“Cherry on the cake” - Youth Exchange in the context of long term work with groups of young people

If you have already led a Youth Exchange -at least once- you probably know that it can be a life-changing experience for the participating young people. Not only that, organising a Youth Exchange with partners from other countries has the potential to upgrade your local youth work practice, and take it to the “next level”. 

This three-day training course for youth workers and youth leaders opens a creative space for exploring different quality aspects of Youth Exchanges, such as how to connect them meaningfully with the local youth work, the learning dimension and active engagement of young people in the entire process of organising a Youth Exchange, and the value and challenges of international youth work. As a special feature, the training course will also give insight on how to incorporate different digital tools in Youth Exchanges.

The training concept has been developed to provide systematic support for organisations working with young people from Erasmus+ Programme Countries and the Western Balkan Partner Countries, who already have the basic understanding and experience in Youth Exchanges and want to learn more. 

The activity will consist of the residential training course and preparation exercises.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES:

The aim of the training course is to deepen the understanding of the potential and possibilities of a Youth Exchange as a tool for non-formal learning in long-term work with young people.

The objectives of the training course are to:

• Explore the potential of Youth Exchanges for motivation, learning and empowerment in long term work with young people;
• Highlighting the importance of involving young people in all phases of a Youth Exchange and the tailoring it according to their needs;
• Increase the participants’ understanding of the role of the youth leader in all phases of a Youth Exchange;
• Develop participants’ competences to recognise the potential for learning in all phases of a Youth Exchange and support the learning processes of those involved;
• Identify the challenges brought by the international setting of a Youth Exchange and reflect on how to approach them;
• Explore the use of digital tools in different phases of a Youth Exchange.

TARGET GROUP:

The training course aims to bring together 25 participants from the Erasmus+ Programme Countries and the Western Balkan Partner Countries who:

• Work with young people on a regular basis (youth workers, youth leaders…)
• Have implemented at least one Youth Exchange within the Erasmus+ Programme as a youth leader;
• Are interested in leading Youth Exchanges in the future;
• Are interested in integrating digital approaches and tools in their work with young people in Youth Exchanges;
• Are capable of working in English;
• Are at least 18 years old.

TEAM OF TRAINERS:

The training course will be run by two trainers with extensive experience in the field:

• Laimonas Ragauskas, who has been training and facilitating for more than 14 years in Europe and beyond. Recently his main interests and passions have been related to recognition of non-formal learning and connections with digital technology and education. More information - https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toy/laimonas-ragauskas.322/  
• Vojislava Tomić Radivojša, working as a trainer for 20 years in the Western Balkans and at European level. For years have been focused at recognition of non-formal learning but also at intercultural education and human rights education in the youth field.  More info - https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toy/vojislava-tomic-radivojsa.643  

PROGRAMME OF THE TRAINING COURSE:

The programme will start on the 10th of November in the evening and end on the 13th of November in the evening.

The programme of the activity will be designed based on the aims and objectives and the specific needs of the participants. (The needs will be collected already at the application phase.)