Against a background of increasing health risks, The EU Youth Strategy (2010-18) identifies health & well-being as a key initiative. This project, Bushcraft as a Youthwork Tool (BYT), addresses 2 defined aims of that initiative: a)promoting mental and sexual health, sport, physical activity and healthy lifestyles; b)raising awareness of how sport can promote teamwork, intercultural learning and responsibility. The learning and development of this project will take place outdoors, an environment, in respect of physical activity, experienced less and less by youth today. The approaches and methods, framed as part of non-formal and relational practice, are designed to promote young people’s well-being and mental health. This innovative project focuses on a specific outdoor youth work methodology, BYT. It will provide youth work practitioners and youth volunteers with the necessary competences to directly engage young people in BYT activity; and it will producea 35-page accessible and practical, ‘Forest Schools and Bushcraft Practices’ E-Toolkit, based on the training, to support the delivery of BYT elsewhere. The 2-year project involves 6 partners: Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, UK, the applicant, with the necessary BYT expertise to deliver the training, 4 partners, to benefit from the training, SEAL Cyprus, National Council of YMCA’s Ireland, Futuro Digitale, Italy, and CDCD, Romania, and 1 partner, YMCA George Williams College, UK, to develop a quality curriculum and producing the E-Toolkit. The project objectives (abridged): 1)To train 24 youth work practitioners, from different EU contexts, in a new methodology, BYT, for engaging and working with young people. 2)To enable these teams of youth work practitioners to go on to deliver BYT activity for other young people. 3)To create a group of youth mentors to operate as ‘peer educators’ (youth participation in this process is fundamental) in the promotion and delivery of BYT programme through multiplier events and future activity. 4)To develop a ‘Forest Schools and Bushcraft Practices’ E-Toolkit, for use by youth work practitioners and young people (to be available in each of the partners’ languages). 5)To enable the EBGC TrainerTeam to acquire greater intercultural competence in delivering BYT. 6)To explore and affirm how relational/non-formal approaches in the delivery of outdoor education can enhance the general wellbeing of young people, including their mental health. 50% of the estimated 300 young people, participating in the BYT ‘pilot’ activities, are young people with fewer opportunities. The activities will comprise: 9 short-term training residentials across 5 partner countries, in intercultural contexts, involving youth work practitioners, youth volunteers, young people and researchers; a multiplier event in each of the partner countries to introduce the E-Toolkit and promote and disseminate the BYT programme. The programme will be delivered through acascading process: the delivery team will take youth work practitioners through each topic, practitioners will then take their youth volunteers through the same topics, and later, this joint team of youth work practitioners and youth volunteers will deliver the BYT programme to new groups of young people. The topics will comprise, for example: principles of survival; shelter building; fire lighting; water purification; knife skills; wild food and foraging. There will be workshops on broader social issues, such as reflecting on the role of sport and outdoor learning in local communities. Competence development is central to this project, from the viewpoint of youth work practitioners, the EBGC delivery team, youth volunteers and young people. Several learning assessment frameworks will be used for guidance; Youthpass, a Level 3 Outdoor Learning Diploma and the ETS Competence Model for Youth Workers to Work Internationally. The YMCA GWC will coordinate the evaluation of learning throughout. The work will culminate in the E-Toolkit, presented at the multiplier events in each country, the SALTO-Youth Toolbox platform and events such as the annual SALTO Tool Fair. Project aims:- 1)To create joint teams of youth work practitioners and youth mentors, to deliver BYT activities, immediately in the partners’ national contexts, and later, across Europe and elsewhere. 2)The production and dissemination of a practical, accessible, E-Toolkit, to be used by practitioners and young people alike, to run a variety of BYT activities. The main long-term benefit lies in the wider availability of an innovative, outdoor, NFL methodology, that can be used across the youth and other sectors, to contribute to the improvement of the health and well-being of Europe’s citizens.

Accredited projects for mobility of learners and staff are implemented by organisations holding an Erasmus accreditation. Each accredited project represents a step in the implementation of the organisation's long-term Erasmus Plan.

“Raising the capacities of youth NGOs for rural youth participation in democratic life – VOTE!” project aimed to raise the capacities of youth NGOs working with rural youth to encourage youth active participation in European democratic life and elections. We believe that active youth participation and in particular rural youth political participation can be an added value for the development of our countries and communities. For this reason, the consortium from 14 organizations representing different European countries decided to develop a long-term cooperation project on capacity building of rural youth political participation. The project aimed to contribute to the capacity building of youth workers from civil society organizations, particularly the ones working with rural youth and public authorities at the local and regional levels to be able to increase the level of youth democratic participation. At the same time that focus also on the capacity building of youth leaders from local rural communities. In order to reach our project aims we had defined the following specific objectives: a) To increase the capacity of NGOs working with rural youth to influence policy at local, regional, national and European levels;b) To empower local organizations staff to better involve young people in the decision-making process of their projects and activities;c) To increase the political influence of young people in their communities by active participation in the processes of political elections;d) To improve local and national youth policies and the competencies of local stakeholders to work together (cross-sectorial initiatives) and with rural youth in developing new projects;e) To develop instruments that can support youth NGOs that need to start working with rural youth;f) To raise the level of awareness within the communities in Europe about the impact of the young generation, particularly addressing rural youth;On the local level, the project had a significant impact with the implementation of training courses, local youth initiatives and development of the action plans for raising the capacities of rural youth.The priorities this project addressed:- Promoting the take-up of practical experiences in education, training and youth work in rural areas;- Supporting the production and adoption of Open Educational Resources in diverse European languages on youth political participation (elections on local, national, European levels);- Stimulating active participation of young people in democratic life in their communities, supporting their local initiatives and active participation in elections.

<< Background >>The COVID pandemic, while challenging to so many, has had a disproportionate impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), bringing the rate of SME bankruptcy and closure to skyrocket and changed consumer behaviour forever, having more consumers now ordering goods online. For this reason, SMEs need to stop expecting business to return to “normal.” There’s no going back to how it was anytime soon. Even before the pandemic and economic crisis, SMEs had been fighting a fierce battle against Amazon and other e-commerce players. Those challenges have now accelerated at staggering speed. The latest data from McKinsey (2021) shows that consumers are likely to keep the behaviours they’ve adopted amid stay-at-home orders, such as always more online shopping. Undoubtedly, as COVID-19 continues to be out of control, setting up a new company in these current times has its share of challenges and this is especially true for young people. Following, Entrepreneurship is Online (EIO) will tackle the challenges that COVID-19 brought to young people-aspiring entrepreneurs, namely, the pandemic has accelerated the process of digital transformation across almost all sectors of businesses, creating opportunities but also new barriers for young people. EIO will help young people to better leverage on digital tools and set an online presence to run their future business and create solutions to solve the problems of their communities so that they can have a chance to survive the crisis and even thrive in the long term. The future envisioned post-COVID is one where young people are prepared and enabled through technology to run their business in order to operate across the EU common market. However, even though young people of today are surrounded by digital technology, they are not equally equipped for their technology rich future: various kinds of digital divides still prevail in the society. In this sense, it is possible to find young people, who want to develop their own business, but lack completely online presence skills.<< Objectives >>Following, “Entrepreneurship is Online (EIO)” aims to promote entrepreneurial education by boosting key competences in digital marketing, online presence and branding among youth workers and young people in order to improve their entrepreneurial capacity to teach and learn about how to start new businesses and how to reach current markets online. EIO specific objectives:•To create educational tools and open educational resources (OERs) about entrepreneurship and online presence for youth workers and young people and so boosting their key competences•To upgrade pedagogical skills and qualifications of youth workers in the areas covered by the project (entrepreneurship and online presence)•To provide a pedagogical strategy for youth workers that will support them to facilitate learning processes on entrepreneurship through online presence and e-learning.EIO direct target groups:-youth workers which need support to upgrade their pedagogic approach and knowledge to deliver entrepreneurial programmes which include online presence education.-Young people, including the fewer opportunities one, which need more appropriate entrepreneurial education to develop their skills for opening a business.<< Implementation >>EIO partners will realize the following activities:• Kickoff Meeting (Denmark)• EIO Handbook (project result one)• First intermediate meeting (Italy)• E-learning programme (project result two)• First training event (C1, Cyprus)• Blended mobility of young people (C2, Denmark)• Second intermediate meeting (Cyprus)• Toolkit for youth workers (project result 3)• Second training event (C3, Italy)• Methodology Pack (project result 4)• Final conference (E1, Cyprus)• Final conference (E2, Denmark)• Final conference (E3, Spain)• Final conference (E4, Denmark)• Final meeting (Spain)• Dissemination and Communication activities.The following methodology will be applied: Plan, Do, Check, Act. This aims to constantly monitor the project advancement and to ensure permanent quality improvement. This methodology also mean that steps must be realized in time bound manner as any lateness or missing parts can have direct influence on other partner work. Feedbacks will be used for the continuous improvement of the project, using the PDCA method (plan, do, check, act).<< Results >>At local level and regional level:-Partner organisations will bring the good practices and knowledge acquired to life through the implementation of new activities and programme fostering the entrepreneurial and digital skills of young people.-Improved quality and access to youth entrepreneurial training for young people with fewer opportunities. Young people will improve their digital skills and so will be able to set an online presence for their business and create value for all their community. -Inclusion of the EIO Handbook (PR1) and of the two competences frameworks for youth workers and young people, E-learning programme (PR2), Toolkit for youth workers (PR3), Methodology Pack (PR4) into the existing curricula of local and regional youth entities and other interested stakeholders, for starting offering support to young people – aspiring entrepreneurs.At national level:-The e-learning programme (PR2) and the Moodle online platform will engage relevant stakeholders in the process and introducing them to the benefits of the open learning and specifically with respect to entrepreneurship and online business presence. -To raise the discussion on the necessity to add on the mission of youth education also the duty to support young people – aspiring entrepreneurs not just in acquiring entrepreneurial skills but also digital skills that will help them once open their business to survive and success.-Inclusion of the EIO project results into the existing curricula of national youth organizations/institutions, as an additional training section focused on supporting entrepreneurs.-Better use of EU funding with an increased number of projects supporting young people – aspiring entrepreneurs etc.At European level:-Increased European competitiveness and contribution to the acceleration of economic growth through the improvement of tools linked to entrepreneurship and business creation support, helping young people in all stages of their business life cycle, avoiding that they will lost business opportunities because of the lack of an online presence and so supporting the capacity of young people to engage in growth in regional, national and international markets. -The two competence framework created for youth workers and young people (part of PR1), will provide a set of competences (knowledge, skills and personal abilities) needed in order to reach an adequate level of “command” in the online presence and entrepreneurship. -The developed multilingual PRs and e-learning programme (PR2) in English and partners languages will allow worldwide accessibility to EIO project results and so foster the use of project results a transnational level.-An increased awareness of the role that youth education can play in helping young people – aspiring entrepreneurs to face the economic crisis generated by COVID-19.

Context and background:Statistics show that Young Adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorders face greater difficulties than their peers in the transition to employment. Not only do they have more difficulty finding a job but, more generally, this phase represents a moment of particular risk for them, characterized by increased isolation, heightened symptoms (especially for mental health issues), depression, higher suicidal risk, etc.At the same time this transition is a particularly difficult phase to support for Transition Coaches who often do not have the necessary skills. For Companies, hardly opening the door to the inclusion of YAASD. For families and the community in general, facing a complex change in their role and task that they often fail to manage.TransitAction Objectives:To support YAASD in their transition to Employment, the project aims to achieve the following results:1.Transition Coaches have more effective skills and tools to support YAASD in their transition;2.YAASD have more tools to deal with the transition and are actively involved in this process;3.Companies are more open to employ YAASD and the co-workers are more prepared to integrate them.4.Families, volunteers’ associations and the community in general are better prepared for the transition and capable of managing in a positive manner the changes for their role.Activities:•A research on good practices supporting the transition of young adults to employment is implemented;•A needs analysis on Transition Coaches needs is implemented;•A research on existing digital tools supporting the same transition is implemented;•An Online Platform (I.O.1) collecting the content of the previous two activities is developed.•A training course for Transition Coaches is designed and developed adapting the content of the Online Platform;•A training course is delivered to 17 people (12 Transition Coaches and 4 Peers and one evaluation responsible) through mutual learning;•A feedback analysis on trainings is released;•4 pilots (5 months each) are implemented at national level to test the effectiveness of the training content;•A 2nd Training course, complementary to the first one is delivered considering the feedback from the first 4 pilots;•Further 4 pilots are implemented;•A feedback analysis on the pilots is released;•E-learning modules for Transition Coaches supporting Young Adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorder in their transition to employment is delivered, made available in 5 languages (Dutch, English, Greek, Italian, Slovenian) and uploaded on the Online Platform.Number and profile of participants:TransitAction plans to train 12 Transition Coaches and 4 Peers during the trainings; subsequently, during the field tests, the project expects to involve at least another 18 Transition Coaches and to test the training contents with at least 20 YAASD for each service provider and the school. In total, the project therefore plans to involve at least 24 people, between Transition Coaches and Peers, and at least 80 YAASD.With the aim to support co-production, training participants will also be indirectly involved in other project activitiesMethodology:In the awareness of the complexity of the transition of YAASD to employment, TransitAction has a 360-degree approach. The researches implemented will allow us to gather the best existing practices and tools effecting the context. The field of research will not be limited only to YAASD but to all stakeholders involved in the transition, in compliance with the complexity mentioned above. Specific focus will be given to the search for digital tools as they are now considered more necessary and effective than ever.On this basis, a group of Transition Coaches will be intensively trained. Furthermore 4 pilots will be implemented twice (5+5 months) to allow real and incisive feedback on the final formulation of the training modules. Research, training, testing and feedback will therefore be interrelated and enclosed in a virtuous circle.To ensure that the input of the YAASDs themselves is sufficiently taken into account, Peers are involved throughout the whole project.Results, impacts and long term benefit:The Online Platform, through its translation software, will available in multiple languages. The Training Modules will be available on the Platform in 5 languages (English, Dutch, Greek, Italian, Slovenian). Dissemination events of the project results will be held in Greece, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Slovenia, Ireland. This way, both I.O. will be known at European level and could be used internationally, leading to a real improvement in the support to YAASD transition. In the long term, the project will generate, among other things:•Enhanced YAASD labor inclusion;•Stronger financial independence of YAASD;•Enhanced social role and inclusion YAASD in the community;•Decreased economic / social cost of YAASD support;•Better quality of life of YAASD and families.