<< Background >>YOUTH MOVING aims to enhance care leavers participation in democratic life in Europe, through their empowerment as active citizens, especially addressing how to connect with, express their views and be heard by stakeholders in the alternative care field. For children and young people who have experienced living in alternative care, separated from their biological family, the process of growing up is extremely demanding because they are often left without formal support and a functional social network. They also face many other challenges that independent living brings. There is a relationship between youth's personal biography and the impact of the social and economic context in which they live, suggesting that policies and interventions can increase (but also limit) opportunities for young people coming out of alternative care to maximize their potential and ensure that they themselves are involved in shaping the services they need and receive. It is necessary to raise awareness among citizens, but especially among public policymakers about the additional support that youth from alternative care needs to express their opinion and to be given an opportunity to meet their needs in all spheres of democratic life in the community. A survey conducted on the general youth population in Croatia showed that 75% of young people think that they should have more opportunities to have their voices heard in politics, 40% think that their generation does not enjoy enough rights, and only 10% think that young people's interests are sufficiently represented in politics. Nevertheless, 80% of the respondents expressed an unwillingness to engage in any political function. Given that research has shown that successful social integration of young people depends more on family resources than on socially created conditions, young people from alternative care face an additional disadvantage when it comes to social exclusion and participation in democratic processes in the community. Available research on youth participation in democratic processes does not provide data on the participation of young people from alternative care in democratic processes. On the other hand, there is data that indicates that the opinion of young people from alternative care is still insufficiently taken into account when making decisions that affect them in all partner countries, which certainly suggests that participation in some forms of decision-making associations such as school councils and youth councils, is very modest and without an influence. The aim and activities of this project are focused on strengthening the competencies of people working with youth from alternative care, to encourage youth to actively participate in society, to overcome limitations and to provide opportunities for young people to express their opinion. All of the above will empower young people from alternative care and we will advocate for the improvement of the entire alternative care system, because the voice of those who know their reality and problems the best will be heard by people who work with them and by policy-makers.<< Objectives >>Given this context, the objectives of the project were set:1.Investigate the involvement of young people from alternative care in democratic processes in society 2.Raise awareness about the need of inclusion of young people from alternative care in democratic processes in society 3.Promote international cooperation of people working with youth from alternative care 4.Promote cross-sectoral cooperation of organizations and institutions working with youth from alternative care in representing the views of youth in the society<< Implementation >>Through the project we will produce 2 project results:PR1) Developed curriculum of workshops aimed at encouraging the participation of young people from alternative care in the democratic processes of society1.Conduct research on the involvement of youth from alternative care in democratic processes in the community (involvement in youth councils, youth associations, school councils, etc.) through the implementation of desk research, interviews (or focus groups) with young people, interviews with youth workers and policy-makers 2.Investigate good EU practice examples for active involvment of youth from alternative care in democratic processes in the community 3.Development of training materials for youth workers, based on research conducted with the aim of encouraging and teaching young people to get involved in democratic processes in the community *** after development of the material, an LTT activity will be organized - training in which youth workers and young people from alternative care will participate, and where developed materials will be implemented 4.Translation to all partner languages 5.Pilot training materials on one group of young people in each of the partner countries 6.Dissemination PR2) Developed video material for raising public awareness about the importance of participation of young people from alternative care in democratic processes- Involve young people from alternative care and youth workers in the production of video material that sends messages to youth workers and policy makers about the needs of young people from alternative care and their position in democratic processes in society 1. Preparation of the video production: finding suitable stories, creating scenario2. Filming of the video materials3. Editing the video materials4. Translation to all partner languages5. Dissemination<< Results >>Expecting to benefit around 300 people, the main expected results and impacts of the project are:1.Empower organizations involved in the project to actively advocate that views of young people from alternative care in designing the services they need and receive are taken into account2.To enable partner and associated organizations to share knowledge, insight into good practices and design the most appropriate forms of work with young people from alternative care for their more active role in society and reduction of social isolation3.To expand knowledge and competencies of people working with youth from alternative care in the field of active involvement of these young people in democratic processes in society

<< Objectives >>There is great potential to change the minds of many young people through gaming. More and more video game developers are focused on being more inclusive, the popular Overwatch League chose to make about half its game’s characters women. Esports is also giving many young people a sense of accomplishment and shows them that regardless of social or educational background, gender or disability anyone can be successful with hard work and enough practice.Therefore, youth leaders have a tremendous opportunity when it comes to games and Esports. By gaining an understating a general interest in gaming and Esports, many young people could be reached, probably even those who would not think of engaging with youth leaders. An open and positive attitude towards videogames could be a simple way to build connections with young people, who often have to justify their love of gaming and struggle with judgement and negative attitude from adults.The aim of the project is to engage more young people in non-formal learning with the help of video games. The objectives of the project:a)to help youth workers understand the world of video games betterb)to help fight the stereotypes regarding video gamesc)to provide youth workers with tools to engage young people through their interest in video gamesd)to provide youth workers with a platform to discuss their experiences and best practices regarding gaming and young peoplee)to develop a guideline on facilitating non-formal learning through gaming, focusing on the following topics: health, participation & leadership, social competence, creativity, strategic thinking & entrepreneurship<< Activities >>A 10-day seminar will take place in Slettestrand, Denmark in the summer of 2019 and will gather 28 youth workers and three facilitators from Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Romania, Spain and Turkey.The main focus of the seminar will be on exchanging experiences and best practices in working with young people interested in gaming and fostering their non-formal learning. At the end of the seminar, a guideline will be created with best practices in the following themes: 1) health, 2) participation and leadership, 3)social competence, 4)creativity, strategic thinking and entrepreneurship.The partners of the project have agreed that in order for the activity to be the most effective, the selected participants should be experienced youth workers with knowledge of gaming and/or experience with young people involved in gaming. It will be an advantage if the nominated participant has extensive experience in the creation of non-formal methods and methodologies, potentially involved with research and development at the partner organization. Ideally, the participant would also be involved with supporting the less experienced youth workers at the organization, probably even organizing their events and activities. Thus, even if the participants themselves are currently not actively involved with the delivery of youth activities at the organization, they have a deep and complex understanding of youth work. On the one hand, they would have a knowledge of the needs and struggles of young people involved in gaming. On the other hand, they can understand the methods and potential of youth work and have an overview of what is realistic.The 10-day training course will take place in Slettestrand, Denmark in the fall of 2019 and will gather 28 youth workers and three trainers from Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Romania, Spain and Turkey.The main focus of the training course will be on understanding the guideline created in the training course. The participants of the activity will arrive with little knowledge of gaming and how to attract gamers to their activities. The guideline is intended to help change that, however, it is important that they familiarize themselves with the best practices and methods included and think of ways to utilize them. The activities of the training course intend to provide a platform to the youth workers to do just that. Their knowledge of methods and best practices will be useful in their future work. It is also expected that they will share their newly gained knowledge and the methods of the guideline with other youth workers at their organization, another reason for a thorough understanding of the guideline.To best utilize the guideline created through the seminar, the partners have agreed that the main criterion for the participant selection for the training course is that they are active at the youth organization. It is expected that the nominated participants are the ones delivering the activities at the organization and they are in daily contact with the beneficiaries. As the training course will provide the participants with a thorough introduction to gaming and video games, it is not necessary for the youth workers to have a preliminary knowledge of the topic. It is, of course, expected that they have a general interest of the topic, and arrive to the training course with the understanding that becoming more familiar with video games will help them reach more young.As the guideline will have a collection of best practices and non-formal methods in facilitating learning through gaming, it is not required of the participants to have a wide experience with non-formal methods. Through the training course, and with the use of the guideline, they will be able to gain more experience and deliver higher quality activities. Additionally, when selecting their participants, the partners will look for the ability and willingness to share the newly gained knowledge with the other members of the organization.<< Impact >>ParticipantsBy the end of the project the participants will have a better understanding of the world of video games and esports. Through sharing their experiences with their fellow youth workers and discussions with the students of Randers Production School, the participants are likely to become more interested in gaming but at the least they will feel less out of their element. Thus, the participating youth workers will become more comfortable around young people interested in gaming and esports.With the help of the project, the participating youth leaders will be equipped with knowledge to fight the stereotypes regarding gaming. Other than that being for their own benefit in their work, they will be able to help young people better articulate the positive effects of their hobby in school, to their families, etc. Additionally, the participants will gain best practices in involving young people in non-formal education through gaming, making their work easier and more efficient. They will also gain a network of international youth workers they can turn to regarding the topic of young people and gaming.Participating organizationsFirst and foremost, the participating organizations will gain youth leaders that are better equipped in working with young people interested in gaming. Due to that, they will be able to organize more interesting activities aimed at that target group, reaching more young people through their work and involving them in non-formal education.At the end of the project, the participating organizations will gain a useful guideline that they can use for the organization of such activities. With the help of the guideline and their youth workers that took part in the project, they will be able to train more their youth workers to be able to use gaming as a tool to get young people interested in non-formal education.Finally, through the cooperation in this project, each organization is gaining a network of potential partners that they could work together with in the future.Target groupsThe target group of the project, young people that are interested in gaming, will have a chance of interacting with youth leaders that are more open towards their interests and easier to talk to. They will have more possibilities to take part in activities they are interested in. Through taking part in activities and events that are more interesting for them, and make them feel more understood, there is a better chance that the young people will become involved with non-formal education. Once they become more involved at the youth organizations and take part in other kinds of events, they will have the possibilities to develop themselves and widen their social circles.Local and NationalAs a result of the project and the creation of the guideline the youth organization can use, there will be more events and activities aimed at young people interested in gaming, with a higher rate of success. Thus, locally and nationally, more young people will be reached by youth organizations and become involved with non-formal education and activities. More active and effective youth work will mean more active young people for the local and national environments.European and internationalThe development and implementation of the project, as well as the creation and use of the guideline will create a stronger connection between youth organizations around Europe. It will also lead to more and better ways to reach young people, spreading the interest in non-formal education and potential mobility opportunities, strengthening the connection between the young people of Europe.As a result of the project and the guideline created, young people will not be discouraged from gaming but instead the positive effects of gaming will be pointed out to them, and they will also be made aware of the potential risks. The youth organizations will learn how to utilize video games in their work, helping young people around Europe to improve their foreign language skills and enhance their creativity and innovation. Being supported in their interests will help young people gain an increased sense of self-esteem and self-empowerment. Just as importantly, using video games as a tool, youth organizations will be able to promote equity and inclusion in a way young people can relate to. Therefore, Europe and the EU will gain more and more young people that are playing in a sensible manner, are able to channel their creativity, have better language skills and are generally more confident in their abilities.

<< Objectives >>The main aim of this project is to improve the competences of the youth workers about future jobs and qualifications to empower young people in making successful education and career choices.Based on the above aim, the objectives are as follows:-Improving competences of the youth workers to make successful career counseling and guidance of young people.-Introducing the future job trends and requrements.-Presenting the youth workers education opportunities that are in correlation with the future job trends and requirements.-Equipping youth workers with relevant competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) and capabilities (social, organizational and personal) for the future.-Providing youth workers with tools, methods and approaches for working with youth in area of career and vocational counseling and guidance.-Improving the networking and cooperation among youth organisations-Improving the knowledge and skills of the youth workers for project cycle management.-Improving the skill for planning and designing projects.-Promoting Erasmus+ programme and similar opportunities as a tool for mutual learning and cooperation among youth workers and young people.<< Activities >>The project is divided in 3 parts:- Online platform for preparation, getting familiar with the topic and getting to know each- other- Training course as core activity of the project which will bring 30 youth workers coming from Germany, Serbia, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Macedonia and Croatia will be implemented in Krusevac, Serbia during 23.06.2019 - 29.09.2019- Follow up of the training course, creation of the manual, implementing the planned projects and dissemination of the results << Impact >>Our project focuses on developing capacities of the youth organizations by improving the competencies of the youth workers to:- Implement career counseling and guidance with the young people;- Share relevant analyzis to the young people about the future trends and required competencies of the job market- Inform the young people how to reach exisiting young programs and opportunities- Develop and implement youth projects and initiatives- Create relevant and reliable networks of partners working in the field of youth work- Know how to use different tools, methods and approaches for working with young people- Know where to find and how to share with young people new relevant information, tools and methods- Be able to help the young people in their community to use their capacities, skills and potentials to become successfull on the job market.We expect to have broader impact, not just to the partner organizations and their young people, but also to the communities and countries where the partner organizations are comming from, even an international common impact.That impact will be achieved also through creation and dissemination of the produced manual to all relevant youth organizations and networks of organization, planning projects during the training and implementing them after it, initiating international strategic partnership projects and initiating improvement of the national and european laws, policies and regulations related to youth and education.

"Implementation of the project From Youth to Work has led to improved practices in youth work in areas of vocational guidance and career counselling by developing three intellectual outputs. Area of career counselling and vocational guidance is a multi-sectorial type of social service where knowledge transfer and exchange of experience are crucial for development of skills of practitioners in that area. Therefore, in order to obtain the relevant national overview on the specific needs of practitioners in area of career and vocational guidance, comprehensive needs analysis was undertaken in the frame of IO1. As a phase 1 of the IO1 development, each partner organisation provided comprehensive data on the national background of the career guidance systems in their countries, possibilities for youth with special focus on practices of employment offices, vocational guidance centres (if applicable), guidance systems within educational systems and NGOs programs for supporting unemployed youth, especially those for NEET and other underprivileged groups. The desk research part of the IO1 report was concluded with the overview on networking between different stakeholders and examples of best practices in each participating country in supporting unemployed youth. The phase 2 of the IO1 development consisted of the implementation of empirical study by application of 92 semi-structured interviews (min.15 per country) among the practitioners in area of career and vocational guidance. This undertaking resulted in collecting data on the professional needs for competences and potential obstacles and difficulties in their everyday work as well as the crucial points for further development of the skills in this area. The collected data provided the solid foundation upon which the content for the IO2 – training curriculum was further developed.Further contribution to development of high-quality youth practices and providing support for youth workers in area of career and vocational guidance was established through development of the intellectual output 2 – comprehensive training curriculum.The training curriculum was jointly developed by 5 partners and piloted in local environments. It is intended to be used by various target groups such as youth workers in youth centres, job clubs, practitioners from social care system (youth in children homes or foster care system), national employment service offices, career counsellors in vocational and other types of schools.The training curriculum is designed in modular format with 5 moduls, each of the modules can be used separately. First module stands out as an introductory theoretical overview (Effective approach toward youth). Second (Effective self-assessment and job research process), third (High quality job search tools) and fourth module (Appropriate communication and self-presentation) provide highly structured and interactive learning units that provides knowledge, tools and approaches in areas of career development, self-assessment, job search tools and appropriate communication and self-presentation. The fifth module provides a broader context by which youth workers, by using various proposed tools can guide young people to use the capacities of the local communities in developing their own projects, finding solutions for encountered problems etc.In order to further support employability of youth and support transition from educational activities to labour market, an innovative online platform – Youth portfolio was developed under the scope of the IO3. The Online platform ""Youth portfolio"" is designed in a way that enables any young individual to develop its personal digital portfolio as a way of managing its own personal competencies. Young person is enabled to take part in a process of self-assessment, mapping its own qualities, competencies and relevant experiences either from past formal or non-formal experiences. Youth workers can also use the online platform during the implementation of developed training curriculum as a practical tool through which objectives of training curriculum can be achieved.Beside the concrete, extensively developed intellectual outputs that are the core achievement of this project, it is important to acknowledge the multisectoral nature of the project that facilitated opportunities to cooperation of relevant stakeholders from different backgrounds: public sector, civil society organisations, youth organisations, academic sector, local government representatives etc.In terms of the partnership consortium, organisations had the immense opportunity to improve their knowledge and competences in area of career and vocational guidance and are able to directly foster the exploitation of the project results due to their numerous projects and specificities of the target groups working with in their everyday professional life (e.g. migrant population, unaccompanied minors, care leavers or youth in care system, long-term unemployed, etc.)."

<< Objectives >>The implementation of the current project expects to develop skills and knowledge that the participating youth workers may use in order to help young people maintain healthy internet and technology attitudes and behaviours. The utter aim is not to keep the youth away from digital devices or make them afraid of progress, but to train youth workers on how to educate young people about balancing between digital life and offline life. For this aim to be achieved, the project will develop and actualize a 6 day TECH FREE Training Course (TC) for youth workers, who will be provided with knowledge and skills to help youngsters (18-30) develop a healthy relationship with the internet, social media apps and digital devices. The project sets the following objectives:Provide 25 youth workers from 5 European countries with mobility transnational experiences and exchange of practices. Develop 25 youth workers’ training skills and non intervening guidance techniques.Train 25 youth workers in the main principles of addiction and internet addiction.Raise awareness for 25 youth workers to detect dysfunctional internet and technology related habits of young people at risk of internet and technology addictive behaviours and differentiate those behaviours from healthy ones.Train 25 youth workers in behavioristic techniques to help young people schedule, monitor and maintain healthy routines for internet and digital device use.Engage 25 youth workers in experiential activities that include mindfulness and relaxation techniques that may be used in personalised group counselling and guidance for young people.Produce an accessible, innovative and digitally available training bookletShare materials that youth workers will be able to use in order to limit the use of electronic devices amongst the youth they work with.Indirectly affect youth at risk of internet addiction through the help they will receive by the trained youth workersThe project’s expected results are:Implementation of a 6 day Training Course for 25 youth workers from 5 European countries (Croatia, Italy, Poland, Spain and Greece) making sure to have gender balance amongst participants. The training will take place in Greece in a natural environment, blessed by the benefits of the mountain/sea and its friendly weather.Delivery of one intellectual output: a training toolkit for youth workers and relevant professionals, that they can use in their work with youth, especially those who are at risk of developing addictive habits towards digital devices. During the training activities, the participant Youth Workers from all associations will develop booklets containing all the learning outcomes of the project, in order for their associations and other related organisations to have as a resource for implementing the knowledge and abilities of the project in their respective activities. This will contribute to the multiplying effect of the TC.Skills development and enhancement of the knowledge resources for youth workers.Exchange of good practices and transnational collaboration amongst 5 partners from 5 different countries.Results dissemination on diverse European platforms, such as SALTO.In this way, the project will have a positive impact on the young people who are the main beneficiaries of youth working and more specifically of the youth workers who will participate in the training course.Through this TC we want to respond to the urgent need expressed by active youth workers to find constructive and alternative ways to face the challenges that the digital era is bringing to their field of work. Through the “TECH FREE training toolkit for youth workers” that will be the system development and outreach activity of the project, we hope to expand the results effect and open a concrete dialogue with the youth workers community as a whole.<< Implementation >>ACTIVITY 1: TECH FREE Training CourseThis Training Course will involve 25 youth workers from 5 different countries: Croatia, Greece, Italy, Poland and Spain.It will take place in a natural environment in the peninsula of Pelion in Greece.The training sessions will be implemented by 3 trainers/facilitators from the applying organisation, POREIA YGEIAS (HEALTH ROUTE).The participants of this TC will be Youth Workers who have direct contact with youngsters 18-30 years old in their daily work and who struggle with the challenges that the digital era brings to their field of work. We will have participants who are willing to share the outcome of the Training Course with their colleagues on return and who will agree to participate actively in ALL of the activities of all phases of the TC (preparation, implementation and follow-up/dissemination). Gender balance amongst participants will be ensured.ACTIVITY 2: TECH FREE Toolkit (System development and outreach activities)This activity aims to develop an intellectual output, for the enhancement of skills and knowledge that youth workers may use in order to help young people maintain safe internet and technology attitudes and healthy behaviour related to the use of digital screen devices.POREIA YGEIAS (HEALTH ROUTE) will produce a training toolkit for youth workers, aiming to serve as a pool of idea and a practical guide for youth workers who want to know how to help young people be free from the negative impact of the dysfunctional or even addictive use of internet and screen devices. The “TECH FREE training toolkit for youth workers” will include both information and basic principles on relevant thematics and also practical advice and exercises that youth workers may use with young people aged 18-30 either individually or in a group support setting.The toolkit will be made use of in the Training Course (see Activity 1) but in a pilot version. Additionally, the content of the “TECH FREE training toolkit for youth workers” will be finalised after the end of the youth workers Training Course, in order to be enriched by the feedback or extra input that the participant youth workers will offer to the project’s agenda.<< Results >>With the implementation of this TECH FREE Training Course we want to contribute to the quality of youth work at local, regional, National and European/International levels. The TECH FREE Training Course responds to the (increasing) need of youth workers and youth organisations to find constructive ways to face the challenge of the digital era that we are in and which has just begun.The project’s expected results are:Implementation of a 6 day Training Course for 25 youth workers from 5 European countries (Croatia, Italy, Poland, Spain and Greece) making sure to have gender balance amongst participants. The training will take place in Greece in a natural environment, blessed by the benefits of the mountain/sea and its friendly weather.Delivery of one intellectual output: a training toolkit for youth workers and relevant professionals, that they can use in their work with youth, especially those who are at risk of developing addictive habits towards digital devices. During the training activities, the participant Youth Workers from all associations will develop booklets containing all the learning outcomes of the project, in order for their associations and other related organisations to have as a resource for implementing the knowledge and abilities of the project in their respective activities. This will contribute to the multiplying effect of the TC.Skills development and enhancement of the knowledge resources for youth workers.Exchange of good practices and transnational collaboration amongst 5 partners from 5 different countries.Results dissemination on diverse European platforms, such as SALTO as well as on a local level, through all of the 5 partner organisations.We are also expecting to have a group of motivated youth workers willing to co-organise a TECH FREE Youth Exchange (with the support of the partner organisations) as a follow-up to this Training Course.