#EUROSUDSTORIES: “SENSITIVE CULTURE AS A BRIDGE IN YOUTH WORK RUSTAVI, GEORGIA

The project was based in the participation of different activities, ice breaking games, open discussions about our fears and expectation of the project as well as about how the cultural difference influences our behavior in approaching with each other in different context.

I had the opportunity to interact with everybody thanks also the different groups I was in in the activities.

There was a good balance with the free time and free nights that permits to know everyone better.

We felt like we were a big family in our cultural and personal differences and that was a big luck I appreciated a lot.

During the week, we had the opportunity to have two intercultural nights, where we shared our typical foods, dances and our traditions.

More over we had the opportunity to visit Tblisi and the typical Georgian cultural and dances through the interaction with locals we had during a city games.

We had also the opportunity to discover a bit more about politics issues and conflicts between Georgia and Russia.

I feel glad to have taken part to these project; it enriched my background also in a personal way feeling much more European in a rising country that has a lot to offer.

Claudia L.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: NUOVI ORIZZONTI

La voglia di crescere, e di farlo assieme ad altri giovani motivati, porta Moustapha Danfa, 26enne di origini senegalesi, a valutare positivamente il tirocinio che sta svolgendo ad “EUROSUD”, organizzazione che si occupa di mobilità giovanile internazionale.
«Ho scoperto questa realtà durante la scorsa estate, tramite l’associazione molfettese “InCo”, e mi sono subito informato per un eventuale tirocinio. Sono davvero contento di essermi cercato questa opportunità perché potrebbe aprirmi numerose strade per il futuro lavorativo».
Per uno studente di Lingue e Mediazione Culturale all’Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro” come Moustapha, il tirocinio ad EUROSUD offre la possibilità di entrare in contatto con giovani di età compresa tra i 18 e i 35 anni, prendendo parte a diversi programmi di apprendimento promossi e finanziati dall’UE, con particolare attenzione agli scambi interculturali e ai corsi di formazione nell’ambito di progetti Erasmus+.
Le realtà con cui l’associazione collabora sono presenti sia a livello locale sia a livello europeo e questo è un fattore di indubbio arricchimento.
Sono svariate, tra l’altro, le competenze che il giovane sta acquisendo durante il monte ore, precisamente 150, previsto per il tirocinio.
«Oltre ad aggiornare il sito web di EUROSUD, il mio compito consiste nel presentare gli obiettivi formativi dell’associazione nelle scuole superiori, partecipare ad eventi nazionali collaborando con altre associazioni di scambio giovanile e presenziare, come speaker, al programma “Radio UniBa/Kulturama”».
Moustapha si sente parte integrante del gruppo in cui è stato calorosamente accolto e che lo sta accompagnando in questa esperienza.
«Sono sempre più convinto di aver fatto la scelta giusta, perché il bagaglio culturale che mi stanno offrendo le persone che ho conosciuto ha superato tutte le mie aspettative».
Aspettative che non escludono, però, il ruolo della responsabilità, che Moustapha sembra aver preso come una sfida personale.
«Devo ammettere che è stata proprio la responsabilità, affidatami sin dall’inizio, a farmi integrare al meglio in questa associazione».
Un’esperienza che aiuta i giovani ad oltrepassare non solo le proprie aspettative, ma soprattutto i propri orizzonti.

http://www.internationalwebpost.org/contents/NUOVI_ORIZZONTI_15327.html#.XfyvqNVKiUl
Sara F.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: TC SOFT SKILLS FOR YOUTH WORKERS ZAKOPANE, POLAND

The most rich experience of my life,
the most powerful,
the most colorful,
the most exciting.
In only one week I’ve learnt about life even more than years and years at school because I discovered the power of non-formal education: it makes you be really active in learning through different activities and it makes you memorize better; instead in the usual formal learning you, as a simple listener, are not really involved and sometimes there is even the risk to fall asleep. Moreover the topics faced are almost never mentioned at school even if soft skills – communication, public speaking, self confidence, creativity, teamwork, time management, motivation- are as important as knowledges about maths, history, sciences and so on given at school, or maybe even more. So I’ve learnt to accept myself a bit more, to boost my self-confidence, to motivate me in something else except university’s studyes.
I’ve learnt what’s the real meaning of communication in order to express myself, for being respected and without getting aggressive, through the non violent communication method by Marshall Rosenberg: he advices to know and tell what we really want, to express exactly our needs , to listen to us and recognize our feeling and to substitute a kind request to a demand; only in this way we can not fall in arguing because every human shares the same needs and we are able to understand each other.
I’ve learnt a new method to be focused on my tasks called Pomodoro technique that i hope could boost my productivity in future projects.
I improved a little bit more my skills on working in team outside of university field, trying to share opinions and new ideas on different topics. And I discovered that it’s not too bad not being the first on purposing any initiative in teamwork because I can always contribute otherwise, giving reasons to practice an idea or another. It’s just me: working better alone.
I realized what’s the feeling of freeing my mind, my body, my energy thanks to
people I met here and I discovered there is a big world waiting for coming out
from me. And creativity? This was one of my aim in life: being more creative in daily life and in work as well, but here I realized that mine was not so low even if I can always improve. Every tips received, every activities done individual or in team- every game played, every person known in this project made me grow up a bit more, not only in knowledges and skills, but also for knowing better myself. It’s a sort of little piece of world I had the chance to know because of the huge cultural exchange: I felt as I travelled for the most part of Europe in only one week even if I didn’t visit almost any places, but i got to visit people. Human relationships are the most beautiful things that a human been can create if the quality of time spent together is high, not only full of jokes, games and laughs. Now it’s up to me practice practice and practice as Marshall Rosenberg says for making really productive all of this learning. I can say for sure that doing this kind of project shaped me and changed my life in better, so thanks European Union for having given this opportunity to me, because i’m more and more sure that every person of the world can open up your horizons and give you another reason to live and not only survive.

Giulia C.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: TC SOFT SKILLS FOR YOUTH WORKERS ZAKOPANE, POLAND

La più ricca esperienza della mia vita,
la più potente,
la più colorata,
la più emozionante.
In solo una settimana ho imparato riguardo la vita anche più che in anni e anni di scuola, perché ho scoperto il potere dell’educazione non formale: ti rende davvero partecipe nell’apprendimento tramite diverse attività e ti permette di memorizzare meglio: invece nel comune apprendimento formale tu, come semplice ascoltatore, non sei realmente coinvolto e a volte c’è persino il rischio di addormentarsi. Inoltre, i temi affrontati non sono quasi mai citati a scuola anche se le soft skills – comunicazione, parlare in pubblico, sicurezza in sé stessi, creatività, lavoro di squadra, organizzazione del tempo e motivazione – sono importanti quanto le conoscenze sulla matematica, storia, scienze, eccetera, o forse anche di più. Così ho imparato ad accettare me stessa un po’ di più, ad innalzare la mia sicurezza, a motivarmi in qualcos’altro che non siano gli studi universitari. Ho imparato qual è il vero significato della comunicazione in modo da esprimere me stessa , per essere rispettata senza diventare aggressiva, attraverso il metodo della comunicazione non violenta di Marshall Rosenberg: lui consiglia di conoscere ed esplicitare cosa vogliamo davvero, di esprimere esattamente i nostri bisogni, di ascoltarci e riconoscere i nostri sentimenti e di sostituire una richiesta gentile a una pretesa; solo in questo modo possiamo non cadere in discussioni perché ogni essere umano condivide gli stessi bisogni e per questo abbiamo la capacità di capirci a vicenda. Ho imparato un nuovo metodo per essere concentrata sui miei obiettivi chiamato “Tecnica del Pomodoro”, la quale spero possa migliorare la mia produttività per i progetti futuri. Ho migliorato un po’ di più le mie abilità nel lavorare in squadra, fuori dal campo universitario, cercando di condividere opinioni e nuove idee su diversi temi. E ho scoperto che non è così male non essere la prima a proporre iniziative in un lavoro di squadra perché posso sempre contribuire in altri modi, dando ragioni per mettere in pratica un’idea o un’altra. Sono semplicemente io: lavoro meglio individualmente. Ho realizzato qual è la sensazione del liberare la mia mente, il mio corpo, la mia energia grazie alle persone che ho incontrato qui e ho scoperto che c’è un enorme mondo che sta aspettando di uscire da me.
E la creatività? Questo era uno dei miei obiettivi nella vita: diventare più creativa nella vita quotidiana e anche nel lavoro, ma qui ho realizzato che la mia creatività non era così bassa anche se posso sempre migliorare.
Ogni dritta ricevuta, ogni attività svolta- individuale o di squadra- ogni gioco fatto, ogni persona conosciuta in questo progetto mi hanno fatto crescere un po’ di più, non solo nelle conoscenze e abilità ma anche nella conoscenza migliore di me
stessa. È una sorta di piccolo pezzo di mondo che ho avuto la possibilità di conoscere perché c’è un enorme scambio culturale: mi sono sentita come se avessi viaggiato per la maggior parte dell’Europa in solo una settimana anche se non ho visitato quasi nessun luogo, ma ho potuto visitare le persone.
L e relazioni umane sono la cosa più bella che l’essere umano possa creare se la qualità del tempo speso insieme è alta, non solo pieno di scherzi, giochi e risate.
Ora tocca a me praticare, praticare e praticare come dice Marshall Rosenberg, per rendere davvero produttivo tutto questo apprendimento.
Posso dire sicuramente che fare questo tipo di progetto mi ha formato e ha cambiato la mia vita in meglio, quindi grazie Unione Europea per avermi dato questa opportunità perché sono sempre più sicura che ogni persona nel mondo possa aprire i tuoi orizzonti e darti un’altra ragione per vivere e non solo sopravvivere.

Giulia C.

#EUROSUDSTORIES:INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS WITH ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2, POLAND

Thanks to the EUROSUD association, we had the opportunity to take part in the Erasmus project “Social Economy – Blended Mobility”, a training course organized in Poland, from 1 to 7 Dicember.

We have participated in 18 of this project from three different countries: 6 Italians, 6 Spaniards and 6 Poles. For a whole week we lived together as a big international family, sharing emotions and different cultures.

In the first part of the project we met and described the core business of the associations from which we came, we have dealt with social and economic issues such as the unequal treatment of men and women at work and social discrimination.

 In the second part of the project we worked in different teams through workshops, trying to make the marshmallow challenge. It was an experience that gave us many points of reflection and we also shared our country’s customs, traditions and foods.

It was a fantastic week where we had the opportunity to meet wonderful people by expanding our point of view and our cultural models in an incisive way. I hope to be able to meet my friends from the Erasmus+ programme again in the future.

An indelible experience.

#EUROSUDSTORIES:  INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MEETING  “REFUGEES HAVE NO OPTION, YOU DO!”

From 12 November to 20 November 2019, a training course entitled “Refugees have no option, you do!” was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, attended by 48 young people from Italy, Germany, Greece, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and England. We focused our attention on analyzing the immigration issue at both national and international level. We took part in workshops about the concept of refugee, asylum seeker and we analyzed and discussed the Dublin Convention and Schengen system. All the activities took place in a multicultural atmosphere in which we reflected and analyzed in more details the migration flows. Thanks to some games concerning theories of swot analysis we were able to find strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and fears of the whole group. The ice-breaking games, the energizer games have helped us to create a beautiful group and get to know each other better. Among various skills we learnt we can find the ability to speak in public in foreign language, teamwork capabilities, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship and problem solving. We have participated in various role plays and with the use of mime we have worked on the sense of indifference about immigrants and various prejudices associated with them. We were surrounded by a positive environment thanks to group games, portrait workshops and sensorial games. We have been in the city center in contact with citizens asking questions about their perception of the city and their expectations to make it better. We believe that all the work of comparison through different points of view regarding the perception of asylum seekers and refugees in different countries has enriched our cultural and personal baggage. We participated in two study visits in two different refugee camps in which we were able to learn about asylum seekers and their stories through open-plan meetings and conversation exchanges. We have known some social operators and volunteers that help asylum seekers to find a job through languages classes, orienteering and support and give them useful information in terms of social and health rights. The organizers asked us to take some photos in the city about something that caught our attention in a particular way. It was wonderful to see the various sensibilities and artistic talents that emerged thanks to photography. Visiting the city was interesting and instructive. Together we visited the agorà and the museums that excited us very much. We have created and proposed an educational campaign of behavior change entitled “Beyond the prejudice-meet the world” of which the beneficiaries are both children and the families themselves and we invented the “gift of the meeting” an initiative related to it. This project gave us more than we could have asked, and we are satisfied. In fact, this exchange has helped us to become aware of the importance of languages as a bridge connecting different cultures and has been useful in getting to know ourselves and our emotions. We had the privilege to learn about refugees and their stories, the obstacles they are facing during they journey to reach Europe. The project gave us the opportunity of growing on a more “relational” side. The close co-existence with more than 40 people really taught us something about human relationships. It was by clashing, laughing and discussing with others that we were able to form very strong bonds that we will bring along for the rest of our life.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: ENHANCE MEDIA LITERACY TRAINING COURSE IN NOVEMBER, CORK, IRELAND

32 Participants (Teachers, Youth workers, Youth Activists) from Macedonia, Italy, Romania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Turkey, and Ireland took part in this program.

 #EUROSUDSTORIES: ATTIVITA’ DI DISSEMINAZIONE DEI RISULTATI DEI PROGETTI BPE E AAA

Grazie ad EUROSUD questo mercoledì a Roma ho partecipato alla conclusione dei progetti Becoming A Part Of Europe “How youth work can support young migrants, refugees and asylum seekers” e @We’re Aware and Active , Youth for Human rights abbiamo discusso dell’inclusione sociale di tutti i giovani compresi quelli con un backgroud migratorio, uno degli obiettivi principali dell’UE per la Gioventù. Dopo l’introduzione ai lavori fatti durante questi 3 anni, si è discussa in cerchio: 1- Il lavoro giovanile e la partecipazione. 2- Il lavoro giovanile e l’educazione ai diritti umani. 3- Il lavoro giovanile e l’inclusione sociale.

Il progetto BpE nell’ambito del programma Erasmus KA3 intende sviluppare e condividere metodologie di educazione non formale e nuove pratiche di inclusione attraverso lo youth work, al fine di promuovere l’integrazione e l’inclusione sociale di giovani migranti, rifugiati, richiedenti asilo e favorire la comprensione, la tolleranza e il rispetto tra le persone. Per saperne di più potete visitare il sito:http://www.bpe-project.eu

Moustapha D.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “EQUALITY TIMELINE ” INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MEETING DJAKOVO,CROATIA

We gained new knowledge about human rights, we practiced our soft skills, become more aware about importance of protection of human rights and simulated how it is in practice to facilitate workshops on topic of human rights. Despite the simplicity, every activity led us and the other participants to think and learn about the main theme of the exchange. It was an experience that lead us to very interesting reflections and we felt very lucky.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH EXCHANGE “COACHING FOR YOUTH 1.0” ARCANI, ROMANIA

During this amazing exchange, we had the opportunity to develop ourselves in various ways. But let’s start from the beginning. We spent the first day of the project (09/05) travelling from Italy to Targu Jiu and, eventually, we had the possibility to meet other participants coming from Greece who arrived with us. The next day (09/06) we met the rest of the people coming from Greece, but also the Slovenian and Spanish guys who arrived during the night. Our first morning together was very funny because we did a lot of energizers and activities in order to socialize with the other participants. They were fortunately all nice and friendly, so that we didn’t have problems in making new friends 😉.During the following days we did many games and activities about coaching, financial education, learning by doing methods, formal and informal education, business strategies and economy in general. Obviously, we always had the time to enjoy Aprilia Park facilities and the amazing playground in it! In the night, there was always something cool to do. In fact, every nation prepared its own intercultural night where we had the opportunity to learn about each other cultures, to taste some very good dishes and to dance traditional songs from each place! We definitely had a lot of fun! For example, during our intercultural night, we decided to dress specularly and then we selected some funny videos to see about Italy. After that, we created a Kahoot with weird and hilarious questions in order to let the others know about Italian culture. In the end, we prepared some typical Italian food and we danced our traditional dances together. A day, the facilitators also let us go around for Targu Jiu for a treasure hunt and a visit to the Art Museum of the city! What an unforgettable experience! Well, we think this was one of the best experience in our life. Sadly, all the beautiful think have to come to an end… but that’s life .

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “EQUALITY TIMELINE ” INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MEETING DJAKOVO,CROATIA

A group of 42 people from different countries walking Dakovo’s streets in Croatia holding a sign which says “stop nasilju nad ženama” (Stop violence against women). No discrimination, equality, respect, LGBT rights…  We all have almost the same issues in our countries, even in Sweden women are the easy target of rapists, beaters, mocks and so on. During the project we have bee learning about the problems that are struggling european countries. People who said that they had enough and they had raised their voice in order to change that.
We all have different cultures but at the end we are equals, we are all humans and our similarities are more important that our differences.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “LONG LAKE STORY” FROM AUGUST 6 TO AUGUST 14 IN TRZCIANKA, POLONIA

I took part in the Erasmus Plus financed youth exchange ” Long Lake story” held from August 6 to August 14 in the wonderful town of Trzcianka, Poland. It was an amazing experience that enabled me to get to know great people to work and have fun with. The participant countries were Italy, Poland, Georgia, Serbia and Turkey. The project was based on youth policies (how to be successful in Europe) and team building activities. In the morning we met for energizers, i.e. simple physical games or activities to wake up and get started for the morning workshop sessions. Then we had workshops arranged by the national teams. They were held in different forms (interviews, group work, drama, games, debates). Each county had been previously given a topic or key issues to be delivered or discussed during the workshop. It was so interesting to hear so many point of view coming from different cultures. In the afternoon we had either the second part of the workshop or free time activities. On a day we were invided by the city council to take part in the locally held Wolf Race (Spartan Race) and then we relaxed on the bank of the Trzcianka lake with a delicous barbecue and challenging water games. After dinner we gathered for the International Evening, i.e. parties where each country had to present its food, culture and traditions. It was fantastic to get to know so many facts and features about each participant country, taste its food and dance its national music. The organization was outstanding, the youths of Trzcianka gave their best to make this experience unforgettable for activieties as well as for taking care of all of us.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “BE SUSTAINABLE, DON’T WASTE YOUR FUTURE”STARA ZAGORA, BULGARIA

Main aim of the project “Be Sustainable, don’t WASTE your future” was to equip youth workers, young leaders and stakeholders with skills, knowledge and competencies in the field of environmental protection, sustainable growth, smart and responsible use of resource in a more innovative and creative way. The main activity of the project was a training course which took place in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria on 12-19 September 2019. This training course based on the methodology of non-formal education gather 33 participants coming from 10 countries representing: the hosts Academy of Success – Bulgaria; Udruga Ludbreg – Croatia; Green Spirit – Greece; EUROSUD– Italy; Tavo Europa – Lithuania; Eko-Zhivot – North Macedonia; RCV Kielce – Poland; GEYC – Romania; MOTHER FLOWER – Slovakia and Youth Seasons – Turkey.

 #EUROSUDSTORIES: GET IN! INCLUSION OF YOUNGSTERS IN COMMUNITY LIFE, DILIJAN ARMENIA

The training for youth workers we had the opportunity to take part in from 29th July to 4th August 2019 in Dilijan (Armenia) was just a small part of a wider, international project lasting 18 months, aimed at creating two community centers to support youngsters from rural areas in Moldova and Armenia.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “NON-FORMAL EDUCATION IN ACTION” KOBULETI, GEORGIA

Andrea

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “CROSS-SECTORIAL COOPERATION: THINK GLOBALLY ACT LOCALLY ” AJDOVŠČINA , SLOVENIA

The training course has brought together 32 youth workers, municipality youth issue coordinator, specialists working with youth in other institutions at municipal level (local level) from 6 countries. It took place in Slovenia. The project will create a space to learn how to develop cross-sectorial cooperation networks and improve efficiency of youth policy implementation at local level. Furthermore it will provide a space to share youth situation and youth policy implementation good practices in various European countries.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “HEALTHY BODY FOR A HEALTHY MIND” 12 DAYS IN RACHA  GEORGIA

We are Irene, Christopher and Christian, three Italian students that, thanks to EUROSUD association, took part to the Erasmus+ project “Healthy body for a Healthy mind”, from 3rd to 14th of August 2019. We spent our time in a camping site in Racha, a beautiful region in the north-western part of Georgia. The training course was organized by Joetz and ICPI, a Georgian NGO based in Tbilisi, and involved participants from different countries: Spain, Belgium, Georgia, Romania, Azerbaijan, Italy and Austria. The aim of the project was to promote a healthy lifestyle among youth workers. The program was held informally with debates, workshops and outdoor activities such as: hiking, dance and team building games. We did several hikes around the Racha region learning to proceed as a group and respecting the different paces people had inside the group. It was a challenging experience especially when we had to face bad weather condition during the hikes and in the camping site and we had to change plans. During the rest days we stayed in the camping site and participated to a variety of activities regarding life in the nature and specifically in the mountains. We learned how to backpack in an efficient way bringing only the essentials for different situations, as hikes in cold/hot weather and for a different period of time. Then with the activity leave no trace we learned how to walk and spend time in the nature without contaminating and affecting the environment. Other activities let us learn how to read a topographic map and to calculate the time necessary to cover the path chosen, how to build an emergency shelter and through simulation activities how to face different situations in which someone would get injured or in danger. In addition, we took part to other activities regarding personal development, interaction and learning from other people; experiences such us the living library world cafè.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “SPORT AND STREET ART” YOUTH EXCHANGE, BULGARIA

40 people with different origins and cultures coming from Italy,Bulgaria, Denmark and France gathering together for the “Sports and Street Art” project in Sofia from July 29th to August 7th.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “SPORT AND STREET ART” YOUTH EXCHANGE, BULGARIA

I have participated in “Sport and street art” Youth Exchange with amazing people from Italy, Bulgaria, France and Denmark. It was located in north of Sofia (30 minutes far from the center) in a mountain. We were isolated but there was a beautiful view of Sofia at night and so I have more opportunity to spend time with other people instead go out to pubs in Sofia so now I can say I have many new funny friends in all over Europe. We have done some ice break activities, team building activities, and workshop about sport, stereotypes and art and in the evening each country have shown us their culture, traditions and food. We have been to Sofia for 1 day and also Plovdiv: European capitol of culture 2019. It was amazing. We also have been in a town where we have played a show and we danced a lot all together. I had the opportunities to made some graffiti and it was the first time in my life. I liked it a lot and I would like to do another Erasmus+ project. Thanks to Europe and EUROSUD!

Giuseppe P.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH” KOBULETI, GEORGIA

Talking about my experience in Georgia with EUROSUD, I can surely say that was one of the most beautiful and interesting experience I had in my life. I’ve already enjoyed some project concerning ERASMUS +, but this was the first cultural exchange, and the peculiar aspect that made in even more importantly was the theme of this project and We experimented it, that was the Diversity understood as a strength. Besides the fact that can resume every Erasmus experiences, I think that is one of the less intercultural exchange where you can live the main theme also out of the sessions even in the free night time. What can happen if a group of a young people adds together some ideas to create an ideal country? What can happen if you found more similarities with someone from another country than a person of your cultural background? What can happen if we are able to play with our stereotypes instead hide ourselves behind the fear of the “politically correct” values? I’m not going to spoil what can happen but it’s certain that new special links can born. I left Georgia with all of these precious memories , with the aim to return in order to discover better a little known full of hospitality and great natural attraction.

 #EUROSUDSTORIES: “DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH” KOBULETI, GEORGIA

My experience in Kobuleti, Georgia, was for me one of the most incredible of my life. There I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people not only from my country, which is Italy, but also from other European countries such as Spain and Iran and of course from Georgia. A week spent with all these people helped me to socialize and get along with everybody from the very beginning and this taught me a lot, for example that having good relationships with people is crucial to the life of each individual. Firstly, I learned Georgian traditions and different ways of living, including typical food and sayings. But, most important, I had the certainty that, no matter how far each country was from one other, we as teenagers share the same interests and have the same, or similar, point of view about life. Should I have the opportunity, I would join this cultural exchange another time.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “EntreCULCHAship”

Thanks to the EUROSUD association, we had the opportunity to take part in the Erasmus project “EntreCULCHAship”, a youth exchange organized by the Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Culture and Education in Plovdiv, the European Capital of Culture 2019, from 23th to 29th of June. In this project were involved 6 European countries: Italy, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia and for each country there were 5 participants. For a week we were get to know and interact with each other, thanks to a rich program of activities including ice-breakers and get-to-know-each-other games, discussions, group work, outdoor activities and intercultural nights. The main objective of this youth exchange is to provoke young people working with arts and culture to be more self-motivated, to find professional realization through cultural entrepreneurship and to combat youth unemployment and social exclusion. This project really helped us to be more motivated. The working methods that have been used during the exchange were based on the principles of non-formal learning: We discussed about the importance of Enterpreneuership and the skills that a perfect enterpreneuer should have. We worked a lot together to confront each idea and to present our work to the others. We used our creativity to create a personal portfolios using the art we were working with. After having learned what a SWOT analysis is and discussed on the best channels to advertise our start up, we had to create and present our business card with a role play. Last day we worked in team again to prepare a sample Erasmus + project. We are all very happy and grateful to have participated in this project, because it was an experience of personal growth for us. We met many beautiful people with many different cultures, and the most important thing for us is that we have created strong bonds of friendship that we hope to maintain in the future. It’s been an amazing experience that has left each other so many beautiful memories and we hope to have other opportunities like this.

#EUROSUDSTORIES:  “A LIFE WITHOUT FILTER” CROATIA, SAMOBOR

Technology and its impact on young people were the main theme of the Erasmus + project which was held in Samobor in May 2019, organized by the Association for Sustainable Development Pozitiva Samobor and a consortium of international partners from 11 countries. The use of technology among youth is becoming more prominent every day. Although technology through media and electronic gadgets are able to help youth to gain vast amounts of knowledge, teach them how to be independent and give them access to educational resources; there are some negative influences that are accompanied with the positive ones which should not be neglected. Introducing technology to youth at young age can have adverse effects in their personal lives, their relationships with others, and their health in the future. It can also lead youth to social isolation and give rise to other serious physical and mental diseases such as obesity, computer vision syndrome and depression (Alghamdi, 2016.). A comprehensive new study called #StatusOfMind, which was released May 2017 by the Royal Society for Public Health, examined the effects of social media on young people’s health and brought conclusions on 5 negative effects that social media has on young people: it increases their anxiety and depression, it is leading to poor sleep, negatively affects their body image, increases the risk of cyberbullying and a “fear of missing out”. Within partner organizations we perceive youth as the engine of future world; however, we are aware that it is our duty, duty of the youth workers, to turn negative effects of technology use into positive ones as far as both personal and professional development of youth is concerned. Within our activities, we came to conclusion that young people are increasingly perceiving social media as an escape from the real world, which negatively affects their relationships with others as well as their general progress. It is almost impossible to isolate technology and neutralize its effects; our standpoint is that, with increase of its use in daily life, the focus should be on its proper integration and making the best out of opportunities it offers. Therefore, this project was developed to equip youth workers with tools and methods that will enable them to integrate technology into learning, by creating the meaningful learning opportunities needed to engage and motivate youth today (“how to change digital into real life”). Through a cycle of interactive workshops based on informal education methods, participants gained knowledge and skills in the field of technology and explored existing tools and methods for using technology in working with youth. One of the goals was also to create a new manual for youth work that combines acquired knowledge and new, innovative methods for incorporating technology into the education and training of young people as target groups. Such participatory methods were developed within the following areas identified as significant for youth work: employment and increasing employability, awareness and being informed, social skills and active citizenship. Such project results are the basis for the integration of modern methods in working with youth and can act preventively to counteract negative effects of technology on youth.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “ACTIVATE FOR EUROPE” SPAIN

On April 16-22 2019 I participated in the youth exchange “Activate for Europe” in Mollina, Spain, where I met other participants from Macedonia and Spain.
Since it was my first youth exchange, I really had no idea on how this experience would have been, but I couldn’t even imagine that it would have changed my perspective of the world.
Thirty-six young people from three different nations discussing about healthy habits , discovering other cultures, common things and having lot of fun: it was amazing.
The theme of the project was “Healthy habits” and I found it very interesting, we had the opportunity to see the differences among our countries and get inspiration by others’ habits: the activities during the week were intense, we had three workshops every day and, after dinner, the national nights in which every nation made a presentation of its costumes.
To expand our world outlook was organized a one-day trip to Granada, where the Spanish guys showed us the city’s most relevant attractions and gave us a taste of the Spanish everyday life.
To reach the project’s aim, organizers used informal education methods: ice-breaking and simulation games, energizers, learning by doing, the non-competitive environment creation, the group‘s process-oriented education, including get-to-know games, self-reflection and self-confidence, team-building and creative thinking activities.
The Erasmus+ project has given me the unique opportunity to meet other cultures,to have fun while learning, to discuss interesting topics and to visit beautiful places. In addition to this, I have to say that this program has encouraged me to reach my goals, to become more active and to make the best decisions for global problems in today’s world.
If you will have the opportunity to take part into a youth exchange, don’t let it go!

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “BASIC SKILLS FOR DIGITAL YOUTH WORK” LITHUANIA

Basic skills for digital youth work” has been a training course held in Lithuania from 28th April until 5th May. 22 participants from 9 countries came together to improve their knowledge about digital tools and youth work. Young people are a resource for the educational proposals that Europe supports and for new knowledge which enterprises and European countries need in their uniqueness. The training course was really useful for getting to know more about the digital tools that nowadays can be used for work, including the youth work as well. We shared our different ideas and experiences trying to understand better the new world challenges coming up with the new high tech tools and devices. On the first days we focused on the understanding of youth work context and on new sociological trends of the young community.
The days following were more practical since we had the chance to try VR technologies and to run our own workshops.
We used non formal education methods for example theater or making video. We were working in teams and we were using digital tools in order to combine gamification and education purposes during the sessions. We discovered new cultures and spread our experience from our countries and we became more aware about the culture differences that exist which at the end made us learn that our richness is actually in our diversity. Developing all together new abilities and opening our minds to something unexpected was challenging and rewarding, since we experienced how to track our learning through the badge wallet method. Every participant had a wallet of badge which had to be filled with accomplished challenges. The Badge Wallet is to motivate youngsters to be more proactive and to make individual reflection. Also, this is very important for NGO if they are using technologies because it means they are modern. To conclude, this TC once again has proved the importance of youngsters engaging in Erasmus+ projects.
These moments are fundamental to create a European spirit and a multicultural identity.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “YOU ARE H.O.M.E.” PORTUGAL

From April 28th to May 5th, we attended the “you’re H.O.M.E.” youth exchange in Porto, Portugal.
There are many reasons that brought us there:
Firstly, we came here to meet and get to know new people from different countries and backgrounds and to improve our language skills. However, we wanted not only to challenge ourselves and to get out of our comfort zone, but also to let people know us for who we are and as reppresentatives of our beautiful country. The organization Mutualidades protoguesas organized this project to raise our awareness on refugees issues. In those days, We understood that the major challenges that refugees have to face are problems with languages, job, money and integration.
Some possible solutions that we found are greater support among states through cooperation and a correct use of resources. While, from the point of view of locals, we have to consider the role of fake news and how the information are spread in the country. We also believe that it’s absolutely necessary to guarantee the integration of refugees with locals through free language courses. During the workshops and the activities we discussed 3 main themes: refugees, individual empowerment and culture.
For what regards refugees, we had the possibility to meet and talk with volunteers that worked in some camps and get to know some datas about NGOs and what they do to help others, especially in the Greek Islands. On the other side, we talked about individual empowerment, how to use social media for our personal branding and how important this is for our future career. To conclude, we learnt a lot about not only Portuguese culture but also about Greece, Ukrainian and Brazilian groups and we were able to create meanful connections and friendships with other members.
This experience helped us to open our minds and we really want to thank all the Portuguese team for the effort. We are grateful for all they did for us and we are sure that this week will always have a special place in our hearts.
To conclude, we want to thank EUROSUD association for letting us participate in this great project and all other teams for the great time we spent together during this week.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “ACTIVATE FOR EUROPE” SPAIN; MALAGA

When I joined this project I had great expectations about the country, the topic, the experience itself. It was going to be my 7th project, so I wanted it to be as great as the previous ones. I couldn’t expect it was going to be better. We all had an amazing week, learning a lot of things in a very simple and funny way, we experienced new things like meditation, healthy habits and other things that can let you live a better life once home again. I truly appreciated the hard work that our trainers did, I felt them very close to me and the other participants and it really counts I think. They made simple activities, but amazing and every one had a meaning that could make you reflect a lot, about yourself and about your relations with other people. They went beyond our expectations and e all had an incredible week together. It wasn’t my first project, so a few workshops we had weren’t new for me, that’s why at first I was a bit doubting that it was going to be boring for me, but t wasn’t at all: they made it great, unique and original. Every single moment of the project has been amazing and unforgettable, I found new amazing and lovely friends that I can’t never ever forget, we shared our similarities and learned new things from our differences. Our trainers let us face very important topics without feeling this load, in a very easy way, no matter f we didn’t have knowledge about ita t all, so now I feel like I improved my skills and I did it in the best way: meeting new friends and experiencing new experiences. It’s been awesome, I hope to meet them all again and have other experiences like that.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: GET IN – INCLUSION OF YOUNGSTERS MOLDOVA; CHISINAU

The day started with bad weather, but with good mood as always. After failed operation of calling the sun, we started our tour to the wine cellars of Cricova. It is the second largest wine cellar in the country, its tunnels have existed under Cricova since the 15th century, when limestone was dug out to help build Chişinău. They were converted into an underground wine emporium in the 1950s. We leaved the “wine city” bringing with us many interesting stories about the winery, Moldovan history and, for sure, some bottles of good Moldovan wine. We tried the taste of wine around the table of tasty meals in a local restaurant near the The ancient city of Orheiul Vechi. It is a natural and historical complex, located in a narrow bend of the Raut River. The natural landscape of limestone rock, eroded by the river, is combined with archaeological vestiges. The Orthodox monastery is still inhabited by a handful of Orthodox monks, who maintain the church at the top of the hill. The tour gave us an opportunity to tight connection among our group and to start the conversation about the similarities and unique things of our cultures. Then introduce them during the intercultural night. We filled the night with our emotions, dances, songs, jokes and just made fun. After the most interesting and meaningful day, we had a rest to prepare for the next day- the day of practical work.

#EUROSUDSTORIES:  “GET IN – INCLUSION OF YOUNGSTERS IN COMMUNITY LIFE

What is a good state prerequisite? – good next generation. Who is the next generation? – youth. What is needed to increase the social involvement of young people? – community centers. 20 young people from Moldovia, Armenia, Poland and Italy gathered in Barletta to talk and to share their experience about community center. Our host is Barletta monastery Sanctuary. calmness makes us feel comfortable. Today was the first day of the educational training. The training was preceded by introductory and entertainment-cognitive games that made the educational process more fun. Participants shared their countries experience to each other and talked about the contradictions in the creation of community centers,what needs to be done to improve the situation in this regard, how important is the existence of community centers in the rural areas. During the training every team presented on which organization they represent and what they can do in setting up community centers. Also participants wrote their expectations from this educational part of training. At the end of the day it turned out that their expectations were justified and everyone learned something new that will useful them to work in this direction in their country. At the end of the training the participants talked about risks and possibilities which is accompanied by creation of community centers. The first educational day of the training was successfully completed.

#GetIn_MD #GetIn_IT #GetIn_PL #GetIn_AM

#EUROSUDSTORIES:

Let’s continue building on experiences all together. 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “GENDER EQUALITY” PROJECT AT LA VANCELLE IN ALSACE, FRANCE

Italy, Greece, Portugal, Romania, France and beyond, these are the nationalities of the participants of the “Gender equality” project done at La Vancelle in Alsace (France). A nice intercultural group of intelligent, nice people interested in a topic of great social and cultural importance. Immersed in the nature and peace of La Vancelle, in a family and sharing atmosphere, Andre De Tome directed the project’s themes, talking about the difference between sex and gender, about human rights and respect. Every day we tackled the theme of gender equality through creative and non-formal activities, workshops on storytelling, theater forums, performances of music and poetry, introspective and group games. It was very interesting to visit the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and deal with staff who explained to us how the council works and how it is committed to promoting gender equality. The experience was not only formative but also funny with some group games, icebreaker, excursions in the nature, a trip to Colmar and Strasbourg, parties and moments of great cultural sharing such as the international cultural evening. On saturday 9th we joined the Women’s right march in Strasbourg organized by Amnesty International. We walked around the city among french students and protesters with some mottos written on our posters. Moreover we shouted slogans in different languages (since we are an international group) such as: italian one: “Tremate! Tremate! Le streghe son tornate!” (italian), “french one solidarité avec les femmes du monde entier” (french), “Marielle Vive” (brazilian), “my body, my rights” (english). Thanks to this experience we met new cultures, languages, customs and traditions, moreover we have put our communication and linguistic skills into practice Also, in my opinion this project It was really interesting to know as it is the gender equality in different contexts other than Italy. In conclusion, this experience has given us a lot on a personal level, making us grow, learn about new cultures and people. We strongly recommend!

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “Youth on the Move”

The project “Career Booster Plus” started on 19thof February in Ramnicu Valcea, a small city in Romania. Thanks to Eurosud, I took part in my first training course hosted by Asociatia de Tineret “Youth on the Move” and it was very interesting!

The specific objectives of the project were improve the competences of youth workers in the field of NEETs and create a European network of youth workers interested in NEETs. With our trainers Joaquin Martin de Saavedra Rojas and Sergiu Sanda-Mir we worked with presentations, simulations, workshops and study visits (we were into the city hall, museum, library) about the situation of NEETs in Europe and the differences in other countries, about education in schools and non-formal-education.

They helped us a lot in developing our skills and communicate our opinion to increase interpersonal relationship and personal network with people and other associations. We worked divided in different groups to think about themes and share opinions and with people out of the project involved with their personal stories.

Personally, I found it very helpful to think about non-formal-education. I am very satisfied of this project and what I learnt. I hope to take part in another project as soon as possible!

#EUROSUDSTORIES: TRAINING COURSE “CAREER BOOSTER PLUS”: CHE ESPERIENZA!

Quella a Ramnicu Vâlcea per me è stata la terza esperienza in un progetto Erasmus+, ed è stata ancora una volta la conferma che questo tipo di progetti siano esperienze uniche ed indimenticabili. I dieci giorni trascorsi in Romania infatti sono stato l’occasione per incontrare giovani youth workers da ben sei paesi europei (Slovacchia, Spagna, Italia, Georgia, Romania, Lituania) e per visitare un paese a me sconosciuto. Il trainer Sergiu e il facilitator Joaquin sono stati capaci di coinvolgere tutto il gruppo nella riflessione sulla situazione dei NEET (“not (engaged) in education, employment or training”) elaborando attività coinvolgenti e divertenti. Sono molto contento di quanto appreso nell’ambito della NFE e sul tema del progetto. Porterò sempre con me il ricordo di questi giorni e di tutti i partecipanti conosciuti, nuovi amici di tutta Europa.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: THE TRAINING COURSE “DEEP DEMOCRACY” IN KRZYZOWA POLAND

Before participating to this project my biggest fear was to not give back as much as I could in terms of knowledge, participation and competences, because sometimes I am quite of a shy person. But then, before arriving to Krzyzowa I was lucky to meet the other two Italian participants, and since the beginning with got along very well. The first day of the project was super interesting not just because I found out that we were going to stay in a beautiful residence, but also because with the “ice-breakers” games I started to feel less anxious and shy. In the next days we started to get more into the real topic of the course which was actually “Deep Democracy”. The activities were usually organized in teams and consisted of simulations, problem solving, negotiations between groups and presentations. My absolutely favorite ones were the philosophical inquiry and the final team work. The first one was organized in a way that we had to decide the answer to a question, and according to the answer we had to place on a different side of a line. Than there was the mutual discussion of both answers, and each part had to wait for their turn listening carefully to the other. The biggest team work group was done the penultimate day and it was mainly about cooperating to get from one side of the garden to another, keeping all of our feet on small sheet papers. I still remember how closely we cooperated and the sense of commitment and concentration there was in the air in those minutes. I will never forget the sense of satisfaction we all shared in those moments. To come to a conclusion I just want to remind that I can still clearly remember all the times we asked each other “Have you really understood what Deep Democracy is?”, trying to get a definition. All I can say it is that after all the activities we have done such as simulations, team work activities, relations, experiences, I really got to learn how important it is to listen to different opinions than yours, to reflect and to question one self, to try to think out of stereotypes, to really work as a Team encouraging different people to interact. I’m beyond satisfied because this week was very challenging for me and I have not just learn about respect of the other, team management and tolerance, but I also met the most incredible and nicest young people of my entire life, and I will never ever forget any participant that made this experience very stimulant and life changing. Thanks to EUROSUD and CET Platform Polska which gave us this precious opportunity, I hope to participate as sooner as I can.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “PROSANA 2” YOUTH EXCHANGE IN ROMANIA, FEBRUARY 2019

Thanks to EUROSUD association we had the opportunity to take part in “ProSana 2”, a youth exchange about healthy lifestyles in the snowy Poiana Negri, in Romania. For someone of us it was the first Erasmus+ experience, but since the first day of the project we shared the same feelings: excitement and a little bit of fear.

We didn’t know each other, but it was easy to become friends also thanks to the different activities.
We did different projects and activities during these days, all related to the main topic: healthy lifestyle and sports.

These activities were both funnies and useful, in fact we improved our language skills and our social capabilities.
We will apply for an other project for sure.
#healtylifestyle

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL ERASMUS+ PROJECT “SAME BOAT” – MEDIAS , ROMANIA

Last week, Roberto, Matteo, Mirta e Maya participated to the international project Same Boat! Here is their feedback. “During the project Same Boat held in Medias (Romania) from 19th to 26th of January we had the chance to meet people from Armenia, Azerbaijan, I

taly, Hungary, Romania, Macedonia, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine and share experiences about our own countries and culture.

This part was the most interesting and fulfilling. The host association gave us the opportunity to visit Medias and Sibiu, and to understand Transylvanian history and culture. In particular we deepened our understanding about minorities in the region, like Hungarian and Saxon, even thought this was not the expected topic and we felt we spent too much time on it.

We are sad to underline that the main topic was not followed. In fact, from the info pack the activities and main subjects differed from the actual project. Moreover, participants did not have the necessary background about the topic and this made harder to have useful and constructive exchange about migrants and refugees issue. Besides this, we are happy for this experience and we thank EUROSUD for this opportunity.”

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “TURN AROUND AGAIN”, TRAKAI – LITHUANIA

For lots of us it was one of our first project, but since the first days we realized that being there was one of the best choices of our life. The people we met there gave us a lot of energy every day and together we tried to fight against one of the most popular human fear. Therefore, the main topic of this project was the stage fright. At first, we focused on some exercises to connect to each other.

Here are some examples: eye-contact for 2 minutes without even smiling, saying “I love you” hugging each other, describing ourselves as a character in front of the group, playing some simple and funny games divided in groups to strengthen our team-working skills. We’ve also talked a lot about our primitive emotions such as fear, happiness, sadness, anger, and love in small groups but also improvising those feelings in a little play where we acted as we were waiting for the doctor. One day we went to Vilnius and we had the chance to go to the Drama theater where we met a theater actor who talked about his career and how he fights stage fright.

Other activities we really appreciated were the energizers we made before the activities to be more productive and to feel the positive energy as a group. The last day we had a performance in front of some students of the local high school. It was made up of little plays we’ve worked on each day in small groups. There we had to fight against our fears and we were able to do it because we were all together and we helped each other.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH” KOBULETI, GEORGIA

A week spent with all these people helped me to socialize and get along with everybody from the very beginning and this taught me a lot, for example that having good relationships with people is crucial to the life of each individual. Firstly, I learned Georgian traditions and different ways of living, including typical food and sayings. But, most important, I had the certainty that, no matter how far each country was from one other, we as teenagers share the same interests and have the same, or similar, point of view about life.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: BACK TO THE FUTURE IN GEORGIA

From 4th to 14th of May, our members participated in the Youth Exchange called “Back to the Future” organized with the support of Erasmus+ program of EU which took place in Bakuriani, Georgia. The project aimed at raising awareness about agriculture and eco-farming, sustainable development, entrepreneurship and possibilities of self-employment, multiculturalism and intercultural dialogue among the youth (aged 16-18) who have not yet made professional choices and are searching for different possibilities for development and self-expression. The project engaged 4 youngsters and 1 team leader from each of 8 different countries including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Egypt, Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece, Ukraine. During the project, participants had a chance to share their unique culture, lifestyle and viewpoints on different topics, to work on a farm, to discover the environment of the 21st century, etc. The youngsters fought against pollution, plastic materials and learned how to sort these issues out for a better future. They cooperated together in a way of making videos, promoting new ideas, writing projects in order to raise awareness regarding environmental problems. Apart from informative sessions, the youngsters had a chance to interpret different roles in a theatre, to prepare the opening scene, to have a movie night that they enjoyed together the rest of the day.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “EntreCULCHAship”

Thanks to the EUROSUD association, we had the opportunity to take part in the Erasmus project “EntreCULCHAship”, a youth exchange organized by the Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Culture and Education in Plovdiv, the European Capital of Culture 2019, from 23th to 29th of June.
In this project were involved 6 European countries: Italy, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia and for each country there were 5 participants.
For a week we were get to know and interact with each other, thanks to a rich program of activities including ice-breakers and get-to-know-each-other games, discussions, group work, outdoor activities and intercultural nights.
The main objective of this youth exchange is to provoke young people working with arts and culture to be more self-motivated, to find professional realization through cultural entrepreneurship and to combat youth unemployment and social exclusion. This project really helped us to be more motivated.
The working methods that have been used during the exchange were based on the principles of non-formal learning: We discussed about the importance of Enterpreneuership and the skills that a perfect enterpreneuer should have. We worked a lot together to confront each idea and to present our work to the others. We used our creativity to create a personal portfolios using the art we were working with. After having learned what a SWOT analysis is and discussed on the best channels to advertise our start up, we had to create and present our business card with a role play.
Last day we worked in team again to prepare a sample Erasmus + project.
We are all very happy and grateful to have participated in this project, because it was an experience of personal growth for us. We met many beautiful people with many different cultures, and the most important thing for us is that we have created strong bonds of friendship that we hope to maintain in the future.
It’s been an amazing experience that has left each other so many beautiful memories and we hope to have other opportunities like this.

#EUROSUSDSTORIES: “A LIFE WITHOUT FILTER” CROATIA, SAMOBOR

Technology and its impact on young people were the main theme of the Erasmus + project which was held in Samobor in May 2019, organized by the Association for Sustainable Development Pozitiva Samobor and a consortium of international partners from 11 countries.

The use of technology among youth is becoming more prominent every day. Although technology through media and electronic gadgets are able to help youth to gain vast amounts of knowledge, teach them how to be independent and give them access to educational resources; there are some negative influences that are accompanied with the positive ones which should not be neglected.

Introducing technology to youth at young age can have adverse effects in their personal lives, their relationships with others, and their health in the future. It can also lead youth to social isolation and give rise to other serious physical and mental diseases such as obesity, computer vision syndrome and depression (Alghamdi, 2016.).

A comprehensive new study called #StatusOfMind, which was released May 2017 by the Royal Society for Public Health, examined the effects of social media on young people’s health and brought conclusions on 5 negative effects that social media has on young people: it increases their anxiety and depression, it is leading to poor sleep, negatively affects their body image, increases the risk of cyberbullying and a “fear of missing out”.

Within partner organizations we perceive youth as the engine of future world; however, we are aware that it is our duty, duty of the youth workers, to turn negative effects of technology use into positive ones as far as both personal and professional development of youth is concerned. Within our activities, we came to conclusion that young people are increasingly perceiving social media as an escape from the real world, which negatively affects their relationships with others as well as their general progress. It is almost impossible to isolate technology and neutralize its effects; our standpoint is that, with increase of its use in daily life, the focus should be on its proper integration and making the best out of opportunities it offers.

Therefore, this project was developed to equip youth workers with tools and methods that will enable them to integrate technology into learning, by creating the meaningful learning opportunities needed to engage and motivate youth today (“how to change digital into real life”).

Through a cycle of interactive workshops based on informal education methods, participants gained knowledge and skills in the field of technology and explored existing tools and methods for using technology in working with youth.

One of the goals was also to create a new manual for youth work that combines acquired knowledge and new, innovative methods for incorporating technology into the education and training of young people as target groups. Such participatory methods were developed within the following areas identified as significant for youth work: employment and increasing employability, awareness and being informed, social skills and active citizenship.

Such project results are the basis for the integration of modern methods in working with youth and can act preventively to counteract negative effects of technology on youth.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “ACTIVATE FOR EUROPE” SPAIN

On April 16-22 2019 I participated in the youth exchange “Activate for Europe” in Mollina, Spain, where I met other participants from Macedonia and Spain.
Since it was my first youth exchange, I really had no idea on how this experience would have been, but I couldn’t even imagine that it would have changed my perspective of the world.
Thirty-six young people from three different nations discussing about healthy habits , discovering other cultures, common things and having lot of fun: it was amazing.
The theme of the project was “Healthy habits” and I found it very interesting, we had the opportunity to see the differences among our countries and get inspiration by others’ habits: the activities during the week were intense, we had three workshops every day and, after dinner, the national nights in which every nation made a presentation of its costumes. 
To expand our world outlook was organized a one-day trip to Granada, where the Spanish guys showed us the city’s most relevant attractions and gave us a taste of the Spanish everyday life.
To reach the project’s aim, organizers used informal education methods: ice-breaking and simulation games, energizers, learning by doing, the non-competitive environment creation, the group‘s process-oriented education, including get-to-know games, self-reflection and self-confidence, team-building and creative thinking activities.
The Erasmus+ project has given me the unique opportunity to meet other cultures,to have fun while learning, to discuss interesting topics and to visit beautiful places. In addition to this, I have to say that this program has encouraged me to reach my goals, to become more active and to make the best decisions for global problems in today’s world.
If you will have the opportunity to take part into a youth exchange, don’t let it go!

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “BASIC SKILLS FOR DIGITAL YOUTH WORK” LITHUANIA

Basic skills for digital youth work” has been a training course held in Lithuania from 28th April until 5th May.
22 participants from 9 countries came together to improve their knowledge about digital tools and youth work.
Young people are a resource for the educational proposals that Europe supports and for new knowledge which enterprises and European countries need in their uniqueness.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “YOU ARE H.O.M.E.” PORTUGAL

From April 28th to May 5th, we attended the “you’re H.O.M.E.” youth exchange in Porto, Portugal.
There are many reasons that brought us there:
Firstly, we came here to meet and get to know new people from different countries and backgrounds and to improve our language skills. However, we wanted not only to challenge ourselves and to get out of our comfort zone, but also to let people know us for who we are and as reppresentatives of our beautiful country. The organization Mutualidades protoguesas organized this project to raise our awareness on refugees issues. In those days, We understood that the major challenges that refugees have to face are problems with languages, job, money and integration.
Some possible solutions that we found are greater support among states through cooperation and a correct use of resources. While, from the point of view of locals, we have to consider the role of fake news and how the information are spread in the country. We also believe that it’s absolutely necessary to guarantee the integration of refugees with locals through free language courses.
During the workshops and the activities we discussed 3 main themes: refugees, individual empowerment and culture.
For what regards refugees, we had the possibility to meet and talk with volunteers that worked in some camps and get to know some datas about NGOs and what they do to help others, especially in the Greek Islands. On the other side, we talked about individual empowerment, how to use social media for our personal branding and how important this is for our future career. To conclude, we learnt a lot about not only Portuguese culture but also about Greece, Ukrainian and Brazilian groups and we were able to create meanful connections and friendships with other members.
This experience helped us to open our minds and we really want to thank all the Portuguese team for the effort. We are grateful for all they did for us and we are sure that this week will always have a special place in our hearts.
To conclude, we want to thank EUROSUD association for letting us participate in this great project and all other teams for the great time we spent together during this week.

 #EUROSUDSTORIES:”ENTERPRENEURIAL CULTURE FOR TODAY’S YOUTH”  LITHUANIA; TRAKAI-VILNIUS

The Youth Exchange “Entrepreneurial Culture for Today’s Youth” in Lithuania, took place between the
magical Trakai and the beautiful Vilnius and gave 36 youngsters from Lithuania, Latvia, Belgium, Italy
and Greece the opportunity to experience an intensive and fulfilling work week: we had been divided into six groups with similar interests and each one of them had to imagine and plan a brand new start up. 
The first challenge was on how to combine our different backgrounds and passions to finally find a
common ground an grow an original concept. Then we’ve been given many interactive lessons and
workshops on the theme. The focus was especially on the final pitch: how to be effective communicators,
how to give the audience and possible buyers or investors the right and needed information on our
project? We had to make researches on our competitors, think about a business model and make a
three year financial projection. But also we had to take care of the basic Erasmus+ communication
issues: so we’ve been divided also into the media, marketing, program and manager groups in order to
have pics and videos to show what our week it’s been about. For me, coming from a visual arts
background, it was a real pleasure to work and being surrounded by many young and passionate
creative talents.
The experience gave me something unique, I’ve never experienced anything like this in my entire life,
and I’m so grateful I’ve been able to be part of it. I’ve been given the chance to meet people from nations
that I’ve never visited before and that are not confidant with my own country. So I can guess I would
have never had the chance to meet them in a daily life context. I feel like I really became a little bit more
aware about what Europe is about, I feel like for me, now, Europe is not only a political area, but also a
cultural one.
I will encourage everyone I know and could be interested in participating, to take the chance, find a
project and then go!
Thank you Erasmus + and thank you funny and welcoming Lithuania!

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “ACTIVATE FOR EUROPE” SPAIN; MALAGA

On April 16, 2019 our group of 12 Italians took part in the “ACTIVATE 4 EUROPE” project in Mollina, Málaga, Spain, a week-long project that included the meeting with young people from two other countries, Spain and Macedonia. 

The main theme of the project is sport and a healthy lifestyle, through which young people can find a meeting point for personal enrichment, participating in activities that focus on team spirit and cooperation.

In fact, the goal of the project is to promote communication between participants through dialogue and sport, means of making decisions in a democratic way.

During the days a lot of energizing activities were organized by the various groups to motivate young people and encourage them to cooperate with each other.

Every day workshops were organized which dealt with the various themes of the project, such as ‘’Healthy life’’ and ‘’Emotional Intelligence’’, as well as sensitive topics treated for example by the ‘’Don’t judge’’ workshop.

Three ” cultural evenings ” organized respectively by Spain, Macedonia and Italy were very useful to learn more about customs, traditions and above all food from other countries, with videos, typical dances and funny performances.

The last day was characterized by the activity that we participants preferred: yoga, a discipline full of expressiveness that helped us to be ourselves and to open ourselves to others.

All the proposed activities were useful to get to know each other, but we would have liked to have done some more guided tours, in addition to the one in Granada, to learn more about the area in which we were visiting.

With the conclusion of this project we can say that we are satisfied because we have succeeded in achieving the objectives set, for example to broaden our knowledge and share our ideas with young people from other countries, and we look forward to repeating a similar experience for enrich our cultural background.

 #EUROSUSDSTORIES: “A LIFE WITHOUT FILTER” CROATIA, SAMOBOR

We took part in a training course about the use of technology among young people in the stunning village of Samobor, close to Zagreb, Croatia.   

In one week, we had the opportunity to share our experience and information about technology in our countries and in our lives with 20 youth workers from 10 different countries.

We talked about pros and cons of technology and we learnt many new tools to use in our work and in our everyday life.

The topic of the training course was interesting and useful, but not the only thing about the project that we will not forget: spending one week living with people from all over Europe has been an amazing experience. We met some people we will never forget; we had some experiences whose thought will always make us smile; we saw some places that we wish to visit again one day, and we had so much fun in every single moment.

This experience made us feel more European than before and increased the amount of people that are part of our lives.

Ready for the next Erasmus+!

  #EUROSUDSTORIES: “ESCAPE FOR REALITY 2.0” SPAIN; VILAGRACIA DE AROUSA

The main aim of the project was to build 3 escape rooms with the thematic of different social issue that we unfortunately see nowadays in every country: Domestic violence, Immigrants’ rights, Gender Inequalities to let players to experience and learn throughout the game what happens in our society. 

At the beginning we played 2 local escape rooms in order to better understand the concept of the game and to take inspiration to build our own ones; it was super fun and it really helped to know all the other members of the project and cooperate with each other.

The day after we analysed the positive and negative aspects of the rooms we played and we started dividing in groups and develop some ideas to prepare our rooms.

Ready? Go! We finally got to put our hands on the room reserved for us to prepare riddles and puzzles (always connected to the topic of the social abuse assigned to each group). We spent a lot of energies working because the time available was definitely too short so we had to go the extra mile but it was fine.

A couple of days after some local people went to play our rooms, everyone had their task to do, some were giving hints inside the rooms, some were doing the briefing and debriefing speech and some others were playing the others’ rooms. Everyone enjoyed to play and the most important point was that they manage to feel the emotion that we tried to communicate with the story behind the room, the puzzles and also the ‘actors’ playing inside the room had a key role to let them understand that the three problems described above are real and a big peculiarity in our societies.

In my personal and I’m sure all the other members, not just Italians but from the other countries’ participants too, would agree with me, this has been a very positive experience in the complex! It’s true that we didn’t have lots of time but we manage to organize ourselves in an amazing way so that we could work in harmony and also cut some time off during the night to have some fun. In the end the two trainers Marek and Emir managed to teach us many useful information about escape rooms and how they could be an interesting and effective tool to teach in an informal way many important and useful concepts.

I would definitely do this kind of experience and I recommend it to all those who want to express their ideas and share their knowledge about the topic and about escape rooms too

April 2019, Paolo Lombardi

#EUROSUDSTORIES: SOCIAL INCLUSION OF YOUNG PEOPLE WITH FEWER OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH SPORTS

From the 3rd of April to the 11th of April, local representatives from EUROSUD took part in a training course “Social Inclusion of Young People with Fewer Opportunities through Sports”, which was hosted by Fundação Marítimo Centenário. The organization was established in December, 2011 with aim to promote sport and physical activity; creation, promotion and development of projects in the social and cultural fields, education, training, as well as on the topics of health and environment, and finds it as a way to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of the local community, particularly of children and young people in Madeira.  

#EUROSUDSTORIES: STRENGTHENING PEACE WITH EDUCATION

It’s not easy to properly assess six months of discovery in a single report. Georgia, and the Caucasus at large, is a fascinating strip of our big world, and this strip has seen countless years of history and differences, of culture, strife, and renewal. To answer what it means to live in the Caucasus, we need to look at the heart of its people: the accommodating and welcoming attitude that Caucasians have on their guests. For the first months here, I was a guest exposed to all sorts of differences, sometimes strange behaviors, sometimes marvels. During the first months, as I started giving training in Gori to our young kids, I felt a close connection between their minds anxious to explore and my mind, anxious to discover the land I was walking on. The kids are bright, concerned, and kind, a treasure that will serve their country as they come to pass maturity. During our arrival training and our mid-term I have formed friendships that will allow me to travel even more and to deepen my connection with this part of the world. 

It would be easy to merely list all the dozens of seminars, activities and forums I participated: among these, I personally treasure the meeting with the German ambassador to Georgia, the conference on human rights and the conference on fake news and freedom of expression. Each of these events allowed me to gain a greater understanding into the mindset and the worldview of the common people of this region. Gathering precious insight from the people also helped me with making me feel more integrated and, of course, to measure myself and my identity compared to when I first arrived.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “GETY IN – INCLUSION OF YOUNGSTERS IN COMMUNITY LIFE”

#EUROSUDSTORIES: DISCOVER THE EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY CORPS

What is common to youngsters, volunteers, youth organization, youth networks and NA staff? Well, form 25th to 28th March 2019, representatives from each of these groups were participating in the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) community-building Kick-off meeting, held in Brussels.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: CHANGE YOUR OLD LIFE TO ACHIEVE YOUR NEW AIMS AS A LEADER – UZANA (BG) 10-18 MARCH 2019

 As we travel back home from the week shared with 30+ youths coming from Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, Croatia and Romania on the beautiful mountains of Uzana, we reflect on the personal journey of this youth exchange experience none of us will ever forget.

We are thankful for the sense of community created during the project, to have met new people who soon became friends despite the cultural differences; we feel inspired by the stories and moments shared, we are grateful for the nature, and to have had the opportunity to learn new things on the topic of leadership and a chance to explore our inner self a bit better, eventually learning new things about ourselves.

We are grateful for every moment, first to last – our arrival in Uzana, the presentation of the project’s topic, the warm-up activities, the group building games, the work shared, the nature, the inter-cultural evenings, talent night, the talks.

In the end, we’re all coming back from this experience with new ideas for the future and more aware in general of our personal and professional potential, eager to explore them to every possible extend and to achieve our goals and purpose in life (our ikigai!) as true leaders of ourselves, our organizations and communities.

For more infos on the project: https://asaleader.home.blog

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “GENDER EQUALITY” PROJECT AT LA VANCELLE IN ALSACE, FRANCE

Italy, Greece, Portugal, Romania, France and beyond, these are the nationalities of the participants of the “Gender equality” project done at La Vancelle in Alsace (France). A nice intercultural group of intelligent, nice people interested in a topic of great social and cultural importance. Immersed in the nature and peace of La Vancelle, in a family and sharing atmosphere, Andre De Tome directed the project’s themes, talking about the difference between sex and gender, about human rights and respect.

Every day we tackled the theme of gender equality through creative and non-formal activities, workshops on storytelling, theater forums, performances of music and poetry, introspective and group games.

It was very interesting to visit the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and deal with staff who explained to us how the council works and how it is committed to promoting gender equality.

The experience was not only formative but also funny with some group games, icebreaker, excursions in the nature, a trip to Colmar and Strasbourg, parties and moments of great cultural sharing such as the international cultural evening.

On saturday 9th we joined the Women’s right march in Strasbourg organized by Amnesty International. We walked around the city among french students and protesters with some mottos written on our posters. Moreover we shouted slogans in different languages (since we are an international group) such as: italian one: “Tremate! Tremate! Le streghe son tornate!” (italian),

“french one solidarité avec les femmes du monde entier” (french), “Marielle Vive” (brazilian), “my body, my rights” (english).

Thanks to this experience we met new cultures, languages, customs and traditions, moreover we have put our  communication and linguistic skills into practice.

Also, in my opinion this project It was really interesting to know as it is the gender equality in different contexts other than Italy.

In conclusion, this experience has given us a lot on a personal level, making us grow, learn about new cultures and people. We strongly recommend it.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: THE EXCHANGE PROJECT “CAREER BOOSTER PLUS” IN ROMANIA, RAMNICU VALECA

10 beautiful days spent in Ramnicu Valcea have left me so many memories and learnings. The topics which we focused on were manies, from NEETS situation to educational system.  We also dedicated some time to know more about Erasmus+ world and Non-Formal education theories. We had the chance to exchange lots of good practices and propose our own activities. It was such a growth experience and the trainers were very good in supporting all of our initiatives. They organized a trip to the beautiful city of Sibiu and different activities to get to know the city of Valcea as well.
Every single part of this experience was a gift and a chance to learn something new, so… Mulțumesc!

#EUROSUDSTORIES:THE TRAINIG COURSE “DEEP DEMOCRACY”  IN KRZIZOWA, POLAND

Before participating to this project my biggest fear was to not give back as much as I could in terms of knowledge, participation and competences, because sometimes I am quite of a shy person. But then, before arriving to Krzyzowa I was lucky to meet the other two Italian participants, and since the beginning with got along very well.

The first day of the project was super interesting not just because I found out that we were going to stay in a beautiful residence, but also because with the “ice-breakers” games I started to feel less anxious and shy.

This project explored the role of youth workers and youth work in combating all forms of extremism among young people and the communities in which they live.

A guide for youth workers, by youth workers .So during the course, the 35 participants took notes every day on key learning points and what they considered as useful information for other youth workers. Their collected information was later on captured in this “Policy Guide” which is created to support young people in responding to other young people who are affected by negative populism or any form of extremism.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: BRINGING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN BUILDING COMMUNITIES

Erasmus Plus training course brought together youth workers and youth leaders from 8 European and Partner countries: Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, Czech Republic, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia.

The main aim of the training course was to support, empower and develop the competences of youth workers so that they can act on their local youth communities to create multiplier agents, promoting and encouraging intercultural dialogue in their local communities in order to enhance its openness to the inclusion of migrants and refugees.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “TURN AROUND AGAIN”, TRAKAI – LITHUANIA 

For lots of us it was one of our first project, but since the first days we realized that being there was one of the best choices of our life. The people we met there gave us a lot of energy every day and together we tried to fight against one of the most popular human fear. Therefore, the main topic of this project was the stage fright.

At first, we focused on some exercises to connect to each other. Here are some examples: eye-contact for 2 minutes without even smiling, saying “I love you” hugging each other, describing ourselves as a character in front of the group, playing some simple and funny games divided in groups to strengthen our team-working skills. We’ve also talked a lot about our primitive emotions such as fear, happiness, sadness, anger, and love in small groups but also improvising those feelings in a little play where we acted as we were waiting for the doctor. One day we went to Vilnius and we had the chance to go to the Drama theater where we met a theater actor who talked about his career and how he fights stage fright. Other activities we really appreciated were the energizers we made before the activities to be more productive and to feel the positive energy as a group. The last day we had a performance in front of some students of the local high school. It was made up of little plays we’ve worked on each day in small groups. There we had to fight against our fears and we were able to do it because we were all together and we helped each other.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “CAREER BOOSTER PLUS” – YOUTH EXCHANGE IN RAMNICU VALCEA, ROMANIA

The project “Career Booster Plus” started on 19th of February in Ramnicu Valcea, a small city in Romania. Thanks to Eurosud, I took part in my first training course hosted by Asociatia de Tineret “Youth on the Move” and it was very interesting! The specific objectives of the project were improve the competences of youth workers in the field of NEETs and create a European network of youth workers interested in NEETs. With our trainers Joaquin Martin de Saavedra Rojas and Sergiu Sanda-Mir we worked with presentations, simulations, workshops and study visits (we were into the city hall, museum, library) about the situation of NEETs in Europe and the differences in other countries, about education in schools and non-formal-education.

#EUROSUDSTORIES:  “PROSANA 2” YOUTH EXCHANGE IN ROMANIA, FEBRUARY 2019 

Thanks to EUROSUD association we had the opportunity to take part in “ProSana 2”, a youth exchange about healthy lifestyles in the snowy Poiana Negri, in Romania. For someone of us it was the first Erasmus+ experience, but since the first day of the project we  shared the same feelings: excitement and a little bit of fear. We didn’t know each other, but it was easy to become friends also thanks to the different activities.  We did different projects and activities during these days, all related to the main topic: healthy lifestyle and sports. These activities were both funnies and useful, in fact we improved our language skills and our social capabilities.
We will apply for an other project for sure.

#EUROSUDSTORIES:INTERNATIONAL ERASMUS+ PROJECT “SAME BOAT” – MEDIAS , ROMANIA

Last week, Roberto, Matteo, Mirta e Maya participated to the international project Same Boat! Here is their feeback.

Shot of the activities

“During the project Same Boat held in Medias (Romania) from 19^th to 26^th of January we had the chance to meet people from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Macedonia, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine and share experiences about our own countries and culture. This part was the most interesting and fulfilling. The host association gave us the opportunity to visit Medias and Sibiu, and to understand Transylvanian history and culture. In particular we deepened our understanding about minorities in the region, like Hungarian and Saxon, even thought this was not the expected topic and we felt we spent too much time on it. 

Click on the image to see a short video they made during their experience 🙂

We are sad to underline that the main topic was not followed. In fact, from the info pack the activities and main subjects differed from the actual project. Moreover, participants did not have the necessary background about the topic and this made harder to have useful and constructive exchange about migrants and refugees issue. Besides this, we are happy for this experience and we thank EUROSUD for this opportunity.”

ERASMUS + INTERNATIONAL MEETING  “YOUTHINK ECO CITIZENSHIP” FRANCE, LA VANCELLE

I travel often! For me, the Journey is the perfect hobby!
Thanks to the trip and in particular Thanks to the experience of the Youth Exchanges and Training courses offered by the European Erasmus + program; I have the opportunity to grow, expand, expand my knowledge, improve myself. For me, fundamentally, I think the journey is this. A forward-looking experience. This was the last Erasmus + project in which I participated exactly last week from 20 to 26 October, held in France, precisely at La Vancelle municipality in the province of Strasbourg (Alsace). Together with 29 other participants from France, Macedonia, Romania, Italy and Slovakia. The Intercultural exchange, with the title “YouThink Eco-Citenship” following the standard of non-formal education, realized entirely in English, has touched as well as already announced in the title, one of the rather relevant topics of recent times and that should interest all close up; that is, ecology. We have dealt with the topic, through the creation of workshops, debates, games and interactive activities in order to understand, learn, respect, take care of, and learn to count on the other, being a true Eco company. Yes, because being Ecological does not only concern respect and respect for the surrounding environment, nature, the place where we live, but also implies further, be respectful and correct towards our fellow man. However, the focus of the whole project focused on the purely ecological issue; encouraging differentiated collection, recovery of organic food waste with the aim of creating a compound. During the week dedicated to the project, a half day, was dedicated to the visit of a waste recycling center located near La Vancelle. There was obviously no lack of a cultural and interactive visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, during which we witnessed the explanation made by a member of Parliament, of the parliamentary dynamics, to the description of the various roles and jobs present within the same, all ‘analysis of the phases and procedures related to the European elections and anything else … All this, strictly in English. We also actively witnessed wearing the usual headphones, to a Simultaneous Translation activity, which took place in the Conference Room. The following day, visit at the characteristic center of the Alsatian town of Sélestat. There was no lack of good-natured and unique moments filled with socialization and folklore with all the participating countries … like the ever-present and beautiful Intercultural Night! The experience to which I had the opportunity to actively participate, however, this time, not only as a participant, but also as a team leader of my Italian group, has proved to me, an important opportunity for growth, I think I am , once again, managed to better grasp the positive, educational and social aspects of the project. Concluding … despite the small difficulties related to the logistics of organizing the trip, linked to comfort, to food that is not always top …

It was a unique experience …