<< Background >>Walk On project aimed to build the competences of youth workers, teachers, young people and community youth leaders in the Western Balkans, to address and work with reconciliation, countering hate speech and promoting peace building. The projects succeed to establish a successful practice and with positive regards to establish a network of association in the WB ad EU who are committed into promoting reconciliation sharing know how and fighting hate speech a different level.<< Objectives >>Promote reconciliation among communities with empowering young people and youth leaders with knowledge, skills and attitudes to act as advocates for peacebuilding Strengthen human rights-based narratives in society that effectively counter stereotypes justifying discrimination and hate speech in communities; Produce and promote concrete educational tools about reconciliation and addressing hate among young people, to be used by teachers and other community leaders;<< Implementation >>Implementation of the project was done during the time of pandemic, but through all the challenges, the project was implemented successfully through all its phases. The project outcomes were pursued through the specific project activities which were undertaken by including important stakeholders, training experts, youth workers, teachers and young people through local workshops, trainings, information sessions, media channels, partnership building activities and researches.<< Results >>127 mobility participants learned about peace and reconciliation, hate speech and developed competencies on ICD and follow-up on various project related workshops. 505 Young people, YW participated in the local level from all partners of the consortium where they developed their skills, increased knowledge on the project topic and developed their competencies, learned about the Erasmus plus program as a life-changing program and expand their network of work for further and future collaborations

European societies currently witness an alarming increase of extreme right-wing populist political forces (especially in Germany) as well as of - in smaller numbers - religious extremism. In Macedonia as elsewhere in the Balkans, young people grow up in a largely divided societies dominated by ethno-nationalism in which the ruling elites promote ethnocentric narrratives of the past to legitimize their power position. Frequent characteristics of the (hi)stories propagated are the glorification of war, militarised images of masculinity and the idea of collective victimhood to which one’s own group is entitled, while the constructed image of the “other” consists of being the aggressor, invader etc. This is problematic as the narratives promoted tend to (re-)produce enemy images and narrow the public space for discussion in a sense of Dealing with the Past (DwP). Elements of racism, nationalism and/or anti-semitism provide the usual ideological underpinnings of those forces and movements. These societal developments and increasing divisions particularly affect youth as they are one of the main target groups attracted and instrumentalized by extremist opinion leaders.We therefore see a general need for young people from the project countries to be supported in actively resisting and working against these briefly described tendencies. Young Europeans must be equipped with the knowledge, skills and develop behavioral attitudes necessary to confront the consequences of extremist ideologies in order to build peaceful and democratic societies that promote European values. In with the EU Erasmus+ program guideline and the 2016 focus topics, the proposed project therefore aims at fostering interreligious dialogue, promotion of democracy, human rights and tolerance for the “other” in order to counter growing tendencies of extremism and radicalization in Europe.The project therefore aims to achieve the following objectives:- Raise awareness about a common European history among participants from Germany and Macedonia- Raise awareness of the fate of Jews and the consequences of Nationalis and Racist ideology- Learn to respect and value cultural, ethnic and religious differences- Contribute to a constructive process of dealing with the past and development of an inclusive European identity- Promote mutual learning and exchange among the younger generation- Promote local and international voluntary engagementWe consider intercultural exchange through direct interaction and cooperation and a hands-on introduction to dealing with the past and memory work as a possible way forward for young Europeans together to actively learn and act for peace. In order to achieve the defined objectives the project proposes a distinct activity combining joint physical work on dealing with the past and an educational program for the project participants.The Jewish cemetery in Bitola, Macedonia, is the oldest Sephardic graveyard on the Balkans. Built in 1497 it was destroyed by German troops while retreating from the region in 1944. Before WW II 3.351 Jews had lived in Bitola. In March 1943 they were transported to Skopje and deported to the concentration camp Treblinka. All together 7.350 Jews have been murdered. Only few of them survived. The Jewish community together with the community of Bitola are planning to restore and preserve the cemetery as a place of remembrance for the Jews and a monument for the peaceful cohabitation of Jews, Macedonians, Albanians, Vlachs, Turks and Roma.In order to support the plan to preserve the Jewish cemetery and convert it into a site of remembrance, a 10-day workcamp (project activity) in the first half of September 2016 will be organized involving a total of 20 young participants from Germany and Macedonia of different religious and ethnic background as symbolic but real action for peace and dialogue. Together they will engage in clearing the vegetation of the graveyard, preserve and clean the old tombstones, including smaller archeological work. In joined workshops they will learn about the history of the Jews in the Balkans, the Holocaust, and the current situation in Macedonia and Germany, cultural diversity, inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue. Intercultural learning, mutual respect and tolerance will be further promoted amongst participants. Methods of nonviolent conflict transformation will be used and conveyed.

"""Advanced Volunteer Management"" was a 9day training course, which took place from 23rd to 31st of October 2015 in the town of Črnomelj, Slovenia. Training course, organized by Youth centre BIT as applicant and hosting organization gathered 28 youth workers from 23 different organizations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain. The training was facilitated by 3 experienced trainers from Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia and supported with 3 members of international logistic team. Objectives of the training course were providing participants with competences and tools for implementing effective volunteer management system; raising participants' skills for creating their own local/international short/long-term volunteering programs. With this training course we aimed to increase social skills and personal development of participants and raise awareness of importance and values of volunteering. Training was designed for volunteer coordinators, managers and people who are directly involved with management of volunteers and have some previous experience. With this training we wanted to improve implementation of high quality detailed/advanced volunteer management in participating organizations. The training provided practical work – coaching and development of volunteering initiatives. Trainers and participants shared innovative approaches, methodologies and tools, discussed level of recognition of volunteering in different European countries and planned new initiatives. Also, with new ideas and motivation, we wanted to inspire the youth workers to be good example and pass the positive values to their peers and their very own communities. During this training we created the space for planning future mutual projects and cooperation between youth workers from different countries of Europe and gave strong support to developing international network of youth organizations who will make the positive change both on local and global level."

This project is based on need for competent youth workers to support young people in their socio-economic development as responsible citizens with fundamental European values as well as to facilitate civic engagement of youth in reconciliation at various levels. They should be equipped with competences to practice bottom-up and human-centred approach to reconciliation since it is all about people2people actions that contribute to societal reconstruction and finally to society/community transformation. This way, we are contributing also to European education and training policy since we deal with quality of youth work and non-formal education. Improving capacities of youth workers in reconciliation topic also contribute to topic-based diversification inside the youth work field. Youth workers are the key element of this process and they are the first to be addressed. They are ensuring active, systemic, and meaningful participation of youth in issues of peace and security is a demographic and democratic imperative. Project consortium consists of organizations with portfolio in quality youth work, reconciliation, youth activism and participation, advocacy.Main of this project is to improve the quality and foster the innovative approaches and development of youth work efforts through European cooperation and capacity building of youth workers in the field of reconciliation. We will achieve this through 4 specific objectives: - To enhance socio-professional development and international cooperation of youth workers and trainers by strengthening their capacities in the field of effective reconciliation in post conflict regions and providing them with space for exchange of good practice. - To increase capacity of youth workers to design and lead the processes of development of social innovations in reconciliation field by using cross-sector approach and methodology developed by Regional Social Innovation Lab for peace and reconciliation aimed at young people.- To empower and support youth organizations to cooperate, advocate and take an important role in reconciliation process providing them with competences and space to implement innovative ideas on local and international level and involve young people as active actors.-To promote and mainstream Erasmus + programme as one of the most effective ways for youth workers and youth organizations in Europe to receive quality capacity building, advance their efforts in topics of interest and strengthen sustainable relationship between WB and EU.The project consortium consists of 10 partner organizations from Programme and Neighboring Countries (SEE region connecting WB and EU countries) from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, FYROM, Turkey. During 24 months, the project will be implemented through following activities: Partner meeting, Online learning platform, 4 Training Courses, Practical activities, Methodology Development HUB.

<< Objectives >>European Youth Portal portrays generally young people in Europe as rather social and political apathy, less involved and interested in politics in their countries and also in democratic expression as citizens. Statistics show that young people vote less, care less and generally have other priorities then civic participation in their countries. The numbers are higher in that regard in East Europe but it is present to high extent in the other countries as well. Media (mainstream and alternative) can easily fuel tensions, anger and frustration of vulnerable young people who lacks strong critical thinking. Migrants are generally under-represented and/or shown as delinquents or criminals. Although, media framing differs based on specific migrant groups the discourse is focusing on, immigration coverage across Europe is often negative and conflict centred. Frequent exposure to such media messages leads to negative attitudes towards migration, may activate stereotypical cognitions of migrant groups, and even influence vote choice. The main methodology at the core of the project was Theatre of the Oppressed Methodology, developed by Brazilian Augusto Boal in the context of discrimination and human rights violation in Brazilian society in the 70’-ties. In this project we focused on Image and Forum Theatre, which engages citizens in an interactive and very participatory way in a dialogue to explore and find solutions to different problems the community is facing and empowering the people affected directly or indirectly by situation of oppressions. The main goal of the project was to increase the capacity of youth work sector to raise the participation and involvement of young people in social processes and change. In this sense a training course activity targeting 27 youth workers from 8 different European countries was organized in Veliki Gaj, Serbia during 7-14 October 2021. The training program was designed for youth workers, active members of youth organizations who needed to develop their competencies to work with Theatre of the Oppressed methods for a better and long lasting impact in their communities.The project had the following objectives meant to support reaching the aim:•To introduce innovative methodologies in youth work field (such as Image and Forum Theatre) to address human rights violations, intolerance, radicalisation of young people, exclusion, etc.; •To raise the capacity of partner to operate at European level and in International mobility projects which address the needs of young people in vulnerable situations;•To stimulate the exchange of best practices in youth work field in using theatre for social change in sensitive topics in our society;•To increase the quality of the youth organization projects;•To stimulate professional development for youth workers active in human rights area;•To increase the level of active participation among the direct and indirect beneficiaries •To contribute to the development of employable skills among direct and indirect beneficiaries.<< Implementation >>The main activity of the project consisted of an international training course targeted at youth workers from 8 partner countries. The process of the project was driven by the experiential learning principles, having a very strong practical component, adequate time and methods for reflection, feedback, self-assessment and extraction of the learning points to be transferred to the future. 27 Participants from 8 countries (Bulgaria, Portugal, Romania, Germany, North Macedonia, France, Turkey and Serbia) took part and completed a training activity for 6 days in Veliki Gaj (Serbia) from 7th to 14th October 2021. Among them 2 were the trainers who coordinated the educational process as well as 2 participants from the host organization, had additional the role of coordinating the logistic process. The participants in the project were youth workers active in the partner’s organization, therefore primary they were selected by each partners accordingly with their mission, priorities, involvement in the regular activities, initiative for new projects, etc. Profile of the youth workers which was used as criteria for selection was: -Active for at least one year in the partner organization (paid or not paid)-Experience in international projects (participants in previous Erasmus+ mobility projects) in diverse environments -Active at the moment in a project targeting young people in to transfer the learning of this project-English to be at least on average level.-Interest and motivation towards Theatre of the Oppressed Methodology -Willingness and motivation to be involved in the partner organization for at least one more year after the project.<< Results >>Main qualitative results:-A Training module for training practitioners in Image and Forum Theatre Methods-A team of 25 youth workers from 8 countries competent to use Image and Forum Theatre Methods to empower young people in relation to different type of social problem;-Image and Forum Theatre scenarios, tackling various issues such as bulling, violence against women, gender based discrimination, LGBTQ+ discrimination, mobbing, etc. Some were developed and tested during the training course and some were developed by partners after the training.-An informal platform of organizations that are using theatre of the oppressed in their work;Impact on the youth workers participants:•Developed competencies in using Image and Forum Theatre Methods for various type of human rights violations; •Increased their self-confidence, critical thinking, team working skills, communication and interrelation skills•Activated creativity potential for new social change projects;•Increased knowledge about research methodology, evaluation, statistical tools; •Have a greater understanding of intercultural learning as a powerful tool to create tolerance. •Increased efficiency in their profession; •Gained greater understanding of the Erasmus+ programme and its benefits for the youth work on the international level; Partner organisations: •Have their youth workers /trainers /facilitators trained in a Theatre of the Oppressed methods •Are inspired by the youth work implemented in other countries•Benefit from the transfer of knowledge and skills from their participants to the work of their organisations; •Have trained staff in youth empowered in relation to different forms of oppression; •Have a base for innovative approaches to conflict and social problems •Have a solid base of partners coming from different European countries; •Be encouraged and motivated to develop more international and national projects ;Young people from each local community:•Interact now with trained youth workers who are informed and aware of different types of oppression and human rights violations;•Have their social problems handled in a proper and deeper way;•Increased their awareness and tolerance;•Take an active role in the community ;