Already in English.

The project called Creativity Pass was realized in between 01/08/2017 and 31/08/2018, and it contained a training course as a main activity, which was about creativity and social entrepreneurship, using 2 innovative methods: creative recycling and improvisational theatre.The training course happened between 7-16 of April 2018, in 2 venues, 6 days in Alsótold and the last 3 days in Budapest. The group contained 30 participants from 8 countries and partner organisations, 3 trainers and 3 support staff members. There was a very diverse group, coming from many different backgrounds, working with different target groups. They were mostly youth workers, youth leaders, volunteers of youth associations, coaches, freelancers, trainers. Main working methods were: creative recycling workshops, improvisational theatre sessions, team buildings, reflection time, short lectures, outdoor elements, art therapy, body movement, coaching and mentoring, sharings with the whole group, creative event organized by the participants. In the end of the training course the group of participants organized and realized a creative open event in Budapest which contained improve theatre games, presentation of recycling techniques and songs played on recycled musical instruments. Our aim was to share innovative methods in youth work with youth workers, who can then use the methods with their target groups, and to foster social entrepreneurship. Due to the variety of the activities and the training program design the understanding and implementation of the 2 main methods happened already in the training course, so participants used the methods back home with more confidence: all of them adapted the methods to their circumstances and environment and therefore the dissemination of project results was impressive. Participants of the training not only benefited themselves from what they learned but they regularly organize workshops, coaching sessions, organizational development meetings with the methods what they learned. 7 people from the group expressed that they are going to develop projects under the Erasmus+ programme due to this training.

Nowadays a new need arises; the need of making the youth’s potential a reality. This means that we already have competent youth, so we need to start transferring the competences into practice, moving from the place of acquiring to the place of applying and developing by becoming themselves agents of creation. It is time to support youth in order to become entrepreneurs, well equipped persons who develop, organize and manage their own initiative and dare to take this risk.We created this project in which we desire to build on what is already going well in our society and to go one level up into embracing a different kind of creativity, which is the source of innovation therefore the source of motivation of youth to become entrepreneurs of their lives. In our approach we brought the youth in a nature-based context. We believe that bringing the nature closer to the everyday educational path the learners will get the opportunity to disconnect from the chaotic lives and to connect with themselves and have time to boost their creativity in order to nurture future initiatives that will contribute to the lives of others as well. Nature will play the role of a guide that will help them free their mind, develop creativity, self awareness and living in the present moment.Since our organization has had previous valuable experience working with youth in order to support them developing their employability competencies during the last 3 years, our main aim is to increase the capacity of 24 youth workers to develop the creativity of young people in order to create sustainable results and powerful impact on personal and professional development of youth.The objectives:1. To develop empowering attitudes of 24 youth workers for enhancing their own potential.2. To increase the level of knowledge related to the innovative methods of experiential education: Sculpture, Dance, Storytelling used in a nature-based context.3. To enhance skills in creating and delivering creativity-based activities for the young people they work with.4. To increase the understanding on how to use nature in the educational path and development of creativity of youth.5. To increase the support youth workers offer to the young people in their entrepreneurial path.Young people’s human and social capital is one of Europe’s greatest assets for the future. We need to invest in the potential that millions of young Europeans represent in terms of skills, creativity and diversity and to put in action their uniqueness to serve others as well.The participants of the “Create your place” training course were 24 youth workers, teachers, social workers and students, all willing to connect with their creativity to bring these new skills and attitudes to their community.The training allowed them to learn, practice and better understand creativity through storytelling, sculpture and dance. During day 6, participants were in teams to create their own workshops from what they had learnt and lead it with the community (17-18 years old people from Spain and some French civic service). They had the opportunity to implement what they have learnt in order to build the first step of their new skills in practice.Participants have learnt in terms of skills but also attitudes. Most of them have taken this week as a way to feed themselves from the professional and the personal side to come back better connected to themselves in their daily social work ; which is a very energy-consuming work.In terms of dissemination, almost all of them introduced a new activity, workshop or event in their organisation (either to a target audience or their peers).

"As youth workers, trainers we often have to face with the fact that even after putting effort to break the ice within a group we face with lack of trust, assertivity, self-confidence from participants within a group process. Surely there are other cases as well, that recalled our mind that silence is always appearing within a group process and there’s a huge unlocked potential in it. If silence consciously used as a supportive tool, or accompanying method for learning it would help for young people for their personal as well as professional development. As an ars poetica this was behind the Sounds of Silence training course and project. Our aim was to explore the sounds of silence and how to perceive it as a powerful tool, which contributes to qualitative group learning processes.To achieve this, we set up the following objectives for the course:Create a common understanding of silence as a supportive tool for learningConscious experiencing of silence as an individual and in a group contextUse silence for participants’ personal and professional development through self- and group reflection (self-discipline, self-expression, self-awareness)The recognition of applying silence in diverse ways (e.g. coaching, mentoring, mindfulness, storytelling, focus exercises etc.) in youth workProfile of participants were:trainers, facilitators, teachers, educators, social workers who had relevant working experience with groups of young peopleOpened to self-discovery/self-awarenessFluent EnglishAge: 18+24 participants were participants at the Sounds of Silence TCActivities and methodologies- Short interactive presentations by the trainers- Presentations led by participants- Icebreakers, games- Storytelling- Applied improvisation for group building- Artistic creation- Mindfulness- Group work with theatre, dance exercises and music- Longer exercise to foster learning and reflection on advantages and disadvantages of silence.- Facilitated Trainer’s talk via Skype - Silence challenges - Video projection- Individual reflection- Facilitated group reflection and evaluation- Facilitated discussions and brainstorming in plenary and in small groups- Open space method of sharing best practices of non-formal educational tools and methodsAs seen from the project proposal the biggest impact was on the person itself, who attended the training course as through the learning process that we offered they became more aware of themselves as trainers, and about their reaction of different cases where silence can occur. As one of our participants shared after the course, we see this personal impact:""My biggest impact the SoS had on my relationship with my sister. During 2017 I lost my father and since then my communication with my sister was a bit on the hold. After the training finally, I have seen how can I approach her and her attitude and issues towards me and the new family setup. Thank you for this, guys. ""Also the course affected on the partner organisations as well. Some of them now are more conscious about the use of silence that can influence the quality of their projects and educational programs, too. Furthermore, recognition systems of non-formal learning (e.g. Youthpass) was widely applied by the TC and partners."

"Through ""Into the World"" project we addressed the European contrast between the POTENTIAL of young people of current generation being the best educated ever and getting involved in volunteering and the REALITY that shows that 13,7 millions of youth remain out of employment. We aimed at soften the obstacle between the potential and the practice. Previously, youth work has focused in developing the potential, the competences and the capacities of young people. European Commission has put forward dozens of programmes that invest in young people, reinforce their education (formal, non-formal and informal learning), boost their employment and encourage their mobility. Nowadays though, a new need arised; the need TO MAKE THE POTENTIAL A REALITY. This means that we already have competent young people, so we need to start transferring the competences into practice, moving from the place of acquiring to the place of applying, implementing and achieving.Youth workers play a key role in supporting young people to unlock and apply their potential. As described by the EC “Youth work develops the life management and social skills of young people which assists their transition to the labour market”. Practicing youth work ourselves, we know very well that youth work does not only support young people in entering labour market, but also in achieving personal development and social change! In an attempt to move from the place of competences/potential to the place of practice, we focused on 2 steps:3. Youth need to be supported to realize the competences they have and find ways to put them into practice, to apply them in real life for their personal and professional development.4. Youth need to embrace a purpose in life, a direction that will guide them and through which the application of the competences can have a meaning and significance. Embracing a purpose in life is particularly important element, since without a meaningful direction the application of the competences can dangerously fail. In this context, the project “Into the world” has been developed. The project aimed exactly to reach its title: to enhance the competences of the youth workers so that they support youth to exploit their competences for personal, professional and social growth in a meaningful and purposeful way.The objectives of the project were for youth workers1. to gain knowledge related to the transferability of informal and non-formal learning into competences;2. to develop understanding why a purpose in life is important especially for youth;3. to enhance their skills in guiding the youth to apply their competences in meaningful and purposeful way; 4. to increase their motivation in supporting youth to use their competences (professionally and personally);5. to develop a personal follow-up plan to use with the youth they work with.The project had one activity, a training course which took place in Maguri Racatau, Romania and involved 24 youth workers from the following countries: Romania, Cyprus, Italy, France, Czech Republic, Croatia, Latvia, Slovenia, Spain, Malta and Ireland. It took place between 6th - 14th of May 2017. The training was based on the elements of experiential learning, self-directed learning and non-formal education (NFE). Throughout the training course the training team created the spaces for the participants for the experiential phase, for the reflection stage, for generalization and receiving of input and knowledge and for planning the transfer stage. The project had these results: - increased competences of the 24 youth workers directly involved in the project;- video with information and key elements of the project; - articles outlining the importance of transferring the competences into practice and the purpose in life. - workshops lead by the participants in their local communities of the partners regarding the knowledge transfer- workshops lead by the participants in their local communities of the partners with the youth with fewer opportunities."