“Be part of something bigger than yourself – increasing youth participation in humanitarian action” - international camp is a youth exchange program taking place in Armenia from 28th of July to 6th of August 2017. It brings young people from Armenia, Austria, Ukraine, Italy, Germany and Georgia together to jointly work on the topics tackling principles like humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. In addition focus lays on values like solidarity, democracy and issues regarding vulnerable groups (i.e. refugees) in society and of course the project aims at emphasizing the relevant areas of humanitarian action. The exchange builds on an existing partnership in the course of the EU-funded project in Armenia for Syrian refugees and other programs targeted social vulnerability and integration issues in partnership with Austrian Red Cross. The international youth camp in the Caucasus region aims to share best practice examples and to empower young people to act by giving them expert inputs, time for exchange of best practice examples and hands on experience at the camp. 43 young people from different countries will get the chance to meet and work together for 10 days, discuss their specific needs, get a view from a different angle and learn from each other’s experience. The international youth camp envisages enhancing inter-cultural exchange and working on models for sustainable development. At the end of the exchange, young people will be empowered to adapt themselves and their surroundings and to further improve and increase their participation in community activities and making positive changes. Activities will be carried out with non-formal methods, including quiz, theatre and games, and young people will take responsibilities in planning and implementing activities. In the end, the youth exchange shall also create a basis for future cooperation between youth.

Disasters, including health emergencies, pose enormous strains on response capacities of cities, countries, and the European Union, compounding existing climatic, political, economic, and social challenges. The risks and consequences of these emergencies reduce the health and well-being of Europe’s inhabitants. But their burdens are not evenly shouldered across all populations. Cities face huge challenges in preparing for and responding to disasters: urban publics not only suffer higher morbidity and mortality during such emergencies but resulting instability and response measures can exacerbate social and health inequalities. Vulnerable urban inhabitants are at risk during such crises for exclusion and heightened health consequences. With lower access to health information, resources, care and support, they tend to experience higher mortality and morbidity and longer-term reductions in health. The goal of Sonar-Cities is to render Europe’s cities more resilient in health emergencies and disasters through the co-creation and implementation of a community-based, adapted toolset for people facing vulnerabilities, first responders, and decisionmakers. By strengthening inclusivity in risk management, we will enhance preparedness and reduce risks posed by these emergencies. We will analyze One Health factors and consequences of past emergencies in 6 European cities, notably from the perspectives of people experiencing vulnerabilities. We use these analyses to co-create with publics at risk, first responders, and authorities a citizen-centered toolset, which will generate inclusive preparedness, improve health literacy and crisis communication, strengthen capacity and decision-making, and reduce risks of disasters/health emergencies in European cities. We will disseminate the toolset through our interactive Knowledge Platform and offer a Social Sciences Emergency Support network for authorities seeking social sciences assistance during health emergencies and disasters.

The project targeted youth workers and other professionals in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Scotland who work with young carers directly or indirectly. Young carers can be defined as young people who provide assistance or support to another family member. They carry out, often on a regular basis, significant or substantial caring tasks and assume a level of responsibility which would not usually be associated with their age group. The person receiving care is often a parent but can be a sibling, grandparent or other relative who is disabled, has some chronic illness, mental health problem or other condition connected with a need for care, support or supervision. Although research has provided clear evidence that heavy caring responsibilities can result in emotional difficulties, health problems, social exclusion, and limited opportunities for social and leisure activities, professional support services are lacking in many EU countries. This is largely due to the fact that the youth work, educational and social services sectors are not aware of this group. However, it can be seen from the UK experience that young carers are a large and important group that youth services need to address. Thus, the EPYC project’s objective was professionalizing youth work so they would put young carers on their agenda. This again will ideally allow young carers to take part in school, education, social life, and not be disadvantaged by their caring responsibilities. The partnership consisted of five organisations from four countries. Diakonisches Werk Berlin as the coordinator is a non profit institution based in Berlin, Germany, that provides many different social services. Care Alliance Ireland is the National Network of Voluntary Organizations Supporting Family Carers. The goal ist to enhance the quality of life for Family Carers. This is achieved by supporting the member organisations in their direct work with Family Carers through the provision of information, developing research and policy, sharing resources, and instigating opportunities for collaboration.Anziani e non solo is a non-profit organization working in the field of social research, community development, advocacy and training for informal carers. Carers Trust are the largest provider of comprehensive carer support services in the UK. Carers Trust works with the Scottish Government to influence national policy impacting on young carers, by feeding in responses from consultations with the network. They were key partners in developing the first ever national young carers strategy in Europe. The Austrian Red Cross is a private independent NGO. It is guided by the fundamental principles of the Red Cross movement and its volunteers and staff engage in many humanitarian activities to help the most vulnerable people in society, nationally and internationally. Versari Macrelli is a school with three fields of study: accountant, graphic, social operator. Many students show disinterest in school, have family problems and economic hardship. The main result of the project is the availability of a set of tools and interventions that empower professionals and service providers to support young carers. Such tools include handbooks, questionnaires, motivational interviews, checklists, etc. In addition, the creation of practical support services were promoted through a guidance report based on model support projects established by partners in their region. The tools are intended to allow identification of young carers; to allow practitioners to assess the situation of young carers, including measuring the level and impact of the care burden; and to allow practitioners to develop an action plan to address issues adversely affecting young carers. The tools were adapted when already existing in a partner country, or developed ex novo, and pilot-tested. Impact on participating organization was high in terms of awareness raised for young carers issues across all countries. Dissemination activities were also successful in terms of stakeholders who showed interest in the topic and the projects results. Peer evaluation of outputs confirmed useful resources and tools that have the potential to empoer professionals to support young carers. As all partners will continue raising awareness for young carers in their region, the project produced useful tools to support this work and in the medium term make young carers a well know target group among youth work in Europe.