<< Objectives >>Mindfulness can often describe as “the psychological process of bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment”. Nowadays, it is widely used all over the world as a form of a relaxation techniques, as well as to reduce stress, or even depression or anxiety.We deeply believe, that Mindfulness can be also used as a tool to contribute towards tolerance and cultural intelligence.We often do our activities ‘on autopilot’ (e.g. brushing our teeth). Our thoughts are often guided in the same way. On the one hand, it helps our brain to cope with incredibly big amount of information, by categorizing it with such ‘mental scripts’. On the other hand, however, not being aware of this, and not being mindful (thus, allowing our minds to work on an automatic mental process) leads to stereotypes and prejudice, also towards people from other cultures and countries (e.g. immigrants). Therefore, we believe that being aware of our own ‘mental scripts’ and being mindful of them (&realizing them and the process around it), can greatly contribute for being more tolerant and mindful for other people, and fight stereotypes and prejudice.Even though some of youth workers from our organizations, already know the concept of Mindfulness, and try (to various extend and with various success) introduce it in their own personal life, we have never yet used Mindfulness in our work with youth, neither using it as a tool for promotion of tolerance and combating stereotypes and prejudice.Therefore, aims of this training for youth workers are as follow:- To equip youth workers with knowledge and practical skills of the Mindfulness technique.- Discuss and discover how Mindfulness can be used to stop ‘working on mental pilot’ thus combating stereotypes and prejudice towards people from other cultures and countries (e.g. immigrants).- Develop tools (lessons scenarios) for using Mindfulness for promotion of tolerance and cultural intelligence / cultural awareness.<< Activities >>The main activity of the project is the training for youth workers “Mindfulness for Tolerance”. It will be conducted between 19th-26th March 2020 (plus two days of travel) in Wisła (Poland). The training will be attended by 30 youth workers from 10 countries: 5 programme countries (Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, Serbia) and 5 partner countries (Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine).The training will be based on non-formal education methods, including practical exercises, group work, discussion, brain storming, educational games, role playing. Each sessions will actively involve participants from each organization participating in the project, requiring them to contribute to activity and sharing their ideas and experience.<< Impact >>Thanks to the participation in the training “Mindfulness for Tolerance”, youth workers will:1) gain knowledge regarding:- Mindfulness and its various aspects and components;- how Mindfulness can be use in work with youth as a tool for promoting tolerance and combating stereotypes and prejudice.2) develop practical skills regarding use of Mindfulness – both for their work with youth, but also for their own benefits (what would help them to tackle stress and various situation as youth workers more effectively).3) become more confident with their qualification and capacity to work with youth.Thanks to the participation in international training, they will also develop their skills in the field of cooperation in international environment, as well as will develop their English skills. As they will be participating in discussion and group tasks, they will also improve their skills regarding negotiation, cooperation, and presenting own opinions and arguments.

<< Objectives >>This project came as a result of noticing that Social Economy is currently almost absent in formal education for young people, as well as our observations from work with young people that many of them had never heard about Social Economy. In this context, we had (and still have) a strong belief that it is crucial to educate young people on Social Economy, due to at least few reasons.1) Now, while working with young people, too often we can hear that “immigrants come and steal jobs”, or that “some people want to live on welfare”. Education on Social Economy allows young people to see the bigger picture on how economy and business can:- include disadvantaged groups (which they currently often described with these negative statements cited above),- support social objectives (as solidarity).2) Understanding how socially excluded people can actively engage and contribute to the development of the local community, can contribute to spreading attitudes of tolerance, solidarity and respect for human rights among young people (also in relation to people coming from other communities and cultures, as e.g. immigrants).3) Soon, these young people, will be entering the labour market. If they are aware of what Social Economy is (and that such thing even exist!), they will be able to create enterprises and cooperatives, which on the one hand will be the source of their income, and on the other - they will be able to actively reflect their values and help people from disadvantaged groups.In this context, the main objectives of the training “Social Economy – Social Values, Social Inclusion” were as follows:- To equip youth workers with knowledge about Social Economy and the possibility of using its mechanisms to meet social goals and objectives.- To jointly discuss how education on Social Economy can be used for promotion of important values among young people, such as tolerance and solidarity. And to jointly develop non-formal educational tools to be able to promote it among young people in practise.- To provide a platform to exchange experiences and learn about good practices in promotion of Social Economy, especially in the area of inclusion of disadvantaged groups.<< Implementation >>The main activity (the training for youth workers) were conducted in Wisla, Poland, between 12-18.07.2022 (plus two days of travel).It was attended by 28 youth workers from 12 programme countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, the Republic of North Macedonia. Additionally, two trainers were invoved.The training was be based on the principles and practices of non-formal education. It took into account the needs of both partner organizations and participants – their expectation and motivation, previous experience and interests.During the training diversified non-formal education methods were be used, including group work, learning through action and learning from each other, role playing that involve participants also emotionally, discussions and brain storming, study visit. Furthermore, each sessions actively involved participants from each organization participating in the project, requiring them to contribute to activity and sharing their ideas and experience. At the end of each day, the ‘summary of the day’ was conducted to, on the one hand, ensure the regular reflection on the learning process, and on the other hand – to receive feedback and adapt the programme flow to the needs and interests of participants to even greater extent.<< Results >>Participants of the training “Social Economy – Social Values, Social Inclusion” have:a) gained knowledge- regarding Social Economy (SE) and the possibility of using its mechanisms to meet social goals and objectives;- how education on Social Economy can be used for promotion of important values among young people, such as tolerance and solidarity;- how, and what tools to use to interest young people in Social Economy, and promote important values at the same time;- good practices of SE from various countries, that use it as a tool for supporting disadvantaged groups.b) developed skills and competences in the areas of- incorporating aspects of SE in their education activities with youth;- identifying best type of social enterprise for a given social problem;- creating non-formal education tools / lessons scenarios, that is interesting for youth;- teamwork, cooperation in international environment;- discussion and presenting their own point of view; providing feedback;- reflecting on their own learning process;- communication in English.Furthermore, project participants gained an opportunity to meet other youth workers interested in promoting SE among young people as a tool to incorporate the idea of social solidarity and tolerance.

<< Objectives >>We believe that ability to tell interesting and engaging stories can play an important role in engaging young people in topics such as the role of economy in creating more equal role, what Social Economy is and how it can empower excluded group in our local communities. Unfortunately now, storytelling seems to be not commonly use in similar activities. We do try to use stories in our activities with youth. However, we do it mostly intuitively. Needles to say that it is important for us to do it better and more effectively in our work with youth. Because… what might be more engaging tool to do educate youth about such important aspects than through engaging, motivating and inspiring stories!In order to do this as effectively and successfully as possible, we need to have youth workers in our organisations, that would be trained in this matter, thus will be able to develop our organisations’ activities in this field.Because of this, two main objectives of this project are as following:1. To equip youth workers from our organisations with broader knowledge regarding Social Economy and possibilities it gives in terms of promoting tolerance and feeling of solidarity with excluded groups in local communities.2. To equip youth workers with knowledge of Storytelling as a tool of non-formal education, as well aspractical skills that will allow to use it in the most effective way.Another important objective is to establish a network of organisations that are interested both inpromoting Social Economy among youth, and in using Storytelling in this field. As this area is rather aniche in this moment, such network will be very valuable for any future projects and initiatives.<< Activities >>The main activity of the project “The power of stories in ‘difficult’ topics - explaining inequalities and economy” is the training, will be conducted between 9th-16th October 2019 (plus two days of travel) in Wisła (Poland).The high quality of the training course will be ensured by a trainer, who is experienced in non-formal education, possess knowledge on Social Economy and actively use Storytelling as a tool of non-formal education themselves. The training will be based on non-formal education methods, including simulations, discussions andgroup work, brain storming, educational games, role playing. Interactive presentations were foreseen only in these sessions where it was necessary to provide basic theoretical knowledge. However, it is important to emphasize that even during these sessions participants will be strongly encouraged toshare their knowledge, experience and insight.Participants will be 18 youth workers from 3 program countries (Lithuania, Poland, Serbia) and 3 partner countries (Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine).All of participants have deep interest in topics connected to Social Economy, and due to this - at least a basic knowledge about it, even if they do not use yet in some of our organizations in the educational activities. The different level of current knowledge will be somewhat 'levered off' by plannedpreparational activities before the training. Furthermore, all of participants are interested in usingStorytelling in their activities related to promotion of Social Economy and social enterprises.<< Impact >>Participants of the training will gain knowledge in the field of social economy and the possibility it gives in terms of promoting tolerance and feeling of solidarity with excluded groups in local communities. Thanks to the fact that the participants will learn about these issues and understand them deeper, they will be able to transfer this knowledge in a simple and more convincing way. During the training, they will also gain knowledge and practical skills regarding Storytelling. It willallow them to use this tool more effectively and in a more conscious manner. It will allow them to feel more confident about their qualifications and abilities while using this method in their activities in the field of youth. Combination of those two aspects will allow be more ‘successful’ youth workers, in terms of influencing young people’s attitudes in areas important both for the work of their organisations, but also in the local communities in general. Project participants will also be able to establish contact with organizations and people interested in further cooperation and activities in the topics that are close to participants (it is confirmed by the effort put into developing the project and fact of being involved in it). The training participants will also gain experience in working in an international environment and the ability to discuss and present their opinions, as well as public speaking.As employees and / or volunteers of organizations participating in the project will share their newly gained knowledge and skills with the rest of the organization, participating organisations will not only benefit from having three trained youth workers, but it will benefit other people in the organisations too. The training participants will bring to their organizations not only knowledge and specific tools, but also inspirations and ideas on the activities that gave them the opportunity to participate in exchanges with so many different partners with different experience and knowledge. It will allow to increase the overall capacity of organisations in promoting important values and attitudes among young people they work with. The project will also greatly improve the capacity of the applying organisation, which is very young and never had conducted a similar project before. It will be possible to great extend thanks to the guidance and sharing the experience by more experienced project partners.The project will also have an effect on not directly involved in it. Young people with whom six participating organisations work with, will benefit from the fact that organisations gained new knowledge and skills. Becoming familiar with Social Economy, narrated in engaging, motivating and inspiring way, will contribute to the positive change in their behaviour and attitudes towards marginalised groups.

<< Objectives >>Being a youth workers is very rewarding, but often not an easy task. It requires not only knowledge regarding the specific thematic area we conduct our activities in, but also many other skills. Unfortunately, even though we do as much as we can to develop them (also by learning from our failures and mistakes), it is not rare that while working with young people, we have seen our shortcoming and things we could have done better. This is why, the idea of the training, that would allow to build and develop skills that are crucial for being an effective youth worker, appeared.In order to enable youth workers to conduct higher standard and more effective non-formal educational activities with young people, it was needed to develop their:- confidence and skills by conducting new, more engaging form of activities,- skills in responding for situations currently foreseen as difficult or challenging,- ability to respond to questions (that are currently often seen as difficult and problematic) in a way that would contribute to develop youth’s critical thinking and interest in a topic;- other skills that are useful for youth workers, which they feel they currently lacking (public speaking, group management, team building, facilitating discussions).The project was linked to the following objectives of Erasmus + for youth workers:- improved competences;- better quality of their work and activities in favour of young people;- increased motivation and satisfaction in their daily work.<< Implementation >>The main activity was the training for youth workers that was conducted in Murzasichle (Poland) between 29th September - 6th October 2022 (plus two days of travel).31 participants of the training (29 youth workers plus 2 trainers) from 9 countries (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Spain, Ukraine). Participants from Lithuania could not participagte due to last-moment private issues (more details have been provided in the report section dedicated to challenges and changes).<< Results >>Thanks to participation in the training “Being a youth worker” participants have learnt (and practised) skills needed to feel more confident in being a youth workers, and to react to situations that happen during their educational activities, which they had perceived by them as difficult. Thanks to this, they are more open to use a new, more interactive forms of non-formal education activities, instead of presentations, which are not widely used also because they are seen as ‘safe’ (as one of the responders put it: “I just tell them how it is, so they usually don’t ask”). Thanks to this, and thanks to feeling more confident due to newly gained skills, youth workers have increased their ability to create an environment conducive to asking questions by young people, questioning facts and opinions, and in turn – developing their critical thinking. They have also increased their ability to respond to questions (that are currently often seen as difficult and problematic) while maintaining friendly and open relations with youth, what is possible thanks to remaining calm (instead of panicking or hiding that they do not know the answer, or avoiding such situation) and ability to search for answers together with participants. They have also developed other practical skills they identified as crucial to improve to be more effective youth worker (public speaking, group management, team building). Overall, they are able to conduct more effective and interactive educational activities, and more interesting for young people. They have also created their own list of skills they want to develop as a youth worker in a long term, as well as an action plan (with the method of small steps), what together with inspiration and sources for further work, they are more aware and motivated for future and regular improvement as youth workers.It have also had a positive impact on organizations (which, thanks to better prepared and more effective youth workers, are able to conduct higher quality educationala ctivities with young people), but also for young people themselves (as they can participate in more interesting, more interactive non-formal edicational activities, conducted by betetr prepared youth workers).

<< Objectives >>For a while now, throughout Europe, we can currently observe the raise of xenophobia, racism, as well as ethnic and religious prejudices. Our organizations can sadly observe it in our work with young people. It is also confirmed by many articles and researches. For example, EuroMed monitor claims that “Increased incidents of violence against refugees and migrants in Europe indicate that the situation is only getting worse” (source: https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/2439/New-report-warns-of-refugees%E2%80%99-eroding-ability-to-integrate-into-European-communities-resulting-from-xenophobic-policy ). Situation does not seems to be any better in Poland (e.g. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/poland/2017-12-18/rise-polands-far-right ) or Slovenia (https://euobserver.com/justice/142739 ). Because of this, our organizations are convinced that it is especially important to promote intercultural and interreligious dialogues, as well as attitude of tolerance and empathy. Youth workers have a great role to play in this matter, by shaping young people attitudes on how to communicate with each other, and go beyond stereotypes. In order to do it effectively, youth workers should have knowledge and skills on how emphatic communication and communication without violence, as those tools can be extremely important in promoting empathy towards other people and enable intercultural and interreligious dialogues. Unfortunately, youth workers often do it intuitively. This projectaims to address the above described issues.Therefore, the objectives of the project are:(i) to equip youth workers in knowledge regarding intercultural and interreligious dialogues, as well as empathetic and non-violent communication, and how to use it effectively within their work with youth to influence their attitudes;(ii) to developyouth workers skills in the field ofempathic listening, - expressing feelings, needs and requests, - resolving conflicts through empathic communication;- recognizing the causes of cultural misunderstanding/ conflicts and solving them constructively.<< Activities >>The main element of this activity is a training for youth workers, that will be conducted in Wisla (Poland) between 23th-30th October 2019 (plus two days of travel). It will be attended by 24 youth workers from 8 countries (Cyprus, Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain).During the training non-formal education methods will be used, including group work, learning through action and learning from each other, discussions and brain storming, role playing. Each sessions will actively involve participants from each organization participating in the project, requiring them to contribute to activity and sharing their ideas and experience.<< Impact >>Participants will used their newly gained knowledge and skills within their work with young people.First, they will do it locally in Poland (by conducting non-formal education activities for young people in two schools in Wisła).Later, they will do it in their countries - they will implement an action plan (based on kaizen method) developed during the last day of the training.It will contribute to changing communication patterns and shaping the attitude of tolerance and dialogue among young people.Eight organizations will benefit from having 3 youth workers equipped with knowledgeand skills regarding emphatic and non-violent communication, and its use for promoting tolerance and dialogue among youth. Improving the quality of work and changing communication patterns will allow organizations conduct their youth activities and fulfill their social goals more effectively.