The project "Joint Exchanges Network" is aimed at the creation of a network of organizations for the development of international high-quality youth exchange projects. The project involved 17 partner organizations and consists of two main activities: a Partnership Building Activity and a Training Course. The idea of the project came from all the partners, who really want to strengthen the partnership among the organizations working in international youth mobility. The main objective of the project was to create a network in which organizations collaborate with well-known partners and in a clear and shared frame-work. In this way it will be possible to facilitate the involvement of the youngsters in the management of exchanges designed by young people for young people, based on peer-to-peer education and thought to develop soft skills that promote employability.In the PBA from the 6th to the 10th of March 2015, 17 coordinators of youth exchanges/presidents of the partner organizations will reinforce the relation among the organisations, will establish quality standards for common projects and will create the Joint Exchange Network, JEN.

Dates: February and April 2015Venue: ASHA Centre, Gloucestershire, Forest of Dean.ASHA Social Entrepreneurship Trainings targeted youth workers, youth leaders and young entrepreneurs willing to develop their skills through non-formal learning. The main theme was social entrepreneurship and creative skills of young people. The project was a direct response to one of the most pressing challenges of young people all over Europe ? to unemployment. Some even call it a civilisational challenge which leaves hundreds of thousands of young people out of work, which will undoubtedly negatively affect our societies. At the same time however an increased number of peoples' initiatives emerge, with all of them under the common umbrella-explanation of entrepreneurship. These new emerging businesses create a very large proportion of innovative products and services that transform the way we work and live, such as personal computers, software, social media (or internet in general), or more local businesses such as production of organic food or storage facilities. What is more, they generate new jobs, thus directly responding to the needs of the unemployed. In many instances it is unemployed themselves taking the initiative and through their own creativity and innovation creating various ventures (ranging from social to business enterprises) by and for themselves as well as for others. But what exactly is this phenomenon of social entrepreneurship? How should we understand it? How can young people understand it? This project explored these questions, through various methods including Timmons entrepreneurship framework, introduction of ?your opportunity journal?, as well as case studies, simulation activities, brainstorming activities and the use of theatre methods. All of these working methods were based on active involvement (and active participation of course!) of all of the participants. All of it was done in order to achieve the following objectives:- to identify the entrepreneurial potential of each individual and organisation participating in the project;- to provide participants with examples of successful local social and business ventures developed by young entrepreneurs and to learn from the experience of social enterprises based in the Forest of Dean (Taurus Crafts, George Café, amongst others); - to give participants knowledge about the entrepreneurship development process, from the identification of an idea or a need, through its development to management;- to develop participants' basic social entrepreneurial skills in young people; - to increase their confidence and build on their positive attitudes towards the risk-taking which (social) entrepreneurship requires;- to provide participants with information about possible funding sources for their start-up ideas, including European schemes such as Erasmus +- to promote European funding opportunities (including E+) as tools for future ventures but also as tools supporting education towards entrepreneurship.The result we aimed at was to provide with entrepreneurial competencies, including basic knowledge, skills and attitudes required to foster young people?s creativity and social entrepreneurship. And then for them to multiply everything they have learned further, in their local communities. But most importantly ? to use the competencies (and the passion we hope to ignite) to start developing their own (social) enterprises! This is the long term goal (and hopefully the benefit) of these trainings.The courses programmes, based on key principles of NFL, involved a mixture of in-house sessions held at ASHA Centre combined with visits to local initiatives and social enterprises to allow for a practical learning process and maximising learning outcomes in these eight-day residential trainings.

Healthy for Life 3rd Edition raised awareness about the importance of including sports and other outdoor recreational activities in the daily life of young people from the communities of the partners involved, highlighting their positive impact for a healthy lifestyle. For this particular aspect a variety of practical activities and non-formal education methods were used, in a multicultural context, through which the participants could learn by experimenting.The objectives which our youth exchange accomplished:-The facilitation of the exchange of experiences, information and ideas within the group (42 youngster and 7 leader from 7 countries) for acknowledging the benefical effects of sports and outdoor recreational activities-The involvement of the group in 5 concrete activities of learning through experiences (team sports, ziplining, hiking, treasure hunt, adventure park)-The dissemination of relevant information about the theme of the project in the communities involved by using the following instruments: 5 motivational videos, the Facebook page www.facebook.com/hflproject, the blog www.hflproject.wordpress.com, our organization’s YouTube channel-The increase of the international cooperation potential for the 7 youth organizations involved and their inclusion in the Healthy for Life partner networkHealthy for Life 3rd Edition is an international youth exchange, with partners from 7 countries of the programme: Romania, United Kingdom, Slovakia, Latvia, Greece, Germany and Malta. It lasted a total of 7 months, from 1 February 2017 to 31 August 2017, having a period of 11 days dedicated to the activities, between 02 and 12 June 2017 (01-13 together with the travel dates). The location of the activities was the Poiana Guesthouse from the village of Poiana Negrii, situated close to Vatra Dornei, a mountain resort in the North of Romania. The group of participants was formed by 42 youngsters, with ages between 18 and 30, and 7 group leaders, without age limit, a total of 49 persons. Each national group was composed by 6 youngsters and 1 leader.The methods at the base of the activities of this youth exchange are related to the non-formal education field and had diverse roles into assuring that we obtain the desired results from this project. All in all, our project reached its planned results and it was a beautiful experience.Related to the international impact, the key stands in the partnership that we capitalized by implementing this youth exchange, between the 7 organizations that went for a common vision and goal. As it happened in the previous 2 editions, from which as a multiplication effect we achieved the remake of the „Healthy for Life” concept and the writing of a 3rd edition, this edition brought new ideas and insights that we wish to use with our partners for future collaboration. This project broadened our international network and vision, making our organization more eager to collaborate with other NGOs across Europe.

Project DEAL – Developing Entrepreneurial Abilities Laboratory - gathered together youth workers, youth leaders and young people with entrepreneurial spirit in order to empower young people and motivate them to find their passion in life and turn it into action. We aim to create a safe learning environment where young people will be able to learn and experiment with ideas, methods, skills and tools bringing them closer to innovative entrepreneurship. Special emphasis will be given on developing their key competences. The project aims to ensure an entrepreneurial approach to solving social and environmental problems in Greece and Ireland and to encourage and support the development of a new generation of social entrepreneurs. The DEAL consists two training events: The first training 27 June – 4 July 2016, with 26 participants from the two countries plus 2 trainers and 2 facilitators venue Tipperary Ireland. The second training 29 August -05 September 2016, with 26 participants from the two countries plus 2 trainers and 2 facilitators venue Florina, Greece The learning objectives of this project are:- To boost entrepreneurial mindsets of young people;- To equip youngsters out of the market with new competences and increase the quality of youth work;- To raise awareness for the importance of innovation and creativity in the development of their skills;- To empower participants to act as multipliers of good practices and disseminate relevant information and skills to involved stakeholders;- To explore possibilities for future cooperation among participants and partner organizations- To become inspired social entrepreneur or change-maker; At the end of the project it is expected to have concrete ideas for social ventures, to create on-line platform (blog) for mapping the social entrepreneurship opportunities in the countries part of this project and to continue the cooperation and networking between the participant. In future we want to gather again and to know how the development of the ideas goes and what the young people need – directly support the early stage development of these social entrepreneurs by providing a range of supports that include financial investment, technical training, peer networking, mentoring or links to other social entrepreneur networks.This project will be based on non-formal education. In brief, the following working methods will be devised:- Plenary discussions for sharing and exchange of views, thoughts, ideas, etc.- Multimedia presentations, for information transmission and theoretical analysis.- Experiencing: different educational settings, different non formal education methods (role playing, simulation games, exercises)- Simulation exercises for skills development- Participants' workshops- Work in small groups for the sake of sharing and developing cooperation.- Workshops for detailed exploration of specific issues (such as learning styles, personal development plan, job interview, tools etc).- Reflecting on the methods and their impacts, on the power and limits of NFE

"The project ""Communication experts"" is a youth exchange that will take place in the town of Gabrovo. The activities that we have planned will be implemented within 11 days by 56 young people aged between 15-30 years, who will be accompanied by four group leaders. The mobility is a partnership between the countries Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Hungary and Malta.The aim of this project is to build lasting skills and new key competences in formal and business communication in relation to the cultural diversity of nations, which will encourage transnational dialogue, social inclusion and thereby the future development of the participants and their better realization on the labor market.The specific objectives of the project are as follows:- Acquiring new knowledge and skills necessary for young people for a better understanding of cultural differences and historical development, by preparing presentations and taking part in discussions.- Training in connection with business etiquette and international differences in the rules of etiquette through active discussions and presentation of similarities and differences in the rules of etiquette in different countries- Mastering the methods to overcome the barriers that hinder the efficiency of communication between different cultures and nationalities through simulations in which each participant will share experiences from real situations.- Raising awareness of different cultural morals and customs for achieving understanding in business communication among young people thanks to the pre-prepared presentations.To achieve these objectives the young people will participate in discussions, debates, practical sessions, workshops, role-playing games, information campaigns and cultural events. Through these activities, the participants will achieve the objectives of the exchange, namely:- Knowledge of different cultures and traditions;- Familiarization with the values and programs of the European Union;- Building lasting skills and new key competencies in formal and business communication;- Acquiring new knowledge and skills necessary for young people for a better understanding of cultural differences and historical development and techniques to overcome the barriers that hinder the effectiveness of communication;- Raising awareness of different cultural morals and customs for achieving understanding in business communication;- Building a tolerant attitude towards different nations, ethnicities and cultures;- Providing training and cooperation to enhance the professional capacity of the participants.By participating in the following activities, young people will gain various qualities, skills and experience that will be implemented in their communities, thereby achieving effective impact of the project among a wide range of people.The methods that will be used are from the field of informal education and will provide a direct opportunity for the participants for practical application of the acquired knowledge and skills."