<< Objectives >>With this project, we achieved the development of social, emotional, cognitive, and physical competencies of young people, with a focus on intercultural awareness and gender equality, by using the method of dance. Main aim of this project was development of social, emotional, cognitive and physical competences of young people, with focus on intercultural awareness and gender equality, by using the method of dance.This project was designed by a group of young people with a vision of dealing with issues of gender equality and human rights, especially when it comes to refugees and immigrants, by using the dance method.In nowadays world the young people concluded that they are dealing with a lot of challenges in terms of gender equality. This project was a new way for young people to learn about different cultures, people who are different from them, hear their stories first hand, share experiences and make friends with them through dance. Also, the emphasis of the project was to understand the other gender, to try to see from his or her perspective and make peace among themselves. Nowadays, there is a problem of unequal rights of men and women. It is present most of the time in human history in all peoples and cultures.The main issues and needs that arose in this project dealt with gender (in)equality, (in)equality of ethnic groups, as well as the need to develop a more tolerant and peaceful society, to accept one's own values ​​and respect others. In accordance with the goals of the Erasmus+ program in the field of youth, this project aimed to increase the self-empowerment and self-esteem of the participants, improve their foreign language skills,improve their intercultural awareness and motivate them for active participation in society.<< Implementation >>The main activity of this project was a youth exchange implemented in Samobor, Croatia. It included 24 participants from 4 countries: Croatia, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria. This project included the following groups of participants from 18 to 30 years old : CROATIA - the participants were young people who are involved in the local activities of the host organization and are mostly young people with economic and geographical barriers (youth from low-income families and youth from rural areas around Samobor, which lack facilities and facilities for young people). The participants were also from other parts of Croatia that were particularly motivated to tackle the gender equality issues and contribute to overall project result. They were young people with economic and social obstacles. ROMANIA- young people who were normally a regular target group of the sending organization, volunteers who actively participate in the design and implementation of projects. They came from unfavorable position when it comes to their economic position (young people who are unemployed and young people who are NEET) as well as social skills (young people with problems in socialization with peers) BULGARIA - young people who mostly just recently joined Erasmus+ and who expressed interest in the development of the project based on themes of gender equality combined with dance. The participants were mostly young people with fewer opportunities - youth who came from rural areas as well as youth with cultural differences. POLAND - young people from the region of the sending organization, who expressed great motivation in the design of this project based on the involvement in the previous cooperation of partner organizations. They are young people who came from rural and peripheral areas and thus were not in the same situation of participating in content that interests them as their peers and they used all the possibilities of this exchange. At the beginning of the project itself, it was planned that participants from Slovakia would participate. Namely, because of the entire crisis with the war in Ukraine and political developments (and Slovakia bordering the Ukraine), the young people were afraid to travel. The partner organization had a problem finding new participants, even those who were on the reserve list canceled their participation. After consultations with the National Agency and the request from the Slovak participants, the partners had to reach an agreement that the Slovak national group will not participate in the project.<< Results >>This project had an impact on the participants through achieving their learning goals they set before coming to the project as: understanding of the impact of human behavior on its surrounding and knowledge about efficient methods how to positively use that power in order to create a more peaceful and tolerant society. Participating in this project, the participants developed the following knowledge, skills and behaviors: - increased social, emotional, cognitive and physical skills - increased their knowledge about issues of gender equality and nationality - increased their responsibility towards raising awareness in their own society and practical skills in designing and implementing local activities aimed at promoting human rights and a positive climate between genders and cultures through the medium of dance; - increased intercultural skills, tolerance, respect and sense of common European identity; - increased language competence;- participants increased better communications skills- increased knowledge about the Erasmus + program and the opportunities it offers to young people. The most important result of the project was a dance choreography that promotes gender equality and strives to increase gender awareness. The choreography is based on Cuban and international dances and integrates elements of learning outcomes achieved by the participants (through a set of dedicated workshops), such as:- increased awareness of the importance of maintaining a healthy body through physical activity for better brain function, concentration and mental health;- increased critical thinking;– increased creativity and expression;- increased interest and respect for new / different cultures - increased will power and visionary aspect - increased communication and presentation skills, leadership and teamwork.At the end of the program, the participants performed the final choreography for the purposes of recording the video, that was used for the dissemination of project results.This project result shows joint progress, teamwork, and critical thinking of the participants. It also serves as an example of good practice in tackling the topic of gender equality among youth.

"<< Objectives >>Reason:Prejudice and discrimination assume themselves as real barriers for people with disabilities and create obstacles for their integration into society. Prejudice towards people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is configured as a mechanism of social denial, since their differences are highlighted as a lack or impossibility.ASD disorders begin in childhood and tend to persist into adolescence, so according to the World Health Organization (2017), autism affects 1 in 160 children worldwide. According to the same source, people with autism suffer from prejudice and discrimination.This issue has required the emergence of actions, with the youth technicians (TJ), able to strengthen the mechanisms of social inclusion, through initiatives that allow the integration of young people with ASD and with fewer opportunities (FO) in all social spheres. Project Idea:From this contextualization, the A.T.I. is born from the ident. of the social problem that is prejudice and discrimination considered as a great obstacle for young people with ASD and with FO, which hinders their social inclusion. The I.T.A. will reinforce the inclusion and the improvement of the quality of life of this target group through the development of a mobility activity, with actions for the training of Youth Workers based on the Erasmus+ Inclusion and Diversity Strategy.The prejudice and discrimination associated to young people with ASD and c/FO have repercussions in negative disorders in young people, such as:-Difficulties in coping with social situations, thus hindering their inclusion and increasing the social isolation of young people w/ ASD and c/FO.-Discomfort and anxiety, and other associated problems such as decreased self-esteem and increased feelings of helplessness.-Difficulties understanding about the signs of the environment (e.g., understanding prejudiced jokes and metaphors). Naivety often ends up being a threat to social exclusion.As we became aware of the negative impacts of this reality, we designed a project, promoting a TJ mobility activity aimed at strengthening the methods and procedures of the technicians, based on the Non Formal Education (NFE) methodology.The challenge of creating the project is based on two aspects:-What JWs need (the needs).-What we want to achieve (the objectives).The link with these two components is structured in a work supported with tools for FT to know how they should work with young people with ASD and with S/OS to maximize social inclusion, and at the same time meet the common needs and challenges expressed by young people.Thus, we identified as needs:-Develop skills in FTs to improve their intervention with young people with ASD and c/FO and thus help them develop reading skills about the social environment, thus increasing their awareness of discriminatory and prejudiced behaviours.-To empower ECJ, from a network learning (international) with other technicians (at local, national, regional and European level), to conquer a sharing of experiences, strategies, tools and guidelines, based on the NFE methodology.-To understand autism in its fullness, so that ECTs can follow the needs and challenges of young people with ASD and ASF and thus intervene appropriately.As a result of this analysis, we have defined clear, concrete and tangible objectives, which are fundamental to help TJs to address the needs identified above.General Objective:-To develop practices for the social inclusion of young people with ASD, through the development of skills in Youth Workers and participating organisations.Specific Aims:-To make Youth Workers able to work towards the social inclusion of young people w/EAE and w/FO, through the development of Lifelong Learning (LLL) skills.-To ensure quality learning together with YWs, based on the identification and discussion of intervention strategies with young people w/EAE and c/FO. -To make the community aware of the importance of European rights and values (human dignity, liberty, equality, tolerance, non-discrimination, solidarity, justice and pluralism.Considering the fragmented and not very concise panorama of social inclusion, the project does not neglect the needs of organisations working directly with young people. Thus, the project asks about the work that is and should be done to follow up the needs of YT and participating organisations, described in the questions ""Please also mention how the project fits the needs of the participating organisations?"" and ""How have the needs been identified and how does your project tackle them?"".<< Implementation >>The project is structured in the following phases:-Planning: phase of identification of needs and diagnosis of contents and actions.-Preparation: phase of preparing participants for active participation throughout the mobility activity, in order to encourage informed, critical, voluntary and inclusive participation.-Implementation: implementation phase of the mobility activity, with the help of the facilitator and the Supera-te trainer.-Follow-Up: evaluation, monitoring and dissemination phase of the project.The A.T.I. group of participants is composed of 5 youth workers from each organisation, for a total of 30 youth workers. In this project 10 YW with fewer opportunities will be involved, provisionally (2 from each organisation of the consortium). Supera-te is responsible for involving 1 trainer and 1 facilitator, with distinct but complementary responsibilities in the context of action with the technicians.<< Results >>Each organisation in the consortium should be able to develop a set of internal competences, in order to improve its intervention and which, consequently, promote a set of benefits for the technical staff with whom they work. The cooperative work among the consortium encouraged the sharing and development of good practices, professional experiences, methods and intervention tools, contributing to the strengthening of the organisational and operational capacity of each organisation. The following impacts reflect the importance of the participation of Youth Workers and organisations in the Erasmus+ Programme, more specifically within Key Action 1: Youth Worker Mobility.We list below a set of impacts:Impacts on JWs:-Development of skills and learning that strengthen the capacity of each technician to believe in their potential, enabling personal and social transformation in young people c/PEA and c/FO.-Growth and promotion of autonomy, through learning able to capitalize the interests and motivations of each technician to work with young people c/EAP and c/FO.-Increase in the feeling of belonging to democratic life issues, through the development of cooperative work, capable of improving the capacity for reflection in each youth worker on socially emerging themes.-Increased recognition of European identity and European values, common to and transversal to all technicians.-Greater awareness of the importance of the NFE methodology in line with participative, inclusive and quality methodologies.-Greater understanding of the advantages of working in a network with other European experts by facilitating the sharing of experiences and good practices.-Development of new attitudes in the future work of the experts, with an impact on future interactions with their community.-Increased ability to deal with the stereotypes that are at the root of the social problem.-Increased capacity of YW to respond to unwanted reactions from young people and the community through the use of tools favouring anti-discriminatory behaviours.-Development of ALV skills: citizenship skills, literacy, entrepreneurship, digital, mathematical, science, technology and engineering, multilingual, sensitivity and cultural expressions.-More ability to network and co-operate internationally.The participation of ICTs in the I.T.A. has a very concrete and specific focus on moving towards social inclusion. The impacts are worth highlighting as they mostly circumvent a cluster of obstacles that most of the technicians face on a daily basis in their work with young people with ASD and OSF. Also, along with the impacts listed above, the TJs by working in cooperation will foster the sharing and development of good practices, professional experiences, methods and intervention tools, contributing to the strengthening of the organizational and operational capacity of each organization.Impact on organisations:-Changed thinking in the community and in JWs themselves, sometimes automated by looking only at what is wrong, originating from stereotypes developed by society.-Increased ability to face the challenges presented by young people in a positive and lively way.-Recognition of the results developed throughout the project, both through documentation and in a non-formal way.-Minimisation of discriminatory behaviours in the community of each organisation, by developing behaviours of acceptance, tolerance and empathy towards the other, reflecting inclusion and diversity.-Increased motivation and empathy of the technicians, seen as a constant in the learning process of YW.-Increased responsiveness to the challenges of the technicians, coming from a greater knowledge about the interests and motivations of young people.-Greater awareness of the importance of using digital media and the adoption of a set of actions for the development of sustainable behaviour in organisations.-Strengthening of synergies, through the development of transnational cooperative work.-Greater awareness of the social problem, through local, national and European visibility."

"<< Objectives >>The project is going to be the first step for communication among youngsters from different countries. Youth Exchange will allow participants to discover new cultures and become aware of socially relevant topics. It will help especially Ida-Viru county, where young generation doesn't have a lot of opportunities to talk with people from other nationalities, or this opportunity appears rarely. Estonian organisation team wants to make their contribution on social inclusion of youngsters. Through Youth Exchange activities we are going to boost skills as communication, problem solving, etc. Students from this area have a brief knowledge about studying at their homeland and abroad, but it isn't only our homeland issue. In communication with people from different nationalities, we are able to develop a clear vision showing that it is not only our country’s problem. ""Youth in education"" helps take down this wall of ignorance, which gives knowledge for youngsters from different countries. Our project aims to become a communication bridge between youngsters from different areas. It helps develop communication skills and language practice. This kind of projects are showing young generation how important it is to listen and make decisions all together for a better world. Every nationality can be the best teacher of its own culture, so communication will teach participants more about other nationalities. Knowledge will open a lot of doors from the mind, which is going to help young generation to be more successful. We will show our participants how one amazing experience could change their life in a better way and how it's important to get out of the comfort zone. During the project, the participants will be included in different workshops and activities relevant for the main topic and purpose of the Youth Exchange. After the project is finished, the participants will present their knowledge in universities and schools. << Activities >>Through our project we want to develop workshops, non-formal lectures, team building games, team work tasks, debates etc. Some of the main activities of the project are going to be presentations, discussions, ice breaking games, national evenings and group presentations. The whole project is going to be based on non-formal education methods. We are going to develop workshops aimed at increasing creativity and critical thinking. The young generation is supported by youth workers and leaders on this. Lectures are going to give a lot of information about studying in different countries and which benefits this kind of experience will provide to the students. Brain storms in our workshops will bring tiredness to youngsters, that's why we plan to make some physical and creative exercises. Participants could take a breath and enjoy some time doing physical and creative work. We are planing to develop a Graffiti workshop at the first days of Youth Exchange. Art unites people.It is especially important at the first days of the project, when participants don't know each other yet and prefer to stay in a national team. Through art, many people could express their emotions better. Also, it's possible to make graffiti in Jõhvi with help of a professional graffiti painter. This drawing will symbolize development of Youth Exchange in this area and show how important it is to communicate with each other. It'll help them to transmit the messages. It might be a first step for international relationships between young generation. Physical activity is prepared for last days of Youth Exchange. Zumba classes at fresh air is a good opportunity to show for other nationalities how sport is indispensable in our life and how much positive energy it could bring. A visit to an adventure park is planned in our schedule as well. It can help teams build better relations among the participants and enjoy the nature of Estonian forests. A trip to the city of Tartu is the highest priority of the project. Tartu is considered the Estonian Universities's city, that's why it would be great to visit it as a main point of the project. Some Estonian Universities will' be having lectures and spreading the information about studying.<< Impact >>The main points of the youth exchange are: to allow participants to develop competences, become aware of socially relevant topics and discover new cultures and their traditions. During the Youth Exchange, youngsters are going to acquire a great experience and develop knowledge about studying at their homeland and abroad. This kind of information will be spreading out between the participants and their friends/acquaintances, so young generation will have more information about getting education. It will also contribute to social inclusion. Life experience sharing between the participants will bring more opportunities in youngster's future. Knowledge is powerful, it can make the whole world open. Through non-formal lectures and workshops participants are going to develop their languages and communication skills. They'll learn how to express themselves in their mother tongue and in foreign languages. Team building will teach young generation how to work as a team, try to understand others’ points of view. Also, it's an amazing opportunity to make new friends and useful connections for the entire life. Some workshops help to escape from the comfort zone and show how it's sometimes important to change the way of working for achieving a goal. Youth Exchange will improve key competition as well. Participants will explore Estonia and have at least basic knowledge about our country."

"""European Future- Green & Sustainable"" aims to strengthen the capacities of transnational structured cooperation among organisations from different regions: West (France), East (Poland), South (Spain), North (Sweden), North-East (Lithuania), South-East (North Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria) in the field of green entrepreneurship. It addresses an environmental and social problems and needs through the realization of innovative ideas which has positive effect on the natural environment. The project aims to raise capacities of youth organizations to cooperate in the field of green entrepreneurship with the goal to empower young people to look for green and sustainable responses on current problems present in their communities and countries. The project will include set of activities aiming to support creating stronger and more functional network between the organizations (webinar and study visits for staff members), to raise competences of youth workers and young leaders to develop capacities of young people in the field of green entrepreneurship through series of international trainings, study visits, podcasts and to increase interest of young people in the concept of green entrepreneurship through social media campaign and to provide them an opportunity to increase their knowledge through online course, youth exchanges and international youth conference on the topic of green entrepreneurship. Moreover, the project will bring resources open for youth organizations:1.Online publication including good practices on green entrepreneurship in Europe, 2. Manual for youth workers and leaders and3. Online course for young people. Overall it proposes new ways to empower youth organisations in dealing with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and reinforce European dimension among partners involved."

'FEMpower!' was an KA1 youth exchange funded by the Erasmus+ programme. The exchange took place in Birmingham (UK) from the 16th - 24th August 2018. Comprising of 40 young people from the UK, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Poland, Lithuania and Italy, the programme focused on gender discrimination and female empowerment. Whilst the UK feminist movement began during the 1800s through figures such as Emmeline Pankhurst, it has continued into the modern day. Recent campaigns have covered a wide range of issues that girls and women continue to face every day, including This Girl Can and #MeToo. The movement also includes issues such as the gender pay gap, which was on average 16.3% in Europe in 2015. Whilst international actors such as the European Commission and the Sustainable Development Goals have pledged to achieve gender equality, imbalances continue to persist. Our project provided a platform for young people to learn about and become advocates for gender equality on local, national and international scales. This was particularly fulfilled due to participants providing their own experiences of gender inequality, whether it be personally or when discussing issues in their country.The project's aims and objectives were as follows: - To understand the causes of gender discrimination. This will consider the religious cultural ‘norms’ of some societies, the assumed roles of different gender based on characteristics and stereotypes, and the lack of facilitation for women in employment and education. - To learn about the different forms of gender-based discrimination. This includes the gender pay gap, the types of jobs typically taken up by women/men, gender-based violence, and the expected roles of women in society. - To discover any disparities between gender-based discrimination across Europe. This will be primarily discussion-based, and thus participants from each country will be able to contribute if they feel comfortable doing so. - To teach participants about the various feminist movements, both those which are ongoing and in the past, to help them come up with their own campaigns and ideas for future projects and cross-European collaborations. - To promote cultural awareness among the participants, encouraging an understanding of different nationalities and languages.The project was made up of 40 young people from across Europe (countries listed above), and were selected according to the following criteria: - Young people aged between 16 and 26, with no upper age limit for each country's team leader; - People of both genders who express an interest in gender discrimination, but may not know a great deal about it; - Youths of different religions and cultures; - Youths from disadvantaged backgrounds, whether it be socially or geographically. This will allow our project to expose them to educational opportunities and social networks which may not have been available otherwise; - Young people which have had no/minimal exposure to the Erasmus+ programme; - A working knowledge of English.All of the activity methods used were based around non-formal education, including icebreakers and energisers, a treasure hunt of the city, group activities, fishbowl discussions, open debates, world cafe and video creation. These methods were used to cover each of the objectives in a fun yet educational way, from learning about the different forms, causes and effects of gender discrimination, to analysing existing movements before implementing their own via a video. As 'FEMpower!' was the second Erasmus+ youth exchange run by Hidden Voices, we used our existing contacts within the UK to help educate the participants. This included a visit to Birmingham City Council House, during which they met with Councillor Paulette Hamilton and Lord Mayor of Birmingham Yvonne Mosquito, a trip to the Houses of Parliament with Khalid Mahmood MP, and also a panel discussion with professionals from various sectors. In addition, as a result of their regular self-assessment and active participation, we awarded each participant with the Youthpass certificate at the end of the project.The results of 'FEMpower!' were assessed through analysis activities throughout the project. In country groups alongside their team leader, each country summarised their experience of the project at the end of each day, done so primarily via questionnaires. After each country completed the analysis, the Hidden Voices project coordinators met with group leaders to discuss the answers and discuss how positive changes could be made to the following days. The results of the overall project were disseminated via the local and social media, both by Hidden Voices and our partners. The enthusiasm of our participants both during and after the project has confirmed that it was a fun, educational and worthwhile experience for everyone involved, with each individual taking home new knowledge and skills!