ICYE in Action - Page 10 of 12 - International Cultural Youth Exchange

Training Course on fostering positive youth Action and partnership between EU and SEE countries

June 15, 2005/in Capacity Building Activities /by icye

Training course for youth worker in EU and SEE countries/Berlin, Germany/8-13 June 2005

The main aim of this training course was to enhance young people’s participation, leadership skills and their engagement in civil society by providing a common training and networking opportunity to representatives of voluntary organisations and NGO’s and agencies active in civic education and youth participation programmes. Given the complexity of issues affecting young people and civil society in EU and SEE countries, this training course was needed to prepare the ground for future theme-related European Voluntary Service projects between the two regions. Both the training and the exchange of young volunteers aimed at supporting the work of respective host projects in promoting youth active citizenship as well as demonstrating the need and potential for cooperation in an European context.

EU CIS – Multilateral EVS Project

May 10, 2005/in European Voluntary Service /by icye

EVS project in EU and CIS countries ( Armenia, Russian Federation and Ukraine)

14 long-term volunteer placements from September 2004 to May 2005

The objective of this multilateral EVS project was to enhance the participation of CIS countries, namely Armenia, Russian Federation and Ukraine, in long term voluntary service projects and further articulate the experience acquired by the ICYE partners. The 14 young volunteers engaged in a range of quite different local hosting projects dealing with disadvantaged youth and children, ranging from orphanages, disabled care centres and schools to youth centres and initiatives, where volunteerism definitely brought an added value to the local communities.

Youth and European Solidarity

March 15, 2005/in European Voluntary Service /by icye

EVS Project in Eu-SEE countries (Bosnia and Heryegovina, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, Serbia and Montegro)

15 long-term volunteer placements from June 2004 to March 2005

This project was the third and final phase of a series of projects titled “YOUTH AND EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY” promoting voluntary service activities as a tool for young people to work for solidarity, respect of human rights and reconciliation in EU and Balkan countries and to contribute to the development of civil society. The project empowered NGOs in EU and SEE countries to network and engage in multiple partnerships working on the theme Refugees, Human Rights and Reconciliation.

EU-CIS Training Course on Youth Programme Partnership Building and Project Management

March 10, 2005/in Capacity Building Activities /by icye

Training course for youth workers/Minsk, Belarus/3-9 March 2005

Final Activity Report

Representatives of youth organisations from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, England, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, and Ukraine, participated in a training course on partnership building and project management to further stimulate the development of theme related EU – EECA (Eastern Europe and Caucasus) volunteer and youth exchange projects under the YOUTH Programme of the European Commission. The course focused on capacity building, transfer of know-how on partnership-building and project management, and cooperation in social inclusion projects, dealing with empowerment of youth with less opportunities.

EU-SEE Training Course on Youth Programme Partnership Building and Project Management

December 16, 2004/in Capacity Building Activities /by icye

Training course for youth workers/Vukovar, Croatia/9-15 December 2004

This training event consisted of two training projects on the European Commission YOUTH Programme, and aimed at fostering partnership building and project management for the development of voluntary service and youth exchange projects between youth organisations in South Eastern Europe and the European Union. To ensure effectiveness as well as to stimulate development of cooperation among youth NGO’s in these two European regions, the courses were designed to address separately the needs of youth NGOs, respectively in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia and Montenegro, and in Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Kosovo. At the end of the training, participants felt that they had acquired useful practical skills to foster the development of quality exchange projects between EU and SEE countries, which resulted also in a number of collaborative agreements between participating organisations.

EU-SEE Training Course on Youth Programme Partnership Building and Project Management (Montenegro)

November 17, 2004/in Capacity Building Activities /by icye

Training course for youth workers/Sutomore, Montenegro/10-16 November 2004

This training event consisted of two training projects on the European Commission YOUTH Programme, and aimed at fostering partnership building and project management for the development of voluntary service and youth exchange projects between youth organisations in South Eastern Europe and the European Union. To ensure effectiveness as well as to stimulate development of cooperation among youth NGO’s in these two European regions, the courses were designed to address separately the needs of youth NGOs, respectively in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia and Montenegro, and in Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Kosovo. At the end of the training, participants felt that they had acquired useful practical skills to foster the development of quality exchange projects between EU and SEE countries, which resulted also in a number of collaborative agreements between participating organisations.

YOUTH IN ACTION – EURO-LATIN AMERICAN Seminar on Youth Leadership and active Citizenship

July 3, 2004/in Capacity Building Activities /by icye

EURO-LATIN AMERICAN Seminar on Youth Leadership and active Citizenship/Sambo Creek, Honduras/26 June to 2 July 2004

Final Activity Report

This seminar held in the Caribbean environment of SAMBO CREEK, Honduras from June 26th to July 2nd, 2004 brought together one youth worker/youth leader and one local authority / policy makers from distinct European and Latin American countries, to discuss policy and practice related to youth participation. Participants reflected upon and learnt about the situation of youth participation in each others’ countries, increased their knowledge on different ways to enhance youth leadership and active citizenship, including youth mobility and non-formal learning experiences. The European Commission’s White Paper on Youth and the resources provided by the Youth programme were presented and discussed as ways to encourage young people to make an active contribution to the development of society. Particular emphasis was placed on the ways and means to enhance youth participation by young people who do not have access to associative life and non-formal learning experiences.

ICYE Europe-wide Project on Refugees: “Youth and European Solidarity”

June 18, 2004/in European Voluntary Service /by icye

EVS project in EU countries (Austria, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania)

12 long-term volunteer placements from September 2003 to June 2004

The project followed an initiative of youth NGO’s to promote European solidarity with marginalized and disadvantaged groups such as refugees and migrants. Involving refugee and migrant organizations as host organizations, the EVS project was a great opportunity for the volunteers to learn about and get involved in working with refugees, migrants and for the defense of human rights. The European and intercultural dimension and the spirit of young persons willing to share and participate brought an added value to the projects. At the same time the volunteers through practicing active citizenship proved that Europe can be an open house where refugees from all parts of the world are welcome.

Training Course on Youth Volunteering in HIV/AIDS prevention projects in EU and Central and Eastern European Countries

June 12, 2004/in Capacity Building Activities /by icye

Training course for youth workers/Heiligensee, Berlin, Germany/ 5-11 June 2004

The group of 25 participants consisted of both former EVS volunteers and representatives of host organisations working in the area of sexual health promotion and the prevention of HIV/Aids with a focus on youth volunteering. The training course aimed at fostering bi- and multilateral cooperation in EU and Central and Eastern European Countries through capacity building, focusing on the practical aspects of developing and managing international voluntary exchange projects suited to the particularities of the HIV/AIDS prevention sector. This was done by a transfer of know-how on how to develop and manage International Voluntary Service projects combined with HIV/AIDS prevention peer education campaigns, considering more in-depth the variety of prevention strategies related to the respective risk groups. Networking and Fundraising for programme opportunities in East – West voluntary exchanges was another focal point along with the development of innovative forms of cooperation among HIV/AIDS and Youth NGOs in EU and CEE countries considering the differences of HIV/AIDS prevention work in both parts of Europe.

SEE II – ICYE Eastlinks

December 12, 2003/in European Voluntary Service /by icye

EVS project in EU and SEE countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro)

10 long-term volunteer placements from June 2003 to December 2003

This project aimed to foster long-term voluntary service between the participating EU and SEE countries offered young people the possibility to acquire experiences and knowledge about voluntary service and civil society in general by living and working in EU and SEE countries, including for the first time also Macedonia and Montenegro. The volunteers as well as the coordinators learnt from each other and engaged in multiple initiatives promoting youth volunteering and civil society.