The Training Course “Be a change maker : developing responseAbility for positive change – A training course for youth workers about finding a response to the global challenges of the 21st century” is necessarily because many (young) people are disillusioned about the possibility to create meaningful and purposeful responses to all these challenges. They are disconnected and/or marginalized from nature, society, politics and economics. At the same time, it is the young generation who will have to address and adapt to the unfolding consequences in the future. What they need is empowerment and inspiration to craft meaningful responses. A better vision on our own personal and professional journey – where we are coming from and where we are headed, as well as accepting and claiming responseAbility for our own and societal development is called for.With this training course we create a space for building that responseAbility through reflection on our concerns and passions as well as becoming more conscious of our personal learning process. We believe that gaining a deeper understanding of who we are and what we can do for others is an empowering process which can lead to positive changes for the future of society.Moreover it is necessary that youth workers know how they can support young people in facing their own challenges and thereby continue to grow as a person. After the training, participants will be able to lead young people in their organisations and communities through a personal learning journey to craft and find powerful and meaningful responses to the sustainability challenges of the 21st century.The objectives are : • to explore the concepts of responseAbility, positive change and active hope • to explore acceptance, gratitude, hope and compassion in order to improve our abilities to develop our responses • to raise awareness of our identity through reflecting on our challenges, concerns, talents and passions • to encourage a learning mindset which realizes that everything is possible• to stimulate the creativity, vulnerability, confidence and resilience of the participants• to encourage and serve the participants in planning their learning process also after the training course and also implement with their target groups• to learn more about the Erasmus+ program and its actions, and Youth pass as a tool of recognition of the key competences.This training course will be based on non-formal and informal education with a self-directed learning approach. That means that the participants are responsible for their own learning and the facilitators provide activities and guide the participants through their own learning process. The training course will be characterised by highly participatory, interactive and experiential methods.The main direct dessimination will be a good action from every participants after he/she returned back home and put the things he/she learned in practise. The participant can enrich their environment, in particular their organisation, because these ‘good actions’ will be inspired by the needs which were mentioned by the partners before the application of the project. The good actions are one of the evaluation tools and will be a part of the final report. The youth workers also initiate a project which will be an investment in their own organisation. They look for cooperation with other organisations, represented during this TC by other participants. They are try to start an international project concerning a topic about sustainability.Already during the project the evaluation process will play an essential role in the learning process. Participants will meet everyday to discuss the progress of learning as well as group integration and group dynamics. There will also be a final evaluation of the project during the last day of training: besides a visible evaluation the participants will be asked to fill the questionnaire and evaluate the project, content, methods and trainers. The project will also be spread by publications, Facebook and other European networks.

“Young Journalists Journey” is a new innovative KA1 Erasmus+ Youth exchange for youth workers, volunteers and youth leaders.It will bring together 35 participants from 5 different countries to work together on the main topics: Journalism and non-formal education in relation to the problem of youth unemployment.The idea of the exchange was driven by the fact that young people with fewer opportunities (and especially those who left their studies at an early age) often lack the necessary competences and experiences in order to enter or stay in the labor market. At the same time, non-formal learning which takes place within the framework of youth projects (in the Erasmus+ programme and beyond) provides very valuable learning experiences for young people, e.g. communication and the ability to work in teams, developing the habit of staying involved in an activity on a regular basis or at least for some time, taking responsibility etc.). The project wants to bring the participants on a journey of non-experienced journalists and provide them tools and inputs which might help them to be more aware of themselves, their skills and their competences.The project will take place in Düzce from 7 until 14 October 2017 and will involve 35 participants from 5 different countries (Turkey, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, and Macedonia). During the project, the participants will experience through non-formal education methods and discussion with bloggers and journalist how to improve their storytelling, photo, video skills and to find the essence of a subject, place or a character through interviews, reportages, photo-reportages, videos and blogging posts. With these skills developed, the participants will be able to start their own blogs or write for the NGOs magazine or even work for a media company. The main goal is to empower the youngsters to explore an area and their inhabitants through journalism technique, how to choose the subject, what angles of the story are better in order to catch the attention of the readers and visitors of their owned online channels. The participants will be engaged in this journey with several methods such as self discovering (storytelling), integrative methods (setting strategies for the articles, team-building exercises), learning through individual experiences (discussing with journalists, taking interviews and interacting with the citizens), creativity methods (blogging web-design, magazines and brochures, but also photo-reportage)

<< Objectives >>There is great potential to change the minds of many young people through gaming. More and more video game developers are focused on being more inclusive, the popular Overwatch League chose to make about half its game’s characters women. Esports is also giving many young people a sense of accomplishment and shows them that regardless of social or educational background, gender or disability anyone can be successful with hard work and enough practice.Therefore, youth leaders have a tremendous opportunity when it comes to games and Esports. By gaining an understating a general interest in gaming and Esports, many young people could be reached, probably even those who would not think of engaging with youth leaders. An open and positive attitude towards videogames could be a simple way to build connections with young people, who often have to justify their love of gaming and struggle with judgement and negative attitude from adults.The aim of the project is to engage more young people in non-formal learning with the help of video games. The objectives of the project:a)to help youth workers understand the world of video games betterb)to help fight the stereotypes regarding video gamesc)to provide youth workers with tools to engage young people through their interest in video gamesd)to provide youth workers with a platform to discuss their experiences and best practices regarding gaming and young peoplee)to develop a guideline on facilitating non-formal learning through gaming, focusing on the following topics: health, participation & leadership, social competence, creativity, strategic thinking & entrepreneurship<< Activities >>A 10-day seminar will take place in Slettestrand, Denmark in the summer of 2019 and will gather 28 youth workers and three facilitators from Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Romania, Spain and Turkey.The main focus of the seminar will be on exchanging experiences and best practices in working with young people interested in gaming and fostering their non-formal learning. At the end of the seminar, a guideline will be created with best practices in the following themes: 1) health, 2) participation and leadership, 3)social competence, 4)creativity, strategic thinking and entrepreneurship.The partners of the project have agreed that in order for the activity to be the most effective, the selected participants should be experienced youth workers with knowledge of gaming and/or experience with young people involved in gaming. It will be an advantage if the nominated participant has extensive experience in the creation of non-formal methods and methodologies, potentially involved with research and development at the partner organization. Ideally, the participant would also be involved with supporting the less experienced youth workers at the organization, probably even organizing their events and activities. Thus, even if the participants themselves are currently not actively involved with the delivery of youth activities at the organization, they have a deep and complex understanding of youth work. On the one hand, they would have a knowledge of the needs and struggles of young people involved in gaming. On the other hand, they can understand the methods and potential of youth work and have an overview of what is realistic.The 10-day training course will take place in Slettestrand, Denmark in the fall of 2019 and will gather 28 youth workers and three trainers from Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Romania, Spain and Turkey.The main focus of the training course will be on understanding the guideline created in the training course. The participants of the activity will arrive with little knowledge of gaming and how to attract gamers to their activities. The guideline is intended to help change that, however, it is important that they familiarize themselves with the best practices and methods included and think of ways to utilize them. The activities of the training course intend to provide a platform to the youth workers to do just that. Their knowledge of methods and best practices will be useful in their future work. It is also expected that they will share their newly gained knowledge and the methods of the guideline with other youth workers at their organization, another reason for a thorough understanding of the guideline.To best utilize the guideline created through the seminar, the partners have agreed that the main criterion for the participant selection for the training course is that they are active at the youth organization. It is expected that the nominated participants are the ones delivering the activities at the organization and they are in daily contact with the beneficiaries. As the training course will provide the participants with a thorough introduction to gaming and video games, it is not necessary for the youth workers to have a preliminary knowledge of the topic. It is, of course, expected that they have a general interest of the topic, and arrive to the training course with the understanding that becoming more familiar with video games will help them reach more young.As the guideline will have a collection of best practices and non-formal methods in facilitating learning through gaming, it is not required of the participants to have a wide experience with non-formal methods. Through the training course, and with the use of the guideline, they will be able to gain more experience and deliver higher quality activities. Additionally, when selecting their participants, the partners will look for the ability and willingness to share the newly gained knowledge with the other members of the organization.<< Impact >>ParticipantsBy the end of the project the participants will have a better understanding of the world of video games and esports. Through sharing their experiences with their fellow youth workers and discussions with the students of Randers Production School, the participants are likely to become more interested in gaming but at the least they will feel less out of their element. Thus, the participating youth workers will become more comfortable around young people interested in gaming and esports.With the help of the project, the participating youth leaders will be equipped with knowledge to fight the stereotypes regarding gaming. Other than that being for their own benefit in their work, they will be able to help young people better articulate the positive effects of their hobby in school, to their families, etc. Additionally, the participants will gain best practices in involving young people in non-formal education through gaming, making their work easier and more efficient. They will also gain a network of international youth workers they can turn to regarding the topic of young people and gaming.Participating organizationsFirst and foremost, the participating organizations will gain youth leaders that are better equipped in working with young people interested in gaming. Due to that, they will be able to organize more interesting activities aimed at that target group, reaching more young people through their work and involving them in non-formal education.At the end of the project, the participating organizations will gain a useful guideline that they can use for the organization of such activities. With the help of the guideline and their youth workers that took part in the project, they will be able to train more their youth workers to be able to use gaming as a tool to get young people interested in non-formal education.Finally, through the cooperation in this project, each organization is gaining a network of potential partners that they could work together with in the future.Target groupsThe target group of the project, young people that are interested in gaming, will have a chance of interacting with youth leaders that are more open towards their interests and easier to talk to. They will have more possibilities to take part in activities they are interested in. Through taking part in activities and events that are more interesting for them, and make them feel more understood, there is a better chance that the young people will become involved with non-formal education. Once they become more involved at the youth organizations and take part in other kinds of events, they will have the possibilities to develop themselves and widen their social circles.Local and NationalAs a result of the project and the creation of the guideline the youth organization can use, there will be more events and activities aimed at young people interested in gaming, with a higher rate of success. Thus, locally and nationally, more young people will be reached by youth organizations and become involved with non-formal education and activities. More active and effective youth work will mean more active young people for the local and national environments.European and internationalThe development and implementation of the project, as well as the creation and use of the guideline will create a stronger connection between youth organizations around Europe. It will also lead to more and better ways to reach young people, spreading the interest in non-formal education and potential mobility opportunities, strengthening the connection between the young people of Europe.As a result of the project and the guideline created, young people will not be discouraged from gaming but instead the positive effects of gaming will be pointed out to them, and they will also be made aware of the potential risks. The youth organizations will learn how to utilize video games in their work, helping young people around Europe to improve their foreign language skills and enhance their creativity and innovation. Being supported in their interests will help young people gain an increased sense of self-esteem and self-empowerment. Just as importantly, using video games as a tool, youth organizations will be able to promote equity and inclusion in a way young people can relate to. Therefore, Europe and the EU will gain more and more young people that are playing in a sensible manner, are able to channel their creativity, have better language skills and are generally more confident in their abilities.

"The project ""Undertaking actions= making changes"" is an international training course for youth workers under the Key Action 1 of the Erasmus+ Program. The proposed project aims at achieving common understanding of the concept of entrepreneurship so that it could be used for initiating social actions in view of bringing sustainable society changes.Objectives of the course are:*) To inform the participants about the potential of youth entrepreneurship and the ways it could be used*) To develop entrepreneurial competences and pro-active attitudes of participants in view of the initiation of social actions as key youth work elements *) To practice different project management tools in order to plan actions for sustainable development at individual, organizational and society levels via future joint transnational actions and entrepreneurial projects*) To develop international teamwork abilities of participants and stimulate their sense of initiative*) To present the concept of entrepreneurship through examples of successful entrepreneurs which could be seen as role models *) To share best practices in the field of entrepreneurship and empower the target group to act as multipliers within their organizations and communitiesThe project was held in Lille and will gather 32 youth workers coming from 8 Program countries. The participants which the project gathered were all members of the youth partner organizations, interested to develop their competences and to multiply the effect of the project within their local communities. The target group was composed of youth workers, trainers or project managers all working in the youth sector. The training course was held through a highly participatory approach and non formal educational methods which combine theoretical and practical components. The experience of the participants was valued as a ressource for the whole group in order to achieve transfer of competences and best practices sharing. Therefore the course was based on the specific learning needs of the participants. The team of trainers created a learning space, where participants are encouraged and coached to go beyond their comfort zone and in this way achieve development at all levels personally and professionally. The project equiped participants with entrepreneurial competences such as sense of initiative and encouraged pro-active civic attitude, to be transferred later to the target groups with which the participants work on a daily basis and within their local communities in order to achieve multiplying effect. The local communities benefited of an increased number of opportunities to get involved in civic and social initiatives and actions which the participants are better able to organize after their participation in this training course. Therefore, on a long term basis the project brought an increased level of youth participation in society and sustainable social changes might be expected."

In Spain, in terms of youth involvement and volunteering, at national level, according to the Youth Barometer 2014, 30% regularly or occasionally volunteer and only 14% are involved in community projects. Practically, although there are many NGOs, the young people involved in them are few, and the uninvolved are finding it hard to know how to participate. At European level, things are better but not excellent: according to the Youth Eurobarometer 2014, 25% of young people have been involved at European level in volunteering activities. At the level of partner organizations, the situation turns out to be more negative, especially as they work in the field of integration, increase the employability of young people, and work with young people from less favored backgrounds. These young people, from the experience of the organizations, rarely participate in projects or events dedicated to them or volunteering. In this context, young people need positive models, need to be motivated to get informed and involved in community life, but also need an environment to facilitate their skills and personal development. PURPOSE Increasing the level of involvement of young people from disadvantaged communities. OBJECTIVES O1: Training of 28 socio-educational animators, 4 of each partner organization, in November 2018; O2: Writing and implementing a socio-educational animation project by the 28 participants, in the city neighborhoods, in January 2019; O3: Developing 6 socio-educational animation projects - one in each partner country - in January 2019; O4: Informing young people from partner countries about options for engagement and volunteering in January 2019 The project reunites partners from: Spain, Romania, Italy, Poland, Latvia, Bulgaria and Greece, therefor having a European dimension