<< Objectives >>In the emerging multicultural world, the necessity of constructive and dialogical character of interreligious relations is of utmost importance. The dialogue between different religions is becoming one of the typical features of the contemporary era: some religious traditions have been present for centuries influencing Europe's history, others are still multiplying in the continent today.In the light of the European migrant crisis and the increasing religious diversification, the propaganda transmits an inadequate picture of religious minorities and often reproduces stereotypical perception of ‘the other’. This leads to tensions, discrimination, and violence based on religious issues. In many countries, this problem is becoming more dangerous because of the growth of radical fundamentalist movements, which involve the youth in the propaganda of the superiority of one faith above the others, resulting in terrorism and refugees, fleeing from the wars in Near and Middle East to become hostages of hate speech and discrimination. The proposed project was unique because it aimed to unite civil society organisations, academia and religious communities from Europe, Caucasus and Near East in one safe environment for open discussion on the way of peace and reconciliation.Ukraine was selected as a hosting country since different religions (Orthodox and Greek- Catholic Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Slavic Native Faith, etc.) have often re-gained importance after its harsh suppression during the Soviet Union. This growing importance, however, also includes the risk of marginalization of minority religions, which members are often living in the region for several centuries. Furthermore, today Ukraine is stricken by a serious interfaith conflict between the Orthodox Churches of Kyiv and Moscow Patriarchate. According to John Paul II, the image of World Church cannot be expressed only by one tradition opposed to the other; the search of the ways of communication is the exhortation of the 21st century. This justifies the need for dialogue activities, which will raise the sensitivity of especially young people towards other faiths. In general, youth work activities are still less developed in this region due to a lack of institutional support and capacity building measures. Taken the described context into consideration, the proposed project gathered youth workers and youth leaders from Programme and Partner countries to explore the potential for inter-religious activities in youth work settings.The objectives of the project were:1. To provide youth workers with an opportunity for a personal interaction with representatives of different religious traditions and give the space to reflect on important topics related to inter-religious dialogue.2. To raise participant's intercultural sensitivity through exploring various faiths represented in Ukraine, as well as the principles of constructive dialogue among religions, which they will be able to share in their home communities.3. Sharing good practices and exchange experiences in preventing interfaith clashes and violent radicalisation of youth based on religious grounds.4. To equip youth workers and leaders with key competences and innovative non-formal methods, which they can use for lifelong learning activities in the field of inter-religious dialogue in their communities.5. To stimulate social inclusion of disadvantaged groups, such as refugees, religious and ethnic minorities, and those with fewer opportunities in order to create a diverse group which will be able to broadly disseminate results of the project reaching as big audience as possible.6. To create an international network of highly qualified individuals and strengthen the capacities of partner organisations who would like to work on follow-up projects.7. To bridge civil society organisations, academia and representatives of religious communities to meet today’s interreligious challenges with non-formal educational innovative approaches.<< Implementation >>The project “Union and Diversity: Ad Dialogum Religiōsum” was designed by partners from various cultural and religious backgrounds to provide the target audience with the greater understanding of cultural and religious diversity, which strongly connected with the language of hatred in today’s society. We seeked to promote non-formal educational methods of youth work that contributed to solving the problem of interreligious conflicts, issues of religious radicalism, and clashes between representatives of various religious minorities. It was important to spread the idea of unity into diversity and reduce the existence of stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice both on local and global levels, involving NGO field, academic research and religious minorities.The project took place in Kyiv, Ukraine in September 2020. It gathered 30 participants with equal number of representatives of Programme (Germany, Italy, Romania, Greece, Turkey) and Partner countries (Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Jordan). The activities took place in the training hall of the “Verkhovyna” hotel. In addition, there were implemented a few field visits and meetings with representatives of various religious communities in Kyiv.In accordance with the activity aim, the main target group were:• active youth workers and leaders, scholars, teachers, clergy, volunteers who are daily working with young people in the field of religion;• over 18 years old;• communicative level of English;• experienced in NFE mobilities or in the usage of NFE methods;• willing to promote the project during all phases via social media;• willing to improve the quality of their education methods use in youth work;• willing to prepare necessary materials about youth work in their community and about Erasmus+ before the project and make the follow-up of the activity.The project’s programme was based on the principles of non-formal education. Our main task was to create safe environment and conditions under which the participants would be able to comfortably extend their knowledge and develop their key competences. The opening sessions on the 1st day of the project were also aimed at recognizing the exact needs, fears, and expectations of each participant and ensuring maximum learning outcomes.The basic elements of activities included:• providing a general vision of the place and role of religion in Europe in general, and Ukraine in particular;• group work on creating possible solutions to the problem of interfaith clashes;• conducting interreligious field visits to the holy places of different religious traditions;• outdoor activities for searching the real examples of the interreligious conflicts in civil society;• performing theatrical scenes, where everyone tried to imagine being a representative of another religion;• practical workshops where participants were able to share the religious situation in his/her country;• creating a strategy for interreligious dialogue in the EU and Eastern Partnership countries;• organising cultural evenings where all the countries presented their culture through dances, songs, games, typical food, etc.<< Results >>Our participants came from different European, Caucasus and Near East countries, where today the problem of religious conflicts is very acute. Except violent religious extremism which is spreading in the EU, it is worth mentioning the recent tragedy in New Zealand, which has demonstrated the urgent need of working with youth in the field of interfaith dialogue. This is especially true for those countries which have faced the influx of Muslim refugees and where the number of right movements is increasing. Therefore, we counted on the following effects:• to explain as broadly as possible the essence of different religious traditions that exists in participants' countries;• to create safe environment for positive interreligious dialogue;• to motivate youth workers and leaders to develop the social projects for youngsters which can reduce the number of interreligious clashes in their communities;• to empower them to spread the ideas of tolerance and peace on local and global levels;• to encourage cultural exchange among participants;• to integrate good practices and new methods of non-formal education into daily basics;• to build a bridge between civil society organisations, academia, religious communities and other relavant stakeholders. Considering the fact, that all project partners during their work have been conducting activities dedicated to interreligious dialogue, they committed to send such participants, who Were motivated and able to increase their competencies in the sphere through active involvement in the project, and who afterwards have shared the outcomes of the project. This has fostered the increased quality of activities implemented by the sending organisations and their effect on the target groups.As partner organisations already had experience in the processes related to project topic and have a wide network of target groups they have been aiming to reach, so the experience exchange resulted of getting more coverage of target groups. And as a whole, this had its impact on fostering more harmonious and peaceful development of the whole society.The topic of interreligious dialogue is much more essential in today’s realities than before. In the light of the right-wing radical movements that are being spread not only in Europe, but also in other partsof the world, we should work with the youth who is the most vulnerable group and easily exposed to negative influences. So it is important to mention that the main idea of this project and the topics covered by it are vital elements for the tuneful evolution of humankind, especially considering the fact that the sphere of interreligious clashes and dialogue itself is developing and have a lot of issues to be solved yet.

Youth participation requires involvement, inclusion and cooperation between various sectors such as governmental bodies, non-governmental organizations, youth itself and even the private sector. But unfortunately in post-Soviet countries, it is very difficult for young people to actively act, especially in the field of youth councils. The European experience is a way for non-EU countries to be more open to European values, learn the best practices and, on this basis, build their democratic activities at a qualitatively new level.The main aim of the project “Youth Councils - advisors or activists” was to provide young people with equal opportunities and experience which enable them to develop the competencies to play a full part in all aspects of society through expressing their needs, interests and visions. With our project, we helped them to raise the capacity of Youth Councils and to empower them through cooperation across the sectors involved in the youth field (public bodies - local municipalities, active youth non-governmental organizations and Youth Councils). The main aim had been achieved through concrete objectives:- raising the transparency of Youth Councils- raising the visibility and importance of Youth Council among youth- raising the civil and political participation of youth through Youth Councils- creating space for sharing knowledge and exchanging experiences, know-how and good practices in the field of participation and youth active citizenship;- creating space for building international partnership and planning future projects in the field of youth involvement in decision-making;- finding new strategies and inspiration on creating and supporting local youth initiatives;- learning new approaches and finding an innovative ways of communication between youth and local municipalities politicians/experts/- discovering the opportunities under structural dialogue- creating opportunities for starting long-term international cooperation (EU and Partner countries) in the field of youth participation and structural dialogue projects.During the project, youth organisations and youth workers were mainly focused on building a structured dialogue with decision-makers and public bodies. In order to create space for it, local activities, conferences and round tables with decision-makers and public bodies representatives were organised. But a big part of building that dialogue and raising the capacity of youth were done via exchanging knowledge, experience, good practices and know-how with other youth organisations. It’s important to add, that whole main idea of the project was related with capacity building of the partner organisations (through cross-sectoral cooperation, organisation of international and local events, training staff and other core members and also attracting and training of potential future members of the NGO through the activities with youth councils and the youth interested in the civic participation. Additionally, the project has increased the competencies of the youth workers and capacities of the organizations from different sectors working in the youth field, affirmed equity, active citizenship and stimulated replicating more international projects. Therefore, there will be an increased number of learning mobility opportunities for young people, or people involved in youth work.Our cross-sectoral and cross-national cooperation fostered quality improvement in Youth Council’s work on local, national and international levels, it also increased the recognition of non-formal and informal learning.The project also contributed in enhancing the international dimension of youth activities and the role of youth workers and organizations to support young people.

<< Objectives >>A key focus of the project was social fears and how European youth can understand, analyze, and deal with them on a daily basis. Even while young people are provided with many opportunities as exchanges and training courses, most youths live in the shadows of fear, making it challenging to find a job, study and make important decisions about the future.Thus, our project was focused on the following social fears: 1. Fear of public speaking.2. Fear of being alone3. Fear of failure.4. Fear of criticism5. Fear of responsibility and leadershipDuring the project, we wanted to deal with theoretical information about these fears and give helpful advice on how to work with and overcome these fears.Therefore, the objectives of the project were:1)To acquaint participants with the above-mentioned social fear and help them to overcome it, which will improve the level of social adaptation, self-realization and employment of young people.2)To promote the realization of Sustainable Development Goals, namely Good Health, Decent Work and Quality Education.3)Exchange cultural experience, networking for future cooperation, and promoting Erasmus+ programmes in the homeland and foreign countries.4)Our additional goal was to popularize Responsible Consumption as one of the Sustainable Development Goals. So, during the project, we were supposed to live and work according to the rules of an environmentally conscious lifestyle, refuse plastic packages and use paper responsibly.<< Implementation >>Our program was thematically divided into several blocks, each raising the topic of specific fear. The program was planned to reach our goals and make our participants' learning process as smooth as possible. We were trying to fit the format of each activity to its topic as much as possible. The essential elements of the project's activities included group and individual work, discussions, games, performances, workshops and forum theatre. We started our project with icebreakers and team-building activities, so during the first two days, all participants had a chance to get to know each other. It ensured that everybody felt comfortable during the project and was ready to work with touchy topics like fears. The second type of daily activity was energizers. Every morning before the main blocks, our participants did energizers together to feel more vigorous and active.To fully understand the project's theme, we provided diverse, informative activities: workshops and lectures. We explained to participants some basics about social fears, where they may come from and which tools are at our disposal to work with them. The next stage of our activities was working on our fears. We carried out an interactive game, drawing classes, breath therapy, forum theatre, music blocks, and performances to make the work on the fears practical and enjoyable. An essential part of each day was reflections in national teams, where participants had the opportunity to share their impressions, comments and emotions with a smaller group of people. Also, all participants got journals to use as diaries where they could write down their memories, observations and reflections. Finally, during the project, we had seven cultural evenings, which ensured that all participants could get to know different cultures and experience cross-cultural communication. Additionally, we carried out post-project activities to spread the knowledge and experience gained during the exchange. Ukrainian, Moldovian, Latvian, and Polish teams represented some blocks of the project in local schools, universities and other communities. Target groups for such activities included active youth, members of youth initiatives, members of local NGOs, and students.Turning to the number and profile of the participants involved, we worked with 35 participants from 7 countries. All leaders from national teams selected participants during the application call, using a guide about selecting participants, which the main organizers created. The recommended age of participants was 16-22 years old since the project topic was the most appropriate and valuable for people of this age. As a part of the application, candidates had to record a short video where they presented themselves. They explained why they must participate in the Youth Exchange (for example, elaborate on which social fears he/she has). The selection process aimed to support gender balance and diversity, but at the same time, consider the quality of the application and participants' motivation to be a part of the program. Eventually, 7 national teams with 4 participants and 1 team lead took part in the project. Participants did not need exceptional capabilities and knowledge to participate in our project. They were expected to be interested in finding themselves, improving their skills, being ready to interact with different people, and being polite and tolerant. Participants were supposed to be ready to travel and engage in an intercultural experience.<< Results >>1. Individual results and impact on a personal level. Participants developed and improved a range of competencies, such as creative and critical thinking, and the ability to make decisions in critical situations and work in a team. They received theoretical and practical knowledge about social fears, their levels and types, scientific research in the field of fear, and some practical methods of overcoming or at least controlling fear. Each participant learned how to understand, analyze and interpret the wide range of their emotions. One of the essential skills our participants received was language because the whole project was conducted in English, which was not native to any team. After the project, young people involved in the project became motivated to develop themselves, which is evident in their feedback during and after the project. With the help of cultural evening, our project also developed tolerance and an understanding of the differences between the cultures. Participants learned to respect the opinions and views of people around them. Moreover, for some of our participants, this project became the first trip abroad, which also promotes travel and the desire to explore this world among young people.During the project, the young people also learned how to perform, demonstrate initiative, and be more open-minded to various themes. Additionally, now our participants know the patterns and tools of non-formal education, which they can use on a daily basis. The majority of the participants got Youth Pass, where they indicated which tasks and responsibilities they held during the project and which multilingual, digital, mathematical, personal, social, and other competencies they achieved. 2. Impact and results on the general level. The project promoted Erasmus +, Youth Pass and the European Union on the national levels. During the post-project activities, national teams presented Erasmus+ opportunities for the youth in different countries. At the same time, the participants also raised at the local level the issues discussed during the project: social fears and coping methods. Target groups for such activities included active youth, members of youth initiatives, members of local NGOs, and students. Because of engaging these groups of people in post-project activities, we spread the values of a multicultural society and encouraged intercultural dialogue on various levels. Some participants also expressed their desire to write new projects within Erasmus+.

“Raising the capacities of youth NGOs for rural youth participation in democratic life – VOTE!” project aimed to raise the capacities of youth NGOs working with rural youth to encourage youth active participation in European democratic life and elections. We believe that active youth participation and in particular rural youth political participation can be an added value for the development of our countries and communities. For this reason, the consortium from 14 organizations representing different European countries decided to develop a long-term cooperation project on capacity building of rural youth political participation. The project aimed to contribute to the capacity building of youth workers from civil society organizations, particularly the ones working with rural youth and public authorities at the local and regional levels to be able to increase the level of youth democratic participation. At the same time that focus also on the capacity building of youth leaders from local rural communities. In order to reach our project aims we had defined the following specific objectives: a) To increase the capacity of NGOs working with rural youth to influence policy at local, regional, national and European levels;b) To empower local organizations staff to better involve young people in the decision-making process of their projects and activities;c) To increase the political influence of young people in their communities by active participation in the processes of political elections;d) To improve local and national youth policies and the competencies of local stakeholders to work together (cross-sectorial initiatives) and with rural youth in developing new projects;e) To develop instruments that can support youth NGOs that need to start working with rural youth;f) To raise the level of awareness within the communities in Europe about the impact of the young generation, particularly addressing rural youth;On the local level, the project had a significant impact with the implementation of training courses, local youth initiatives and development of the action plans for raising the capacities of rural youth.The priorities this project addressed:- Promoting the take-up of practical experiences in education, training and youth work in rural areas;- Supporting the production and adoption of Open Educational Resources in diverse European languages on youth political participation (elections on local, national, European levels);- Stimulating active participation of young people in democratic life in their communities, supporting their local initiatives and active participation in elections.

The Youth Exchange “Back to Reality!” with 6 partner organizations and 30 participants (4 participants + 1 leader per organization) from 6 different European countries (Latvia, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Sweden, and Georgia) took place in the Camping Chania, located in the city of Chania in Crete, Greece on 10-19 October 2018 (8 days, including travel days).The Youth Exchange aimed to promote, encourage and develop environmentally friendly thinking and acting in various situations and places, and to develop the understanding of how one's individual action influences the environment. Youngsters were able to recognize environmentally friendly and unfriendly actions and then make a choice by themselves.The project aimed to develop in the young people environmentally friendly way of thinking and action in everyday life, to build young people's understanding that everyone's behavior can affect the environment from what consists our planet, as well as promoting active and healthy leisure activities.During the project young people were tested in a variety of everyday green lifestyle ideas (vegetarianism, waste disposal, yoga and water saving, etc.), there were organized workshops (natural cosmetic preparation etc.), as well as sharing of experiences and creating a blog in the Internet and digital Menu Green in the form of recipe book. At the end of the project, materials were assembled and distributed to young audiences over the Internet.Nowadays basic needs are covered by technology but the connection between humans and the natural environment is missing in so-called Western countries. So we tried to renew this connection between humans and the environment. Log out from your computers and Back to Reality!