.

Training Course "Training with Thought", Croatia (October 2014)

The main aim of this project was to join 5 of the European youth organizations in the effort to build capacity of their trainers through networking and exchange of knowledge and methodology. 20 youth workers from 5 different countries (Portugal, Finland, Italy, Estonia and Croatia) participated in a 10 day long "training of trainers“. Hands-on activities, real-life examples and skill-building exercises, including a 2-day kayaking expedition, were followed by trainers' soft skills development (communication, feedback, debriefing, facilitation, reflection and evaluation) as they are crucial for integration of the participants' outdoor experiences into a deeper self-understanding. The result of the project 20 youth workers were enabled to successfully hold workshops and 1-2 day trainings for youth of different cultural and personal backgrounds. Methods used were standard Outward Bound methods. This includes workshops, teamwork, creative work, teambuilding activities, commitment activities, activities of trust, role plays, imaginary scenarios, problem solving activities and evaluation activities. In the outdoor part of the training different sports and skills (low ropes and a 2-day kayaking expedition) were used as tools of learning through experience, discovering one’s possibilities, facing one’s fears.
Project took place from 6th to 16th October 2014 in Sv Filip I Jakov, Croatia.

Youth Exchange "Green Action", Romania (October 2014)

Green Action was an international youth exchange that took place in Poiana Negrii, a beautiful mountain village situated in the North of Romania, part of the historical region Bucovina. For 9 working days between 5 and 15 October 2014, a total of 38 young people from Poland, Romania, Macedonia, Estonia and Italy met in order to share experiences, learn and focus on realistic actions that promote ecology and raise awareness about harmful impact of man against the environment. Participants acknowledged the importance of good practices in ecology by doing concrete actions in remote mountainous and rural areas of the region, using methods specific to the non-formal education field and working as a team through values such as multiculturalism and mutual respect. The aim of our project was to establish links between participants and locals, which may become aware of how it is possible to preserve the natural environment and reduce harmful practices after we triggered their attention through the specially designed Green Actions (cleaning, flashmob). The main objectives of this youth exchange were the realization of a variety of Green Actions meant to promote and underline good practices that have a direct impact on the local people’s mentality and behavior, the interaction between the participants and youngsters from the local communities and the involvement of local authorities and other stake-holders as part of activities in the preparation, implementation and follow-up phases.
Read more: https://greenactionblog.wordpress.com/

Training Course "Ilha Afortunada, Ilha da Esperança", Portugal (September 2014)

The overall theme of the training course was to ensure youth workers knowledge on the greatest social, economical and environmental benefits for future generations through informal and nonformal learning about sustainable management and development of natural resources and about preservation and restoration of the natural heritage. The name of the project reflects both its topic as well as the venue. This project gathered a group of 26 youth workers from Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Greece, Estonia, Lithuania and Italy. The development of many countries based on forced, irrational, pollution generating and exploitation of natural resources industry as well as intensive agriculture based on chemicals proved to be unsustainable over time. The positive effects were on the short-term and on the long term they became inhibitor factors for the development. Through such actions affecting biodiversity, was drastically reduced the stability of national economies and nature, and were thus affected the interests of future generations. Madeira through its rapid economic and demographic development in the past decades offers a good example of changes due to human activity. The problems that Madeira inhabitants face are general problems that can be found also in the countries participating to this project. Here are our main objectives for this project were:
- Introduction and understanding of the forest ecosystem and the acknowledgement of the social, economic and environmental benefits of the forest and natural heritage;
- Raising awareness on the role of forests in combating climate changing and the preserving of the ecological values through practical activities;
- To introduce the topic of poverty and social exclusion with focus on youth empowerment;
- Experience exchange by organizing a thematic trip and meetings with local people and authorities;
- Disseminate information about the project and pass forward accurate information about the forest and its role in human development;
- To meet experts on the topics related to the socio-economics and environment and to learn how we can face and surpass the challenges of our times and how to achieve sustainability for the sake of future generations;
- Exploring different approaches to project's evaluation on the international level.

International Summit "Mobilising YOUth: Social Entrepreneurship for Peace", The Netherlands (August 2014)

24 aspiring social entrepreneurs for peace from Africa and Europe met for a week long intensive International Summit to consolidate their business / project plans, shared lessons learned, explored concepts of social entrepreneurship for peace based on practical examples from the field through study visits, and got to know their mentors. Activities aimed to build upon and put into practice the skills and knowledge from the Regional Trainings and online platform. During the International Summit, the participants were matched with a mentor to receive feedback and advice before the Pitching for Peace event. This daylong event, Pitching for Peace, begun in the morning with the pitch. Each budding entrepreneur had 5 minutes to pitch their idea to the panel. The top three ‘pitches’ were rewarded with a grant of 800 euro to assist with the implementation phase of their projects. The next best three ideas received 400 euro. The prizes recognised the efforts of young aspiring social entrepreneurs who, by this stage, had been working for six months to develop and implement social ventures in their communities. In the afternoon, the venue opened up as a social entrepreneur bazaar. Each of the 24 participants had a small stall with information/pictures/products of their venture. University students, entrepreneurs, and youth members of local project partners were invited as guests to the bazaar.

Youth Exchange "Eco-employment", Georgia (August 2014)

The aim of this project was to involve young people to take the responsibility of their own lifes and teach them new skills which they can use in their future life. During the exchange the participants learnt how to make an ecological soap. The workshop was a great chance for young people to meet and know better each other and to learn new things as well. The participants received set of information how to set up and run business.
We to created non- formal working enviroment which enabled the participants to gain new skills, to be competitive at labour market and chance to start their own businesses. Moreover one of the goals was to influence them to be more active citizens raising awareness of difficult situation of youth from marginalized groups and to provide access for unemployed youth to YIA opportunities, to empower youth activity in society and labour events.
Main activities included soap made technology, design, thematic workshops on access to employment as well as the position of marginalized groups, intercultural workshops on inclusive society, presentations, discussions, simulations and similar. The participants gained more information about rural life, they made tours to interesting and historical places in the neighbourhood , so they got familiar with Georgian culture and nature.
Youth exchange took place from 24th to 31st August 2014 in Zugdidi, Georgia.

Youth Exchange "Back to the Nature", Germany (August 2014)

Experiential learning is one of the most important methods in our NGO b-free. With no other method you will have such a team spirit, individual self-development and unforgettable memories. So our NGO had the idea to mix our way of experiential learning with inter-cultural learning. During this project participants learnt the basics of behaviour in the nature, like cooking on fire, sleeping outside, building a cottage without any nails or tools and many many more things in a big international and inter-cultural group.
Project took place from 16th to 24th August 2014 in Hemer, Germany.

Training Course "Lifelong; Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Innovation", Turkey (August 2014)

The aim of the Training Course was to prevent youth unemployment and to serve economic and socio-cultural development through revealing the entrepreneurship potential of young people in economic, social and cultural fields and the spread of the entrepreneurship culture on young people. In the project scope, various trainings, interviews, workshop activities, technical and cultural tours and visionary project performances/workshop activities were held in Kars, Turkey for 7 days in the name of actualizing the entrepreneurship potential in every field and the socialization by improving the communication skills of the participants.
Project took place from 11th to 17th August 2014 in Kars, Turkey.

Training Course "The Life Before Us", Germany (July 2014)

During our last very successful theatre training courses we realized, that not only acting and discussing about theatre plays, but also writing them ourselves is a powerful tool to strengthen the capacities of the anti-discrimination youth work. So, this time weorganized a new training course for multipliers, which focuses on play writing techniques: How to set a context for a play, how to create an interesting character and character groups, how to develop the story … and how to make it all work. We explored traditional but also new methods, how this can be used in your youth work.
Training course took place from 25th July to 2nd August 2014, in Potsdam, Germany.

Youth Exchange “The X factor”, Armenia (June 2014)

Youth Exchange “The X factor” was 9-day project for young people from different countries. Some people are better at understanding some things than others! In 1983 development psychologist Howard Gardner proposed the theory of multiple intelligences. He claimed that our intelligence or ability to understand the world around us is complex and can't be measured with an IQ test. Mix of outdoor activities, dance exercises, problem solving initiatives, artistic searches, guided visualizations, team work and group tasks, creative writing exercises and simulations helped participants to understand and enhance each of the intelligences.

We aimed:

to invite young people to explore their learning styles, their strengths, talents and their potential
raise their awareness of who they are and what they are capable of
to contribute to young people's personal development and expand their professional opportunities
to help them to set up learning and career goals by creating a safe atmosphere for non-formal learning
to develop participants' life-long learning competencies, self-awareness and promote active and creative participation of young people in processes and events around them.

Project took place from 22nd June to 1st July 2014 in Tsakhkadzor, Armeenia.

European Voluntary Service project “Thracian Heritage”, Bulgaria (June-August 2015)

The topic of the archaeological project was the ancient Thracian cultural heritage. The project took place in four significant archaeological sites - “Sboryanovo” reserve, emporion, Pistirus in Vetren (near Pazardzhik) in 2013 and an area in Velingrad called ‘Sveti Iliya’ and Ahtopol in 2014. The duration of the project was totally 15 months. During the third session of the project in the summer of 2014 the volunteers excavated in the antique part of Ahtopol, a town at the seaside, starting from 15th June till 15th July 2014. After the work in Ahtopol finished, excavations continued in August in the Western Rhodopi mountains – the birthplace of the mythical musician Orpheus. The focus of the excavations there was a Thracian sacred place. It lasted from 16th July till 15th August 2014. In the beginning of the EVS activity, from 20th to 24th June an On-arrival training took place in Burgas. In the period between the two stages of fieldwork there were preparatory activities.
The activities for volunteers included:

fieldwork with professional archaeologists (digging, object cleaning, map developing geophysical measurements, photography)
historical restorations (Thracian feast, games, rituals, clothes, etc)
educational visits to places related to the Thracian history
drawing and describing archaeological findings
getting to know the ancient customs of the local people
reconstructions
keeping an inventory and archaeological records
thematic lectures and presentationscultural nights with presentations of each country; introduction of participants, countries and their most important archaeological discoveries
camping (at the seaside or in the mountain)

Training Course "Together We Are Power", Georgia (June 2014)

“Together We Are Power!” was an intercultural meeting which included a training course, a workshop and study visits. It will started on June 8, 2014 and last for 8 days. The project was carried out in Kobuleti, which is the Georgian Black Sea Riviera in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Georgia. In spite of many efforts, gender equality and sexual education in Europe still faces problems. Essential problem is that societies don’t understand importance of equal treatment of man and woman. Gender equality is the founding value of the EU and we still face gaps in legislation and participation of women in social, political and economic life. Second problematic issue is vague perceptions of society of sex and gender. Young people in Europe needs more formal and non-formal education in order to understand better human sexual anatomy, sexual mainstreaming and orientations in order to build tolerance towards LGBTQ society. The project was designed to enrich participants’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and values on gender equality and sexual orientations; provide theoretical course on human sexuality; discuss problems of equality treatment between man and woman; promote gender equality beyond EU, especially in the Post Soviet countries; generate ideas and exchange view how to combat intolerance attitudes towards LGBTQ society in Europe; organize discussions on global diversity and set a content-based informal network as a follow up project.
OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of our project were:
- to enrich knowledge of young people on gender equality and human sexuality;
- to promote equality and human rights based on gender identity and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunities;
- to build cultural bridges between youth workers and launch networking on tolerance and human rights;
- to exchange best practices, views, knowledge and experience on protection of LGBTQ Rights;
- to build informal network and plan a follow up project.

Training Course "Activate Maintain Reactivate", Georgia (June 2014)

The main purpose and goal of the organizers of this training course was to bring the values and benefits that volunteering offers to the youngsters of the partner organizations involved in this training. Volunteering is one of the most rewarding ways and trough volunteering one can make a real difference to people living in the toughest circumstances. Most people volunteer because they want to give something back and find they get much more in return. Volunteering often is a foundation for a long-term, sustainable solution of the challenge the community faces. Still, nothing compares with the satisfaction of translating generosity into practical, life-changing achievements. International volunteering activities and initiatives require a serious deal of organization, coordination and management skills in order to implement the initiative properly. Thus, this TC provided the participants with skills and knowledge of the two main aspects - theoretical knowledge needed to promote volunteering and recruit volunteers and organizations skills to be a part of an international team that will put into operation international volunteering schemes and ideas. The social capital generated by volunteering plays a key role in economic regeneration of any society. Where poverty is endemic to an area, poor communities lack friends and neighbors able to help. Thus, voluntary mutual aid or self-help is an important safety net. This model works well within a state because there is a national solidarity in times of adversity and more prosperous groups will usually make sacrifices for the benefit of those in need.
Training course took place from 4th to 12th June 2014 in Kobuleti, Georgia.

Training Course “Peace Factory”, Macedonia (May 2014)

The aim of the training course was to stimulate active citizenship through raising young’s people competencies needed for successful leadership of volunteering activities/ initiatives/ projects focused on peace building. Training contributed on creating of young peace builders that will take leadership in peace building processes on local, national and international level. It empowered young people to be actively involved in communities’ development and to become promoters of peace building in their local as well as in European society. The training provided practical work, interactive learning based on the participants' needs. Trainers and participants shared innovative approaches, methodologies and tools, and planned new initiatives.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
• To deliver common understanding about peace building in intercultural setting of youngsters with diverse backgrounds and to promote activism for resolving conflicts on national and international level.
• To provide participants with competencies and practical knowledge on leading volunteering initiatives
for peace building.
• To share good practices on international level about peace, non‐violence and tolerance among youth.
• To empower participants to multiply the effects of this training course in their organizations and to increase the other young people’s capacities to deal with, manage, and prevent conflicts in youth volunteering activities/initiatives/projects. The training gathered participants from youth organizations from Europe that work in field of active citizenship, peace building and conflict resolution on local, national and/or European and international level. Training course took place from 15th to 22nd May 2014, in Bitola, Macedonia.

Youth Exchange "Colourful Europe", Greece (May 2014)

Main objectives of the project were:
- To discuss and popularize our traditional values – traditional art and culture;
- To discuss current situation and future of EU.
Therefore, specific objectives were:
- To make participants to share their cultural and artistic values, also to learn new art techniques;
- To make participants to learn about and share their experiences, knowledge and opinions about EU, the current situation in EU, our possible actions for successful and strong future of EU in general
- To motivate participants of the exchange to be more active EU citizens and citizens at general;
- To learn about other cultures, to learn the importance to be aware of different cultures and to find out what connects so many different cultures and nationalities in one European Union;
- To involve EU topics in artistic expressions, in that way to share their ideas for better future of EU;
- To involve local communities in discussion with participants of the exchange – to share ideas about EU and our common future.
To reach objectives of the project, participants during the youth exchange activity joined common activities related to EU, art, culture and intercultural dimension. Project involved 30 participants from Greece, Latvia, Slovakia, Estonia and Romania – 5 participants (16-25) and 1 group leader from each country. Implementation of youth exchange was held in village called Koukli, in Epirus region of Greece from 6th to 16th May 2014.

Study Visit “Rural Development Through Entrepreneurship”, Moldova (May 2014)

Study Visit “Rural Development Through Entrepreneurship” aimed to explore the possibilities of developing and running different kind of entrepreneurship activities in rural areas based on share of good experience and reality of the Republic of Moldova. It is well known that the migration from rural to urban areas or to develop countries, special in EECEA region brought the fact that many of the villages remained populated only by old people and children. The investments usually refers to the welfare of particular families and not to an entrepreneurship activity where the money can produce sources for community development and change the rural life into a prosper one. Moldova is one of the countries famous for massive migration to European countries. While many citizens remained to work on the black market some of them turned back home and invested in their communities, these mainly referring to agriculture, social life and manufacturing. We do believe that a Study Visit where young people could get acquainted with the successful examples of rural entrepreneurship, raised the self-esteem of rural young people, can stop the massive migration and motivate those who immigrated to invest in their community. The project was based on the share of good experience alongside the concrete information provided on how to develop an entrepreneurship activity, what are the needed resources for a good start, what kinds of European grants do support rural development and how to put the ideas into practice. The project deeply explored the topic of Global Warming and new technologies offered for ecological entrepreneurship. The project gathered 30 young people from 10 EU and EECA countries from rural or deprived areas who learnt, shared and implemented entrepreneurial ideas when back home. Project took place from 5th to 12th May 2014.

Training Course "Voices 2", Ukraine (April 2014)

VOICES 2 was follow up project. This was a training course for youth workers, youth project managers and volunteers who got introduced to the contexts, forms and tools of social media. Fundamentally changing world! We had to run only to stay on place! New tools to engage with individuals, communities, colleagues, partners, and the world at large are social medias. They become the way to inspire, educate and connect. Youth leaders became familiar with a range of online communication tools. With their knowledge they increased active participation and citizenship of young people, to foster inclusion, to achieve organizational goals and promote their causes. The knowledge acquired was immediately applied as participants developed a concrete social media strategy for their organizations or projects at the end of the course. The TC was held in Odesa from 19th to 26th April 2014 with promoters from Ukraine, Armenia, Azarbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.

Youth Exchange "My Life - My Story", Ukraine (April 2014)

The Youth Exchange My life - My story was designed for multicultural learning through team-work. During the 10 days of the exchange, participants had few practical lessons of creating and coining a short movie script, planning the scenes on paper, filming the designed scenes and the final editing of filmed material. However, that was only the technical part of the youth exchange. The project team encouraged participants to come up with the ideas for filming – the theme of a movie was more valuable that the expensive equipment- as the rules of the film stands for. The project aim was: By designing and filming short films about this theme, participants didn't only raise their awareness of the existence of these people and their every day lives but raised the awareness of government officials and EU official of the existence and lives of these groups living in our societies and the need for respecting and giving them their human rights. The project took place in Odessa, Ukraine with 50 participants from Armenia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Moldova, Slovenia, Turkey and Romania from 19th to 29th April 2014.

Youth Exchange "Spread the Word, Feel the World", Greece (April 2014)

In every country there are some words used that cannot be translated or explained in different cultural contexts. This happens because these words have a very special and strong cultural background, a fact that makes them quite “unique”. In order to understand their meaning, someone needs to understand first the cultural elements hidden behind them. And that’s why it’s really hard, even for experts, to translate and interpret them. In the project “Spread the Word, Feel the World”, participants made a research in finding such words in their countries/communities and cultural contexts, shared, presented them and elaborated on cultural diversity and citizenship through multiple discussions, workshops, games and activities. Once the national cultures were presented and explored, participants emphasized on the European culture and its aspects.
Some important objectives of the project were:
- to reflect on participants' own cultural identity
- to experience intercultural learning and getting connected through identifying similarities and differences with other young Europeans with different cultural backgrounds
- to develop self-confidence, creative and critical thinking and overcome their fear of expressing feelings and opinions
- to adopt attitudes of mutual understanding, tolerance and solidarity towards cultural differences in order to build social cohesion within the EU
- to discuss and reflect on European culture and point out the importance of participation in the European Parliament Elections 2014
- to develop social, personal, group-work skills and the ability to work collectively in an inter-cultural environment
Project took place from 22nd to 29th April 2014 in Edessa, Greece.

Youth Exchange "Fashioned 4 Equilibrium: Empower Women for Future", Macedonia (April 2014)

Different kinds of abuses along with more banal injustices, like slapping a girlfriend or paying women less for their work, arise out of a social context in which women are, often, second-class citizens. That’s a context that our societies have helped shape, and not pushed hard to change. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many fields, creating an environment in which violations against women are justified. The belief that women are inferior human beings gives excuses to the brutal husband who beats his wife, the soldier who rapes a woman, the employer who has a lower pay scale for women employees, or parents who decide to abort a female embryo. Starting from infancy, girls face worse treatment than boys in such forms as selective malnutrition and denial of equal access to education and health services. We will not succeed in changing this reality we’re facing if we do not support women in fighting for their rights for which all of us as young people and youth ngo’s have a part to play in creating a more equal and just world and help these goals to be achieved.
This is why gender equality and was key focus of our youth exchange so that we make a change starting from the ground level by giving skills to youngsters that can spread their knowledge to the real people that are usually left out from all the big policies and empower the right beneficiaries: women. This project also aimed to raise the awareness among the participants and the local population about the need for active participation of women in all levels and active public life. Therefore the project included workshops centred on ways to promote empowerment on women on all levels as a social and political agenda.
This project was held in Krusevo, Macedonia, between 22 and 29 April 2014 and it featured 41 participants from Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, United Kingdom, Romania, Italy, Estonia and Turkey.

Training Course "We are on the move!", Norway (April 2014)

"We are on the move!" aimed to promote social inclusion, participation and active citizenship between young unemployed people using creative methods and new learning techniques. Project aimed at promoting participation in the construction of a tighter-knit, democratic, youth-oriented and united Europe, tackling the challenge of youth unemployment as an “opportunity” to develop active citizenship, enhancing tolerance, solidarity and mutual understanding and inclusion in the society. The project presented a set of activities that grants young people the chance to interact at the European level – and offered them the occasion to “work” together towards a common aim. Partners were from Norway, Turkey, Estonia, Italy, UK and Czech Rep. Intermezzo Ungdom was host and applicant organization. This training brought 28 youth together for common intersts.Training was lead by intercultural team of trainers from Estonia and Turkey with the support of Norwegian support team.
Objectives:
- Increase the participation of young unemployed people in the civic life in their community and the possibility to do the change.
- To support young people how to advocate and lobby their needs in the community
- Increase the role of young Europeans in representative democracy and promote the concept of active citizenship
- To contribute toward social inclusion of young unemployed people as marginalized group in the society
- To foster intercultural dialogue between the young people and share cultural diversity

The TC was an equitable platform where young people and other stakeholders together gathered information (with a bottom-up approach), debated, collected and shared individual and collective opinions, formulated their views and drafted them in the form of recommendations for future YIA projects promoting youth participation and inclusion of the young unemployed people. The partners of the project were youth organizations coming from 6 different countries – EU Member States and non EU and pre-accession countries - where youth unemployment, participation and inclusion of young unemployed people represented vivid issue on the local, national and European agenda.
Main event of the project was international training course, organized in the period of 10-17th April 2014 in Drammen, Norway.

Training Course "Piramide of Change", Georgia (April 2014)

In these complex times for Europe, youth employability is a vital concern as many countries are facing high youth unemployment rates raising up to 50% and above. This TC aimed to be a tool that will change and re-shape the perceptions of the young multipliers that took part in order to improve the access and participation rates of young people in volunteering projects and community programs. The project responded to the current pressures and challenges of youth unemployment through reinforcing possibilities in the civil sector that offer self- empowerment of the young people through upgrading their skills, changing their expectations and offering possibilities for a pro- active approach through practical volunteering experiences. An accent was put on the networking in order to follow- up with joined projects of exchange of volunteers and specific project ideas on how to undertake further specific steps in targeting youth employability. This TC offered specific jobsearch related workshops, project management sessions, YiA possibilities, presentations of EVS and other volunteering programs, and networking and work on follow-up projects that target youth employability for 37 pax. The TC explored volunteering, internships and employment; the group visited workplaces, met with employers and shared their experiences with the other participants.
Project took place from 10th to 19th April 2014 in Kobuleti, Georgia

Youth Exchange "Equality in Action", Georgia (April 2014)

With the YE "Equality in action" we wanted to connect different cultural groups coming from different places from Europe, sharing one common goal – improve the environmental awareness. We were not going to tackle only the Global Challenges but went deeper in the group composition of different cultures and religions and in non-formal way during 7 days we built a bridge between each of them. That’s why we made such a puzzle of cultures involved. During the exchange the mutual understanding and tolerance were on high level and the social cohesion was strengthened according all the methods applied in order to achieve that. Games, team building, creative tools, handcrafting, religious representatives presentations, workshops, visit religious objects, places with historical values, the national park and the ski centre were just part of the activities to improve participants knowledge, develop tolerance but also inspire activism in the field of youth work. The intercultural learning was present in the project. With this project we spread the message of mobility possibilities to the local people who live in this rural area and were a positive example for the others. YE gathered 50 young people from Armenia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and Georgia.
Project took place from 10th to 17th April 2014 in Kobuleti, Georgia.

Training Course "Development of network of multipliers", Georgia (April 2014)

TC "Development of network of multipliers" was designed to enable young unemployed people committed to the social or environmental change for work as non-formal education facilitators and rise their interest and motivation to contribute to non-governmental non-profit sector activities. Non formal education often serves and ensures education to both who have not enrolled in the formal schools and also to the dropouts of the formal system. Participants learnt about principles, approaches and values of non-formal education, explored and learnt to use various non-formal education methods and tools, developed their facilitation skills and built common understanding about significance of volunteering and recognition of non-formal learning. Special effort was put to enhance creative and leadership abilities of the participants and to encourage selfinitiative and entrepreneurship for the good of their communities. We worked in teams and elaborated applications of new youth exchange projects. Detailed planning process of the project helped the participants to understand better non-formal learning and educational project management stages and process, as well as to created opportunities for their further learning and professional development. Program was based on experiential learning model, and wide range of interactive learning tools were used including simulations, group discussions, case studies and site visits, reflection and self-assessment exercises, brainstorming sessions and drama techniques.
The TC took place in Kobuleti, Georgia from 10th to 18th April 2014, with 16 promoters and 36 participants from EU and EEC.

Training course "EEC Development Academy", Georgia (April 2014)

This training Course was intended for youth workers and career councilors. We strived towards introducing them with personal branding tools that can be useful approach in working with job-seeking youngsters. The training course was based on non – formal learning and included theoretical lectures, presentations, and discussions as team works in mix teams, role plays and art methods. The training course connected youth workers coming from EU and Eastern Europe and Caucasus region. Participants understood the concept and importance of personal branding after which, they explored activities that contribute to understanding one's strengths and weaknesses. The trainers shared the different tools for personal branding. Project provided a step-by-step guide for conducting self-analysis, creating a unique identity, defining objectives, discovering passions, creating a plan, putting that plan into action, and monitoring progress.
Project was held from 1st to 8th April in Kobuleti, Georgia.

Training Course "Out of the Shadow", Georgia (April 2014)

The training course was based on nonformal learning and included theoretical lectures, presentations, and discussions as team works in mix teams, role plays or art methods. The training course connected youth leaders and workers coming from EU and Easter Europe and Caucasus region. With this Training Course we wanted to give possibilities to the leaders of the youth and youth workers that are focused on marginalized and vulnerable groups facing social exclusion to increase their knowledge on the topic of human trafficking and violence. At the same time we strived towards sharing best practices and lessons learned with their colleagues. Moreover the TC focused on family violence and tackled questions on how family violence is “supporting” human trafficking. We discussed the rights, responsibilities, the biggest sending regions and accepting countries and also ways of inclusion. 37 youth workers from 14 countries were participating in this project.
Project was held from 1st to 10th April in Kobuleti, Georgia.

Youth Exchange "Let's Play", Georgia (April 2014)

This youth exchange had in its core the promotion of the value of sport as a tool for social inclusion and active participation, as we believe that a significant segment of the cultural traditions of each national heritage is related to games. During the implementation of this YE we focused on the important values that traditional sports and games offer, through education, culture, communicative and health promoting role towards the overall development of the individual and one's community we also tackled the topic of equality. Taking into account Sports are expressions of the native culture and life systems contributing to the identity of human beings. Via Energizers, ice breaking, team building, YiA presentation, countries nights, we created IC spirit and pleasant learning experience for participants; reflected on different cultural expressions, and created a bridge between cultures for a better mutual comprehension. They are also efficient means to convey values of solidarity, diversity, inclusiveness and cultural awareness.
Project was held from 1st to 9th April in Kobuleti, Georgia.

Youth Exchange "The Fibers of Vision", Georgia (April 2014)

Art was the basic tool in the entire process of implementation of this Youth Exchange. Participants presented our common vision on European Citizenship and Europe in general using art and creative expressions. We focused on anti-discrimination and promotion of what the EU offers for young people. During the 10 days in Georgia participants coming from 10 different countries (EU; SEE; Caucasus) openly shared viewpoints and discussions on the mentioned topics and expressed themselves with graffiti in different pre-defined places in Georgia. These graffiti showed the message of equality between people, promoted Europe, active citizenship and its meaning in this region. Young people got the chance to meet graffiti artists, exchange knowledge and information about youth in each of the participating countries, learn about Europe, about Kobuleti and Georgia, be part of them and interact with the local community since most of the activities were outdoors. As part of the project we had photo exhibition of the exchange as part of the non formal part of the festival which was visited with people from all around the world.
Project was held from 1st to 9th April in Kobuleti, Georgia.

Youth Exchange "Village in a Puzzle", Romania (March 2014)

„Village in a Puzzle” was a multilateral 1.1 youth exchange sponsored by the European Commission through the Youth in Action Programme and was organized in a beautiful and quite isolated rural area from the North of Romania, away from big cities and closer to old traditions and legends, called Poiana Negrii. Between 20 and 29 March 2014, 38 young people and 6 leaders from Romania, Italy, Estonia, Spain, Croatia and Poland, with an interest in the main topic of the exchange, the rural space seen through the eyes of young people in today’s society, exchanged opinions, interacted, shared and gained more knowledge about the topic and about themselves.
They discovered traditions and values from the Romanian rural society, while at the same time comparing it with their experiences in their home communities. They were able to look at the differences between rural and urban areas, discussing advantages and disadvantages.

Main objectives of “Village in a Puzzle”:
- Stimulating young people to understand better the rural space and find different points of view for its elements;
- Facilitating intercultural dialogue between 44 European youngsters from 6 different countries, using non-formal methods of education, with a special focus on national rural traditions and customs;
- Collecting 100 photos taken by the participants during the activities, photos that reflect the rural life of Romania as seen through the eyes of a foreigner. Each participant had the possibility to present its own vision based on personal experiences.
- Creating and sharing a variety of videos through the group work of the participants that express different points of view connected to the Romanian village realities;
- Multiplication of the photo exhibitions into the local communities of the partners involved, in order to share realities and exchange experiences.
The activities were in general highly interactive, based on non-formal education methods, and consisted of team-building games, outdoor discovery games, PhotoVoice, video creation, artistic presentations, brainstorming, debate session, cultural nights, study trips, cultural tour, etc.
READ MORE HERE: http://villageinapuzzle.wordpress.com/

Training course "Speak Out Loud", Moldova (March 2014)

TC "Speak out laud!" was a project for emerging platforms for online collaboration. They are fundamentally changing the way we work, offering new tools to engage with individuals, communities, colleagues, partners, and the world at large. Social media has become the way to inspire, educate and connect. This was a training course for youth workers, youth project managers and volunteers that introduced them to the contexts, forms and tools of social media. Main aim of this course was to equip learners with the knowledge, critical thinking ability, and practical skills they need to improve the effectiveness of their work and meet the personal, professional, and civic challenges posed by social media. Program included a mix of hands-on, practical tuition together with theory, case studies and strategy tips. Participants discovered the possible pitfalls of using social media, learnt appropriate etiquette, and looked at examples of how to best construct and spread their messages to get results. With help of practical group and individual exercises blogging, micro-blogging, document, image and video sharing applications, social networks and social bookmarking were explored. Learners became familiar with a range of online communication tools, analyzed their uses and implications, explored how can social media help NGOs to increase active participation and citizenship of young people, to foster inclusion, to achieve organizational goals and promote their causes. The knowledge acquired was immediately applied as participants developed a concrete social media strategy for their organizations or projects at the end of the course. Project took place 22-29 March 2014 in Moldova with 14 promoters from Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech R , Estonia, Georgia, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.

Training Course “GATES and KEYS-2013; Motivation”, Armenia (March 2014)

The Training was held on March 16-25th, 2014 on the topic of MOTIVATION. According to the experience that NPT gained through its numerous national and international trainings as well as research projects, young people in the wide range of cases do not lack talent, skills, abilities to bring change in their own realities and in the social environment of their communities, but they simply do not have or are lacking appropriate motivation. Motivation is not something that is given to one in a certain portion (relatively big or small), this is a feature of our deep inner self, which is connected with a lot of other aspects, such as awareness, creativity, compassion etc. As well this is a feature of us with which we can certainly work, and a set of psychological disciplines, spiritual traditions and training schools are suggesting numerous tools on how to approach this issue. This training course was dedicated to the development of the skills of youth workers and youth leaders from EECA and Program countries to support young people in their quest for MOTIVATION.

Youth Exchange "Frozen Stories", Moldova (March 2014)

Youth exchange used photography as a tool to discover voluntarism. What does it mean to be active citizen? What is volunteering? This youth exchange gave participants answers on this questions and helped them to promote volunteering and active citizenship via creation of photos connected with this themes. Involvement in voluntary activities can provide people with new skills and competencies that can even improve their employability. The project participants learnt how to make and select photographs and combine them with messages for promotion of voluntary activities and active citizenship. The result of this youth exchange was calendar EU CITIZENS for 2014/15.Youth exchange took place in Vodul lui Voda, Chisinau, Moldova from 22nd to 30th March and it had participants from 10 countries.

Training Course "The Sky is the Limit", Ukraine (March 2014)

The Sumy City Youth PO – Foundation for Regional initiatives hosted from 11 – 19 March 2014, for the Training Course “The sky is the limit” that took place at Grand-resort (near Lviv), Ukraine! Our Training Course focused on the following aspects which we deemed necessary for any well organized youth NGO:
- development of an understanding of the nature of Marketing Management of NGOs;
- the role of practitioners when they are working with EVS volunteers;
- recognizing the key areas of Marketing Management of NGOs involvement as a tool for self-promotion and promotion of organizations activities;
- general concepts and principles of Marketing Management of NGOs
At the same time we aimed to train NGO staff and project managers how to build and maintain positive and cooperative relationship with the public and also how to create a positive environment using PR methods to promote solutions for EVS voluntarism promotion. We aimed to develop the quality of youth activities and capabilities of civil society organizations in the youth field for improving public relations considering volunteer projects with giving opportunity to participants for acquiring skills for further development of voluntary organizations.
With this project we wanted to improve the participant’s competences, knowledge, skills and attitudes to higher quality practice in the youth field regarding working with volunteers. Participants that attended this training Course came from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.

Training course "SOET: Seminar of European Trainers", Spain (March 2014)

This seminar was an opportunity for trainers / facilitators to meet, share, discuss and evaluate the work done / been made, both locally and on a national and international context. We evaluated Youth in Action, and got ready for new Erasmus+.
This seminar was held in Salamanca with the name "SOET: Seminar of European Trainers", as its name suggests, a meeting of trainers active at European level in non-formal education activities, and especially those related to the now finished Youth in Action program.
Its main aim was to offer participants a space for meeting and sharing, as well as to discuss and evaluate the work done / been made as trainers / facilitators, both locally and on a national and international context.

Therefore the specific objectives of the seminar were:
- To exchange good practices (and bad practices to avoid them) on the work developed in activities with non formal education and youth people.
- To evaluate our development as trainers and the competences acquired / developed.
- To reflect on the impact of the Youth in Action program, especially the training and non-formal education activities in young Europeans.
- To evaluate the Youth in Action program in the area of training and networking.
- To discuss the new program Erasmus+ (Youth part) and make recommendations in the field of training that can improve the quality in future activities.
- To establish collaborative networks and propose possible future projects.
- To exchange tools and processes to foster improvement in the quality of the next Erasmus+ projects.

This was a 7-days seminar (including travel days) (from Thursday to Wednesday) for participants and team from 22 different countries (Albania, Azerbayan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain, Estonia, Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine).

Youth Exchange "Be the Change", Moldova (March 2014)

The main topic for the Youth Exchange was to get to know more about diﬀerent ecological issues and problems as recycling, re-use of products, materials and tools, possible alternative sources of energy and other global environmental challenges. Within these eight days participants used non-formal learning methods, improved their creative skills and together created new art objects using recycling. Participants had a chance to learn about photography, which is an essential tool to show diﬀerence in our world and make it stay, make moment to freeze, it is a tool for telling a story. Participants had a chance by using photography as a tool to create a story about protecting planet Earth. At the end of the project participants had chance to connect ecology, environmental issues, creativity, arts and photography. Project also promoted youth participation and active citizenship as essential topics. Project included young people with fewer opportunities especially social, economical and geographical obstacles and cultures diﬃculties. Participants worked in intercultural environment; learnt about diﬀerent cultures and traditions. Youth Exchange was hosted in Vadul la Voda town near Chisinau in Moldova from 02nd to 10th March 2014 and involved participants from 9 countries.

Study Visit "EU&EEC Caravane of Change", Moldova (March 2014)

Possibilities to meet with organisations around Moldova and other European countries are important part for developing cooperation, new volunteering projects and employability for young people. The Study visit gave possibility and platform to participants and young people with fewer opportunities, youth from rural areas and marginalised youth to develop new partnerships and youth projects to foster development, youth employability and active citizenship. The participants, youth workers and project coordinators of international exchange, visited various Moldovan organisations, that are working with the YiA Programme or were interested to start to work with YiA, as well as explored and exchanged best youth work practices and the most successful ideas practices. Special attention was provided to organisations working with minorities, in rural areas and working with young people with fewer opportunities. The Study visit included morning methods as workshops, thematic groups and discussions on social inclusion, volunteering, employability, and possibilities for cooperation between EEC and European Union and how to promote and foster mobility and active citizenship as a way to ﬁght exclusion and unemployment.
Study visit was hosted in Vadul la Voda town near Chisinau in Moldova from 02nd to 10th March 2014 involving participants from 16 countries. Study visit also included visits to Chisinau, Cricova and other towns.

Training Course "Think Big. Start Small", Germany (March 2014)

The weeklong training, Think Big. Start Small, was an intense period of learning, sharing and developing social entrepreneurial ideas for the 48 participants (24 in each region). The basic content of the training was the same in both regions, with case studies and study visits made relevant to the local contexts. The aim of the trainings was to provide insight into the concepts of social entrepreneurship and peace building, encouraging the development of future projects within this framework. Sessions included practical technical training on aspects of business and project management, and more importantly financial management. The training encouraged participants to think critically and practically about issues in their communities and began a process of finding solutions. Participants were empowered to envisage long-term changes, but began this process with small achievable goals within their capacity. Groups created concrete action plans to promote social entrepreneurship in their communities as well as a plan to take their business idea forward.

Training Course "Movement as a Learning Opportunity", Georgia (March 2014)

The general idea of this seminar was to bring together (1) people that already work with youth (youth workers, youth leaders, educators) and are looking for new ways to approach youth and (2) young choreographers and dancers that wish to start working with youth in the framework of non-formal education. The main aim of this seminar was to discover ways how movement and dance could be used as tool for providing non-formal learning opportunities for youth. The contents of the seminar included:
- Sharing experiences of youth-work in different countries
-         Raising awareness on non-formal learning in youth context
-         Experiencing and exploring contemporary dance as a tool for learning
-         Gender situation in Georgia as a case study
- Developing ideas for future cooperation between youth-workers and choreographers/dancers in own countries as well as internationally
Project took place from 1st to 9th March 2014 in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Training Course “Together we learn – Together we stop discrimination”, The Netherlands (March 2014)

The “Together we learn – Together we stop discrimination” training was based on the A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE™ Institute’s Train-the-Trainer pedagogical program. This anti bias methodology – which has proven effective in the fight against all kinds of discrimination – has been used by EPTO in Europe for more than 15 years. Through peer education, the aim of this project was to train youth leaders to facilitate workshops that address issues related to diversity, interculturality, antidiscrimination and social change. This training was the second part of EPTO’s Train-theTrainer programme. It consisted of 3 full working days focusing on facilitation and action planning. Participants became certified EPTO peer trainers then they attended the whole Train-theTrainer process. Certificates were handed out after completion of part 2.
Project took place from 27th February to 3rd March 2014 in Arnhem, The Netherlands.

European Voluntary Service project "European House in Guria", Georgia (March - September 2014)

The project "European House in Guria" took place in Western Georgia, Guria region and hosted 4 volunteers with 6 months from Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia), the volunteers dealed with youth activities, local community projects for the children and young people in the city Ozurgeti as well as in nearby rural areas. The hosting organisation created a common European space (HOUSE) in the fields of project, where the meaning of European citizenship was aware, histories and traditions of Baltic and other European countries gathered and poster to the development of Georgian youth to use European ways of nonformal and formal education and active participation, to contribute to civil society and local community development. The project was directed also on the development of solidarity, promotion of importance cultural diversity and mutual understanding among young people, recognize the value and importance and raise awareness for voluntary work, the importance of active civil society, raise intercultural understanding. Wide range of the activities (workshops, information campaigns, cultural, education events) helped the participants of project to find new contacts, developed the steps for personal development and professional carrier and were the Europeans despite of originality of nations.

Training Course "Businesswoman", Turkey (February 2014)

Starting point and motivation of 'Businesswoman' project came from conditions and roles of women in business sector. Throughout world history, women have undeniable contributions to different aspects of the society such as social and economic. Despite the great contributions of women, specially in economic life, utilization from economic development for women is lower than that of men. However, women can be very successful in managing important things in life if given a chance and enough opportunity to reveal their creativity and entrepreneurship. Hence, for healing women's position and employment in business sector, the main goals of 'Businesswoman' project were:
• To develop new perspectives and knowledge about women’s place in business sector.
• To increase women’s entrepreneurship and creativity in business.
• To raise awareness about the challenges of business life and women
• To help to ensure the active participation of women in working life.
• To give information about planning a family budget, vocational courses
• To work to find solutions to increase women’s employment in the sectors
• To Develop European citizenship
• To increase inter cultural learning among young people
• To show young people, is an awareness of women’s entrepreneurship.
Project took place 21-26. February 2014 in Yalova, Turkey.

Training Course "Intercultural Learning through the Magic and Creativity of Music", UK (February 2014)

This training course, designed by and for 30 youth leaders and youth workers from ten European youth organisations, focused on the role music plays in intercultural dialogue. The course was an educational journey through music styles and methods of communication with young people coming from different ethnic, national and cutural backgrounds through music, aiming at equipping participants with competences in intercultural communication. The programme of the course was based on non-formal exploratory methods including various modes of play and improvisation. We were learning simple but profound pieces of World Music engaging participants through songs, rounds, rhythm-pieces and games. The programme was jointly led by Adrian Locher, ASHA’s Artistic Director, actor, voice coach and director and Gregers Brinch, composer/singer/director and teacher. The course facilitated an unfolding of aspects of creativity that can strengthen participants’ intercultural skills such as working together in multicultural groups, creativity and entrepreneurship, practicing leadership and problem-solving.
Project took place from 4th to 11th February 2014 in Flaxley, UK.

Study visit "On the Road of Rural Development", Macedonia (February 2014)

The study visit provided a possibility for youngsters from different EU and SEE countries to come to Macedonia for eight days and explore the possibilities for cooperation with organizations around rural villages in Macedonia but also with organizations around Europe for new projects concerning volunteering and employability of young people with fewer opportunities, youth from rural areas and marginalized youth. The study-visit provided a platform for starting new partnerships and developing new youth projects. The participants were from 20 countries. Participants, youth workers and coordinators of international exchange, visited various Macedonian organizations, which are working with the Youth in Action Programme or were interested to start to work with Youth in Action, as well as explored and exchanged best youth work practices and the most successful project ideas. Special focus was put on organizations working in rural areas and working with young people with fewer opportunities. The participants explored what projects and methods were implemented to promote integration and employability of youth and contributed to the work of local organizations through sharing knowledge and experience from their countries. The working program of study visit included workshops, thematic working groups and discussions on employability, and possibilities for cooperation between South Eastern Europe, Easter Europe and Caucasus and European Union. The project focused on creation of new partnerships and projects that are dealing with work with young people with fewer opportunities, marginalized youth, youth from rural municipalities; in the area of promoting mobility as a way to fight exclusion and unemployment.
The study visit was held from 03 – 11.02 2014, starting from Struga and visits to Mavrovo, Vevchani and Skopje region; and had 20 countries participating from EU, SEE and EEC with 40 participants.

Training Course “Observe, Watch, Learn and Improve: observation and evaluation tools to improve youth work”, Azerbaijan (January 2014)

“Observe, Watch, Learn and Improve: observation and evaluation tools to improve youth work” was a 5 day training course for youth workers and youth leaders. The ability to observe and evaluate is critical in identifying one’s strengths to build and weaknesses to address – to aligning all of the efforts in the pursuit of strategic priorities. Participants were provided a chance to reflect on beliefs, values and aims through dispassionate achievement of skills and knowledge. The aim of training was to help participants strengthen their knowledge around the topics and new trends in development of evaluations, learn how to use an equity-focused perspective throughout the evaluation process, deeper their understanding of how evaluation methodology could be used to reach out to traditionally excluded groups, also develop skills and strategies to be more responsive in dynamic environments as well as maintain open and trusting relationship with youth. During 5 days participants covered such topics as the theory and practice of evaluations and observations, game playing, theory of youth work, adapting evaluations and observations as tools for non-formal learning for different target groups, etc.
In organizing this training, the partners wished to give opportunities to participants from various Europe organizations to share their experiences and gain knowledge as well as new skills in the field of youth work. Training brought 20 youth workers and youth leaders to explore the evaluation and observation methodologies as the tools in self-improvement as well as improvement of youth work, which is an ongoing mindset, encouraged by reflection and continuous challenges.
Aims and objectives The aims of the training were
* to explore the topic of evaluations and observations in youth work practice;
* to improve the skills and knowledge;
* to explore and investigate the profile of youth work;
* to advocate for the techniques of non-formal learning;
* to explore the aims and objectives of the European Union’s Youth in Action Programme, and to place it in the context of youth work;
* to develop cooperation across Europe and enhance European networking.
The objectives of this project were for participants
* to learn about youth work practice across Europe;
* to explore the theory and practice of evaluations and observations
* to understand the theory of game playing;
* to develop practical, analytical thinking, reasoning and logic skills in leading games with young people;
* to have a good working knowledge of the Youth in Action Programme;
to encourage reflection on one’s own learning;
* to accommodate diversity of readiness, experience and backgrounds;
Working methods The training were designed as a process of non-formal learning and peer education using participants’ own experiences in the fields of youth work and international cooperation. Participants had an active input in sharing knowledge and experience, and were willing to learn new skills from the trainers and from each other.
Training course took place from 10th to 19th January 2014 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

European Voluntary Service project "The nature reserve ‘Rinella’", Malta (January - April 2014 + September 2014 - February 2015)

The nature reserve ‘Rinella’ is the place open to those who has a passion for nature and who wishes to make nature sustaininable. People visit the nature reserve to gather more energy/ power to fight daily stress and matters, to refresh their minds and get rid of the stress from the whole body. The main idea behind this created project, was to encourage young people to become active citizens in their community, to get them involved in the protection of green areas, to become part of local society and to be a model example for any youth living in the same region. Moreover it gave them the opportunity in acquriering new knowledge and exprience in sustainable organic farming which made their value on the labour market higher and increased the possibility to find a future job.
We believe that nature makes all people around the world peaceful, therefore the nature reserve is the right place to build mutual understanding and tolerance between different youth representing various culture habits and traditions. Through the cooperation between other European organizations involved in volunteering we visualized the European cooperation in youth field and got over more activitites for volunteers. Due to the fact that in this nature reserve each year a number of interns and volunteers are coming from different Universities, shools and other youth organization, our promotion of European cooperation in youth field was more than visiable.
The participation of young people was the foundation of the project, as well as the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities. While volunteering, youth developed and improved their competence, increased the value on the labour market and brought experience which they can utilize in future personal or working life. To have the volunteers comming from a less privileged economic and cultural background brought a challenge to our organization and assisted us in gaining knowledge and experince. Through the volunteering in a nature reserve, young people developed environmental manners and attitudes towards nature, as well as raised the youngester’s awareness and mobilization around global environmental challenges and climate changes.
Estonian volunteers were in Malta from January - April 2014 and September 2014 - February 2015.