This project “AFS intercultural learning experience for life: volunteer work at a local project and integration into the local community” aimed to develop solidarity and promote tolerance among people with different cultural backgrounds. This was achieved by providing opportunities for intercultural dialogue, intercultural learning and integration in the local community. We did this by offering the volunteers the opportunity of working in a community service project. The volunteers were inserted into a multicultural environment in which they carry out several different tasks, always accompanied by staff members. This allowed them to learn and improve a multitude of skills, to nurture in them a sense of European citizenship and European values, and to provide them with a professional experience that ease their transition into the labor market. Plus, given the fact that they will contact regularly with people from different countries (by meeting other volunteers e.g.), it is also helpful for the volunteers as they are urged into learning and speaking foreign languages, thus promoting multilingualism, in accordance with the objectives of the Erasmus+ programme. The organizations benefited from the collaboration of the volunteers, with focus on the different working methods that each person brings to the workplace. This stimulated a learning process for both parties, in which one gain from the experience of the other and vice-versa. Also, through discussion and evaluation, the various actions, initiatives and processes were analyzed in order to optimize the overall quality of the project. Lastly, the local community benefited from interaction with foreign volunteers, which is key to promoting values such as tolerance, freedom, pluralism and intercultural and interreligious acceptance, among others. We projected to involve 22 youngsters over 2 years, but several mobilities were shortened, mainly due to the covid-pandemic. As a consequence, we were able to send 29 volunteers over 3 years. Each volunteer had an individual activity at one of the hosting projects. The local projects focussed on themes like education, media, agriculture, sustainability, animal care, health care, cultural heritage, intercultural education, child care and minorities. We had 2 participants that started their project in 2018 (of which 1 stayed until June 2019), 11 in 2019 (3 of which stayed until 2020) & 16 in 2020 (of which 4 stayed until 2021) in this project. By living in a host family, participants hosted in Belgium saw the differences in habits, personalities and opinions which made them think about their own habits, personality and opinions. The participants confronted their family with their own personalities, habits and culture, which maybe they did not really question before. In this way the benefits were on both sides: the family who they are living with, but also for the participants: there is - on both sides - an ever growing awareness of how a society has an impact on our daily life. With this knowledge competences to confront issues raised by persons coming from different starting situations was greatly improved. Because of the so-called 360° intercultural learning experience it was a life changing experience for the volunteer. The gain in understanding and awareness of different cultural, sociological, linguistic and economic situations made the volunteer more enthousiast about Europe and its values. It empowered him / her in terms of self-esteem and boosted his / her engagement towards a more open and democratic society. It is in the mission of AFS to build a more peaceful world and we strongly believe in the improvement of these competences by working as a volunteer and by living in a host family. Through the whole experience the Global Competence Certificate was guiding the participant on a personal level.The GCC is a combination of online learning and live training. By leveraging technology, we increase our reach to learners across the globe. The program brings the content of intercultural learning through a modular, blended, and experiential learning approach. It ensures that all participants receive a standard curriculum, which they can take online and at their own pace. This curriculum serves as the basis for further individual and group reflection and experimentation during live training components. Through forums in the online component, learners can connect with peers from around the world and begin reflecting on intercultural issues before they embark on their intercultural experience. The content of the online modules helps each participant reflect on his or her own cultural identity and supports participants as they learn about others, manage their emotions, and build meaningful relationships across differences.

We have 2 participants in 2017 and 2 in 2018 in this project. 2 of them stayed during 10 months, 1 during 5 months and 1 during 12 months. All of them lived in a Dutch speaking host family. Although we applied for 3 mobilities of 10 months and 1 of 12 months, one of the mobilities was shorter than intended. This was due to several last minute withdrawals for Klein Kasteeltje.They volunteered in very different kind of projects evolving around themes such as media and communication; education; people with disabilities; integration of refugees; intercultural learning. The tasksachieved by the participants varied from one project to another. A detailed overview of the tasks that were carried out by project can be found in attachment, along with a description of each project, the profile & benefits for the volunteer & the hosting organisation. Our projects are open to all kind of participants regardless of ethnic background, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, level of education, religion or any other personal aspect; motivation & interest are the key elements.By participating in the project “AFS: Intercultural learning experience for life: volunteer work at a local project and integration into the local community” the young volunteers have gained intercultural competences by working in a local project, living in a Belgian host family and at the same time meeting peers from all over the world during formal and informal meetings. Besides, having gone through the Global Competence Certificate they deepened their knowledge in intercultural learning, by walking through online sessions and videos, reflecting upon it by themselves and with peers during webinars & live trainings, facilitated by Qualified Facilitators. The GCC is a combination of online learning & live training. The program brings the content of intercultural learning through a modular, blended, and experiential learning approach. It ensures that all participants receive a standard curriculum, which they can take online & at their own pace. This curriculum serves as the basis for further individual & group reflection and experimentation during live training components. Through forums in the online component, learners can connect with peers from around the world & begin reflecting on intercultural issues before they embark on their intercultural experience. The content of the online modules helps each participant reflect on his or her own cultural identity & supports participants as they learn about others, manage their emotions & build meaningful relationships across differences. Designed to support learners participating in an international experience, our Global Competence Certificate builds their global competence; the knowledge, skills, and understanding we believe are needed to create a more just and peaceful world. The content is designed to meet key educational goals that help learners develop intercultural competence and deal with cultural adjustment. These goals are organized into four core areas: self-awareness, awareness about others, emotional intelligence and bridges across difference. Having intentional intercultural education surrounding one's experience abroad has been proved to have a very big impact on people's learning for intercultural competences. More information about the Global Competence Certificate (GCC) can be found on: sentionetwork.org/certificate (ENG) &www.afsvlaanderen.be/global-competence-certificate (NL).As such the volunteers developped unique competences in a non formal learning environment. Thanks to this 360° intercultural learning experience participants developed & strenghtened their intercultural competences & became active citizens that share and transmit the concepts of solidarity and tolerance among people with different cultural backgrounds. The experience doesn't only have an impact on the volunteer himself, but also on the people surrounding him. Hosting a foreign volunteer has a long-lasting impact on colleagues and host family members. The youngster brought a new culture into their organisation or family & as such they learned about another culture. At the same time the volunteers brings new perspectives and have a fresh look on the way organisations are working, which leads to improvements and strengthening of the organisation. Each volunteer has unique things to offer regardless their experience or background, each in his own unique way.By interacting with peers the participants have impact on each other too, sharing experiences and spending time together in an intercultural environment.We can definitely say that an exchange of one person has lifelong impact on a very broad range of people. Besides all this, volunteers developed all kind of skills such as: being more independent, decision-making, language skills, developing personal projects & ideas, planning, self-confidence, adaptability & flexibility, tolerance, critical thinking, global citizenship, expressing own opinions,..

We hosted 12 participants in 2017 & 1 in 2018. 1 of them stayed during 12 months, the others stayed for a duration of approx. 6 months. We were able to host more participants than in the initial application, thanks to the reallocation of a part of the budget from Activity 2 to Activity 1. All of them lived in a Dutch speaking host family. They volunteered in very different kind of organisations working on themes such as media & communication; nature & sustainability; employability; education; early childhood; culture; people with disabilities; intercultural learning. The tasks achieved by the participants varied from one project to another. A detailed overview of the tasks that were carried out by project can be found in attachment, along with a description of each project, the profile & benefits for the volunteer & the hosting organisation. Our projects are open to all kind of participants regardless of ethnic background, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, level of education, religion or any other personal aspect; motivation & interest are the key elements.By participating in the project “AFS: Intercultural learning experience for life: volunteer work at a local project and integration into the local community” the young volunteers have gained intercultural competences by working in a local project, living in a Belgian host family and at the same time meeting peers from all over the world during formal and informal meetings. Besides, having gone through the Global Competence Certificate they deepened their knowledge in intercultural learning, by walking through online sessions and videos, reflecting upon it by themselves and with peers during webinars & live trainings, facilitated by Qualified Facilitators. The GCC is a combination of online learning & live training. The program brings the content of intercultural learning through a modular, blended, and experiential learning approach. It ensures that all participants receive a standard curriculum, which they can take online & at their own pace. This curriculum serves as the basis for further individual & group reflection and experimentation during live training components. Through forums in the online component, learners can connect with peers from around the world & begin reflecting on intercultural issues before they embark on their intercultural experience. The content of the online modules helps each participant reflect on his or her own cultural identity & supports participants as they learn about others, manage their emotions & build meaningful relationships across differences.Designed to support learners participating in an international experience, our Global Competence Certificate builds their global competence; the knowledge, skills, and understanding we believe are needed to create a more just and peaceful world. The content is designed to meet key educational goals that help learners develop intercultural competence and deal with cultural adjustment. These goals are organized into four core areas: self-awareness, awareness about others, emotional intelligence and bridges across difference. Having intentional intercultural education surrounding one's experience abroad has been proved to have a very big impact on people's learning for intercultural competences. More information about the Global Competence Certificate (GCC) can be found on: sentionetwork.org/certificate (ENG) & www.afsvlaanderen.be/global-competence-certificate (NL).As such the volunteers developped unique competences in a non formal learning environment. Thanks to this 360° intercultural learning experience participants developed & strenghtened their intercultural competences & became active citizens that share and transmit the concepts of solidarity and tolerance among people with different cultural backgrounds.The experience doesn't only have an impact on the volunteer himself, but also on the people surrounding him. Hosting a foreign volunteer has a long-lasting impact on colleagues and host family members. The youngster brought a new culture into their organisation or family & as such they learned about another culture. At the same time the volunteers brings new perspectives and have a fresh look on the way organisations are working, which can lead to improvements and strengthening of the organisation. Each volunteer has unique things to offer regardless their experience or background, each in his own unique way.By interacting with peers the participants have impact on each other too, sharing experiences and spending time together in an intercultural environment.We can definitely say that an exchange of one person has lifelong impact on a very broad range of people.Besides all this, volunteers developed all kind of skills such as: being more independent, decision-making, language skills, developing personal projects & ideas, planning, self-confidence, adaptability & flexibility, tolerance, critical thinking, global citizenship, expressing own opinions,...