"<< Objectives >>SUMMARY OF PROJECT IDEAThe project intends to increase the partner organisations' capacity to offer young adults a rich learning opportunity about all four dimensions of sustainability (ecological, social, economical and cultural), promote active citizenship as well as values like tolerance, inclusion and respect, in Permaculture projects.According to initial plan it consisted of two training and networking events for youth workers enabling the participants to:1.) Carry out successful international volunteering activities for youth of high quality and in high priority areas (likerefugee camps), including through the European Solidarity Corps;2.) Create quality audio-visual dissemination material to promote their projects.ISSUES AND NEEDSThe partners experience a strong interest from many young people towards the issues of sustainable lifestyles. The organisations are constantly being contacted by youngsters who are inspired by their work, and are looking for volunteering opportunities, plan to write their thesis on Permaculture or simply want to find out more about sustainability and how to help in critical situations like the integration of migrants and asylum seekers. Permaculture organizations have a lot to offer, but need guidance and support in terms of high quality management skills and creating strong dissemination outputs.The experienced trainers and partners know that volunteering projects can be a great learning opportunity for youth. The organizations would like to offer more young people the chance to volunteer in their projects, knowing that they are an asset benefiting the community by bringing diversity and enriching community life. Those partners working in refugee camps and including locally young refugees are willing to support them as they are not allowed to travel abroad, but bring international volunteering teams to their projects. Strong connections were built between colleagues from different countries participating in a “Teaching Permaculture for Refugees” project of the Green School Village (2019-2-BG01- KA105-062772). “Permaculture for Solidarity” aims to build on top of that experience, include more partners and support their next steps together through the ESC programme.The partners need capacity building, especially in the area of project management, necessary for carrying out volunteering projects that require a higher level of competences in this field than the most partners are already involved in. Also, the second activity is dedicated to teaching them audio-visual skills to document and advertise their work - for crowdfunding campaigns or mostly to professionally record and share their good practices with the broad public.OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECTThe overall objective is to increase the quality and quantity of:1.) International volunteering activities for youth with fewer opportunities;2.) Audio-visual material for dissemination of the partner organisations work.This уья achieved through these aspects:- Capacity building for the partners in the areas of project management and dissemination activities;- Deepening the partner’s understanding of all practical aspects of volunteering, e.g. integration, intercultural issues, the learning experience offered, etc.;- Establishing partnerships for their future projects and exchange of good practices;- Creating volunteering project drafts and audio-visual materials.<< Implementation >>ACTIVITIES SELECTED BY THE PARTICIPANTSMost of the partners had participated in the project ""Teaching Permaculture for Refugees"" in 2019 with the Green School Village. They all tried to bring young refugees to thid training, but despite their efforts, this was not possible due to restrictions around their status. During the event, participants (all certified Permaculture Designers) had a session on future steps together and then their coordinator presented the European Solidarity Corps and Erasmus + programs, covering youth and local opportunities (such as young people in refugee camps). This provided a precondition for the current partnership in the project, where the coordinator invited experienced colleagues from Germany and Slovenia to conduct a joint training course on ""Volunteering for Solidarity"" (the first planned activity of this project) to present in depth the volunteering projects of the European Solidarity Corps and volunteering teams in high priority areas. The aim of this activity was to prepare the participants to partner on the projects of others and to apply for funding under the ESC programme for the deadlines in September (to EACEA) and in October (to their NA) 2020. Due to the change, the merging of the two courses in one and the emergence of the pandemic, the first such opportunity appeared in late 2021 and early 2022.During the above-mentioned project from 2019, the organizations had the opportunity to present their work. Some of the partner organizations have had already worked with young people in refugee camps and demonstrated the harsh reality and conditions in these places, that they need the solidary support of their colleagues, and that they can help them start similar projects in other partner countries. The trainers noticed that these presentations, which included some short videos, were much clearer and shorter, and attracted more audience attention. GSV suggested that the partners include a second activity in the project to train them in practice on how to make films, interviews and subtitles, how to write scripts, how to be good storytellers, in response to their need for greater visibility and support in their work. Thus was born the second activity of this project, ""Creating a Permaculture narrative"".Due to the decision of the project proposal assessors, the two activities were combined in a 9-day course in the first location of the project - Shipka. It happened in the period 21-29.08.2021, producing drafts of projects and videos as dissemination of results and practice. Some partners submitted Erasmus + projects, others ESCs, and third applied for Quality Labels. Some organizations exchanged volunteers for already approved projects.PROFILE OF THE PARTICIPANTSMany of the partner organizations are located in rural areas, some of them remote and with little infrastructure and services available. Most of the Permaculture projects are located in such places and therefore some participants were expected to come from isolated regions, where it is also difficult to find social interaction and work. This has opened the other topic in this project - the economic situation of most Permaculture practitioners. Many participants live on low incomes, work part-time with low wages or are freelancers. While the strength of the project is that the participants chosen by the partners practice what they believe in (a sustainable lifestyle can reverse climate change), their choice often does not pay off financially and many of them live in precarious conditions. Most of the participants experienced all these obstacles - geographical, social and economical. All of them participated fully and equally with the others in the activities to support each other's projects in partnership and to professionally present their work to the world (through the videos they will create with time) and to build a strong network in which to interact for a long time.NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTSThe total number of participants was 33, including trainers / facilitators. The participants were originally set to be 3 from each organization (staff members, refugee workers, Permaculture designers or young volunteers). The team of trainers found that this is the ideal number of participants from the country, as the partners have to cover and delegate various roles in the volunteer project under the ESC and in audio-visual aspect to disseminate results and promote the activities of the organization. Young people with fewer opportunities were encouraged to join (at least one per partner organization), although this is a project for youth workers and there is no age limit, but it was a useful experience to involve motivated and proactive young people from partner countries. The final decision on who will be involved was made by the partner team coordinators (with the support of the project coordinator), as they are best acquainted with the needs and objectives of their own Permaculture projects.<< Results >>TARGET GROUPSThe target group of all participating organizations were young adults, potential future volunteers in volunteering projects created through this project, especially refugees who cannot travel and can only act locally with the support of partners.Increasing opportunities for volunteering in Permaculture projects engaged more young people, supporting their personal development and inviting them to become agents of change for a sustainable society. Similarly, through the increased media activity and informative, inspiring videos that partner organizations had the opportunity to produce, they had reached young people much better as a target group for promoting a sustainable lifestyle, which is much needed at this time of human displacement, global warming and climate crisis.GENERAL IMPACTSThe aspect of youth work directly affected by this project is the interaction with young volunteers. The participating youth workers were involved in the partnership activities as managers, organizers, supervisors or mentors of the volunteers in their countries and on site in their Permaculture projects - ecovillages, farms, refugee camps and others.Others took an active part in sending volunteers, preparing and supporting them.Some participants did both, and even more, got involved in creating high-quality audio-visual materials that helped them record and share their experiences better during their volunteer projects.Youth workers have acquired a good working knowledge of Youthpass and the framework of key competences to apply in their future projects in order to validate the learning experience of their future volunteers.The two trainings, combined by the NA into one, with a reduced duration, helped the youth workers to design their volunteer projects well, to lay a good foundation before the arriving volunteers and to adapt and apply the learned good practices.LOCAL AND REGIONAL LEVELOnly the first part of the training course was useful for the region and the community of Shipka (with examples of volunteers from three, ESC projects there, two of which were of the Green School Village - 2019-3-BG01-ESC11-077793 and 2020-3 -BG01-ESC11-094810), through exchange with participants from other pilot Permaculture projects. Locals and volunteers were invited to meet with participants in the presentation evening for their initiatives in their countries. This evening naturally created intercultural exchange and mutual inspiration. A local musician, a teacher at the Shiroka Laka Folklore School, who turned out to be from Shipka, was also invited. The mayor of Shipka assisted in his inclusion and provided the Green School Village with two workspaces for the course - the halls of the City Hall and the Retirement Club.Due to the increase in volunteering in the participating organizations, Permaculture projects are hosting more young international volunteers than before, enriching the local community with a multicultural presence. Contact with foreign actors has also reduced prejudices and stereotypes, thus promoting openness and tolerance towards other cultures in the wider European context.The partner organizations were well informed about the benefits and opportunities for involving young people in international volunteer projects, by disseminating their results to staff and members, but also to other local partners.The second part of the course was planned to take place in the old town of Plovdiv, which was the cultural capital of Europe in 2019, but had to merge with the course in Shipka, according to the project evaluators decision.The project created a safe and inspiring learning environment dedicated to people and their digital presentation skills. Shipka also enriched both countries - the participants with their contact with the cultural heritage of Bulgaria and the locals who work and live there, as they were interviewed, videos were shot in their houses and they have had the opportunity to present their traditions.NATIONAL LEVELThe number of training and sustainable living centers offering opportunities for young people to volunteer has increased.Members of the national umbrella organizations, such as the partners from Bulgaria and Sweden (Finland could not be present due to work and health reasons, COVID related as well), informed their networks about the opportunities for young people to volunteer in the other sustainability projects presented during the training. Course materials were shared with Finland.EUROPEAN LEVELThe newly established volunteering activities have expanded the scope of the international network of participants: youth workers with refugees, volunteers, participating organizations.The partner organizations have initiated or strengthened their links with other colleagues working in the field of education for sustainable development of young people.Valuable contacts were made for future projects, video materials were created and used for distribution."

"<< Objectives >>As Europe is plagued with a tense economic and social context, embodied by a high unemployment rate, job insecurity and social isolation of vulnerable people, it is becoming more and more important for individuals to learn how to deal with stressful situations and find ways to step back and recover from failures, shocks or disruptions in a life-path/career.A lot of research demonstrates the value of an in-depth work on emotions, fears and failures in improving the ability of individuals (and the organizations they make up) to adapt to complex situations and to really engage with society. The point of such work is to enable a person to recognize their own emotional states and to be able to use them to their advantage. This knowledge will also help them notice emotions that other people are going through and improve their listening skills and empathy. This will in return contribute to creating a more supportive living and working environment for them, for their team and for the people around them.However, in order to get growing numbers of people familiar with these skills, those innovative concepts should spread in society, as well as the tools and specific methods to help each individual work on their emotions, change the way they look at their past experiences (personal, social, professional) and those of the people around them ; in the end they will become truly capable of exercising their power and their citizenship.Youth and social workers can highly contribute to this process by supporting, advising, guiding, training and attending to young people as well as people in precarious situations, vulnerable people or individuals going trough a transitional period in their socio-professional integration or in their efforts to launch a project or create their own job. However, most of those social workers lack the required knowledge, methods and tools to achieve this goal.The ""DARE: Demystifying fears and failures to take action"" training course thus offers to strengthen the skills of the participants in the fields of emotional intelligence and emotional agility, as well as providing them with practical methods and tools to better support the target groups.By developing their professional, social, intercultural and linguistic skills and extending their network abroad, it aims at improving the quality of youth work throughout Europe and more specifically the ability of youth and social workers to efficiently advise, train and support young people, vulnerable groups and young entrepreneurs in their life-path and initiatives.The training course intends to be a contribution to social innovation and to encourage a more inclusive culture in society, by enhancing people’s adaptability, giving them confidence in their ability to take action and developing both their entrepreneurial and their social skills.<< Activities >>The ""DARE: Demystifying fears and failures to take action"" training course will take place in France from February, the 20th to the 27th, 2020 (included). It will bring together 30 youth and social workers from Greece, Italy, Portugal, France, Estonia, Germany and Spain who are currently involved in supporting young people or vulnerable people – in precarious situations, facing discriminations, in a professional transition or facing specific integration issues - in their socio-professional journey or in their efforts to develop their own project.It will take place in a rural cottage near Gaillac (Tarn), which will create the proper atmosphere for an optimal learning experience and a deeper connection between the participants.The training course will deal with the emotions we experience and with the fears and beliefs that prevent us from acting or hinder the development of our initiatives (personal or collective) or the exercise of our citizenship. Extracting knowledge from their own life-path and from sharing their experiences, the participants will highlight how past failures and fears impact our behaviors, choices, life-path and career. Skilled trainers will help them come up with proper definitions for the key concepts of the course (emotional intelligence, emotional agility, limiting beliefs, etc.), specify the purposes of addressing fears, emotions and failures with their target groups and acquire appropriate tools and methods to improve the quality of the support they provide to young people, vulnerable people and young entrepreneurs.They will work on practical cases and get gradually familiar with the concepts, methods and tools they will be introduced to and on which they will take a critical look. Daily debriefings will help them taking a step back from what they experience and put into perspective the knowledge acquired with regard to their work with young people, vulnerable groups and young entrepreneurs.In addition to the working sessions scheduled during the day, they will take advantage of the time spent together to develop their facilitation skills in an intercultural context, share knowledge and deepen their relationship in a more intimate setting, and strengthen a set of soft and social skills that matter in youth and social work.Finally, the participants will get involved in producing pedagogical material to share the main results of the training course and in setting up a dissemination strategy to broadcast them. They will agree on the tasks that should be carried out and will be responsible for implementing them with the support of their sending organization.<< Impact >>First, the ""DARE"" training course will enable the participants to acquire solid knowledge of the fields of emotional intelligence and emotional agility. It will also provide them practical methods and tools for supporting their target groups in understanding of their emotional state, exploring their life-path, developing their listening and empathy skills as well as improving their understanding of what prevents them from taking action and in the end, to help them create strategies to overcome the obstacles they pointed out.The course will encourage the participants to take a step back from their practices, to learn from the experience of other professionals, to develop decisive soft skills in social and youth work and to strengthen their skills in facilitation, intercultural communication and mediation.In addition, the training course will contribute to their personal development, leading to an increasing motivation and satisfaction in their daily work, and to broadening their European network of professionals.The acquired skills will allow them to better support young people – among which young people with fewer opportunities – as well as vulnerable people and individuals facing specific integration difficulties in their socio-professional integration paths, on one hand, and young project leaders in the development of their initiatives, on the other hand.The training course will also have a direct impact on the organizations the participants are involved in (including the 7 partner organizations of the project) through the capacity-building of their staff and sharing their experience. Their action will be based on a stronger theoretical frame and enriched by the experience of other professionals from the field coming from various European countries. They will thus be able to diversify, adapt and improve the quality of the advice, guidance, training and support services they offer to their target groups.What is more, having developed a common language based on common methods and tools will enable them to make their partnership grow and set up new projects in the future.Lastly, it will allow them to analyze their actions and the way they work as a group taking into consideration their own history and the one of their members, so that they can identify how some fears can influence their choices and develop a strategy to deal with them in a constructive way.The training course will thus indirectly benefit to:- young people (and in particular young people with fewer opportunities or facing social obstacles), unemployed people, people in professional transition or people facing specific integration difficulties who are supported by the participants or the organizations in which they are active, as they will benefit from better services and a better monitoring;- young project leaders /entrepreneurs thanks to the additional skills their mentors will have acquired to support them and help them overcome their fears and take action.The dissemination to other youth and social organizations or organizations involved in non-formal education of the concepts, methods and tools addressed during the training course (thanks to various dissemination activities at local, regional, national and international level, both in person and online) will contribute to a higher quality of the services they provide. This will lead to a more successful professional integration of their target groups (mostly young people and vulnerable groups) and to their greater engagement with the local community or with social projects.It will also contribute to the emergence and long-lasting of social projects led by either individuals or groups whose obstacles to take action have been overcome thanks to appropriate support.Finally, the training course will play a key role for the inclusion of the most vulnerable, for enhancing community living and for helping innovative projects emerge throughout Europe, based on the values of openness, respect, solidarity and justice."

Europe is currently facing critical social issues: we're witnessing the rise of strong, radical nationalist movements, higher and higher social and economic inequalities, and an increasingly difficult social integration for struggling populations (among which many young people, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers).In this bleak context, the SYNERGIES seminar offered to reinforce the ability to cooperate for people involved in the fields of social cohesion, intercultural dialog, inclusion and the fight against discrimination and exclusion. They improved their ability to develop their actions and addressed the genuine, practial needs of the inhabitants they work with (especially young people and people struggling socially and economically, including newcomers to Europe).The seminar relied on the idea that cooperation between individuals within a team or between organisations within a network : - improves the use of available resources;- stimulates the development of innovative, relevant and efficient projects;- greatly encourages citizens to take part in the projects and the projects' beneficaries to get involved in their design.but that civil society organisations (among which youth and social workers as well as non-formal education organisations) unfortunately often lack methods and tools to fulfill their potential and are sometimes helpless when confronted with complex situations.Therefore, SYNERGIES gathered 30 people involved in innovative projects focusing on intercultural dialogue, community-living and social inclusion coming from Greece, Italy, Portugal, Germany and France. The participants acquired skills regarding team-working and networking, and got an opportunity to create and build up relationships with potential partners.This 7-days seminar took place in Gaillac (South-West France) from November the 3rd to the 9th, 2017. The contents were designed so they could be easily grasped by the participants, allowing them to efficiently and quickly applying them to their specific context after their return.Participants shared relevant professional and life experiences and depicted the situation in their respective organizations. They confronted their methods regarding team building, collective project management, mediation and conflict management, training, facilitation, network build-up and coordination with the support of skilled trainers and educators. They worked by team on practical issues and came up with new solutions, methods and tools in tune with their realities.They were encouraged to take responsibilities and initiative throughout the seminar, including setting up collective rules and managing the group’s life. They now are in charge of the dissemination of the acquired knowledge and of the main outcomes of the week.The training increased the participants' skills, stimulated their creativity and their entrepreneurial spirit and improved the quality of their projects. They are currently transfering knowledge and know-how from the training to their own projects, organisations and networks, and are actively participating in the dissemination of the output on a local, national and European scale by circulating the proceedings of the seminar and by organising public meetings and/or peer to peer trainings.The seminar thus supports the improvement of innovative social projects, and builds up the skills of the dynamic, inclusive and democratic organizations undertaking them in the fields of social inclusion, fight against discrimination, advocacy for an active citizenship and intercultural dialog.It created and strenghen links and synergies between stakeholders from differents countries and fields of work, thus encouraging a multidisplinary, trans-national dynamic, in a collaborative way and beyond political arguments.

"<< Objectives >>The Heterotopia Tour - An ECO Idea(l) in Action addresses the issues of youth unemployment, and the necessity of a more sustainable and inclusive development in Europe. It aims at inspiring and empowering young people, encouraging them to believe in their abilities to take action and to create the positive change they hope for their lives and communities. To achieve these goals, it will create International partnership between Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain to: (1) theorize, improve and spread to new venues and new target groups a non-formal educational tool, the “Heterotopia Tour”, with high potentials in terms of Youth empowerment and promotion of more sustainable ways of living, based on cooperation and respect of Human Rights and Nature; (2) share good practices in the field of social innovation, so that EU citizens can better meet the challenges of youth unemployment, social inclusion and sustainable development in Europe. The project is therefore, at the same time, a program for youth as well as to develop the Non-formal competencies of youth workers; a sensibilization program on social and environmental issues and a promotional project of social innovation and innovative lifestyles. It will last 6 months and will include 1 youth exchange, 1 dissemination event and small-scale local events.The project will firstly contribute to diversify and improve the quality of youth work by transferring good practices on the topics above mentioned to a group of 31 youngsters and youth workers from Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain as an instrument to empower European Youth and foster social change. “The Heterotopia Tour - An ECO Ideal in Action” will also represent an opportunity not only to raise people’s awareness on socio environmental issues, but to spread information that will allow them to take action to handle various situations such as Climate Emergency and green job opportunities for youngsters. Firstly, by offering to a group of 31 young people (with fewer opportunities) the opportunity to meet people involved in the field in various areas, to develop hard and soft skills (including digital skills) and to stimulate their creativity, adaptability and entrepreneurial spirit. They will become ambassadors of peaceful and sustainable lifestyles within their communities. The project will allow the partner organizations to enrich their activities and reach out to new venues and new target groups, thanks to the exchange of good practices, the capacity-building of all participants and the extension of their network. They will strengthen their cooperation and involve new counterparts in the process, creating thus dynamics at both local and European level. Finally, the project will represent an opportunity to bring together a wide range of actors and change makers around common objectives. It will contribute to give shape to a common concept for lasting creation and evaluation of specific solutions, reconciling the development of human societies and the preservation of nature, respecting each culture, and upgrade the sustainable paths within the current political context.From our experience we know that the Heterotopia Tour is an intense experience that challenges participants both mentally and emotionally. Participants may need mentoring after the exchange to support them in the implementation of the changes they want to see in their lives and in their community, focusing on the future and the initiatives they would like to participate with the support of their peers and their organizations. Therefore, partner organizations will organize an evaluation and follow-up meeting. In these meetings we want to encourage partner organizations to put participants at the center of the process and provide them sufficient space to express themselves honestly and to develop new ideas for possible future actions, supporting and motivating them for possible future steps such as:Encourage them to keep in touch with us, the other participants and the partner organisations and invite them to volunteer in our team, in the partner organisations or other projects with which they may identify;To participate in future exchanges, and in “European Solidarity Corps” or other Erasmus+ programs;Stimulating them to continue their personal learning process, to finish school and to suggest different alternative career possibilities;Inform them of various types of youth funding and incentives, such as funds for young entrepreneurs or internships granted by job centers or other institutions.""The Youth of Today will be the guardians of the planet of tomorrow so its our responsibility to prepare the now!”<< Activities >>The “Heterotopia Tour- An ECO Ideal in Action” is designed for young people that are looking for a first experience of eco community living as well as for inspiration, motivation and hope for their future. Participants want to participate in this youth exchange because they want to get out of their comfort zone and experience something totally new, seek inspiration for their future and design possibly life paths, meet inspiring projects and agents in sustainable development for a fairer and more inclusive society, meet new people from diverse backgrounds and experience community living within a multicultural group.We plan to organize one youth exchange activity for youngsters with fewer opportunities, which will be attended by 24 young people from 18 to 25 years old and 7 youth leaders over 25 years old, which will take place from 29.03.2020 to 11.04.2020 (travel days included).The involvement, well-being and development of interpersonal skills of the least opportunity participants is at the core of this exchange; As a result, young people with fewer opportunities (such as economic difficulties, social obstacles, cultural differences, etc.) will be given priority in this mobility, so no discrimination will be allowed and we will seek to provide a favorable environment so that all participants feel safe, comfortable, and encouraged to participate and expressing themselves at every stage of this project from preparatory meetings, the exchange itself, to the dissemination and follow-up meetings. We would like to emphasize that it will be ensured that the “Heterotopia Tour” mobility will be free from intolerance, racism, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia and any other types of discrimination. During the exchange the topics related to discrimination will be highlighted in order to maintain an inclusive atmosphere of awareness and respect for all participants as we promote the importance of diversity as a factor of social and environmental cohesion.During the “Heterotopia Tour” a range of non-formal education tools will be used, provided and facilitated not only by the applicant organization but also by all partner organizations and their participants, from: Energizers, Daily Weather Forecast, Ice-breaker, trust games, Open Space, Forum Theater, learning by doing, interpretative walks, peddy paper, role-playing tours, sharing circles, debates, brainstorming, family groups, international fusion cuisine, etc. These tools will primarily be used to understand and assess the well-being of participants as well as facilitate their integration into the group and build an international and multicultural group. All sessions will be facilitated with a special emphasis on self-awareness of prejudices (which often go unnoticed) in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for sharing and learning among young people.As a result, the “Heterotopia Tour - An Ideal ECO in Action” Youth Exchange aims not only to make young people aware of environmental protection, but also to foster the continuation of their learning pathways, thus avoiding early school leaving and ultimately motivating them to explore the possibilities of the new green entrepreneurship market, thereby it not only addresses unemployment, but also promotes actions to mitigate climate change, stimulates the critical thinking of each young person thus promoting social innovation and above all this youth exchange will provide hope for a better future for all.<< Impact >>The project will produce tangible and immaterial results. The tangible result will consist of a dissemination event. The immaterial results will consist of: - developing the organizational, pedagogical, entrepreneurial, social and linguistic skills of young people; - making young people aware of social and environmental issues; stimulating their entrepreneurial spirit and helping them to take measures for a more inclusive and sustainable development. The project will contribute directly to the training of 31 young people from France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and Portugal through the Heterotopia Tour youth exchange. These young people will become ambassadors promoting the values, behaviors and practices learned during this youth exchange. The project will develop the capacity of each partner organization to support young people, including young people with fewer opportunities, in their socio-professional journey, through the development of their members' skills, the consolidation of their partnership and the extension of their network at both local and international level; - stimulates the exchange of good practices and open new perspectives for cooperation between organizations from different fields of activity and from different countries. It will demonstrate the potential of international cooperation on social innovation and supporting young people on their learning journey. Partners actively work on the need for networking and formal alliances and to improve recognition of the potential of their actions for wider dissemination. - offer a resolutely optimistic view of what is under development and disseminate inspiring and practical knowledge that will enable EU citizens, and especially young people, to take a positive attitude towards adversity (showing that there are solutions to any problem) and involving them in social and environmental projects.Participants in this Youth Exchange “Heterotopia Tour- An Ideal ECO in Action” will acquire the following skills throughout the project: - digital and language skills; - interpersonal communication and socialization skills; - group communication and active listening skills; - cultural skills, acceptance and adaptation, learning to embrace diversity; - teamwork skills, joint decision-making, non-violent communication, emotional intelligence and conflict resolution; - discover interests that have not been known to date and overcome fears; - rediscover the perception of themselves and others in their relationship with the environment; - rediscover the interest of learning new things and developing critical thinking; - increase their capacity for social integration and possibly in the labor market; - discover new study and employment opportunities in the area of ​​sustainability, adaptation and mitigation to climate change; - discover the opportunities of Young, Social and Environmental entrepreneurship; - acquire practical tools on how to reduce your ecological footprint; - learn about organic farming, agroforestry, natural construction, natural cosmetics, ethical food and waste reduction; - learn about climate change adaptation and mitigation; - empower themselves especially through active and collective citizenship with regard to environmental policies;"

<< Objectives >>In a tense social and economic context, characterized by high unemployment rates (especially among young people), higher social inequalities and environmental degradation, more and more people feel uncertain about the future. Their lack of perspective breeds a feeling of helplessness and often leads to isolation or rejection behaviors that undermine social cohesion as well as our ability to meet the challenges of climate change and globalization.Nevertheless, everywhere in Europe, innovative, economically viable, socially and environmentally respectful projects are emerging. These initiatives demonstrate that there are other ways to take action, act and live together, thanks to which we could cater to the fulfillment of each member of community and maintain the sustainable development of our society. Unfortunately they are still little talked about.The SustainABILITY project aims to promote them and to spread the knowledge, know-how and skills acquired by those who implement those initiatives. By reaching a wider audience, an increasing number of people will be inspired, regain confidence in the future, in their personal ability to act or develop the projects they are putting efforts into.To achieve this, we propose to train youth and social workers so that they can improve the quality of the projects they carry out and spread the knowledge and skills they acquired to the persons they support, mainly young people and people with fewer opportunities.Thus, this training course aims at strengthening the participants' knowledge, developing their professional skills, their social skills and their adaptability to situations, and at providing them a sense of self-fulfilment that will increase their motivation and satisfaction in their daily work.By empowering them, the training course aims to improve the socio-professional integration of the target groups the participants support, increase the inclusion of people in social projects and promote the emergence of social innovation projects locally. It will do our part for promoting diversity, intercultural dialogue as well as the values of justice, freedom, solidarity and protection of human rights and the environment. Finally, the network of stakeholders involved in the social and ecological transition across Europe will also be strengthened.<< Activities >>The SustainABILITY training course consists in a 17-day immersion experience in a multicultural group that will meet social innovation stakeholders. It will take place in south-western France from the 9th to 25th of July 2019 and will gather 30 people (youth and social workers) from Greece, Italy, Portugal and France.The training course is made up of three stages: the first taking place in an isolated rural area (Aveyron), the second in a peri-urban area (Tarn) and the third in an urban area (Haute-Garonne). Each stage will be an opportunity for the participants to discover, through the voices of those who carry them out, social innovation projects that are exemplary ; this will allow the participants to pin point what has lead them to success, what their past difficulties and current challenges are, and to assess their impact at a local scale in terms of social cohesion, attractiveness, innovation and employment.The participants will set up their camp on a piece of land owned by social entrepreneurs who will welcome them, so they can appreciate the project's complexity and share the daily life of their hosts. Each day they will address a different aspect of each project (intentions and achievements, legal set-up, business model, modus operandi, fields of expertise...) through theoretical or practical workshops, testimonies, group works, surveys, etc. The diversity of the activities offered and of the pedagogical methods used (active, experience-based, demonstration-based, lecture, etc.) will make it easier for them to learn.The public events organized at each stage will get the participants to interact with the locals and ask them about their everyday reality and the actual impact of the projects visited.Such a long experience (17 days) of community living in a multicultural group will also prompt the participants to develop their soft skills as well as their skills in facilitation, communication and mediation. They will be responsible for their group dynamic and for facilitating and livening up the time spent living together as a group, and will be encouraged to take initiatives. They will be supported in their efforts by the facilitation team, which will provide them with methods and tools to reach their goals.Finally, the proposed living conditions (ecological camp) will enable the participants to assess their impact on the environment and come up with practical ways to reduce their ecological footprint. They will experience a low ecological impact lifestyle throughout the training course and they will measure their performance on a daily basis. << Impact >>Thanks to the SustainABILITY training course, the participants will get the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of social innovation and train up a range of professional skills including project design, facilitation, mediation, communication, and other interpersonal skills relevant to their profession. Besides, the course will contribute to their personal growth and self-fulfilment, a major source of motivation for their day-to-day work.Additionally, the course will enable the organizations the participants are involved in (including the project’s partner organizations) to enhance the educational services they provide (including their citizenship and environmental education activities) and their support services for young people, people with fewer opportunities and people developing a new activity/service. They will also get a chance to structure their partnerships and to broaden their network, both locally and across Europe.People taking part in the activities of those organizations will also benefit from the training course, especially the previously mentioned groups. Indeed, by improving the competence of the social workers supporting them, the course will help ease the professional integration of young people and fragile groups, encourage them to take part in social projects and get new innovative and sustainable projects to emerge.After the pedagogical and methodological results of the course have gradually been presented to other youth and social organizations (thanks to several dissemination activities locally, regionally, nationally and abroad, both in-person and online), we can expect its positive effects to increase accordingly. Added up, these should have a beneficial impact on social cohesion, community living, sustainable development and a flourishing network of cooperatives and civil society organizations.Making sure the teachings of the course regarding entrepreneurship and ecology are widely shared will also benefit the general public longing for inspiration and practical solutions, as well as Social and Solidarity Economy organizations looking for new ideas and good practices to develop their activities and ensure their long-term sustainability.