Inter
Aktion

In late September, we joined our partners, iKoBi and Mobilizing Expertise, in Lund, Sweden, to kick off our new project, GUIDE – Promoting Gender Equality and Diversity in International Youth Work through Gender-Sensitive Language.
In youth work, it's especially important to choose language that makes all young people feel respected and valued, especially those who don't fit into traditional gender categories. By using gender-neutral and gender-sensitive language, we can create spaces where everyone feels free to express their identity without fear of judgment.

Designed as a dynamic virtual playground, learning space, and meeting hub, this platform was initially developed for the Youth & Commute project. However, we’re excited to share that it is now available for FREE to everyone beyond the project!

All the resources developed within the Youth and Commute project are saved and easily accessible in our Online Classroom and Library within Gather.town.

We invite you to dive in and make the most of this new space. Whether you're looking to learn, collaborate, or simply connect!

Between 8th-15th of July we organised a hands on training course about building with natural materials. The training took place in Slovenia and gathered young people from Austria, Slovenia, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria and Germany. They learned how to use and reuse the resources available around themselves, how to check if the soil is good for building, as well as different building methods. Besides working hands-on, they also had the opportunity to taste local products and home made sweets made by the people from the local community.

This month we attended the first training of the #erasmusplusproject REMCREAD in Palermo, Italy. Together with the partners we worked on finding interesting creative methods and practices that would fit our target groups, migrant and refugee women living in Austria, Poland, Cyprus, Belgium and Italy, which face many similar challenges but are also very diverse and have different needs.
Now we are working towards building a manual with different creative practices that will be tested in each partner country, starting in the autumn.

We proudly sent three participants—Merve, Pînar, and Julia—to the transformative “BeWell” training course held from May 12th to 19th, 2024. The primary aim of this course was to empower youth workers by equipping them with the necessary skills to create safe and inclusive environments, build strong connections with youth participants, and promote their emotional well-being. 🤗

The last Newsletter of our project is out! Check it out and read about all the great events the partners organized in each of their countries to promote the activities of the project!

On the 25th of April we organized the Multiplier Event for our project Youth & Commute together with LOGO in the format of a World Cafe and brunch. We invited experts working in the youth work field, social work - working with young refugees or bicycles to share their experience.

We also shared what we worked on during the Youth & Commute project and the resources they can use with their target groups.

In April we were invited to take part in a Partner Building Activity by CPDIS in Busteni, Romania. During the 2 days of the event, we met new NGOs from across Europe working in the field of youth, education and sport and worked on developing a new project together with some of them for the future deadline.

We met in Denmark between the 15-18th of April to Kick-off our project Inclusionary - Art for Social Inclusion and discuss the next steps for the following months.
Besides getting to know each other a bit better, we have discussed the most important points and tasks for the following period. Moreover, we divided the work and established the dates for our trainings that will take place in Croatia, Spain and Romania in the next 2 years.

This year's theme, "Voice Your Vision," focused on empowering young people to speak up about the issues that matter to them. The week highlighted democracy and the upcoming European elections, encouraging youth to get involved and make a difference. As part of this, we organized the youth exchange "GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?"

The international youth exchange took place in Trofaiach in April 2024, and brought together young people aged 18 to 30 to focus on youth participation in the democratic life of the EU, particularly about the EU Elections of 2024. The exchange emphasized that while voting is a fundamental aspect of democratic participation, there are numerous other ways of active citizenship. Participants got a deeper understanding of the structure and work of EU institutions and the ways of voicing their ideas and taking steps towards social and environmental issues.

Together with Banana Bikes we set up a station in Augarten Park, checked the bikes of the people passing by, and told them about our Youth & Commute project. We had quite a few visitors, of all ages and most of the people left happy with their bikes fixed and adjusted.

The last newsletter of the #erasmusplusproject PlainVET is here! It includes information about the last project results including the video interviews and the Manual "Your Future Job".

At the end of March, we had our last meeting of the project Youth&Commute and it took place in Skopje, North Macedonia.

We have checked together the last details of the project results, tested the e-learning platforms and set up the deadlines for the final tasks. The project will be finished at the end of June and all the partners will prepare local events where they will share the project results to stakeholders and youngsters.

We had the chance to meet the partners Lëtz Rise Up and Youths Gozo in person and kicked off the project’s next steps💪🏼 With the coordination of TERRAM PACIS , we believe we will reach impactful achievements with this partnership.

This is the first project that we are collaborating with an organisation from Norway so we hope to exchange good practices and learn from their experiences.

We have met our partners from Sweden (@hello.youth - coordinator), Germany, Italy and Turkey in March, in Kiel to start the @youthcanleadyouthproject, distribute tasks, set dates and goals, and ensure the activities of the project run smoothly.

With 2 international events in the summer of 2024, we had enough to plan, consider and deliver. Young people take an active role in this project, and we are looking forward to this 2-year journey of mentoring, peer learning and training, and skills development.

Our team just returned from a great Kick-off meeting of the #erasmusplusproject Friends we share - Wellbeing Programme for Refugees with Role Models and Mentors that took place in Łódź, Poland.

Together with the coordinator @miejskastrefakultury and the partners from Germany, Cyprus and Portugal we have discussed the main tasks and activities that each of us is responsible for and focus mainly on the first project result - "Friends we Share - Connection Programme" and what we should do for a successful implementation.

Exciting News! Over the years, we've mentored incredible young people from all over Europe who, inspired by our youth work and the impact it can have, have established NGOs in their own countries, where they are turning ideas into initiatives. 

This week, we're facilitating a networking event in Gran Canaria, bringing some of these passionate young organizations together to brainstorm new ideas, connect them with European partners and welcome them into the Erasmus+ family.

In January, the Buddy Migrants team met in Turnhout, Belgium to discuss on the project's progress and next steps in the implementation.

This meeting, spanning over two days, was a melting pot of ideas, showcasing Blenders’ foundational pillars and delving into the societal needs across Belgium, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, and Austria. A significant pivot was the consensus to develop a desktop-friendly educational platform, moving away from the initial smartphone app approach, after insights revealed a preference for laptop usage among educators for learning and resource gathering.

In January, we hosted the Kick-off meeting of the #erasmusplusproject REMCREAD - Empowering refugee & migrant women through creative methods and digital literacy.

Together with the coordinator from Poland - @fundacjadlamigrantow and the partners from Cyprus, Italy, Belgium and Poland, we have discussed the first steps into the project and the next actions to be taken for starting the 2 years journey into this new and exciting project.

We have officially started a new #erasmusplusproject @intergenicproject with a great consortium!

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A learning intergenerational adventure is awaiting us, including digital but also environmental topics.

Different skills belong to different generations. Time changes people, and knowledge and interests alter from one generation to another.
Our new project puts young people and seniors together to explore the differences and teach each other useful skills.

We are excited to present to you another brand-new #erasmusplusproject that we began in January. Lisbon was the location of the Kick-off meeting, which our project manager attended.

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The KiDLE project is designed to assist children and adolescents with diverse cultural backgrounds in navigating new school environments more effectively. To achieve this, five intercultural board games are being developed and consolidated into a digital gaming package.

Am 12. Dezember 2023 wurden in Wien die Gewinner/innen des Erasmus+ und ESK-Awards 2023 vom OeAD präsentiert. Der Award ging an Organisationen, die mit diesen EU-Förderungen besondere Wirkung auf persönlicher, institutioneller und systemischer Ebene erzielen. Wir freuen uns sehr, dass auch wir zu den Gewinner/innen gehören!

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Unsere Arbeit mit jungen Menschen ist für uns eine Herzensangelegenheit, und diese Auszeichnung bestätigt unser Engagement. Die Wertschätzung durch den OeAD ist für uns von unschätzbarem Wert und wird unsere zukünftige Arbeit weiterhin mit Leidenschaft und Energie beflügeln.

We have kicked-off our Buddy Migrants project in Austria, introducing its goals to teachers, parents, and stakeholders. The first event took place at the S-Bim School Fair in Graz, followed by a second gathering in Trofaiach.

At the beginning of November, we hosted the last team meeting of the project Erasmus+ Plain VET in Graz.

Together with the coordinator @kultur_life and the partners from Spain, Sweden and Cyprus, we have discussed the next steps to be done in the project, established deadlines, and gave feedback on the materials that are in the final stages of finalization.

At the moment, the first project result is completely finished and it is being translated into the partner languages - Assessment tool in plain language. You will be able to find it soon on the website below:

https://kultur-life.de/projekte/plainvet 

Unser Verein war am 19. Oktober bei S-Bim und BeSt3 Graz 2023 am Stand vertreten. Wir stellten stolz die Projekte "Start Point" und "Buddy Migrants" vor.

We came together again between the 14th and 21st of October, to explore the topic of Mental Health, and how to maintain it through Outdoor Activities!

We played fun games and tried yoga and other interesting activities outside, went hiking and cycled together, sang and danced, cooked and ate till late hours.

We turned ideas into concepts and discussed what the people we work with
need and could benefit from.

The last newsletter of the #erasmusplusproject Start Point is here! It includes information about the last project results, the final meeting in Kiel and the final conference that took place in Kiel, as well.

The 3rd Newsletter shares information about the LTTA in Turkey and the Youth Exchange in Austria, as well as about the progress of the project and some exciting news from the European Green Mobility Policy. Check it out below!

This week we were in Kiel, northern Germany, for the last partner meeting of the Start Point #erasmusplusproject where we finalized the last outputs, established the last few tasks and prepared for the final dissemination and exploitation of results.

We also took part in the Final conference organized by the coordinator of the project KulturLife, where we talked about the project and its results and about Erasmus+ programm.

Das war unsere Youth&Commute Jugendbegegnung in Trofaiach!

Wir möchten uns herzlich bei der Woche und bei der Trofaiach - meine Stadt sowie Bürgermeister Mario Abl für ihre Unterstützung bedanken!

Youth & Commute ist ein vom Erasmus+ Programm der Europäischen Union kofinanziertes Projekt im Jugendbereich, das sich mit nachhaltigem Verkehr, Verkehrssicherheitskompetenz, Mobilität und Inklusion beschäftigt.

In July, together with our partners KulturLife, Drustvo Nacekova hisa, AKtive Kosmos and Be Visible Be YOU we have organised a training course for Youth workers "Sustainability and Youth work". This was a wonderful opportunity to discuss how to introduce the topic of sustainability to young people in a non-formal setting, brainstorm educational activities ideas and even work hands-on!

Re-thinking Sustainability, our first Youth Exchange under the #erasmusplus youth accreditation 2021-2027 took place between the 21st-28th June. We gathered once more in Trofaiach with young people from Austria, Romania, Croatia, Turkey and North Macedonia to discuss about Sustainability, but this time looking at it from different perspectives and with a critical mindset.
Along with exploring the issues in our local environments, we also looked for ideas and solutions that could be implemented right away in the local communities of our participants.

Between the 13-14th June, we were in Predeal, Romania taking part in the seminar "E-valuate" organized by A4Action which had as a primary objective consolidating the network of partners and evaluating the mobilities they have organized under the Erasmus+ Youth accreditation.

It was a very fruitful meeting for us, getting to know new NGOs from different European countries, and learning more about the Erasmus+ accreditation and different European funding programmes. At the same time, it was a good opportunity to exchange good practices from our daily work in our organizations and get new fresh ideas for improving our work.

We were very happy about this invitation and looking forward to more projects together! 

The 3rd Newsletter of the project Start Point is out and you can find out what we have been working on in the last months.

Between the 6-10th of June, we had our Learning, Teaching, Training, Activity that took place in Igdir, Turkey. We gathered youth workers from all the partner organizations and shared good practices about working with young people with fewer opportunities in our countries and how to better involve them in our activities. We also had the chance to explore Igdir by bike and have first-hand experience with the cyclists in this town.

We met with the partners of the Erasmus+ Project: Agents for Inclusion in Milan to discuss the progress of the project, plan the next steps in the implementation and set the dates for the next meetings and activities.
The project consists in providing the tools and know-how to people with fewer opportunities (i.e. immigrants, women and long-term unemployed individuals) to learn how to carry out a social project and, through this, to strengthen their skills and competencies to enter into the labour market and to empower them with respect to the rest of the society.
Check out more about the project here: https://agentsforinclusion.com/

During our LTTA (Learning, teaching, training activity) in Örkelljunga, Sweden, we introduced our guide in easy language and exchanged plain language as an instrument for #equalityopportunity and #inclusion. It was a lovely training and meeting!

Soon, we will share with you the final Assessment tool in plain language. Check more about the project here:

https://kultur-life.de/projekte/plainvet

The BuddyMigrants project aims to address the barriers faced by newly-arrived third country natonal (TCN) families in the project countries in accessing the social services (access to information, health, education, employment) as well as to contribute to creating inclusive environments that foster social inclusion, equity and equality, and that are responsive to the needs of the wider communities.

We were in Finland, for the 3rd Transnational project meeting of the #Erasmusplus project Start Point. We have evaluated the LTTA, that took place in March in Slovenia and checked on the pending tasks and future activities that we should organize in each of our countries. The Citizenship Learning Toolkit and the Learning Community Programm are finished and are being translated into all the partner languages at the moment.

The last Newsletter of the AMIF project ENGAGE is focusing on the job shadowing experiences of the participants, in each one of the partner countries.

Testimonials of some of the migrant women are included also/ Check it out by clicking on the photo!

In March, our collegues Iulia and Hewa were in Novo Mesto, Slovenia attending the "Community Learning Programm" from the #erasmusplusproject Start Point.

They discussed topics such as Cultural Identity, Intercultural Dialogue, Active Citizenship, and Community action, as well as meeting the participants from Cyprus, Germany, Slovenia, Portugal, and Finland and exchanging ideas and experiences.

In the last session, the participants had to create Vision Boards for the Activities they want to implement with the young adults in their communities back home. You can see some of them on the last slide.

In January we had a transnational partner meeting of the Erasmus+ Plain VET Project. The meeting was hosted by the amazing Centro Formativo Otxarkoaga - a school providing education from 12 years old to adults, on Secondary Education, First Education for Migrants, Vocational Education and Training, Task Learning Education, Adult Education and other. One of their main goals is to pay attention to people in disadvantaged situations offering integral education and promoting their integration by offering adapted learning paths.

Wir starten voller Engagement ins neue Jahr!

Die ENGAGE Ehrenamtswoche verbindet Frauen mit Fluchterfahrung mit gemeinnützigen Organisationen, Vereinen und auch mit Einzelpersonen, und gibt ihnen die Möglichkeit ehrenamtliche Arbeit in Begleitung unseres Teams hautnah zu erleben. Vereine, Organisationen und Einzelpersonen, die Unterstützung brauchen, können sich bis 23.01.2023 mit diesem Formular anmelden: https://forms.gle/q6K2P3CNRtZVq2Zu5

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