The successfully implemented project “Volu.M.E. - VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT ENHANCED” was aimed at developing competencies of youth workers and organisations in volunteer management and mentoring of EVS (now ESC) volunteers. The purpose was to enhance the quality of EVS projects (and future ESC projects) as learning experiences in all levels - from the writing of a project right through the closing and evaluation. In the project, consisting of a Training Course in Weimar, DE, an implementation period and a seminar in Lysos, CY, EVS/ESC coordinators, mentors and ex-volunteers took part. The participants developed competences in management of EVS volunteers and EVS projects, they were developing tools and documentations that will be implemented in the on-going EVS projects in their organisation (and thus will enhance their quality and the learning process quality), they were becoming more competent in mentoring and the learning development of volunteers and finally got a wider and deeper overlook on the EVS/ESC program and what it can create. During the project, the local realities in Weimar & Lysos were used as a tool for learning and achieving mutual influence both on local community and on international group. The involved organisations in the project were: Plattform Generation Europa (Austria), POLITISTIKO ERGASTIRI AYION OMOLOYITON (Cyprus), Stiftung Europäische Jugendbildungs- und Jugendbegegnungsstätte Weimar (Germany), SOCIAL YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CIVIL NONPROFIT SOCIETY (Greece), Compass Európai Ifjúsági Közösségért Egyesület (Hungary), JUMP - GIOVENTU' IN RISALTO (Italy), Stichting Internationale Werkkampen (Netherlands), POLSKA FUNDACJA IM. ROBERTA SCHUMANA (Poland), Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa (Portugal), Team for Youth Association (Romania), XERACION VALENCIA (Spain) and Örebro Kommun Gymnasieförvaltningen, Kommunala aktivitetsansvaret (Sweden). The TC took place from 23rd – 30th of March 2018, the Seminar from 7th - 13th of July 2018.

'Flourishing youth, positive psychology in youth work' was an international training course on positive psychology (PP), using non-formal methodology for youth workers to promote wellbeing and personal development of youngsters. The course improve the quality of competences of youth workers. PP offers an effective framework to promote a sustainable development for flourishing and mental health of youngsters. The course gathered a group of 26 youth workers from 7 different partnering organizations countries ( Italy, United Kingdom (Wales), Spain, Germany, Portugal, Slovenia and the Netherlands) that are dealing with promotion of personal development of youth through the use of non-formal education. Participants were not only diverse from a geographical and cultural perspective, but also regarding their aims and target groups. The project took place from the 25th until the 30th of September 2017 in Sale San Giovanni in Italy and was facilitated by a team of experienced trainers in the field of PP. The course offered the participants an experience and practice with PP and provided an opportunities for youth workers to enhance their competences (knowledge, skills and attitudes) to create stimulating circumstances that promote personal development and wellbeing of their youth. There was a specific focus on the practical implementation of the acquired competences. During the course, participants were encouraged and facilitated to develop their own customized programs within the PP framework which they can use in their daily youth work in their own organization and to develop new collaborations with other participating organizations on a European level. It also offered the participants an opportunity to improve the quality of their youth work by learning from the experiences of different European cultures in youth work and different ways to encourage the personal development and active participation of the youth they work with. Objectives of the project were: - To develop participants' competences (knowledge, skills and attitudes) and methodologies to improve the quality of their youth work; - To provide participants with tools and exercises to implement the elements of positive psychology in their youth work; - To increase a broader understanding among participants on the practices of youth work across Europe and increase the level of understanding of intercultural differences in this sector.- To establish and provide participants with a network opportunity to increase the internationalization of their youth work (within the framework of Erasmus+). Participants came prepared through an e-learning assignment, to ensure a common basic level at the start of the course. During the course the participants were facilitated in their experiential learning process through the use of non-formal educational methods such as discussions, simulations, work in small groups, world cafe. The participants always first experienced the topics through exercises, to ensure an understanding of the topic on an intuitive level. Next participants were taught how to implement the elements of PP and learned to design high quality PP-projects that will stimulate personal growth of youth. The course empowered the youth workers and gave them the self-esteem to be able to implement the elements of PP into the youth work of their organizations. By means of following this course, the participants, and their organizations are now able to design good quality projects to promote personal development that will enhance the well-being of their target groups. The course also increased the level of internationalization of youth work of the organizations by designing new cooperations for the future.

Active citizens are people who care about their local communities and the places they live in. Many people feel a sense of commitment to their neighborhood and are actively involved in activities to improve the quality of life there, thus being an active citizen for their community. And the more citizens feel that they are able to contribute to their public spaces, the more vibrant their communities will be. As the idea of Placemaking is not yet so widely spread among young people and their communities, the organizers decided that they will need to develop skills and knowledge on Placemaking generally and especially on Creative Placemaking, which is directly connected with the concept of active citizenship and social inclusion. Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community. Placemaking is a collaborative process by which people shape their public realm together and it is fundamentally about inclusion and shared community ownership. An effective Placemaking results in the creation of quality public spaces that contribute to people’s health, happiness, well being and how it makes the people who use it feel about themselves. But if there is no active citizenship, there will be no Placemaking, as active participation of citizens is always in need for new initiatives. Creative placemaking is a powerful idea that can increase civic engagement of young people in the community life and thus bring changes, redefine public spaces and contribute to the development of healthy sustainable communities. Objectives of the Youth Exchange are: -to empower young people to be active citizens, to develop a sense of European citizenship and identity -to bring the idea of Placemaking to young people -to promote Creative Placemaking -to encourage creative and critical thinking among young people, to empower sense of initiative -to encourage involvement of young people in decision making processes that affect them directly and indirectly -to raise awareness on importance of Placemaking in community designing process -to improve leadership skills of young people -to support the active participation of young people with fewer opportunities -to develop intercultural dialogue This YE is designed for young people, youth workers, who are really interested in active citizenship and want to improve their community and the environment they live in by being active citizens.and networking between EU and Neighboring countries Participants for youth exchange project were young people from age 18 to 30, except the group leaders who had no age limit restrictions. From each country 1 group leader and 4 participants (except Spain and Armenia-5 participants +1 group leader from each ).Total number of participants were 32 (including group leaders). The activities that were used are based on non-formal educational methods, both theoretical and practical with semantic sequence. Participants had activities like icebreakers and teambuilding activities, several other methods like inputs, role-plays, simulations, discussions and workshops. The 3 main expected impacts on the participants are new knowledge, developing skills and change in attitude/behaviour.

"The most educated youth in the history of the EU, faces an uncertain future due to the crisis of the last decade of political, labor and environmental instability. This situation leads to discouragement, distrust of institutions and lack of entrepreneurship, limiting the personal and professional development of young people. This harsh reality weakens the foundational values ​​of the EU, such as work, housing and social rights. On the other hand, one of the most important challenges facing the EU is climate change, and we think that the best way to face it would be involving youth in sustainable entrepreneurship. In addition Spain is a large producer of cereals so it generates large amounts of agricultural waste that contribute to global warming. We observe emerging examples in EU countries such as Germany, Holland or France, leaders in bioconstruction, reuse agricultural waste raw materials to build houses with straw bales, invest more in human capital and reduce energy consumption (50 times less than conventional construction). That is why with this project we want to empower youth (with real examples) to create their own social entrepreneurship projects in the environmental field, without the need for a large economic investment, mitigating the work and housing problem. Therefore, the objectives of the project are to: 1. Boost the entrepreneurial spirit of young people through projects of bio-construction, transformation, upcycle of rural and urban waste, renewable energies and permaculture. 2. Empower the participants with the necessary training (theory, tools, techniques) to start their own projects on bio-construction, renewable energies and other environmental entrepreneurship projects. 3. Provide the participants with competences on social entrepreneurship in order to develop their own ideas and projects. 4. Disseminate alternative sustainable housing and construction systems with negative carbon footprint and promote a healthy lifestyle, responsible and conscious consumption. 5. Raise awareness among the participants about the real effects of our current consumption and life habits, creating a space for reflection and debate about sustainability. 6. Promote European programs such as Erasmus + giving a special focus to youth development and projects and initiatives. This youth exchange will take place at the Villa de Viver campsite (Castellón, Spain) and in a nearby land (less than 2 km) to the campsite, in the middle of nature between the Natural Parks of ""Serra d'Espadà"" and ""Serra Calderona"". I will take place from September 18 to 26, 2018 with 25 participants between the ages of 18 and 30 with group leaders with no age limit. The schedule of the week will be: Day 1. Ice-breakers / team buildings; Theoretical introduction to bio-construction; Documentary night. Day 2. Bio-construction practices; theory of construction of platform and theory beginning of Permaculture. Day 3. Practices of construction of the platform; Introduction to restoration and reuse; Practical permaculture Day 4. Start placement straw bales, theory and practice; restoration and reuse practices 1; Practical permaculture 2. Day 5. Placement of straw bales; renewable energy theory; Erasmus + and Young entrepreneurs. Day 6. Placement of straw bales; practice renewable energies 1; restoration and reuse practices 2. Day 7. Renewable energy practice 2; Youthpass, next steps, ideas, suggestions, brainstorming, projecting future, evaluation and farewell. Regarding the impact of the project, our main intention is that the young people participating in this exchange will be able to generate income and create their own business independently through transformation of waste and bioconstruction projects. This type of construction using urban and rural waste can be completely independent, not relying on external factors, industrial machines, large companies or large capital investments. This can have a very positive impact on their lives, since many of the young people who will participate, are going through stages in which they are not very clear about what to do with their lives. This type of participants will become agents of change in their own countries, since they have proven at first that they can earn their living in fun and dynamic ways while helping the environment and therefore improving their future and other future generations. Therefore, these agents of change will share the knowledge, methodologies and tools acquired during the exchange in their countries, thus becoming the multiplying agents of change that we would like to generate. Therefore, very positive dynamics can be generated for people who participated in a short and long term. We trust that thanks to this project, some of the participants will initiate new projects related to the bio-construction, restoration, transformation and recycling of urban and rural waste; creating new businesses in which they will have to hire other young people in their same situation."

"""The Power of Art"" will be a youth exchange that will be implement in Rustavi, Georgia in the period of September of 2019. It will gather 37 participants, young unemployed people from 7 countries who are interested in development of creative skills as a door to their future employment. Youngsters from Iceland, Georgia, Portugal, Spain, Latvia, France and Romania will unite their creative minds and will take part in creative workshops about art, photography and video and theater, will broaden their knowledge in the area of how to create a good CV, how to write a good motivation letter, how to act on a job interview. They will learn on what is needed to start a small start-up business, listen to successful stories, and they will be able to use their full creative potential during the creative workshops in an area where they have interest and talents. The activities will use non-formal methods of working, like teambuilding, creative thinking and self-learning, to seek and develop youngsters own talents and interest and to learn more about how to face the world of employers."