This project was developed with the idea to develop critical thinking and commitment of youth to social, cultural and environmental matters. It was based on usage of nature as a tool for increasing opportunities in environmental issues such as waste management, energy efficiency, environmental education and nature protection. The project had involved two volunteers at short and long term activity of environmental education and environmental management practice in Tirana. The main objectives of the project where:1. Promoting environmental awareness among youth involvement. 2. Promoting environmental protection and conservation among different cultures and nations 3. Promote the personal development of young people through know-how methodologies and exchange personal experiences.The project was created from the activities under the sectors of the Environmental Education - EE and Environmental Management Practices - EMP: EE Sector - design and implement the youth group/ nature guide program - deliver EE teaching to young children within EE center in Tirana Zoo using and developing programs and new ideas - supports the coordinator of EE sector in various activities and projects - help on the organization of Earth Day event and activities to raise awareness of environmental issues - Participate in EE network meetings and represent EDEN Center in national meetings -teach groups on leading guided walks and answering the visitor’s questions.EMP -Helping in preparing and editing the outreach materials for EDEN website -By actively participating in activities with waste management issue -Helping in promotion of 3R process in local community - Participate in filling the questioners for the related project -Helping the communication with international networks of the center -Supports the coordinator of the EMP sector in the additional activities.At this volunteering project activities we were giving our best to create the space and to give tools to the volunteers for expressing themselves the best, to share their passions and practices, to give the possibility for exchange of their experiences and to give possibility to accrue competences and attitudes in:Thinking and Creativity: Participants was encouraged to search and gather information, materials, on topics issues on environmental education. This had improved their creative thinking and they had discovered creative tools for environmental education.Knowledge and skills: through participation in EE and EMP sector and activity participate in both sectors; volunteers had received information and knowledge coming from a different level of experiences and background.Learning: They were exploring new ways of thinking and work with people from different background and from different levels of experience and education. By implementing activities in another country, had helped them discover and approach new cultures and recognize different working styles. They had experienced and learned new techniques for non-formal education.Teamwork: The volunteers were prepared to implement activities in the teams, contributing to their ideas and experience with other team members ideas.Communication in a foreign language: They had a chance to improve their communication skills in a different language than their mother tongue. They had the opportunity to learn a new language (Albanian language) and in the meantime in getting to know the culture of the hosting country and as well to use English.During project activities, implementation volunteers had broadened their knowledge about environmental topics such as waste management, EE, community awareness, promotion 3R process in the local community about environmental concern in both countries and in general about environmental awareness. They had improved their personal skills by learning new methods and tools throughout the activities. They had used these tools and methods to raise environmental awareness in their daily activities with youngsters. One of the volunteers had continued her studies upon return to the home country while the other one is active in the environmental protection field in CO youth centre and considering the farther experience in this field.

"Project “ORA: Social Entrepreneurship as Tool for Sustainability/OSETS” as overall aim had to realize a long term non formal education process at international level and among organizations (Youth centres/Clubs, youth associations, associations which promote social equality, cultural associations, etc) coming from 7 different European countries (four EU and 3 Western Balkans countries) able to empower the youth work through social entrepreneurship for the young people with which they work, to increase the competences of their youth workers in order to include better target groups in social, cultural and economic life of their communities. During planning and realization of this project we have leaned on a long-term cooperation in youth work developed in the last 4 years among different European partners within the framework of ORA Network (Observe, Rethink, Act). Thanks to our old and new partners during this project we had the opportunity to verify at grassroots level and through international dimension that the transverse skills that are increasingly needed for personal, civic and professional routes from youth to adulthood can be achieved through social entrepreneurship. We have focused on practical knowledge which participants gained and shared through project activities but also in their everyday, local work. In this way we have also empowered the network ORA because we used our own resources where is possible and contacts and educational paths from previous experiences. Having in mind that our partners are youth Centres, youth associations and organisations working with young people which are ""open spaces"" where young people are receiving support and guidance in the process of the personal and professional growth we wanted to ensure that partners can become for them as incubators for different socio – cultural and environmental micro-projects that offer the possibility for young people to discover and experience their potential, abilities, skills, inclinations and ambitions, while actively participating in a responsible way to the life of their community. Priorities of this project were to increase skills of professionals who are working with youth in order to empower their beneficiaries with ideas and basic knowledge how to develop social entrepreneurship. In order to realize this kind of project it was be very important to have contact with institutions who are giving support to development of social entrepreneurship. This was important both for youth organizations and young people in order to answer properly to the increasing demand for more wide support through youth work activities and to the professional needs expressed by several organisations engaged in youth work to raise their capacities to better perform and provide more useful services for economical sustainability of youth organizations and for young people with which they work. The overall aim of the project was to empower youth workers and organizations to use social entrepreneurship as a tool for sustainability of their work with and for young people. In this way partners gained innovative approaches.This meant to give all participants space to express their needs and expectations and together with them make “how to”. In order to achieve set objectives we implemented following activities: •A1 Study visit (Observe phase)•A2 Seminar (Rethink phase)•Recommendation with case studies and online toolkit•Incubator workshops activities•A3 Training course (Act phase)•A4 Conference on social entrepreneurship"

"This project consisted of two activities where the main activity of the project was a youth encounter on environmental photography. The project was carried out in local partnership with the ORA Network e.V. and the environmental education centre ""Kienbergpark"" of Grün Berlin. Participating associations were ""EDEN"" from Albania, ""Udruzenje Crveno Drvo"" from Serbia, ""Agenda 21"" from Romania, ""Zdravo da Ste"" from Bosnia and Herzegovina and ""Axe Social"" from Spain. A preparatory meeting was held together with all participants.Grün Berlin supported the project by financing experts for photography and by paying the printing costs for the project results. The duration of the project was 3 months, starting from 01.08.2018, and included three mobilities and 8 local events of the partner organisations. The latter were exhibitions where the project results were presented in all participating countries. In September a preparatory meeting took place, which coordinated logistical preparations and enabled agreements on methodological work. In order to ensure young people's codecision and participation, young people were invited to this preparatory meeting in addition to the group leaders. The Youth Exchange took place from 28 October to 4 November 2018. The activity was carried out with five participants from each partner organisation, who were also accompanied by a group leader. During this activity the participants dealt with transport, water, landscape, pollution and waste as well as food and agriculture. Photographs on these topics were taken in the natural spaces in and around Berlin. Enriched with photos taken by the participants in the run-up to the youth meeting and incorporated into the project, a selection was exhibited and made available to the public. Each partner received this exhibition as a finished print so that he can use it in his permanent local environment and expand it if necessary. During the Youth Exchange the usual elements of intercultural learning were applied and the contents of the work were translated with methods of non-formal education. All in all, the expected objectives (increase of language skills, improvement of intercultural competence and cohesion, development of media literacy) were achieved. As a sustainable effect, we hope to have raised the awareness of the environmental and nature conservation participants and we are very confident that this cooperation also contributed to feeling European."

"The project was inspired and had connected partners and stakeholders from other two KA2 projects (Creating a framework and developing contents for tomorrow's youth centers and ""ORA: Capacity Building to Generate Innovative Approaches in Youth Work""), which worked in parallel with different objectives to further develop and enhance the quality of Youth work worked in field, on local environments and on the projects.Both projects had complemented each other in a meaningful way and was easily brought together to make an even bigger impact during this project implementation. The combined methods of both projects had been complemented each other; they had improved the quality of youth work in participating organizations of both and this project, at other stakeholders and to the students of Alice Solomon school for applied science as well. However, the main focus is on explaining, discussing and writing about the importance of youth work for the personal development of young people, for increasing their active citizenship and for social progress, how it was developing and what had and is influencing it in different counties.Within the project had hold a seminar in which 8 partners from 8 countries participated. Each partner had participated with 3 participants, with at least one representative from local government and one representative from practical youth work to attend. Wherever possible, the scientific aspect was also taken into account and participants had gaining from this context.The seminar had 5 working days and had taken place in Berlin. Within this seminar, one day was designed as a symposium with other participants from science and practical work to increase the impact. Symposium was implemented in and in cooperation with Alice Solomon University for applied science - ASH https://www.ash-berlin.eu/en/ . All the activities during the project implementation were using non-formal working methods and are based on the contributions of all participants.The work results of the seminar aim was to increase the quality of the own work of the involved partners and the ability of the participants to argue for youth work as a way of non-formal and informal education. But we had also designed, published, and addressed a joint statement (communiqué) those responsible for providing youth work resources. During symposium it was very interesting discussions with students about youth work, it practices and it definitions in different countries in Europe and wider, how similar and how different it is and how certain practices can be used from one reality to other."

Youth and Environment Europe (YEE) is a network of over 40 youth organisations which are, among other things, active in environmental protection. Members address environmental issues on different levels (local, regional, national, international) with different approaches, such as campaigning, research and education. During the 2016 Annual Meeting several member organisations expressed their interest in exploring the topic of ecotourism. Some members even pointed out the need to further develop this type of tourism in their countries. Moreover, ecotourism was identified as a current topic and a good way to promote active citizenship among young people. We believe that ecotourism can connect different parts of communities and could therefore be an innovative approach for promoting youth participation. The aim of this training course was to strengthen youth participation and active citizenship through ecotourism and related projects. Objectives: - To define the role and importance of ecotourism in local communities. - To create the common understanding about youth participation in local communities through ecotourism. - To provide space for partners to share the experience of organising ecotourism projects with young people. - To expand the knowledge and skills needed for organising ecotourism related projects in local communities. - To create space for networking and building new partnerships among environmental youth organisations. The training course “Uniting Youth for Ecotourism” took place on 6-13 November 2017 in the ecological center Kapraluv Mlyn, Ochoz u Brna, Czech Republic. It was organised by Youth and Environment Europe. 31 participants from 13 countries took part in this training course. Most of the objectives have been achieved thanks to a balanced combination of formal, non-formal and informal education strategies.In particular:- The role and importance of ecotourism in local communities were defined both through sharing sessions where participants expressed their ideas, impressions and even personal experiences and through visits to five different ecotourism realities in the area around Kapraluv Mlyn.- The common understanding (both theoretical and practical) about youth participation in local communities through ecotourism was established through a teamwork project where participants had to develop a product or service targeting young ecotourists and meeting ecotourism standards. Moreover, during an intercultural evening, participants had the possibility to present an object, food or drink related to ecotourism practices in their country or region.- A large space was provided to participants willing to share ecotourism practices in their countries. Two participants from Italy, two from Hungary, one from Russia and the two trainers (from Spain and Czech Republic) provided concrete examples of ecotourism projects involving young people. - The knowledge and skills needed for organising ecotourism projects were expanded through the session “Ecotourism and heritage interpretation” where the topics of marketing strategies, ecotourism practices and youth participation were interconnected with each other.- A large space for networking was provided to each participant. They had the possibility to present their organisation, their role within the organisation and latest projects. In the light of the genuine interests that participants showed for others` activities and the emergence of common grounds, new partnerships are likely to be built.- Additionally, several other activities (Service and Care, bonfires, movie night, visit to caves) have supported participants in their quest to know each other, build a great team, exchange ideas and even make new friends. Project results were shared among participants, partner organisations and other members via email correspondence and YEE online media. In addition, all materials created before, during and after the training course were uploaded on YEE website. As a follow-up, a publication will be published which will contain project results and useful information on how to plan successful eco-tourism projects.