"Despite the prevalence of 15% of youth having one or more disabilities in our general population, hardly any youth is aware how to interact and communicate with their young peers with disabilities. Even the basic principles of barrier free communication are hardly known.Young people with disabilities want people to know more about their feelings, and want to communicate, in order also for their peers to gain a better understanding of disabilities, also in adult life. Disability Matters launch package (UK) stated that 25% of Britons do not feel confident communicating with a child with disabilities.(Young) people with disabilities encounter many different forms of attitudinal barriers that hamper a communication with mutual respect:• Inferiority: Because a person may be impaired in one of life's major functions, some people believe that the individual is a ""second-class citizen."" However, most people with disabilities have “compensating skills”.• Pity: People feel sorry for the person with a disability, which tends to lead to patronising attitudes. People with disabilities generally don't want pity and charity, just equal opportunity and be part of their youth peers community.• Hero worship: Most people with disabilities do not want accolades for performing day-to-day tasks.• Ignorance: People with disabilities are often dismissed as incapable of accomplishing a task without the opportunity to display their skills.• The Spread Effect: People assume that an individual's disability negatively affects other senses, abilities or personality traits, or that the total person is impaired.• Stereotypes: The other side of the spread effect is the positive and negative generalisations people form about disabilities. Aside from diminishing the individual and his or her abilities, such prejudice can set too high or too low a standard for individuals who are merely human.• Backlash: Many people believe individuals with disabilities are given unfair advantages, however they do not get special privileges rather just equal opportunities.• Denial: Many disabilities are ""hidden,"" such as learning disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, epilepsy, arthritis and heart conditions. People tend to believe these are not bona fide disabilities needing “accommodation”.• Fear: Many people are afraid that they will ""do or say the wrong thing"" around someone with a disability. They therefore avert their own discomfort by avoiding the individual with a disability.Making youth aware of these very basic aspects in interaction with a peer with disabilities is a first step in solving the problem, while in a next step barriers need to be broken down by applying proper and accessible interaction/communication methods.These 2 steps are at the core of the project, aiming to impact young people, thus investing in the future, and providing the proper basis for spill over effects into society, and into the working environment.The project wants to help youth communities increase their understanding of disabilities and reduce the fear of approaching or being approached by an individual with disabilities, by applying the peer support model.Target groups- Youth workers and leaders- Student leaders- Student bodies- Youth organisation responsibles- Disability youth organisations responsiblesBeneficiaries- Youth volunteers, youth organisation members- Student bodies/Youth council members- PwD youth organisation members- PwD youth- (Disabled) Students- Youth NGOsThe project will therefore create:- a handbook ""ABC to inclusive communication with my peers with disabilities"": This booklet will address a wide range of disabilities, how it affects communication and how to cope with it to ensure qualitative communication can take place. - inclusive youth volunteering awareness campaign: The awareness campaign will focus on how youth can be prepared to communicate in a polite yet efficient manner with peers who have a disability, with a mutual satisfaction.- mobility events for youth workers: A range of practical workshops will be organised in all partner countries, together with mobilities between partner countries regarding good practices that will be identified via brainstorming sessions among youth from different countries, and in attendance of youth with disabilities.- establish an inclusive communication peer support hub in every partner country to support uptake by target groups and stakeholders, as well as support all participants in mobility events.This set of communication skills for youth is universallly needed (disability knows no borders) and transversal since it is applicable not only to youth environments, but equally to the working environment, as well as family life. After all, people with disabilities should be intrinsically fully part of society (inclusive citizenship).The project consortium brings together 7 partners from 4 countries (Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece)."

This project “AFS intercultural learning experience for life: volunteer work at a local project and integration into the local community” aimed to develop solidarity and promote tolerance among people with different cultural backgrounds. This was achieved by providing opportunities for intercultural dialogue, intercultural learning and integration in the local community. We did this by offering the volunteers the opportunity of working in a community service project. The volunteers were inserted into a multicultural environment in which they carry out several different tasks, always accompanied by staff members. This allowed them to learn and improve a multitude of skills, to nurture in them a sense of European citizenship and European values, and to provide them with a professional experience that ease their transition into the labor market. Plus, given the fact that they will contact regularly with people from different countries (by meeting other volunteers e.g.), it is also helpful for the volunteers as they are urged into learning and speaking foreign languages, thus promoting multilingualism, in accordance with the objectives of the Erasmus+ programme. The organizations benefited from the collaboration of the volunteers, with focus on the different working methods that each person brings to the workplace. This stimulated a learning process for both parties, in which one gain from the experience of the other and vice-versa. Also, through discussion and evaluation, the various actions, initiatives and processes were analyzed in order to optimize the overall quality of the project. Lastly, the local community benefited from interaction with foreign volunteers, which is key to promoting values such as tolerance, freedom, pluralism and intercultural and interreligious acceptance, among others. We projected to involve 22 youngsters over 2 years, but several mobilities were shortened, mainly due to the covid-pandemic. As a consequence, we were able to send 29 volunteers over 3 years. Each volunteer had an individual activity at one of the hosting projects. The local projects focussed on themes like education, media, agriculture, sustainability, animal care, health care, cultural heritage, intercultural education, child care and minorities. We had 2 participants that started their project in 2018 (of which 1 stayed until June 2019), 11 in 2019 (3 of which stayed until 2020) & 16 in 2020 (of which 4 stayed until 2021) in this project. By living in a host family, participants hosted in Belgium saw the differences in habits, personalities and opinions which made them think about their own habits, personality and opinions. The participants confronted their family with their own personalities, habits and culture, which maybe they did not really question before. In this way the benefits were on both sides: the family who they are living with, but also for the participants: there is - on both sides - an ever growing awareness of how a society has an impact on our daily life. With this knowledge competences to confront issues raised by persons coming from different starting situations was greatly improved. Because of the so-called 360° intercultural learning experience it was a life changing experience for the volunteer. The gain in understanding and awareness of different cultural, sociological, linguistic and economic situations made the volunteer more enthousiast about Europe and its values. It empowered him / her in terms of self-esteem and boosted his / her engagement towards a more open and democratic society. It is in the mission of AFS to build a more peaceful world and we strongly believe in the improvement of these competences by working as a volunteer and by living in a host family. Through the whole experience the Global Competence Certificate was guiding the participant on a personal level.The GCC is a combination of online learning and live training. By leveraging technology, we increase our reach to learners across the globe. The program brings the content of intercultural learning through a modular, blended, and experiential learning approach. It ensures that all participants receive a standard curriculum, which they can take online and at their own pace. This curriculum serves as the basis for further individual and group reflection and experimentation during live training components. Through forums in the online component, learners can connect with peers from around the world and begin reflecting on intercultural issues before they embark on their intercultural experience. The content of the online modules helps each participant reflect on his or her own cultural identity and supports participants as they learn about others, manage their emotions, and build meaningful relationships across differences.

STREET FOOTBALL & FOOSBALL - inclusion-integration, has been a draft multilateral youth exchanges, a group of young people between 17 and 25 years, from 5 European countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Romania) we have carried out from 6 to December 14, 2014, at different points of the Community of Madrid, with the headquarters, San Lorenzo de El Escorial.The project has been based in its development, social integration, which work by proposing the development of a Youth Exchange, which had for 10 days. In this exchange, we met young people of both sexes, Europeans, in order to promote recreational sports and leisure activities in the city streets and towns of the Community of Madrid, as diffuser elements of tolerance, inclusion and fair play.The main objective of the project was to promote among young people at local, national and European level tolerance and inclusion of young people living with different social situations, disadvantaged exclusion; interacting together young people from different countries, levels of study, religions, (urban, rural, inclusion regime, immigrants, unemployed, students, etc.) social levels to participate together through sport (football street) and leisure activities (foosball) as resources for inclusion.The project we have carried out using the system based on non-formal education (interactive and mixed teams work activities outdoor and sporting, recreational and cultural activities) methodologiesMOTTO OF THE PROJECT IS THE TOLERANCE THROUGH FAIR PLAY.With Street Football and Foosball, we understood football in the streets and football as resources for social inclusion among young people. Therefore, we put great emphasis on these practices, such activities represent a great opportunity for the creation of new groups and identity, the community as a dimension of organization and mobilization for the construction of a new concept of citizenship and life public at local, regional and European level.

EVS in Salzburg III was a project that involved 3 EVS activities:Kinderfreunde hosted Beren Sönmez from Turkey from 15.11.2017 - until April 2018 in cooperation with her sending organization GENCLIK TURIZMI DERNEGI. The volunteer supported the hosting organization mainly at the project KECK, which means mobile playground animation. The playbus drives to different playgrounds and play together with children of the neighborhood, many of them have migrant background.Youthcenter Corner hosted Sara Mancino from Italy from 05.09.2017 - 30.06.2018 (10 months) in cooperation with Cità di Torino. At Youthcenter Corner the volunteer supported the organization by organizing live performances of young bands, tournaments in billiard, darts, soccer and other games and to manage the music lessons with youngsters, that mostly have migrant background. Seniorenresidenz hosted Noemi from Italy from 01.09.2017 - 31.08.2018 (12 months) in cooperation with Città di Torino. At Seniorenresidenz Noemi assisted the regular staff in planning and organizing the daily structure of activities for the residents and accompany residents through these activities which means enabling people with physical and psychical barriers to feel as comfortable and independent as possible.Even though the topics of these EVS projects are different (children, youth, elderly people) the objectives were the same. By hosting European volunteers we developed solidarity and facilitated understanding and tolerance. The experience of an EVS influenced not only the volunteers themselves but also the staff in the hosting organizations and the people (children, youth, audience, other clients) they work with, but also their family and friends. The volunteers who are doing their EVS in Salzburg were mainly together with up to fifteen other volunteers from different European countries and Europan partner countries. Mostly they met once a month at akzente at our so-called „EVS breakfast“ or at Freetime activities. As they met each other regularly they spent time with each other, talk to each other, and like this identified common values with other young people from different countries in spite of their cultural differences. Also in the hosting organizations the volunteers had the possibility to get to know people from other countries – Austrians as well as people from other parts of the world. Because of this the volunteers were also stimulated to reflect on the essential characteristics of European society. As all of them had the possibilities to start own projects within the host organizations they also learned to be creative and active and understand that they play an active role - in their projects, in their communities and in society. All of the hosting organizations were open minded and eager to host a volunteer from another European country and like that also aim to build a common Europe.

The IT'S UP TO YOUth project was a long-term VOLUNTEER project (12 months). The project has been promoted by the Associazione Arci Rieti (Association of recreational and cultural social promotion) and took place in the city of Rieti, a small town in Lazio characteristic in its natural environment and in the medieval village. The ARCI has a consolidated history in the management of national and European reception projects and in social and youth policies (Civil Service, European Voluntary Service), in immigration policies (Progetti Sprar - System for the protection of asylum seekers and refugees), in environmental and social economy policies. The staff of the association is composed of professionals such as: educators, social workers, social animator, teachers of Italian for foreigners, mediators, tutors and mentors. Within the ITSUTY project, the Arci Rieti was a coordinating and receiving organization, the partnership consists of a Spanish organization, a Greek organization, a Danish organization and a Turkish organization in the role of sending. The Organizations have ten years of experience in social activities and recreational activities according to the principle of non-formal learning and in the management of mobility projects. The project activities took place at the Arci Rieti association office, in the offices and public bodies of the city, associations of Rieti and the province and in public places and spaces. The project hosted 3 volunteers from program countries plus 1 volunteer from a partner country, volunteers with different backgrounds but sharing a strong sense of volunteering, social attitudes, dynamism and active. The objective of the project was to ensure shared growth at local and European level, through the participation of all the subjects involved in social actions and the definition of “memoranda of understanding” with the local partners. With the project It's Up to Youth we wanted to spread, through the contribution of volunteers, messages of SOLIDARITY, TOLERANCE, INTEGRATION, INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE, ACTIVISM AND EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP. The project has been implemented in the objectives of: - to raise awareness among the local community and the respective communities of belonging to the volunteers to respect the differences conceived as a richness - directing young people towards new perspectives - favoring in the volunteers the acquisition of key skills useful for the European market - to promote the social integration of asylum seekers and refugees. - create cooperation with partners for future collaborations. - to create a consolidated tradition of Volunteering, in the territory of Rieti The volunteers have been engaged from Monday to Friday for a maximum total of 38 hours per week. Volunteers acquired new skills through a job-shadowing job - learning by doing - operational autonomy. The project saw the volunteers involved in the following activities: SOCIAL AND IMMIGRATION POLICIES - Projects Sprar (System for the protection of asylum seekers and refugees) of Rieti. The activities took place at the Rieti offices, at the beneficiaries' apartments and at the competent offices. Volunteers supported minors in their path of integration into the society, promoting their well-being through constant support and the organization of recreational activities. ASSOCIATIVE ACTIVITIES. - Culture, Awareness, Association. The activities took place at the Arci headquarters, public institutions and the association network. Volunteers, in this area, elaborated their ideas and have been involved in organizing public events, awareness campaigns, creative and cultural workshops. . YOUTH POLICIES - the activities took place at the headquarters of the Association, university, media and youth organizations. The volunteers have been involved in the promotion and dissemination of the Erasmus + Program/ESC and in the involvement of the youth community in awareness campaigns and social events The results of the IT'S UP TO YOUth project are a shared growth between the participating organizations, the European volunteers and the local community. The impact on volunteers, on our target and on the community has been favored by the sharing of needs. This is why there is a long redundancy at local and European level.