EUROSUD IN TIRANA – EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF YOUTH FOR 2022
The association for international youth mobility EUROSUD in Triggiano in Albania to document the activities and events in Tirana, the European Capital of Youth for 2022. We had the opportunity to explore and discover this beautiful capital. People in Focus Albania for the occasion, we participated in conferences, workshops and meetings dedicated to culture, the state of youth participation, health, and creativity, but also in numerous local festivals. Over 20 young people from Albania and different European Union countries have been engaged in raising awareness among their peers about environmental conservation. They went to the area of Lake Prussia where, on the initiative of People in Focus Albania, supported by Leviz Albania, a project of the Directorate of Development and Cooperation of Switzerland, 100 trees (planets) were donated which are rich who knows this natural space. Supporting the activity, the vice mayor of Tirana Z. Andy Seferi appreciated the initiative, ensuring the expansion of reforestation in this area. The youth association for international cooperation People in Focus believes that setting positive examples for citizens and the local community is important. Not only the environmental awareness of the young people but also the increased attention of the institutions was the message conveyed in this activity.
We are also very grateful to the management of the newspaper La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno for showing interest and support towards our work. We hope to continue generating interest so that we can promote more and more projects of interest and common sense. This short article is an important opportunity for us to introduce our work and initiatives to a wider audience.
THE INAUGURATION OF THE PORTA FUTURO IN CAPURSO
We participated in the inauguration of the Porta Futuro headquarters in Capurso on 29th November. But you might be wondering, what does it mean? What is the move? PORTA FUTURO in Capurso proposes to orient young people to the labor market, with particular attention to the youthful universe, and to promote the meeting between demand and supply. A physical center capable of mobilizing resources, information, skills, and opportunities at the service of autonomy, social innovation, and local development. To put it even simpler, it is a service aimed at citizens looking for employment and productive businesses looking for employees. Presenting other realities like ours at EUROSUD regarding international youth mobility and Eurodesk Capurso, UPE-UNIONPROEUROPE for training and teaching programs.
THE SECOND MOBILITY ORGANIZED BY CASTELLANA GROTTE SCHOOL
Bon voyage to the guys of IC of Castellana Grotte! It’s the second mobility organised by the School, after the one already taken place in Dublin 
.
“It will be an unforgettable experience for the students – explained the director Carmela Pellegrini – the trip has in itself the metaphor of change, the discovery of other places, the meeting and the opening to the other. Suspended last year for technical reasons, it was intended for students in the fifth grades of the Primary School, who are attending the first grade this year. “
Check the website for more information:
A LONG-TERM PROJECT AIMING AT BUILDING COMPETENCES IN PERSONAL BRANDING IN POLAND
Branding 4U is a long-term project aiming at building competencies in personal branding among youth workers educators and other professionals in youth field! Murzasichle, Poland and gathered 24 participants from Italy, Spain, Poland and Portugal. The main aim of this training course was to enable educators working in the field of youth work to re-evaluate their work, educational practice and define their vision and mission in order to create the foundation of their personal brand which couldbe in demand in the market.
The main objectives :
-Get familiar with the concept of personal branding and learn about three stages in personal branding as an approach both at conceptual and practical levels
-Reevaluate personal meta programs, fears, limiting beliefs, and value base which hampers educators’ professional development and doesn’t let them o er their services to the market.
-Define mission and vision and reflect on the importance of those as the foundation of the personal brand.
-Practice and to test different methods, tools and techniques which can be relevant for the various groups of young people in the topic of personal branding and marketing.
-Discuss the strategies and basics of transferring the knowledge to young people.Learn how to create basic presentation tools, reflecting their vision and mission as well as background (video CVs, reference lists, expert lists, press-portraits).
Project partners: Fundacja Młodzi dla Europy – Poland, Associação Check-In – Portugal, WeAre Globers – Spain, Oriel – Italy
INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER IN FINLAND KOKKOLA WITH PROJECT “FRIENDSHIP”
Project Friendship! During the project, volunteers organized workshops on friendship in area in schools,
unemployed workshops and the elderly service centre. The project aims to prevent loneliness by providing people
with the opportunity to develop their friendship and interaction skills.
Loneliness is a nasty social phenomenon that does not look at age, gender or social class. According to the
survey, one in five Finns sometimes experiences loneliness and one in twenty is constantly alone. Loneliness is
most experienced in youth and old age. We have been working together with partner organizations and many
organizations have said that many of the young people they work with are lonely and find it difficult to make
friends.
A project on friendship and interaction skills helps people develop their own friendship and interaction skills and
can motivate them to contribute to preventing loneliness.
Volunteering affects both participating young people and the communities in which volunteers work. The people
the volunteers visit get new perspectives on friendship and ideas on how to nurture friendship and an opportunity
to reflect on what kind of friend they are.
The participating organizations get new ideas and working methods through volunteers to develop friendship and
interaction skills to support their own activities.
The project responds to the objectives of the European Solidarity Force by assisting young people in their work
by providing work placements and opportunities to develop active citizenship skills. The project is also
responsible for contributing positively to the well-being of different communities, as developing friendship skills
can also develop people-to-people interaction in a more positive direction.
During the project, volunteers planned and conducted 15 online and offline workshops about friendship in local schools for about 300 students. Both schools and students were really happy with the quality and the program of workshops. Students learned about skills needed for friendship, how to make new friends, what is a good friend etc. and they were excited to meet volunteers from all over the world and speak English to them.
From our organization EUROSUD we give the opportunity to our local volunteer Laura to join the project.Here is the feedback:
Hello everyone! My name is Laura, I’m half Italian half Mexican. I study Gastronomic Administration so I love everything related to food but also I’m into outdoors, culture, history, music, travelling and so much more!
I found this volunteer project in Kokkola, Finland “Project Friendship”. I arrived to Helsinki and from there in train to Helsinki, since the airport, seeing all the snow was pretty exciting for me. Arriving we have a lot of presentation and fun activities to get to now each other’s, they explain us very well the guidelines of the project. We started preparing material and activities that after we are gonna bring to the Finnish kids in the local schools.
We also have free time for enjoying the nature, snowball fights, land-sky,ice fishing, second hand shopping, visiting the city or just hanging all together. I really liked this volunteer, I met people from countries I never hear before and now after they showed me their amazing culture I want to visit them! I’m so grateful for this opportunity where I learn a lot of cultural differences, administration, languages. I return home with a lot of amazing friends around the world.
“BUILDING BRIDGES WITH EMPATHY” SEMINAR BY DOBRE RĘCE FUNDED BY ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME
Implemented from 6th to 14th of September 2021 at Willa Jagniątków, Jelenia Góra, Poland together with youth workers, youth leaders or volunteers working in non-governmental organisations or other institutions working with youth from: Poland, Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal, Turkey, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia and Greece with main aim to equip participants with certain skills, competences, knowledge, attitudes, tools and methods on building the empathy.The learning week has been designed for quipping youth workers and youth leader with certain skills, competences, knowledge, attitudes, tools and methods on building the empathy in young people.
All the sessions were based on non-formal education methods and tools such as: preparing presentations, world cafe, brainstorming, preparing posters, mind maps, discussions, daily trios for reflection, NGO Fair trade, simulations, theatre, round tables, intercultural presentations, methods from heart coherence and Compass Manual for Human Rights Education, fish bowl, mindfulness, debriefing, open space, reports on own education process, youth-pass key competences reflection, working in teams, writing a letter, learning by doing, using art.
Objectives of the project:
- to gather youth workers and youth leaders working with young people sharing similar interests, having different
level of experience and practice to exchange knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes in order to know how to increase the empathy in young people; - to prepare and test tools, instruments, methods for youth workers and youth leaders that will support them in leading youth for a change
- to teach youth workers, partner organisations and young people about empathy
- to increase the awareness on importance of building empathy in youngsters
- to develop competences of youth workers and youth leaders in facilitating workshops on empathy for young people;
- to activate youth workers and youth leaders on local and national level
- to build up long-term partnerships between participants and participating organisations
- to stimulate the capacity of participating organisations on local, national and international level
- to promote Erasmus Plus Programme and European Union values on local, national and international level
Blog of the project: https://erasmusdobrerece.wixsite.com/empathy
You can find there links to great pages and tools about empathy.
YouTube channel with videos: https://youtu.be/ubt9YaNQ8NA
