<< Objectives >>The project “Intercultural Learning through Immersion in Icelandic Mythology” was a youth exchange that ran as a role-playing game with participants from 8 countries in the setting of Icelandic Mythology. The experience focused on intercultural values and bringing people together in international cooperation. Icelandic mythology and history is fascinating for young people and is a great way to get them interested in a game in which they play the hero and influence the action. It is also a great learning topic which has an impact on today's culture and values in European society. At the same time this provides a great basis for intercultural learning between the participants.The project further develops the role-playing immersion approach which was started in summer 2014 in the scope of the project 2014-1-DE04-KA105-000509. This game-based approach met with an overwhelming response so that we have held this type of event ever since, improving the approach every time and widening the network. The method of game-based learning we are using in the event is called ERA (European Roleplay Approach). ERA can best be described this way:The role-playing approach offers an environment in which a stronger European identity can evolve among young people. However, unlike other approaches, our method uses the approach of thrusting teams of young people into situations in which they can immerse themselves and in which they experience value judgements as a fictional character that needs to make difficult choices (such as the balance between individual freedom and the good of the community). The role-playing experience will work on several levels. Participants play together in mixed international teams in which they make the experience of working together and facing challenges together. The challenges were created in such a way that players needed to challenge their own beliefs and values in order to succeed. In this event we played in the rich and sweeping Icelandic mythology with a focus on society building, elements of democracy, honor and humanity. When a group has to come up with solutions for problems in game situations most of the time the resulting discussions are very open and free of any cultural or political baggage that would be present in discussions between representatives of different countries. Through the game participants are able to freely explore each other’s point of view and become interested in the situation of the other team members which usually results in participants wanting to explore more about each other after the game. This was exactly what happened during this event as well.Daily reflection rounds were held with the intention of helping the participants understand the different European values and the shared values. Going through this experience was a much stronger and longer lasting impression than simply discussing European values in a workshop and, as expected, it led to deep bonds between participants that will probably hold for years to come.A primary objective of the project was creating a strong group of young people who get actively involved in contributing to a better Europe with the perspective of supporting each other across borders in the sense of a true community. We wanted these people to serve as multipliers and become active in youth work, especially in supporting young people with disadvantages and those who need support.Other important objectives were the expansion of the participants' minds and their awareness of other European cultures with the corresponding understanding of cultural values. Further objectives were strengthening the participants' competences, their positive outlook, their active support of democratic values, as well as international friendship and cooperation.Apart from the focus of intercultural learning the ERA approach is very suitable for training a number of soft skills such as communication skills, improvisation skills, tactical skills, empathy, as well as creativity, language skills and historical knowledge. In this project we saw this working very well again. Most of all we wanted to grow the participants into a community of friends that will last far beyond the event and encourage them to cooperate internationally.<< Implementation >>In the project we implemented a youth exchange in Iceland which brought 50 people from 8 countries together. The event focused on learning through role-playing in a stealth learning approach. We spent the days playing in small groups and through the game we explored history and mythology and got youths involved in value discussions and becoming strong teams that overcame all the challenges thrown at them.Disadvantaged youths were involved in all activities of the project and since the role-playing approach is extremely inclusive it wasn't difficult at all to integrate them. Many of the disadvantaged youths we involved were socially disadvantaged and had a very difficult time connecting with society. We have made the experience that these people blossom in the open and welcoming atmosphere of the groups and usually don’t want the events to end any more. In previous events some of these participants told us that it was the best experience of their lives. We didn't get reactions that were this extreme this time but we still got very positive and encouraging results because we managed to provide the right environment and helped these people get inspired to try a “restart” in their normal environment.Youths with learning disadvantages are in a similar situation. In the event they experienced informal learning at a high and efficient level. We have experienced how this learning approach was especially well-suited for youths with learning disadvantages who often don’t do well in formal systems. One of the things the event did for them was inspire and motivate them and give them the experience that with some learning methods they can perform just like the others with no disadvantage.Another group we involved was youths with economical disadvantages. These people would not have been able to afford an experience abroad and in some cases had never left their own country before, so the event gave them an opportunity of personal growth.We also had youths that live in remote regions like Romania that are so far away from everything that they hardly ever get in contact with an international crowd. For these youths the event was also a great opportunity and a wonderful learning experience.<< Results >>As planned, the project had its biggest effect on the participants who experienced overcoming challenges in an international environment in which they shaped the society of the game world. We used this experience to discuss changes in our current societies and how young people can become more active. In general learning is deeper and much more sustainable if learners have made an experience instead of just talking about something. For this reason we are relying on the roleplaying method in most of our youth events.We prepared challenges in the game that were not easy to solve, such as clashes of values. The learning effect we were hoping for was that societies are extremely complex and while there are certain fundamental values we share there are also lots of values that vary slightly. Striving for a better society doesn’t always mean pushing your own values through but finding compromises that allow everyone to be happy. We wanted youths to experience this in the game but we also wanted them to be able to apply the experience to their real world societies. Bringing people together like this and learning how to understand and accommodate different values is a major step towards combatting extremism that threatens our societies.By being immersed in a world of Icelandic Mythology through a game world created by the players, the participants were in a position in which they could critically examine basic values and understand in reflection sessions how they have different effects on different cultures, especially since the stories were filled with value conflicts, confrontations of different societies and religions, and new ideas. The reflection phases also served as a way of discussing how these values are affecting current problems and current developments. Experiencing the values in a challenge that a mixed group has to overcome and discussing its importance for today's life with a larger mixed group broadened people's horizon, and it also made them more open to accepting different ideas and values. In addition participants were be able to benefit from many learning experiences in social competences and communication skills. A broader goal was turning participants into active citizens with the attitude of wanting to actively get involved in improving society in a cooperating Europe. The participants were able to draw on experience from the game, analyze the situations and come up with solutions for dealing with the real life situation. We were aiming to create a tight community of young people that feels connected despite strong current forces that try to break European societies apart.The participating groups from the eight countries benefited from their actions by expanding the competences of their members. We expect this to have an impact on their future work with youth centers. The idea is to enrich the local activities with an international dimension and by adding international approaches and attitudes. This should be especially helpful when working with young people who have a migration background.

"The project ""Games for a European Experience of Cooperation"" (GEEC) was a youth exchange which uses an innovative learning approach that was developed by a group of young people active in the field of youth work. The project provided the opportunity of drawing on the experiences of the first event of this kind and further developing the approach in an international setting.The basic idea was for different youth groups to experience the world of board games together. They have learned about what makes a game good by playtesting game prototypes of big publishers. They have also experienced creativity in international game design teams and learned how to get others involved in the social activity of gaming. In this project the hosting country was Germany. Before the meeting the groups did creativity exercises and focused on the topics of European cooperation and understanding values. This was done through using games as communicative activities and helping the participants understand the potential for using games to teach others social skills.In the project we implemented reflection and discussion phases on a regular basis.The participants lived together for eight days. They were divided into smaller mixed teams in which they did most of their creative exercises in different workshops. Some of the participants (primarily the group leaders) prepared the workshops in which the participants learned about good playtesting, game mechanics, and game design. Towards the end of the event the whole group presented games at the world's largest board game fair after learning how to get others involved in games. The board game fair experience was not only a fun experience but also an exercise to encourage youths to communicate with strangers and use board games to build social groups.Among the learning goals were developing teamwork, cooperation, and friendship in an international setting, improving soft skills and social competences, acquiring cultural understanding, raising awareness of other values and beliefs, and improving language and communication skills.In total there were 60 participants. They were chosen from young people within the informal groups who were active in voluntary youth work. Other participants were disadvantaged youths chosen with the help of youth centers. For them the project helped them orient themselves better in society and open their minds in ways that would never be available to them otherwise.The project required good preparation which consisted of choosing the venues, organizing food, organizing travel arrangements, compiling the materials on the setting, preparing discussion rounds and reflection phases, as well as choosing the members who get to participate. The project was documented using pictures, videos, and written reports. Results were published on websites in various form. The groups involved used the opportunity of the event to create a European network in which the members can support each other better in their future activities.Giving young people the opportunity of cooperating, developing an understanding for each other, and building a lasting friendship has a huge impact on society. The participants are actively involved in helping others, and thus they have an influence on shaping the minds of other young people and contribute to creating an open, tolerant, and united society in Europe.A special feature of the event is that it was embedded in the world's largest board game trade fair (Essen Spiel). Thus the participants had the opportunity to present their results to the world's gaming community on the last days of the event when they had the time to develop their own skills and their own confidence. This way we intended to encourage them to take on the role of leaders and help other youths learn and evolve in their home communities."

"The project ""European Roleplaying Approach in Minoan Mythology"" (ERAMM) is a youth exchange which uses an innovative learning approach that was developed by a group of young people active in the field of youth work. The project provides the opportunity of drawing on the experiences of the first event of this kind and further developing the approach in an international setting. The basic idea is for different youth groups to choose a mythological background and meet in a country that is relevant for this mythology. In this project the hosting country will be Greece and the mythological background will be Minoan mythology. Before the meeting the groups will research the mythological background and turn the results into a game setting which allows them to explore it through a role-playing approach. They will produce a handbook as a basis for the group leaders to create an adventure story for a game. The groups will experience the game elements in the surroundings of an ancient culture that flourished on the island of Crete. Large parts of the experience will be outside while wandering through the landscape that helped inspire Minoan mythology. The importance of the mythology and experiencing the landscape is that they had a major influence on the development of modern European culture. Going back to the roots of the culture will provide a good background for discussions about values and the modern way of life. The project foresees reflection and discussion phases on a regular basis. The participants will live together for 8 days. They will be divided into smaller mixed teams in which they play a hero that experiences an adventure in Minoan mythology. Since different heroes have different skills and knowledge, cooperation is the key to overcoming the obstacles and successfully completing the game. Some of the participants (primarily the group leaders) will prepare the adventure in advance and take on the role of game directors during the event. They will describe the adventure as a story in which the players, working in teams, can decide what their heroes do and say, so that they influence the direction of the storyline. The game will be played both inside and outside, making it possible for the teams to go on long walks and play while experiencing the landscape. Among the learning goals are developing teamwork, cooperation, and friendship in an international setting, improving soft skills and social competences, acquiring cultural understanding, raising awareness of other values and beliefs, acquiring knowledge of Greek mythology as a cultural background, and improving language and communication skills. In total there will be 50 participants. 7 or 8 of them will take on the role of game directors and moderators with the task of running the game and leading the discussion and reflection phases. The participants will be chosen from young people within the informal groups who are active in voluntary youth work. Other participants will be disadvantaged youth chosen with the help of youth centers. For them the project brings the potential to orient themselves better in society and to open their minds in ways that would never be available to them otherwise. The project requires good preparation which consists of choosing the venues, organizing food, organizing travel arrangements, compiling the materials on Minoan mythology, creating an adventure story and game rules, preparing discussion rounds and reflection phases, as well as choosing the members who get to participate. The project will be documented using pictures, videos, and written reports. Results will be published on websites in various form. The groups involved will use the opportunity of the event to create a European network in which the members can support each other better in their future activities. Giving young people the opportunity of cooperating, developing an understanding for each other, and building a lasting friendship will have a huge impact on society. The participants are actively involved in helping others, and thus they will have an influence on shaping the minds of other young people and contribute to creating an open, tolerant, and united society in Europe."

"<< Objectives >>When we design and write the project was before pandemy starts and our organisation was activated in urban area in Oradea fortress. In that time there were national elections for our prim-minister and there were street manifestations for sabotaging the vote and youths were encouraged not to vote. This was the starting point of our thinking and research for the importance of elections and importance of youths opinion.Our organisation was in need of staff and we want to be heard and seen on a national and international level, also because this is the first Erasmus+ project of our organisation. We have 18 years of experience in similar mobilities, retreat, training courses, camps, but not under Erasmus+ Programme.We want to increase the knowledges and awarness of the voting importance and also of the opinion importance and to teach youths what could happend if they don`t use their right to vote.And also, Asociatia de Teatru Experimental Clandestin was looking for colaborations, as the pandemic affect us and we want to train people to work in our organisation.The initial objectives of the project were:- Creation of a network of 24 youth workers enabled to deliver workshops on the importance of election processes, by the end of the project. Evaluated through individual questionnaire.- Deeper understanding of the methodology for 80% of the participants involved in the TC, by the end of implementation. Assessed through an individual questionnaire and online interview.- Increased internationalization of the project’s topic by initiating minimum 3 new international actions in the field of voter education by the end of implementation.We saw that in Europe participation on vote by the 18-25 youths is low and we saw the need of an intervention on encourage and stimulate youths to vote and to understand democratic values and principles. In Romania the non-participating to vote among youths (18-25) is a problem because they aren`t educated in that direction. So, with this project we want to have a start on this kind of training courses with the intend to address this topic more and more. That`s why we apply for youth accreditation with democratic topic.<< Implementation >>After project approval we announce our partners and start to rediscuss the schedule of activities. Our organisation was the hosting for participants and we start thinking about logistics and details of the main activities: accomodation, selecting the participants, the environment created specially for them because in theatre methodology we want to introduce also scenography for making the experience more deep, so we start to look for suitable equipments, some of them already have in the organisation but some of them we need to buy it. During this process, the lockdown start in our country but also in Europe, so we wait some time to see what`s happening and we think about the mobility and how to book it. So we decide to postpone the mobility for the next year 2022 and to extend the project dates, it was a good decision. At the beginning of 2022 year, our organisation relocate all of the activities in rural area and start managing an activity centre with 40 pax capacity accomodation, an activity room, professional kitchen and a lot of outside space, near a forest, on a hill. So, we rethink all the activities from the schedule and to adapt them to our new environment, in nature, with accomodation in wood houses and adapting the activities in a way that we can make it also outside.The mobility was at the end of summer, so the wather was good and sunny. We designed a document with relevant information for partners and participants. Our partners start looking for participants and also we start the selection process and we have difficulties in finding all the participants number, two of our partners didn`t find any participant, and a lot of participants form the applying lists withdraw before few days of mobility, so we need to relocate the positions. There were partners that suplement the number of participants from their country and finally we have a geographycal and gender balance number of pax. The pandemy have an impact of participaton in our mobility and also some of our partners loose their staff during pandemy and they could`t work more in finding us suitable participants. At the selection process we have a form in which every participant fill their profile, expectations, needs, motivation and their level of knowledge about democracy, voting and also about their community and the youth they work with, this project being for youth workers. The selction was very good, we have interested participants and implicated in the process of learning and we see day by day how they were impacted in this learning process. The participants profile was: youth workers, with interests in democracy, decisional processes and theatre. We select very good participants from every country, they where very interested in the topics and they bring also their expertise, they were very implicated in all of the activities.The accomodation was in 5 wooden huts, each of it hosting 4-5 participants. The wooden hut have 3 rooms and one bathroom and participants share the house by gender. We have also a big activity room with a capacity of 80 people, with bathroom and an office. Outside, near the huts there are a few hectars forest and also the pasture with domestic animals surrounded by electric fence, and a lot of free safe spaces on grass. We also have the opportunity to organise an outside session day, with walking in the forest and seeing the old romanian village. There were 9 days of training course and 2 days for travel. We organise private transportation for each of the participant from the nearest city Oradea (25 km away) also on arrival and at departure. During these 9 days, the participants have a one day visiting Oradea with two ways private transportation and we also give them a lunch package and water.During the mobility we have a private cook which prepare fresh food for the participants and give them snacks, fruits and home-made cookies. Also the food was procurred from local bio farms. The participants have water, coffee and tea at discretion and we have a free alcohol policy.The participants have a daily reflection and a trio of wisdom method of choosing the group for reflection and dissemination. We also give them evaluation and dissemination forms and they fill it in details, so we found out their future thoughts and plans regarding their experience here and follow-up.We create a good learning experience for the participants, we`ve had 18 participants and 3 facilitators/trainers. We`ve succeed to implement all of our methodologies regarding the topic of the project with exercises which challenge the participants at introspection and higher counsciousness about the importance of democracy and the power of individual choice.We had every day 6 hour sessions with breaks and every session was designed in a crescendo manner with a lot of learning methods, also thetare methodologyes and get to know each other activities.<< Results >>We managed to implement all our prepared activities and methodologies and we succeed to equip 21 participants with good practices, knowledges and methodologies of teaching democratic values and importance of the voting process through theatre and also simulation exercises. Our methodology have a huge impact on the participants, during the mobility. 1.We manage to organize all the logistic, all the selection process and also all the structure of the everyday activities, even if two of our partners didn`t sent us participants, but we learned a lot from this situation and we focus on the present participants2.We successfuly adapt our exercises and schedule for our participants, also the trainers and facilitators learned a lot from this activity.3.We host and accomodate the participants in a lovely environment and good learning condition, in a space equiped with all the necessary tools, even the voting cabin, stamps and other materials.4.We guide the participants both individual and group trough real life situation simulation and that gave each of them the power and the courage of haveing opinion and own choices.5.We receive follow-up results, as participants implemented in their country our methodology after the mobility was over. We attach them in this form.6.Our participants leave in a rural environment for 9 days and they feel the countrylife in Romania and for them was a good cultural learning.7. We include participants with fewer opportunities from Latvia, Romania, Turcia and The Republic of North Macedonia.www.experimentteatruclandestin.com 8. We decide to apply for the Erasmus+ accreditation in Youth as a continuation of this topic and because we see the interest of participants.9. We learned alot about this kind of training courses and also about the partnership.10. This training course has a final result, a 10 minute theatre play with all the participants which help them understand how meta-theatre looks like and also they have the opportunity to share it with their community.11. Our theatre based exercises were selected to be presented as good practices in a brochure KA2 Erasmus+ project Europe for all YOUth - Innovative art based methods in youth work (EU for YOUth), no. 2022-1-RO01-KA220-YOU-000089323. The EU for YOUth project aims to combat Euroscepticism among young people and increasing their level of involvement in life democratic through the use of art-based methods. The survey aims to gather information about art-based methodologies - approaches, methods, tools, good practices - used in various non-formal and formal educational activities aimed at young people. Educational activities in which European values ​​and principles are discussed with young people, and which focus on combating Euroscepticism.The findings of the survey will be analyzed and included in a ""Good Practice Booklet"". The booklet will be a collection of 30 art-based methods used in the youth and education sector.Everything is attached in this drive link:https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1zNQkDm0FW_cc8SlPWz2SV8P-VxSwzjxp"

"<< Objectives >>The project ""Future Leaders for United Societies"" is the second project of its kind and can be seen as a continuation of the pilot project ""Preparing Future Leaders with ERA"" which we ran in 2018. The previous project produced amazing leaders who have started to be very active in their home countries and we would like to expand this success to other countries now and improve the event by addressing the weaknesses we found. This time we want to focus even more on uniting societies and giving the participants the feeling of how valuable it is to be able to cooperate on an international level.<< Activities >>The ERA method taught in the youth event can best be described this way:The role-playing approach offers an environment in which a stronger European identity can evolve among young people. However, unlike other approaches, our method uses the approach of thrusting teams of young people into situations in which they can immerse themselves and in which they experience national and European values as a fictional character that needs to make difficult choices (such as the balance between individual freedom and the good of the community). Going through this experience is a much stronger and much longer lasting impression than simply discussing European values in a workshop. However, it is possible to adjust the approach to any other setting and scenario once the youth worker is familiar with the system. For instance local problems between people with different ethnic backgrounds could be addressed and understanding and empathy could be evoked.After making the experience how role-playing can motivate a lot of young people to learn and overcome difficulties we want to focus on getting young people with leadership potential inspired and ready to become active in their own community and use our role-playing approach as a way of activating other youths to learn and train useful skills. We have already identified a number of high potential candidates and we would like to try getting them ready for taking on responsibility and initiative. Young people often have different ideas compared to the established approaches and we want to empower them to create their own activities in their home countries. We want them to get other youths more involved in shaping a better European society as well as develop their own local communities.<< Impact >>The youth event is planned as an intense hands-on course that gives the participants focused impulses and then lets them experience the European Roleplay Approach. We want to inspire young leaders that take a role-playing approach to their communities and grow groups of young people that become active in shaping society. We will provide the youths with materials and he knowledge to apply ERA to other young people. At the end of the event youths should be filled with motivation to show initiative and organise activities in their own countries.The intended impact is that we will see more initiatives that use role-playing for intercultural learning, training social skills, training communication skills, training language skills, training problem solving skills, etc. So the event should have a huge impact on the participants directly, enabling them to improve their skills and competences and giving them new ideas that work particularly well for youths that are hard to reach.The organizations all have young members that have the potential to be future leaders and we intend to focus on these people and help them develop their full potential. They also believe that the exchange between their young members will make working on international levels easier and more productive. The goal is to give many more youths the opportunity to experience personal growth through role-playing and help them become active citizens with a clear understanding of empowerment in a democratic Europe.The main target group consists of promising youths who have shown potential in the past, and we hope that our dissemination efforts will also inspire others to step up."