Ecoservice Foundation is a green lifestyle consultant with almost three decades of professional experience. We mainly help people living in cities to change their lifestyle successfully, to develop a sustainable lifestyle. Our programmes are varied: they range from lectures to workshops and individual work, from demonstrating practical knowledge to offering spiritual activities. The experience of these years have shown that real, long-lasting change cannot be reached by only sharing environmentally sound practices. That's why we have created the wellness-circle, which brings an innovative approach into our trainings and work of raising awareness by connecting the wellbeing of a person, a community and the Earth. Our aim is to develop it into a complex training programme that can be transferred in Hungary and also abroad through our international partners. The related themes and programme elements can be found separately in the work of organisations of similar interest but as a complex system it will be created by us. We need to develop our knowledge, widen our competences and include new colleagues. After a short preparation four colleagues will participate in this training programme, everyone will attend a short course based on their personal interest and existing knowledge. Our areas to be improved are applying mindfulness techniques, incorporating nature-based facilitation work and forest bathing in our trainings and the work with our (re-)connection to nature using experiential learning methods. The knowledge our colleagues will bring back, processed on an individual and on a common level, will be incorporated in our training programmes, that will become an innovative and effective training method both using only elements of it and in its complexity. With this approach, sustainable lifestyle will not be an abstract concept or a fading fashion but an integral part of the life of the communities who have taken part in these trainings. Participants will learn to connect to themselves, to their surrounding community and to nature, which will have a positive effect on their personal wellbeing and health. With the help of the programme our organisation will expand its scope of activities, improve its reputation, increase the use of its communal space and as a win-win affect we will be able to reach and address more people and communities and ensure the sustainability of our organisation. We will also be able to improve our international relationships, we'll be able to invite further national and international professionals and partners into the programme, thus ensuring its richness and continuous development.

"<< Objectives >>With the implementation of the project we want to develop a set of creative, innovative practical exercises and activities from the practice of storytelling for nature for educating young people about the importance of preserving the environment. We also want to present these activities as tools that help young people identify their own potentials and competencies and help them develop rhetorical skills for self-presentation. We will also present the benefits of the acquired practices as tools that help young people to get in touch with themselves and nature. These are tools that help young people to overcome stress, develop a positive self-image, respect diversity, strengthen European citizenship and encourage them to become active creators of Europe's future.The aim of the project is to carry out a training with which we will develop international cooperation that will further develop and expand the usefulness of the practice of storytelling for nature as a practice for educating young people about the importance of healthy ecosystems for their lives and personal development.The aim of the project is to test different approaches to storytelling in the wetland, which are the most endangered ecosystems in Europe and together with participating organizations, create a set of stories that will educate young people about the importance of wetlands and show them the importance of wetlands for their personal biodiversity in terms of helping them develop their personal competences.The aim of the project is to publish the selected exercises in a brochure that will have practical use value for youth organizations that will incorporate activities into their work with young people. At the same time, the aim of the project is to use the selected stories from the wetland research for the final narrative performance of the participants in the training itself, which will have a positive impact on the local community in the applicant country.One of the goals of the project is to raise awareness of the current state of the Earth's environment and climate change and the importance of nature conservation.<< Implementation >>In the project, we will carry out activities that will be aimed at achieving the set goals of the project: the final performance of the participants and the publication of a brochure with useful exercises for the implementation of storytelling for nature in the practice of working with young people. All support or accompanying activities will be intended to support participants in establishing contact with nature, encouraging creativity and creating stories from nature, which will later be useful again in their work with young people.The activities we will carry out are:Basics of remembering and telling a story, which will comprehensively introduce participants to simple steps to remembering and telling a story. These steps are also very useful in other areas for young people: writing cover letters, projects, presenting business ideas, writing creative presentations, clear rhetoric, confident presentations and creative writing and performance.The hero's journey accompanied by a donkey, which will introduce the participants to the basics of storytelling for nature and the foundations from which it originates - deep ecology. They will learn techniques of deep listening, empathy with the creatures of nature in order to learn about them, techniques of personal growth with the help of animals - donkeys, story writing and group spontaneous storytelling. The activity will help participants develop their own vision in the context of education and introduce them to the healing power of storytelling for nature.Personal Stories is an activity that will introduce participants to creating their own stories from personal subjects and show them the useful value of this activity as a tool for getting to know and connecting groups.The art of storytelling for nature in the forest, where through various techniques of clowning, creative writing, games, land art, exercises for deeper awareness of nature and sensory activities we will learn ways to create stories from nature to educate young people about nature. This activity aims to introduce the participants to the importance of the wetland and help them compile a repertoire for the closing evening and use these stories for their further work with young people. Exercises will also be useful to teach young people how to compose stories from nature.The world of all beings is a ritual activity of deeply sensitive and connecting nature, which we will perform with the participants in the forest on ""Midsummer night"" and through which we will deeply touch the message of our inter connectedness with nature. The purpose of the activity is to become advocates of ""inaudible"" - beings of nature who do not speak human language. A highly inclusive exercise that opens up space for all beings and encourages tolerance, respect and cooperation is of paramount importance in educating young people.In group creation, we will carry out the activity of writing and designing a brochure with the participants.The project will involve 15 youth workers who have- interest in developing practices of convergence with nature, sustainable lifestyles and coexistence- In their work with young people, they already use storytelling as a method of education or they want it- their work includes public speaking, lectures, public speaking in general and wants to learn techniques for improved rhetoric and relaxed speaking- does not yet have any experience in storytelling, but wants to teach them this knowledge to start using it in their work with young people- interest in developing new forms of creative expression- more than 30 years and come from one of the partner countries.<< Results >>With this project, we want to present the practice of storytelling for nature to the participants and inspire them to start using it in everyday life and in working with young people. We expect that the brochure that will be published as part of the project will be distributed among 50 organizations working with youth and environmental protection, thus ensuring a positive expansion of the practice.We expect that our final storytelling evening will be attended by at least 40 visitors, which will have a positive impact on the local community and give additional impetus to the local wetland protection initiative.The result of the project will be the establishment of a supportive and strong group of youth workers, which will be formed and continue their efforts to develop practice through the facebook group and further meetings with which we hope to develop new storytelling initiatives.The expected result on the personal level of youth workers is a deeply nurturing and connecting practice that will leave an impression on each individual and change his or her perception of nature. These results will be visible immediately, and their consequences will be visible late and cannot be predicted. We see education as a seed of light, a hazelnut that every individual will discover in education in contact with themselves, nature and the community we will create and plant and develop into a tree of light that will share hope and motivate many young people with its stories. to contact with nature and develop their own gifts in contact with it."

"""A KIND OF MAGIC"" was a long-term project consisting of 2 residential training courses (TC) and a coaching and practice phase (actions on local level) in between. The project involved 28 participants supported by team of 5 experts (4 trainers and 1 project coordinator/ logistic and administrative support) and lasted from 01.08.2017 until 30.9.2018 including the preparation and evaluation (7 months for participants). This project was a joint initiative of 7 partner organisations from 7 EU countries working with different minority or diversity groups. Partners had the role of sending organisations and will contribute in preparation and follow up, while ANEV had the role of the applicant and took care of overall coordination of the project. ANEV hosted the 1st training course (TC) in Czechia in February 2018 (9.-16.2. 2018) Italian org. Muovimente hosted the second TC in their hostel in Italy 21.-27.5.2018. The aim of A KIND OF MAGIC project was to develop competences and expertise of youth workers and youth leaders working with young people from diverse minorities and young people with fewer opportunities and through that create better conditions and empowerment of those young people. The main objectives of ""A KIND OF MAGIC"": - Inspire youth workers/ youth leaders working with young people (YP) from different minorities to promote diversity as a source of learning. Examine effective strategies for challenging stereotypes and stigmatisation associated with marginalised groups -Establish partnerships between organisations working with diversity groups and exchange good practices. - Discover different possibilities for inclusive youth work within the framework of Erasmus+ - Explore the topic of ""MAGIC"" with youth workers, identify how this is realised and can be used in their work with YP. - Provide tools and methods for youth workers of recognising talents and abilities that create the genuine magic within - Discover and explore approaches of empowering YP to share their unique talents and abilities within their communities. Highlight and showcase effective approaches to civic engagement CONTEXT: Since 2014 ANEV realized 3 successful training courses, both focused on developing skills of youth workers (EVS in our hands - http://trainings.salto-youth.net/5102 and 2 editions of long-term project Marker CS - https://sites.google.com/site/skolenimarker/). We gained lot of experience on how to support the development of competencies of youth workers, and we wanted to bring it now to the next level - to support the development of youth workers working with marginalised youth. NEEDS: rising radicalisation, intolerance, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination, we used needs analysis with our partner organisations working with marginalised groups (Roma, gay etc.) and research: www.radicalisationresearch.org. Number and profile of participants: This activity involved 28 youth workers from 7 different European countries who are actively involved in youth work and act as multipliers in their respective communities. We specifically targeted and selected youth workers/ youth leaders working with either minorities or different diversity/minority groups. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES: 2 residential training courses (TC) and a coaching and practice phase between. Between the first and second training course participants implemented non-formal education activities in their local communities. They received support and coaching for developing them, and on 2nd seminar they shared their experience and learning. METHODOLOGY: non-formal education, experiential learning, participants' centered approach, blended learning: combination of residential training courses and online phase. Due to the long-term nature of the course, the participants were able to experience a range of methods, techniques and activities of non-formal education, such as Open Space Technology, Appreciative Inquiry, coaching, group discussions etc. and try some of them by themselves. IMPACT: For participating organizations - increased skills and competences of their youth workers, who were trained in methods to promote diversity and were encouraged to implement similar programs for groups of marginalised young people in their country. The project was reaching out to marginalised young people and promoted diversity, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue in wider communities of the respective participants.The team put a strong focus put on how to pass the results of the course to the organisations and the beneficiaries back home. The dissemination of results had a central role and we produced a methodology and reports easy to share and with a high visibility."

"<< Objectives >>The reason for implementing this project was 2020 had been an unprecedented year in human history. Young people had been exposed to constant stories about division, war, climate change, and then a global pandemic. Although experiencing social isolation and terrible hardship young people actively participated in social protests and hoped for a brighter future. Youth work has been going through a historical change the past few decades and new concepts and work methods are/were being explored. Polbeth Community Hub consulted with young people to identify a project that would bring young people together after experiencing a global pandemic and look at new ways of delivering youth work and engaging young people all over Europe. Finding Your Voice was the result of this consultation and the project aimed to explore singing and using ones voice as a platform for youth participation and social change. The concept of singing as a method to discovering a young persons voice, is a non-formal gateway for young people to become more involved in the educational processes aimed at helping young people discover their political and social voices. Therefore, becoming an agent of change in their local communities, and through the use of Apps such as Tik Tok they can reach a global audience. Movements such as Black Lives Matter, has highlighted the importance of exploring youth participation and political education and we believe vocal expression is much needed tool in achieving this! Recent studies have found that singing may have evolved as a tool of social living, and that the pleasure that comes fromsinging together is our evolutionary reward for coming together cooperatively, instead of hiding alone, and not connectingwith others. Research highlights the positive effects music has on individuals and how young people who take part inmusical and artistic activities are more prone to take part in community and become active citizens. This is due to musicbuilding skills in young people and giving them the confidence to express themselves more openly and become moreconfident to convey their own point of view. Artistic and theatrical programs have long been used to help peoplecommunicate, share values, learn skills and connect as humans, which are the key skills required to becoming activecitizens and politically involved individuals. Polbeth Community HUB, wanted to closely explore how singing can be usedin the context of youth participation. The project aimed to create a space where opinions and practices were openly sharedfor those who work in the youth field and have an experience that can be analysed and explored in order to understand thedifferent possibilities of utilising singing as a youth work tool to create more politically and socially involved young people.The connection between music and politics, especially political expression within of songs, is present in numerous cultures.Music can be an expression of protests, starting with the ""singing revolution"" of countries such as the Baltic's to the anti-establishment punk of the 70s. More recently, Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’. The course aimed to explore thebenefits of singing as an educational tool and methodology. For instance, how we can use singing to increase self-confidence, develop self-esteem, build resilience, create empathy, and other youth work priorities such as group work,cultural expression and creativity. The methods were mixed and we focused on modern ways in which young people areexpressing their voice such as Tik Tok, Instagram, youtube etc. There was opportunity to explore the power andinfluence of the ""protest song"", to demonstrate to youth workers how to use singing to promote democratic participationand how, as youth workers, we can encourage the young people we work with to be more involved and find their ownpolitical and social ""voice"". Promoting youth work that meets social needs in order to generate changes that affect societyusing different non-formal educational tools such as singing.The main objectives of the course were:- Discover the pleasure of singing and using your own voice;- Explore the power of using your own voice to express thoughts, emotions, feelings and intentions;- Understand how singing can be used as a personal development tool helping to increase self-esteem and perception;- Explore how singing can be used to encourage active listening, cooperation and dialogue in our work with young people;- Define through the dynamics of singing a positive approach towards leadership and development of skills;- Identify approaches to dialogue, political change, active citizenship, and the conveyance of messages through song thatcan support our youth work.This course also focuses in particular on two of the main objectives of Key Action 1 of the Erasmus + program:- Support young people in the acquisition of skills (knowledge, skills and attitude) so as to improve their personaldevelopment and employability in the European labour market.- Support the professional development of those working in the fields of education, training and youth in order to renew andimprove the quality of teaching, training and social-educational animation throughout Europe.<< Implementation >>""Finding Your Voice"" was a training course that boosted skills and employability in the participants as it gave them more knowledge on non-formal education and how to build different methods into their youth work. The venue for the project was in Moffat (Well Road Centre), a village located in Scotland. The activities offered space for interaction, sharing of ideas, empowerment, allowed participants to contribute to the activities with their knowledge and skills, allowed participants to undertake their own analyses, including reflections on competences acquired during the activity, and ensured that participants had influence over project decisions, not simply involvement. The venue was used only by the participants to give full educational advantage. The whole process was supervised and facilitated by 3 experienced Erasmus+ trainers, with the extra support of a person responsible for the practical organisational matters and all the logistic details throughout the course: Buzz Bury (UK) - http://buzzbury.co.uk/ Breigen Brown (UK) Mafalda Moganti (Italy). The role of the project trainers was to lead the activity, to value the participants, to involve the partner organisations and the participants in the process of the projects, and to meet the objectives of the project and deliver an invaluable training course. ‘Finding Your Voice’ was young person centered; it focused on building political and social voices in young people through creative approaches to create a better society for future generations. During the course we also made use of specific tools such as;- ""The Element"": A large part of the programme focused on the input from Sir Ken's Robinson book, The Element. It is essential that each of us in life find our own element, and thus fully express talent and creativity. According to Robinson we are all born with extraordinary natural abilities, with which we lose contact with as we grow. Ironically, one of the reasons why this happens is the standardised education we receive. The current school system seems designed to stifle our creativity. We are never given the chance to explore ourselves, to understand our real inclinations. And the result is that the greater part of us will never realise what we are capable of and what we could do. We must learn to appreciate and cultivate talent and the different ways in which it expresses itself individually. - ""Blueprint for Revolution"": another part of the program focused instead on the inputs of Srdja Popovic (who led the nonviolent movement that brought down Milosevic in Serbia in 2000). The Srdja Popovic's philosophy highlights how a positive change in the world can be implemented and proposes a model of activism and social change through the use of methods and non-violent approaches like laughter, music (e.g. Pussy Riot). - ""Circle Singing"": It is a form of improvisation, mainly vocal, done in community, often in a circle, which encourages spontaneity and stimulates creativity in music without preconceptions. The activities promoted the skill of deep listening to find the participants own element and creativity to pass on to young people in their local community or the young people they work with. The activities promoted cooperation and community spirit. - ""Way of Council"": method of sharing, listening and individual and group reflection. Council was a practice used very frequently in the training course, and is a very powerful tool for growth. It is individual, strengthening the group, creating a community. The facilitators were accredited trainers of this technique and used it for a variety of objectives. FYV was structured so participants were active in all phases of the project, from preparation to final evaluation, follow-up. The use of a wide variety of interactive methodologies was essential, such as experiential learning, creative approach and non-formal education methods. The effects of non-formal education was reinforced by theintroduction of the SDL (self-directed- learning), which placed great emphasis on the individual motivations for learning andon the creating a personal approach to it.The participants of the course were composed of youth workers, trainers and facilitators, volunteers, all aged 18 plus. Theproject had individuals coming to the training course that were motivated and willing to transfer the knowledge they learnt on theexchange into their work or on to their peers. FYV had been written to explore the benefits of singing as an educational tool and methodology. Therefore, the participants had to be interested in the subject and were willing to make sure it had a long lasting effect after FYV finished. When partners are identifying participants it is not a criteria that the participants have to have experience in the projects core content, however, the participants had to show a willingness to learn and highlight how they can incorporate this into their work to have a positive impact on young people.<< Results >>FYV has had a strong impact on the participants that took part in the training course. It has led to professional development, confidence, and a new understanding of what can be non-formal education methods. FYV has given participants more knowledge on creative youth work approaches to use to empower young people, it has impacted them as individuals, by building and cementing their confidence within themselves but also their youth worker abilities. The participants of FYV are now more so competent youth workers who can work with a range of young people coming from different backgrounds, relating to them all as individuals, and safely and securely teaching them how to singing and different artistic methods can create politically active young people who feel confident to express their voices. The direct impact on the participants has been as follows:- Developed understanding and skills on singing and learning through theory and practice, through different platforms andsettings; and then to applied them in their local work;- Increased their awareness on topics such as global politics, citizenship, the use of being critical of the media and themechanisms in which they influence contemporary society and can strengthen or undermine democracy, while developingtools to address these issues with the young people they are working with;- Built positive methods in communication and in leadership with the young people they work with. Impacting onyoung people and indirect beneficiaries: Participants were able to develop leadership skills (including personal andinitiative), communication, citizenship, team work, and communication and relation working styles.- Participants have improved on their organisational skills, networking opportunities, project development skills (local and international level) and built the confidence to obtain access to future educational opportunities offered by the European community or create their own opportunity. Which several participants are interested in doing with some submitting their very first training courses.Young people have been impacted greatly due to FYV. The participants developed skills to create new projects with the young people they work with aimed at exploring singing as a platform for youth participation. For instance, one participant consulted with young people on return home and they done a 10 week programme aimed at using singing as a way to discuss gender violence and understand their own experiences but also other woman all over the world. This concluded with a private performance to those who were most close to them. The participants are now able to engage young people to find their own political and social voice, thus becoming agents of change in their local communities and further. Creating a generation of strong minded young people who are ready to let the world hear their voices. Strong minded young people who are ready for what barriers may be put in their way. Strong minded young who are motivated to develop themselves in education or work. Each young person is invaluable and each peace of work, big or small, that has been a result from this project is priceless.Partner organisations have also been impacted professionally as they were able to help develop a project with an external organisation. Therefore, developing their communication skills, techniques, and business skills. Hopefully, the partner organisations will be motivated to build upon the training and create similar projects of their own on a local and European level."

"Looking around in the World we see the rising signs of intolerance, racism and discrimination in the society, and mainly in media. The need we perceive in young people we are working with is to counteract to the mainstream media which fuels the intolerance and fear and to provide them with tools how to use the power of storytelling and also help them to be able to handle all these negative effects mentioned. Our perception was confirmed by our participants. Most of them is facing with the same challenges in their work.“What A Story!"" was a 8-day training course aimed at youth workers, facilitators and educators active in the field of youth. Our aim was to explore storytelling as a transformational educational method; and as a tool of promoting democratical values, inclusion, tolerance, empowerment and critical thinking of young people. We also wanted to introduce the power of Nature as an inspiration, as a safe background, as our strongest ally in this huge work of education.It was hosted by Ökoszolgálat/Ecoservice.The idea for our course was born from the deep knowledge that storytelling is an incredibly powerful tool for education. It can address creativity, youth participation and employability, critical thinking and social responsibility. Europe at the moment is facing major problems. Among these, the dis-empowerment of young people who feel marginalised from society, can't find their place and don't know (or forget) how to realise their potential in life. On the other side, phenomena like hate speech and online violence are on the rise. From the feedback of our participants it turned out that these problems are even more present in the every day life and work in their countries.Also, racism, intolerance and ignorance can be greatly fueled by storytelling – as demonstrated by the strong use that every totalitarian government has done of it. The course took place from 12-20 September in Three Treasures Valley retreat center, Kisterenye, Hungary. We involved 28 participants from 10 countries: Italy, Czech Republic, UK, Spain, Romania, Poland, Greece, France, Hungary, Slovakia - plus 4 trainers.The main objectives we reached were:- to identify and understand key elements and skills for storytelling, and explore their potential benefits for learning, personal development and employability; - to analyze the increased impact that stories (and media) have on phenomena such as “hate speech”, intolerance and open racism. We will discuss the new needs for awareness, ethics and knowledge that come with the social and digital era; - to explore the concept of “transformational storytelling”: using storytelling as an innovative tool to address change and personal development; - to use elements of gamification to make youth work more attractive and accessible to young people (especially marginalised YP); - to create an international network of youth workers and organisations, able to use storytelling to develop skills and methods and to have an innovative impact on local levels. The activities were based on non formal and nature based experiential learning methodologies, all centered on different aspects of Storytelling. At least half of our activities were organized outside using the beautiful environment around the venue.The learning outcomes for the participants were: - to be trained on, and receive information about, innovative approaches based on Storytelling, illustrating specialistic concepts such as the Monomyth and Hero's Journey, the Way of Council, Gamification - and the work methodologies related to them - combining theory, practice and sharing reflections and good practice tips with trainers and colleagues;We introduced all three concepts in interactive presentations and also had several occasions to experience them in practice. For the majority of participants these were new and useful tools for their own practice. We also involved participant’s knowledge and experience providing them program slots in open space.- to increase awareness and learn how to better tackle in youth work their potential negative effects, as well: the risk of addiction and escapism from reality, the possible manipulation and propaganda uses that can be done by authorities, political and social actors, governments.Several workshops and presentations were provided to learn about narratives and counter narratives and work with them on different levels – cultural, historical, political.Participants came with curiosity about this phenomenon and they left with new knowledge about the importance and danger of storytelling and now they have new easy-to-use tools in their work with youth."